Grappling with technology: A case of supporting Malaysian Smart School teachers' professional development

Thang, Siew Ming; Murugaiah, Puvaneswary; Lee, Kean Wah; Azman, Hazita; Tan, Lay Yean; Lee, Yit Sim

doi:10.14742/ajet.1083

Cited by 25 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…TAM has been widely accepted and applied in a variety of settings due to its parsimony and explanatory power (Calantone, Yalcinkaya & Griffith, 2005, p. 155) and has formed the basis by means of which one can examine the acceptance of e-learning by academics and educators (e.g. Thang, Murugaiah, Lee, Azman, Tan & Lee, 2010;Tarcan, Varol & Toker, 2010;Birch & Burnett, 2009;Debuse, Lawley & Shibl, 2008;Swan, 2009) and students (e.g. Park, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of learning management system use in a South African open and distance learning institution

Venter

Rensburg

Davis

2012

AJET

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The study on which this article reports examined the determinants of usage of an online learning management system (LMS) by fourth level business students at a South African open and distance learning university using an extension of the widely used technology acceptance model (TAM) as a theoretical basis. A survey was conducted among students at their annual summer school, with 213 usable questionnaires being returned. The findings suggest that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use as core aspects of the TAM and TAM2 models are confirmed, and study relevance (job relevance in the TAM2 model) and facilitating conditions as extensions are confirmed also. However, other elements of the TAM2 model and extensions were not confirmed by the research, while the relationships between these constructs, behavioural intention and LMS use were significant but not particularly strong. Thus, despite the ostensible robustness of the underlying structure and dimensionality of the TAM core constructs, its usefulness as a model to explain usage in this context and in a setting where acceptance and usage patterns have been established over prolonged periods of time is limited. The findings do, however, suggest certain initiatives to assist in increasing the perceived usefulness of the LMS.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of learning management system use in a South African open and distance learning institution

Venter

Rensburg

Davis

2012

AJET

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“…While the participating teachers and schools indicated enthusiasm for the potential of the model and welcomed the opportunity to create interschool communities of practice, the preliminary findings unfortunately generally revealed that the desired communities of practice (CoPs) as envisioned were not established. Thang et al (2010b) examined the reasons for this outcome from the perspectives of Brinkerhoff's framework (2006).…”

Section: Findings From the Preliminary Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The four barriers discussed by Thang et al (2010b) in their research findings were: 1) resources; 2) institutional and administrative barriers; 3) institutional barriers relating to training and experience; and 4) barriers related to teachers' attitudes and fear. Each of the four barriers mentioned above are further elaborated below.…”

Section: Findings From the Preliminary Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Important lessons that could be learned from the study included the following: 1) technological tools employed must be more user-friendly; 2) tasks given to teachers should be more creative and adventurous; and 3) teachers should be co-designers and engage in the design processes as informed participation (Thang et al, 2010b).…”

Section: Findings From the Preliminary Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tracing the Development of eCoPs via the eCPDelT Project: From Conception to Implementation

Thang

Azman

Lee

2012

Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics

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The implementation of the Smart schools project was one of the seven flagships' initiatives of the Malaysian Government aims at optimalising ICT utilisation in schools in line with Malaysia's aim to position the country as a globally competitive knowledge-based economy. However, research studies reported a lack of success of the project towards promoting effective ICT usage and developing teacher professionally. This situation became the impetus for the development of the e-CPDelT research project which intends to develop an online learning system based on action research and personal involvement for Smart school teachers. The model adopted is loosely based on the successful UK-based Improving the Quality of Education for All (IQEA) project (Ainscow et al., 1994) and the Communities of Practice (CoP)'s approach (Wenger, 1998). The data were obtained from the blog entries made by the 20 participating Smart schools teachers and triangulated with focus group interviews and mentor reflections. The preliminary findings revealed both internal and external problems. Drawing upon these findings, the eCPDelT learning system was designed and steps were undertaken to promote the new system. However, the response to this promotion was far from satisfactory. The paper concludes by discussing the reasons for such disappointing results and proposes a new plan of action that involves the introduction of the Critical Friends Group technique.

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“…However, various studies in Malaysia have revealed that there is a strong preference for digital resources among teachers, and this might lead to digital libraries being accepted favourably by this educational community. Although research provided empirical evidence that Malaysian teachers have high positive attitudes towards web technology and have moderate levels of ICT competence (Bee Theng and Chia Hua, 2008), teachers are relatively slow to use digital resources in the teachinglearning process and not ready to adopt online tools such as blogs and discussion forums into the classrooms (Thang et al, 2010). The actual usage of computer (AUC) and Internet for classroom purposes remains moderate although training has been given (Kumar et al, 2008).…”

Section: Background and Context Of Inquirymentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital libraries in the classroom: Secondary school teachers’ conception

Abrizah

Zainab

2011

Journal of Librarianship and Information Science

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Applying digital libraries in K-12 education has the potential to change fundamental aspects of the classroom in ways that could have an enormous impact on teaching and learning. Digital libraries providing educational resources are widespread in the World Wide Web. The K-12 is a group of people that are generally open to and familiar with webbased technology and it seems ideal to provide this 'Net Generation' (Caywood, 1998) with web-based reference services such as digital libraries. Researchers and educators have the following reasons why it is important to study and plan the provision of digital library service for students: (a) it helps provide the means to collect, store and organize digital information; (b) it is able to provide information whenever and wherever it is needed; (c) it revolutionizes the traditional pedagogy of providing learning resources and the way these resources can be accessed; (d) it helps students to practise self-accessed and self-directed reference learning at their own pace; and (e) it changes the conventional process of seeking information, as well as the speed and spread of information obtained. Massulo and Mack (1996) succinctly summarized the three roles the digital library can play in K-12 education: as a resource for teaching in curriculum development; as a resource for learning to enrich students' experience; and as an authoring space in support of students learning. Zainab et al. (2003) wrote that not only do digital libraries offer innovative strategies for learning opportunities, but they can also make a significant impact on enhancing and improving ICT skills among students and teachers because hosting of information, retrieving and handling information from the Internet requires a fair amount of computer skills and Internet literacy.A key question pertinent to be discussed is: how are digital libraries perceived to contribute to learning? Research demonstrates that many issues influence the implementation of digital libraries in the classroom (UNESCO ITTE, 2003). Previous models of digital libraries have attempted Abstract This paper presents findings from a case study investigating secondary school teachers' understanding of the term digital libraries and their relationship with learning. The study addresses two research questions: (1) How do teachers conceptualize digital libraries, their relevance and issues relating to their integration into the curriculum? and (2) What are the teachers' perceptions of the initiative to develop a collaborative digital library for school projects? A series of interviews were carried out on six History subject teachers which provide a detailed and succinct information on their understanding of digital libraries, their knowledge and use of the Internet and digital resources, their perception of the possible impact of digital resources on teaching and learning, the benefits teachers seen in digital resources and the problems they have in using them. It also offers important insights on History subject teachers' perceptions of the in...

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Grappling with technology: A case of supporting Malaysian Smart School teachers' professional development

Cited by 25 publications

References 28 publications

Drivers of learning management system use in a South African open and distance learning institution

Drivers of learning management system use in a South African open and distance learning institution

Tracing the Development of eCoPs via the eCPDelT Project: From Conception to Implementation

Digital libraries in the classroom: Secondary school teachers’ conception

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