Perceptions of school managers on role of information and communication technology in educational management in public secondary schools in Kakamega County, Kenya

Abstract

Kenya is among those countries that have adopted the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as a vehicle for educational change and improvement. Use of ICTs is known for transforming the quality of management of educational institutions worldwide. The government has encouraged investment in ICTs through the provision of grants to selected secondary schools to acquire computers. Secondary schools in Kakamega County have been beneficiaries of these grants. However, information on how these ICTs were used in educational management in schools remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of school managers on role of ICTs in Educational Management in public secondary schools in Kakamega County. The study was guided by Rodgers Diffusion and Innovation Theory. Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The study population comprised of 360 Heads of Departments, 45 Principals and 45 Directors of Studies from 45 public secondary schools that had benefited from ICTs grant. Using Stratified, purposive and simple random sampling techniques, a representative sample of 161 respondents comprising of 23 Principals, 23 Directors of Studies and 115 Heads of Departments (HODs) was selected to participate in the study. Three questionnaires, one for each category of respondents were used to collect data. Validity of the instruments was determined through expert judgment. Cronbach Alpha was used to estimate the reliability of the instruments. From the pilot, HODs, DOS and principals instruments had a coefficient Alpha of 0.889, 0.904 and 0.952 respectively. These were greater than recommended value of 0.70 which is acceptable for research purposes in Social Science research thereby making these research instruments reliable. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Results showed that schools that received grants had a variety of ICT facilities such as desktop and laptop computers, printers, LCD projectors and internet facilities. The study further showed that these facilities were inadequate. However, over 60% of these schools had acquired additional facilities from their own resources to meet their needs. These facilities were used mainly in instructional management such as the analysis of examination results, preparing of students mark sheets, generating report cards and revision materials. Besides, ICT was also used in financial and general administrative management though on a lesser extent. It was found that majority of respondents had no formal academic training in the use of ICT but had gained literacy through experience outside the formal learning. All respondents had received short in-service training to equip them with skills on ICT use. The use of ICT in educational management had made the school management more efficient therefore beneficial in educational management. The study recommends that the government to incorporates ICT training in teacher training colleges and increase time duration for in service training to enhance their integration capacity in school management as it was inadequate which is reason for inadequate use of computers in schools. Stakeholders should also put more effort towards improving and equipping schools with ICT facilities. These findings are useful to school managers, Ministry of Education and other stakeholders in education who are interested in promoting ICT use in school management.