Factors militating against the use of information and communication technology in the teaching and learning of economics at advanced level in Gweru district.

Abstract

The research study sought to investigate the factors that are militating against the use of ICT in the teaching and learning of Economics at Advanced Level. The study was conducted in Gweru district. The researcher employed the descriptive survey research design and he selected a sample of five schools from the population which comprised of fifteen schools. The researcher used the simple random sampling and the stratified random sampling to select schools and students from the population. The data in the field was collected by means of the questionnaires, observations and interviews. Four Heads of Departments were interviewed and five Advanced level Economics teachers responded to the questionnaires and sixty Economics students also responded to questionnaires. The collected data was qualitatively and quantitatively presented, analyzed and discussed. The findings documented that there are several factors that are militating against the use of ICT in the teaching and learning of Economics students at Advanced level in Gweru district. The factors include shortages of ICT tools in schools, poor internet speed, lack of ICT skills in teachers, lack of support from the school administration and lack of funds to repair and purchase more ICT tools. The study strongly recommends the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to conduct ICT training workshops so as to ensure that all teachers are equipped with ICT skills and it should integrate ICT training courses in the teacher training programs. In addition, the government should also subsidies the cost of ICT tools so as to make them affordable to the schools and the government should also assist schools by donating computers.