Abstract:

Over the last years, the issue of ICT integration in school education has received considerable critical attention. There are various perceptions held by teachers concerning the use of ICT in teaching and learning in their disparate contexts in schools in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced the UAE National Innovation Strategy for 2021 (United Arab Emirates, The Cabinet, 2018), which includes the education sector. All schools, therefore, must make progress towards achieving that goal by the deadline, adequate use of ICT in K-12 classrooms is a large factor towards that aim. This research explores K-12 teachers’ perceptions of information communication technologies (ICTs) in general teaching practice of a range of subject areas. An online survey of 76 K-12 teachers in United Arab Emirates (UAE) was conducted to examine teachers’ perceptions of ICTs in their practice. Furthermore, questions about the availability of AR, VR and Robotics resources for teachers were postulated and data was obtained to garner an overall picture of the wealth and availability of vast resources to teachers. Although there has been a broad range of literature in general from other countries, there has been little research on the subject in the UAE. Seventy participants answered a quantitative online survey using Survey Monkey with a combination of Likert-style questions, tick boxes, and open-ended questions. The Likert-style and tick box questions were analyzed as percentages in the Survey Monkey platform. Teachers' responses to an open-ended question were presented in themes after coding their answers. A digital portfolio of the teacher participants was also presented in table format. Results indicate that K-12 teachers are using a wide range of ICTs in their professional practice, but usage is influenced by teachers perceiving they need more resources, time, professional development. Although teachers reported a high availability of ICTs, findings indicated that professional development in their use is needed. Future research could focus on a study of curriculum documentation where ICTs are listed in the resources for various lessons, lesson observations, interviews with teachers and further inquiry about professional development received by teachers, as data for this study was based solely on self-reports.

Keywords:

Digital profile, school teachers, Information and Communication Technologies, United Arab Emirates, quantitative research, K-12.