THE SUPPORT OF TEACHERS INFLUENCING TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION IN SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHING IN JORDANIAN SCHOOL

Mohammad Abed-Latif Mohammad Smadi^*
*Correspondence: Mohammad Abed-Latif Mohammad Smadi, College of Educational and Psychological Sciences Amman Arab University of Jordan, Jordan, Email:

Keywords

Influence, Skills, Knowledge, Technology Integration, Social Studies, Teaching

Introduction

Nowadays, the technology is a necessity within the learning environment for teaching the 21st century skills (Steele, 2017). Technology integration is needed in today’s classrooms to facilitate an increased student’s achievement in thinking critically, creativity, problem solving, collaboration, and communication (Strange, 2018). It is very clear that teachers play a main role in technology integration.

The teachers are faced with the challenging task of not only learning how to use technology, but how to effectively technology integration in their teaching (Aldhafeeri, Palaiologou & Folorunsho, 2016; Yusop, 2015).

In the same context, Ahmed (2014) said that the technical support and encouragement for teachers by their schools and their managers was very important and influencial on using technology integration in classrooms. Ahmad (2016) argued that the provision of support for teachers was a main factor to achieve the successful integration of technology in teaching.

In the similar context, there are certain factors that influence teachers’ integration of technology: lack of training, lack of time, inadequate skills or knowledge (Vatanartiran & Karadeniz, 2015). According to, AlMulhim (2014) found five important barriers to technology integration in teaching that are teachers’: lack of confidence, teachers’ attitudes and beliefs, lack of skills and knowledge and lack of time. All these factors are essential to encourage teachers to integrate technology in their teaching.

According to Bandyopadhyay (2013), the absence of the research into above factors in developing countries is conspicuos. This is a critical gap that warrants greater understanding of whether these same factors affect technology integration. Such a study is integral to unfolding factors that either hinder or assist teachers in their ability to introduce and integrating technology in classrooms. Also, Ames (2017) indicated that research is still needed to identify factors that help or hinder technology integration in classrooms. The knowledge of these factors is essential for encouraging teachers to introduce effective technology into their area of specially within their working places (Hu & Garimella, 2014).

This absence constitutes a critical knowledge gap that warrants a greater understanding of what affects the integration of technology in the classroom in developing countries, for example, Jordan. In recent years, Jordan has paid increased attention to integrating technology into its K-12 curriculum, which has been made clear through the 2018-2022 Ministry of Education strategic plan (Jordanian Ministry of Education (JMoE), 2019). Many developing countries like Jordan have invested a large amount of money in integrating technology in the field of education by providing a teacher with good opportunities to use of technology into develop their skills and knowledge related to the technology integration (Al-Zaidiyeen, Mei & Fook, 2010).

In this context, research is required to determine where this integration stands and what policymakers and interested stakeholders can do to speed the process. Therefore, this current study is aimed at an in-depth exploration the support factor influencing technology integration in Jordanian classrooms more in-depth. The current study differs from other studies conducted in Jordan. The research that has conducted so far have focused on the quantitative data collection methodology, such as surveys (Al-Ghzo, 2018; Al-Zaidiyeen, 2015 Albataineh, 2014). Thus, this research fills the methodological gap.

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to examine the influence of support factor on the level of technology integration by teachers in a Jordanian-school.

Three research questions guided this study, which were:

Q1: How does technical support affect the integration of technology in teaching?

Q2: Are you receiving adequate support and encouragement from your school for technology integration?

Q3: How does actual financial support affect teachers’ competence and the ability to integrate technology into their teaching?

Literature Review

Wide varieties of factors have strong direct and indirect effects on successful technology integration. Such as, level of technology support, access to technology (Beeson, 2013). It is important to consider factors that encourage teachers to initiate a change in order to incorporate emerging technologies into their instruction (Winterhalder, 2017).

The support teachers are crucial in influencing the adoption of technology integration in their classrooms. For teachers who may be unfamiliar with new labs, new tools, or different software versions, providing instructional support is a key factor for successful integration of technology (Ahmad, 2016). According to Ahmad (2014), School Support is one of the most important factors affecting teachers’ integration of technology in their teaching.(smadi, 2021)

Honesty, Dragovic and Warwick (2018) state that policy makers must avoid marginalizing pedagogy focused instead offer support to teachers in using emerging technologies to promote more effective classroom practice. The support of teachers that is slow to respond to teachers’ needs due to limited human resources is a barriers for teachers integrating technology. In general, the availability and quality of technology support impacts how often teachers use technology in their classrooms (Buenger, 2019).

According to Beeson (2013), argued that If there is not a strong support for technology integration within the school by administration or teachers, teachers wanting to integrate technology may be negatively impacted. This pressure may also come from the subject or grade the teacher teaches (Smadi & Raman, 2020).

According to Skomer (2014), stated that teachers know how to use technology, but are still seeking support in how to integrate technology. Therefore, if there is no support for teachers, they become frustrated resulting in their un willingness to technology integration in classrooms (Buabeng-Andoh, 2012).

In a qualitative study of Urban elementary school teachers in the southeaster United States, the researchers found that the teachers understood the importance of incorporating technology into their teaching, but cited barriers such as little support and, lack of time (O’Neal et al., 2017). Therefore, there was the need to provide sufficient supportive facilities for both teachers and the students that can enhance effective teaching and learning in schools. There is a need for support technology in schools to be part of instruction in today’s classroom to help increase student achievement (Strange, 2018).

Method

This study followed a set of procedures or processes, which was a follows:

A purposive sampling technique was used as recommended by other scholars for exploratory studies (i.e., Creswell, 2014, 2012, 2009; Sekaran, 2013; Patton, 2002). This study used purposeful sampling to obtain an in-depth understanding of time factor influencing technology integration in social studies teaching in Jordanian school. Smadi and Raman (2020) stated qualitative studies they can be conducted with a small number of individuals or organizations sample size.

The sample was limited to five schools in north, Jordan. One teacher from each school was used a formal letter sent to the school’s managers requesting permission to conduct a study in their school. In this study, the interview was the main study method supplemented with classrooms observation. This research was based on a semi-structured interview with open-ended questions focusing on support teachers influencing technology integration in social studies teaching. The interviews lasted from 65 to 75 minutes with each teacher. In addition, five-observation session that lasted from 40 to 45 minutes was conducted with each teacher.

This study used thematic analyses techniques to analyse the collected data. The data were analysed inductively, built from particulars to general themes (Creswell, 2007). Thematic analysis permits the provision of interpretations to data and helps in establishing a clear and systematic method of data analyses without threatening the depth and quality of that analysis.

Findings

The support is an important and positive factor for the effective integration of technology in classroom. In addition, the support encourages teachers to continue employing technology integration in their teaching. It was detected that support factor in this study was effective after listening to teachers responses who participated in this study.

In this study, the Support has been employed as a factor of motivation and encouragement for teachers to use technology integration in their teaching. The support in this study is an encouragement that teachers obtain from their school in addition to financial support received, such as financial reward.

Research Questions

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore support factor influencing technology integration in social studies teaching in Jordanian school. There are three research questions guided the study, which were the following:

How does technical support affect the integration of technology in teaching? Are you receiving adequate support and encouragement from your school for technology integration? How does actual financial support affect teachers’ competence and the ability to integrate technology into their teaching?

The objective of employing this question was to explore whether support was the factor that influenced the integration of technology in teaching. Where it was support to look at three main dimensions; technical support, encouragement and actual financial support

Characteristics of the Participants

The characteristics of the participants of the study were the following. Table 1.

Interviews

In this study, teachers through their answers showed that the support provided to them from their schools was the motivation and encouraging them to integrate technology into their teaching. The teachers considered the support as the most external factor that affected the success of the integration of technology into the classroom.

The responses of teachers were as follows

These questions aimed to detect whether the teachers obtained encouragement from their schools to employ technology integration and what kind of support they received, if any. Overall, the teachers considered support as the most important external factor that affected the success of the technology integration into the classroom.

The teachers’ responses were as follows

All teachers participating in this study reported that the technical and technical support provided by the school was clear, and it was a catalyst for them when they integrate technology into their teaching. All answers were broadly similar:

Teacher ‘M’ replied “that her school constantly provides all technological tools to support the teaching environment, which helps teachers use technology”. Sometimes, however, the Internet connection was cut off, which causes a problem in the classroom.

D and A emphasized the constant care of their school and the keenness to provide all the teacher's requirements when integrating technology into his teaching. In addition to doing periodic maintenance for the devices to ensure their validity and effectiveness. Teacher ‘R, mentioned that his “school played the biggest role in the process of technology integration because of the availability of infrastructure and all the necessary tools to be employed in teaching.

In the same context, teacher ‘S’ expressed gratitudes to his school for its help. He said that the main reason for his employing integration of technology was his school. This was done through courses that helped him and said that these courses were available to all teachers in his school. In addition, said that "She receives financial reward from time to time in appreciation of her efforts to integrate technology into teaching. She said that her financial privilege, in addition to her monthly salary, motivates her to use technology in her teaching.

Through the responses of the above teachers, it is clear that the technical support provided by schools to teachers in terms of equipping the infrastructure was an encouraging and auxiliary factor for teachers' integration of technology in the teaching of social studies. it is clear that rewards and financial support for teachers increase technology integration opportunities among teachers. It also appears that the teachers who received prizes and rewards are more active and integrate with technology than their peers who did not receive the bounces.

These responses are consistent with many previous studies, which indicated that technical support is a vital factor affecting the teacher’s adoption of technology in teaching. For example, Smadi, 2021; Alghasab, Alfadley & Aladwani, 2020; Smadi & Raman, 2020; Alghasab, Alfadley & Aladwani, 2020; Al-Rabaani, 2018; Joy & Srihari (2018).

Classroom Observations

These teachers were encouraging their students to participate in classroom activities. In addition, they followed up students step by step and they allowed me to see some of their plans. The classrooms are going according to plans prepared in Advance. Moreover, I observed the management of the time by teachers. In addition, I saw the active interaction between students and teachers together.

In addition, the results of teachers observation at this level showed that all teachers were as facilitators, Assistant and motivator for students. Besides, they were able to do classroom setting. Furthermore; It was clear that the all schools that had technological sources helped teachers more to use technology integration in the teaching. Also, teachers have showed a clear sequence to display ideas .In addition, and there was a response and interaction by students with their teacher in the classroom.

The finding of classroom observation showed that teachers were supporting their students and encouraging them to use the technology. Also, they encouraged and motivated them to adopt integration technology in their learning. But, this was not independently, there was ongoing assistance to all students. For example, both teachers ‘M’ and ‘R’ allowed their students to use and apply technology individuals.

Discussion

In this study, support has been employed as a sign that the school sponsors a culture of technology integration in teaching. Most of the teachers said that support has a direct impact on technology integration in their teaching. In addition, most of the teachers who have received support from their schools have a desire to technology integration more than teachers who have not received any support from their schools.

Furthermore, most teachers have indicated that support is a positive factor to influence on the teacher’s integration of technology in teaching, especially if this support has been associated with motivation, encouragement and reward. However, if such support is not related to them, the factor is negative.

Limitations Of The Study

A primary limitation of this study was the small sample. Therefore, it might have limitations for this study in terms of generalizability. However, the issue of difficulty in generalising findings from a small sample study.

Conclusion

The aim of this paper is to explore teacher support factor influencing technology integration in Social Studies teaching in this study, the participants were five teachers from five Jordanian schools.

This study will provide guidelines for policymakers in the Jordanian Ministry of Education. As well as the researcher found, through this study that all answers by the teachers were given unanimously, that the support factor was one of the most important factors that affected the technology integration in their teaching.

Most of teachers were able to integrate technology, pedagogy, and content effectively. They were able to engage their students in the knowledge of the content in a constructive way by involving them in educational activities, whether in individual or marital tasks and constantly following up with their students.

Recommendations

The Ministry of Education should intensity its efforts to develop teachers' technological levels through training on employing integration of technology in teaching, which would help all teachers to believe in the importance of technology. These courses should be linked to privileges and financial rewards to encourage teachers to employ technology integration constantly in teaching.

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