Exploring Tanzanian secondary school teachers’ challenges and opportunities in the use of tablets as a pedagogical tool in teaching and learning

Abstract

This paper explored Tanzanian secondary school teachers' challenges and opportunities in using tablets as a pedagogical tool for teaching and learning. For the past few years, the United Republic of Tanzania (URT) has distributed more than 290,000 tablets in primary and secondary schools. However, these tablets are still underused, and there is no documentation of the challenges and opportunities they bring. The study, guided by the constructivist learning theory, employed both quantitative and qualitative methodology. A target population of 758 respondents from secondary schools, and data were collected using questionnaires, interviews, and observations. The collected quantitative data were examined and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The study founder's severe challenges include limited access to electricity, lack of technical support from the school management when the tablet encounters a problem, lack of adequate training to effectively use tablets, lack of confidence in using the tablets, lack of the skills to install the necessary apps on their tablets related to teaching and learning, lack of accessibility to ICT-based resources, language problems (barriers), limited access to the internet, and a few noted that they have limited time. This study revealed various opportunities due to the use of tablets in secondary schools. Some of these opportunities encourage teachers to experiment with innovative teaching strategies, help teachers to increase their technological skills and digital literacy, foster professional growth, and encourage lifelong learning. Tablets enable teachers to collaborate and share teaching resources with colleagues more easily, provide a platform for teachers to communicate more effectively with parents and guardians, help to broaden the range of various subjects/content to teach, enhance personalized learning opportunities, and improve communication and global exposure. The findings will benefit policymakers, teachers, and curriculum developers in Tanzania by providing valuable insights into how to effectively support and encourage tablet use in secondary education.