ICT Integration in Ethiopian High Schools

The purpose of this research is to describe the status of ICT integration in Ethiopian high schools. Ethiopian government invested millions of dollars every year to purchase of ICT devices and provide short term ICT training for teachers. However, the impact of this initiative was not systematically assessed whether it brings the expected impact on the quality of education. In other words, if teachers integrate ICT with pedagogy (use ICT to deliver instructions in the classroom), it is assumed that ICT is used to improve the quality of education. The research was undertaken using descriptive research method. For data collection, questionnaire, one to one interview, focused group discussion and classroom observation was used. The participants of the study include teachers, students, vice directors for teachers’ professional development, ICT technicians, and ICT4E and teachers professional development experts. During the study, 600 teachers, 120 students, 30 directors, 30 ICT technicians and 12 regional ICT4E and teachers professional development experts and four ICT4E expert at the federal level were involved The data was analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. There are two basic type of ICT devices used in the school, namely Plasma TV and computers. Plasma TV was introduced as instructional delivery tools. The main finding of the research is that ICT is still at a lower stage of integration. Although the Plasma was intended to enrich the classroom instruction with technology, almost in 50% of the schools, it is not used because of timely maintenance and power interruption. Computers are mainly used for teaching basic computer skills. Very few teachers try to use computers to enrich their instruction in the classroom. This is done by the individual teacher’s initiative. There is no school level vision how ICT is used for pedagogical application. The study concludes that ICT integration in the schools require careful planning that considers contextual factors such as availability of electricity, availability of ICT technicians, availability of adequate budget to maintain existing devices and buy new devices, good ICT pedagogical knowledge and overall ICT strategy plan to integrate in the schools. In the Ethiopian case, there is no well articulated and detailed plan how ICT is integrated and specific expected benefits to be achieved rather than stating general benefits adopted from the literature