Investigating Tanzanian secondary school teachers’ attitudes and competencies in the use of tablets as a pedagogical tool in teaching and learning

Abstract

This paper investigates teachers' attitudes and competencies in Tanzanian secondary schools on the use of tablets as a pedagogical tool in teaching and learning. Over the past years, Tanzania has distributed more than 290000 tablets in primary and secondary schools. However, these tablets are still underused, requiring a study to reveal teachers' attitudes and competencies on using tablets. The study was guided by the Constructivist Learning Theory.  The study adopted a quantitative research design approach. The target population was 254 secondary schools (151 public and 103 private). Through simple random sampling, a population of 758 secondary school teachers (348 female and 410 male) was selected.  Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews, and the researcher observed what was happening in schools. Data analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Firstly, the study revealed that teachers own various ICT tools, including tablets, smartphones, laptops, and desktop computers. Secondly, the study revealed that teachers are highly competent in using tablets for teaching and learning, with an overall mean of 4.09 and an SD of 1.281. Thirdly, the study reported that most teachers have a positive attitude towards the use of tablets in teaching and learning, with an overall mean of 4.66 and SD 0.87, signifying that most teachers would like to use tablets (mean 4.69, SD 0.79). Teachers perceive ease of use of tables (Mean 4.27, SD 1.26). Most teachers perceive tablets as highly useful for teaching and learning (overall mean: 4.34, SD: 1.17). While some are excited about the benefits tablets can bring to teaching and learning, they’re also encountering real problems and resistance. Major hurdles include tech glitches, a lack of good training and support, connectivity issues, and a mismatch with the current curriculum, not to mention time constraints and other teaching challenges. This study's findings make it clear that to get the most out of these tablets in Tanzanian schools, we must address the identified challenges. Therefore, this study’s findings are of beneficial to policymakers, teachers, and curriculum developers, researchers and all education stakeholders.