Computer related competencies needed by secondary school teachers in Taiwan

Typescript (photocopy).The purpose of this study was to develop an inventory of core competencies in computer technology required of secondary school teachers, to provide decision-makers with an information base that could assist in the development of a computer-related curriculum for both preservice and inservice teacher training programs in Taiwan. More specifically, the objectives of this study were: (1) to establish a rank-ordered listing of computer related competencies required of secondary school teachers in Taiwan from 1985 through the year 2000, and (2) to determine if there were differences in the ratings assigned to the computer related competencies by classroom teachers, secondary school principals, teacher educators, and experts from government and industry. The Delphi method used to accomplish the stated objectives involved mailing a series of three questionnaires to a group of 48 computer educators selected from four computer education populations in Taiwan. Through the Delphi process 60 competency statements were generated. Based upon the analysis of the data collected, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) the Delphi panel members in computer education in Taiwan are very future-oriented; (2) the wide-ranging competency statements generated by the Delphi panel reflected the various philosophies brought together by this technique; (3) there were no significant differences in mean ratings among the four expert groups on 56 competencies (93.33%); (4) practicing teachers and principals feel a critical need to develop and/or improve skills in educational computing; (5) twenty-six of the 60 competencies were deemed as "extremely important" and "mandatory" for a secondary school teacher in Taiwan, 31 were considered as "of moderate importance" and "may be needed", and three competencies were considered as "not important" or "not needed". Based upon the research findings of this study, eight recommendations were made: (1) the computer competencies identified in this study should be integrated into teacher certification programs in Taiwan and reviewed to determine those that are preservice or inservice in nature; (2) strategies for assisting institutions to incorporate computer assisted instruction (CAI) opportunities into preservice teacher education courses should be developed; (3) a quantifiable measuring device should be developed to determine levels of attainment concerning these competencies; . . . (Author's abstract exceeds stipulated maximum length. Discontinued here with permission of author.) UM