Abstract:

Many studies on professional development efforts on supporting academics’ integration of technology into teaching found that it is a complex process with many challenging barriers. For such efforts to work, academics must be given enough time and space to experiment and familiarise themselves with new technology. Furthermore, it is vital that those supporting their initiatives recognise barriers to technology integration, so that relevant support can be provided. The paper reports the findings of a small survey of 22 respondents, conducted at a higher education institution in Malaysia, to explore academics’ exploration with technological tools (MS team, Microsoft Form, Microsoft One Note, EdPuzzle and Screencasting with Screencast-O-Matic), and the follow-up support they required after attending comprehensive workshops on the tools. Four months after attending the workshop, 54% of respondents reported active use of the tools in teaching with a small number experiencing issues with integration. Forty-five percent of respondents, however, had not integrated any of the tools explored and cited issues with familiarity, time, confidence and connectivity as barriers to integration. Respondents suggested the extension to and reruns of past workshops, and workshops on other technological tools, for example, Zappr and Padlet, as follow-ups. Future efforts to support academics’ integration of technology into practice are provided.

Keywords:

Technology Integration, Technological tools, Professional Development, Higher Education, Malaysia.