Cele, Sibuko S.
Abstract:
Many claims have been made in the literature about the motivational effects of Information
and Communication Technologies (ICT) on learners, leading them to have a positive
perception towards their work, spend longer periods on tasks and be more committed to their
learning. The author of the present study has utilized their previous research evidence of
motivation and the results of other previous projects to investigate the factors which motivate
educators to use ICT. This project was initiated to investigate the educator's perception,
which has contributed to the continued use of ICT, by educators experienced in using it for
teaching. The evidence discussed in this paper was collected through a literature search,
educator documents, educators' reports or observations and interviews. Weiner's analysis of
motivation research and cognitivists theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour have
been used as a basis for the analysis of the results.
Research findings show that the motivational factors which correlated most positively with
the use of ICT were: perceived ability to use Information Technology (IT); level of resources
available and their satisfaction with IT; and whether using IT in teaching is considered to be
interesting, valuable and enjoyable. The most significant negative factor was difficulties
experienced in using IT. Researcher also found that a whole range of other perception factors
attributed by the educators to using ICT. Such as: making the lessons more interesting for the
educator, increasing learners' motivation, improving presentation of materials, making the
teaching more enjoyable, improving the content of the lesson, and making the lessons more
fun for the learners, were considered by the educator respondents to contribute to the learners'
progress in learning.