January 2012 Volume 15 Number 1 - Educational Technology ...

Hismanoglu, M. (2012). Prospective EFL Teachers' Perceptions of ICT Integration: A Study of Distance Higher Education in
Turkey. Educational Technology & Society, 15 (1), 185–196.
Prospective EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of ICT Integration: A Study of
Distance Higher Education in Turkey
Murat Hismanoglu
Akdeniz University, Faculty of Education, Department of Foreign Languages Education, Division of English
Language Teaching, Antalya, Turkey // hismanoglu@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
This paper aims to investigate the perceptions of prospective EFL teachers in the distance higher education
system toward ICT implementation in teaching English as a foreign language. The majority of respondents who
expressed negative attitudes to ICT integration found the nature, level and delivery of the training inadequate
and accordingly affirmed that they do not feel sufficiently competent to use ICT in their future subject teaching
without having sufficient prior knowledge of ICT dissemination. The results of the study imply that training that
will enable teachers to become competent in and receptive to ICT is quite critical in distance education realms.
Keywords
Prospective EFL teachers, Distance higher education, ICT integration, Language instruction
Introduction
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been promoted as a platform for providing learners with
opportunities in any field (King, 2002; Rovai, 2002) and many significant studies have been conducted on the
integration of ICT into classroom teaching to complement and modify the pedagogical practice (Hennessy et al.,
2005). Due to ICT related development in the field of education, countries regard ICT as a potential tool for change
and innovation in education and so make investments in ICT integration (Eurydice, 2001; Papanastasiou and Angeli,
2008). For instance, Turkey spent 400 dollars per person and allocated eleven point seven percent (11.7 %) of its
budget to ICT. This rate is lower than the rates of Europe and Central Asia, since they allocate twenty two percent
(22 %) of their budget to ICT implementation, yet it is still higher than the rates in developing countries (World
Bank, 2007). Therefore, the Ministry of Education in Turkey attempted to set up computer laboratories and provide
Internet connection in schools. To illustrate, the rate of schools with Internet connection increased from forty percent
(40 %) (World Bank, 2007) to sixty-eight percent (68 %) (SPO, 2008) and it is projected that this rate will have
increased to ninety-six percent (96%) by 2011 (SPO, 2006).
Although investments in ICT for educational innovations and improvements purposes have been continuing, the
needs of teachers who will employ it in the classroom as a staple part of the curriculum is disregarded (Niederhauser
and Stoddart, 2001; Vacc and Bright, 1999). ICT does not have an educational value in itself, but it becomes
precious when teachers use it in the learning and teaching process. As Shakeshaft (1999, p. 4) notes, ‘just because
ICT is present does not mean that students are using it’. The impact of ICT is strongest when used in a particular
content area and further supported by use across the curriculum (Ward and Parr, 2010). Since teachers are the key
figures to utilize ICT in educational settings productively and to help integrate ICT into the curriculum, they need
support and training to disseminate ICT integration into their classrooms.
Roblyer (2002) found that many pre-service teachers are still entering universities with little knowledge of computers
and appropriate skills as well as lacking positive attitudes toward ICT use in the classroom. Moreover, Gunter (2001)
states that many higher education institutions are still failing to prepare pre-service teachers for positive
technological experiences. Hence, it is unlikely that teachers will be able to transfer their ICT skills to their students
and encourage them to implement ICT when they themselves have negative perceptions toward ICT deployment
(Yıldırım, 2000).
As highlighted by a variety of substantial studies, however, not all teachers have been willing to introduce ICT into
their language classrooms. In the last decade, a steady stream of work has variously addressed this issue (e.g.,
Mumtaz, 2000; Williams et al., 2000; Galanouli and McNair, 2001; Baylor and Ritchie, 2002). Studies have also
shown that, for the younger generation of teachers, the basis of this unwillingness is sometimes to be found in the
training on the use of ICT provided in the teaching and learning process (e.g., Watson, 1997; Murphy and
Greenwood, 1998; Strudler & Wetzel, 1999).
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