THE INTEGRATION OF ICT IN TEACHING VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL SUBJECTS: ARE MALAYSIAN VOCATIONAL TEACHERS READY?

The use of computer in Malaysian can be traced as far back to 1966 when the first computer system was introduced by the Government. The Ministry of Education has implemented various initiatives to support in support of the VISION 2020. In the last 10 years the MOE spent RM6 billion on ICT in education initiatives to ensure students know how to use ICT and are able to leverage it effectively to enhance their learning. Benefits if using ICT in education has been document by many researchers, yet researchers in many countries also documented an under-utilized of ICT in many classrooms. Reasons given were many and among others are: lack of confidence, poor attitudes, skills, lack of knowledge, and administrative support. In this paper we will present findings of a research done involving 450 vocational and technical teachers in Malaysia who were randomly selected. Teachers’ readiness to integrate ICT in teaching is assessed using an instrument consisting of three components: attitudes toward the use of ICT, ICT skills, and ICT knowledge. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was: 0.85 for ICT knowledge; 0.97 for ICT skills, and 0.86 for ICT attitudes. The findings of the study showed that majority of teachers had a moderate ICT related knowledge, moderate ICT related skills, but positive attitudes toward the use of ICT. We also found that there were correlations between computer knowledge are related to age and experience; skills are related to age and experience. We found that younger teaches do have higher level of knowledge and skills compared to older and experienced teachers.