Abstract:

Wise merging of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in learning and teaching environment can enhance its quality including potential to improve teachers’ skills, adapting teaching to the variance among students and improving learning and assessment management in teaching. In addition, it allows internalizing ICT in the process of teaching and creating adapted environment for students, which would facilitate their difficulties and give them an opportunity to learn beyond teaching hours in school.

Integrating ICT in the teaching process allows a continuation of learning from school to home and improves the abilities of communication between the students themselves and the teachers. Moreover, it permits parental involvement in their children’s learning process.

In the years 2010-2011, the program of “Adapting the Education System to the 21st Century” had begun to prepare schools for the 21st century. The program operated gradually in two provinces (south and north), and in 2012-2013 all national elementary schools joined the program.

Among the aims of the national program “Adapting the Education System to the 21st Century”: the leading the existence of innovative pedagogy based on internalizing the use of ICT in the process of teaching of the teachers and the process of learning of the students. Achieving this goal is related to a number of factors such as: merging ICT in the process of teaching by the teachers, the use of ICT in the process of learning for the students and increasing the parental involvement in the process in the school and especially in the virtual teaching environment (Site School).

The teachers’ training college in Haifa qualifies new students to be ICT learners and offers them knowledge and skills required to manage ICT teaching. Many of its graduates are qualified teachers in different levels of education (elementary, junior high and high schools). Every year, the college qualifies about 200 new teachers in different disciplines. This fact motivates many lecturers at the college to maintain and even increase research.

The suggested research is aimed to examine how teachers in elementary schools perceive ICT and how integrating ICT in teaching influences the achievements of the pupils in elementary schools.

The Objectives of the study are:
• To understand the attitudes of the teachers towards the national “Adapting the Education System to the 21st Century” program.
• To examine how this program influences the motivation of the teachers to teach.
• To examine how the teachers use the technological tools to establish shared learning among students.
• To learn about the views of teachers towards growing the entrepreneurial climate in the computer networking education.

Keywords:

Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Technology in Elementary Schools, ICT program.