Abstract:

Nobody discus today the important role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in our society, the "Use Information Technology" is one of the core skills of the young students. The use of ICT in education is of growing importance for educational theory and practice.

The most secondary level schools of Spain use ICT to support teaching. In Spain, studies indicate that despite ongoing efforts, the projects promoted by the education authorities, and the presence and pedagogical use of computers, their use is not widespread, nor has become integrated into schools.

We face a complex problem that involves multiple variables and factors of very different nature. Different authors have suggested hypotheses to explain the difficulties in the use and integration of ICT in education. Previous reports say that the learning potential of ICT is not being realised, because many teachers are not familiar with ICT and do not use it in their teaching. Others reports say that the problem is that teachers do not perceive that the use of ICT provides some clear benefits for students. There are even reports that indicate that one of the possible causes that hinder the widespread use of ICT in the classroom is the need for improved technical support and maintenance of equipment.

The development of advances in ICT can improve the education quality which will positively impact on the training of young students. There are significant opportunities for improving the benefits of integrating ICT in the education area.

The aim of this research is to discover what the use of ICT made by secondary levels teachers and the impact on the young students in the schools. We want to know how teachers use ICT to introduce new approaches that can have a range of beneficial impacts on students.

This paper reports primary data analyses of the ICT situation in the secondary schools in Alicante (Spain). The methodology used to collect information is an auto administrate questionnaire relating to the availability, location, and frequency of use of ICT. Furthermore, it asks about if the use of the ICT is more or less integrated into the classroom curriculum and is more or less entwined in the various pedagogies employed by teachers. Data were collected on participation for 67 schools in the province of Alicante. A total of 499 teachers completed the questionnaire.

Results show that the majority of teachers use ICT as a teaching resource in a sporadic way, and almost never for tutorial sessions. However, its use is very common in educational activities such as preparing for classes or reporting. This indicates that the majority of teachers use ICT as a tool, but they do it outside the classroom, and thus, the goal of integration into the classroom with students is far.

The results can be useful for improving teaching practices and for the development of educational policies. But research must be validated in other schools in a wider geographical area than the province of Alicante.

Keywords:

ict, education, technology, learning, secondary level school.