TEACHERS ATTITUDES AND BARRIERS FOR THE EFFECTIVE USE OF ICT IN CLASSROOMS IN THE MOTHEO DISTRICT

Over the past decade, there has been a tremendous demand for the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in classrooms in South Africa. Teachers have been encouraged to use ICT for curriculum delivery. The aforementioned authors state that, despite the South African government expenditure on ICT equipment, there seems to be a slow rate of adoption and use of ICT in the classroom. Teachers role in ICT integration in schools are very important and teachers’ attitude must be considered as well as barriers that hindered ICT integration. This study investigated teachers’ attitudes and barriers towards the use of ICT in classrooms in the Motheo district.To ascertain the effective use of ICT by teachers, research was conducted with ten secondary schools in Motheo district. A random sample of 30 secondary school teachers was drawn from ten schools. A mixed methods approach was used to the collect data, i.e. qualitative (questionnaires) and qualitative (interviews). Questionnaires were administered to the participants and were then followed by unstructured interviews. The research participants were selected randomly from the study population in an unbiased manner to produce quantifiable, reliable data. Mix methods designs provide advantages when a researcher is exploring complex research questions. The findings of this study revealed that teachers have a positive attitude towards the use of ICT, and that it enables better teaching standards and educational outcomes. Teachers also have barriers that hinder them from using ICT in the classroom. The findings revealed that teachers have a positive attitude towards the use of ICT and are positive to integrate ICT in the classroom, but that are barriers the hindered them to use ICT. The use of ICT in schools poses challenges to teachers and the DoE for the successful integration of ICT into teaching and learning. It is important that teachers’ insight into training and development of ICT is noted in order to integrate ICT successfully in schools.