PERCEPTION OF TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS ON ICT INTEGRATION IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM IN KITUI COUNTY, KENYA

The role of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) in education cannot be over stressed. There is a paradigm shift in many developing countries by taking drastic measures in investing heavily on ICT integration in education. Kenya is one of these countries. This paper is a report of a study that was undertaken in the year 2016 on the perception of teachers and principals on ICT integration in the public primary school curriculum in Kitui County in Kenya. This study was guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). It was informed by the pragmatic philosophy and the Mixed Method (MM) research approach. Data was collected from principals and teachers in 388 public primary schools in Kitui County selected through stratified and simple random sampling methods. A total of 388 principals and 776 teachers participated in the study giving a total of 1114 respondents. The research instruments used were questionnaires for teachers and interview schedules for principals. The data collected was analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. The results showed that ICT was perceived as an important tool in improving performance, collaboration, learning experiences and learning outcomes. The perception held by the principals and the teachers who took part in the study on ICT integration in the primary school curriculum was positive. This can be attributed to the fact that the Kenyan government has been creating awareness about introduction of laptops as a learning resource in primary schools and generally on the integration of ICT in education. The principals and teachers have been taken through the awareness programmes. The study recommended that the government should continue with its efforts on ICT integration in education given the positive perception of the teachers on the benefits of ICT in the instructional process. Teachers’ perceptions towards ICT integration in education is a significant factor in the implementation of technology related innovations. It is hoped that this study will be useful in education policy making on ICT integration in education in Kenya and other parts of the world.  Article visualizations