Integration of information and communication technology in teaching of science at lower secondary level (6-8) in a government school in urban Sindh

The use of information and communication technology (ICT) has been increasing worldwide for teaching of science in secondary schools. Also in Pakistan, ICT technologies are now applied in a number of the Private schools and the public sector intends to use it for teaching and learning. The review of research studies suggest that appropriate and effective use of ICTs technology enhances and adds value to students\u27 learning in science education. However, the existing use of ICTs in schools in Pakistan appears not to be up to the level of its capacity, consequently a limited impact on students\u27 learning. Teachers are central to the successful use of ICT resources in science teaching and any use successful integration depends on the teachers comfort level with its use. Therefore, exploring their perceptions and practices of integrating ICTs with teaching of science would help in understanding the existing situation, of ICTs use in schools, so that planning for integration may be made. This qualitative action research study was conducted in a government high school of Urban Sindh, Pakistan. Data from field notes, interviews, and document analysis were used to explore perceptions and practices of ICT Integration of three science teachers and one technology coordinator prior and post action research. There were a total of four interviews, one with each participant and four reflections on their learning from the workshop and observations. Prior to the intervention teachers perceived ICT integration as any kind of use of computers i.e. finding the information to enrich the textbook content or some lesson plans from the internet, integration of ICT is resources dependent and it\u27s very difficult to find out the reliable sources form the internet. From pre-intervention data, I inferred that without developing a participant teachers\u27 theoretical knowledge of teaching and learning of science with integration of ICT material, it would be difficult for me to help them understand the framework and process of the intervention stage of the intended research. Therefore, I decided to provide them with some reading material in order to develop their theoretical understanding of teaching of scientific concepts using ICT materials/resources. These readings helped participants to realize the importance of a few frameworks in sharpening their skills and understanding their role in developing the students\u27 scientific reasoning. They also gained some insights into planning and teaching of science concepts using appropriate ICT materials to teach science. As I mentioned earlier, teachers were thinking any use of computer as integration of ICT, I conducted a workshop of three days and provide them a basic training of use of ICT and about integration of ICT at suitable points and places in science lesson according to ABCD model (Anderson & Weert, 2002) Hence, focus of the workshop was to enable participants in finding and integrate suitable ICT material on suitable places in science lesson. After getting start from me, teacher get hands on the same procedure under guidance and at the end of workshop they were very much aware of using ICT material properly in specific science topic. The findings of this study reveal that a teacher\u27s selection of appropriate materials, meaningful questioning, and discussion with the students are vital for using ICT materials in teaching of science purposefully. Moreover, the exam-oriented teaching practices and a teacher\u27s accountability were found to be hindering factors in teaching and learning science with integration of ICT, as they influence both the teacher and students in terms of their motivation, interest, and efforts to teach science. Nevertheless, at the end of intervention teachers perception about integration of ICT (any use of computer is integration of ICT) and practices (use of internet to enrich textbook content) was somehow changed and they believe that Integration has a sense of completeness or wholeness, by which all essential elements of a system are seamlessly combined together to make a whole. In education, simply handing out to students a collection of websites or CD-ROM programs is certainly not ICT integration. In a properly crafted ICT integrated lesson, ICT and other crucial educational components such as content and pedagogy are molded into one entity. As a result, the quality of the lesson would somehow be diminished if the ICT ingredient were taken away from the ICT-integrated lesson