THE EFFECT OF A PROPOSED DISTANCE TRAINING PROGRAM ON EGYPTIAN TECHNICAL SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ AWARENESS OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

The main purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a proposed distance training program on Egyptian technical secondary school teachers’ awareness of information and communication technology (ICT). Three statistical hypotheses were set to guide this study. Those three statistical hypotheses were set based on three research questions concerning teachers' achievement of some electronic and technological concepts, attitudes towards technology and using it in education field, and skills related to using computer and internet. The study adopted the one group pre test - post test research design to examine the study hypotheses. The sample group of this study consisted of 34 teachers, they were chosen from technical secondary schools in Beni Suef City (middle of Egypt). The study results revealed that the proposed program had an impact on teachers’ knowledge and attitudes towards ICT, but there was not a statistical significant difference between the mean scores of pre-test and post- test regarding teachers' skills related to using computer and internet.
Generally, it has been concluded that the proposed program helped developing technical teachers’ awareness (knowledge and attitudes) of ICT. According to those result, the study presented and proposed several recommendations and suggestions that can help in developing other educational aspects related to the ICT awareness for pre-service and in-service teachers. The study proposed conducting further studies to measure the changes in teachers’ attitudes and predict their behaviors towards using ICT in their classrooms.