FACTORS PREVENTING TEACHERS' INNOVATIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN THEIR TEACHING: A CASE OF NORTH CYPRUS

Abstract

In the twenty first century, technology and education becomes the most popular themes that are combined and mentioned together. New innovations in technology influence education because education imparts knowledge and skills to the students which will be used in real life situations. Thus, educational institutions at the first hand and teachers are expected to follow new innovations and integrate them into education in order to help students to keep up with the pace of information and communication technologies. Perhaps, with the help of necessary resources, like ICT tools, the opportunity could be given to students to discuss, participate and construct the knowledge themselves in an engaging and entertaining environment. The use of ICT may help teachers to reach many learning objectives in education, support teaching and learning in and outside the classroom. However, many other teachers who are accustomed to traditional pedagogy and do not want to change their teaching strategies may not believe in the benefits of using ICT in education. Moreover, because of many other reasons these new technologies may not be put into practice in teaching and learning environment. The main aim of this paper is to explore the reasons for not using ICT innovatively in teaching at secondary school in North Cyprus. The reports are parts of an ongoing doctorate research study in one of the public secondary schools in North Cyprus. The participants were volunteer subject teachers of that particular school. The selection of subjects included High School Entrance Examination subjects; namely, Mathematics, Foreign Languages, Social Sciences, and Science. The study used qualitative research methods to discover the reasons for not using ICT in teaching specific subjects. The preliminary findings indicate that some factors that prevent the use of ICT in accordance with the literature are insufficient ICT resources and limited access to available ICT rooms. In addition, the results show that the teachers who use ICT in their teaching believe that they even need more practical training on how to integrate ICT into teaching.