Principal’s Characteristics: Key Driver to Information Technology Uptake in School Management in Public Secondary Schools in Machakos County, Kenya

Abstract

The rapid growth in Information Communication and Technologies (ICT) has seen the introduction of major changes in the twenty-first century. It has also necessitated changes in the priorities of contemporary societies; ICT is gradually becoming an indispensable tool not only in our daily lives but also in the systems of education (Buabeng-Andoh, 2012). ICT has styled itself as a principal driver of both economic and social progress. As a result of this, there is need to invest in education and adopting reforms geared towards integrating these technologies in teaching, learning and even school management (Kozma, 2005). ICT implementation is a reality in many developed countries for example, according to UNESCO (2014) report, in the USA, the one-toone laptop program in the primary schools was hailed as an important project.Maki (2008) postulates that ICT integration is key to the improvement of daily school management. In a study done in secondary schools in Cyprus, it was established that ICT integration is important for employees, student, resources, fiscal and general management. The successful initiation and implementation of technology in the school management programs, however, depends a great deal on the principals' attitude. It is generally believed that when the principal perceives technology as neither satisfying their needs nor those of the learners, it becomes unlikely that they would integrate that technology into the school management (Hew & Brush, 2007).Again, the effective use of ICT in school management requires ICT skills on the part of the user in order to enable them use technology with confidence and thereby assimilate it in the professional operations (Wanjala, Khaemba & Mukwa, 2011). Another factor that determines the principal's use of ICT is the principal's social networks (Mac Vaugh & Schiavone, 2010). In the adoption of technology, people will tend to compare themselves with their peers in the community. This implies that if a particular kind of technology is acceptable among peers who are considered reference groups by certain individuals, it is then likely that those individuals affiliated to the reference group will adopt it (Lekhanya, 2013).In Kenya, the use of ICT in teaching and learning has been ongoing since the launch of Vision 2030 policy, however not much has been going on in the area of using ICT in school management (Ibrahim, 2016). Consequently, it would be important to find out the influence of principals' characteristics on the current status of ICT in school management. In Machakos county, there is a considerable technological backwardness among secondary schools (Mwunda, 2014). A great deal of management duties in secondary schools are still carried out manually regardless of the ICT policy of 2006 for administrators of secondary schools to use ICT (Makewa, Meremo, Role & Role, 2013). This implies that the use of ICT in school management has not been embraced