A socio-technical understanding of information and communication technology (ICT) integration in education − a case study of three secondary schools in Mozambique.

Abstract

The implementation and use of Information and Communication Technology is seen as a vital strategy for boosting the educational sector (Glowa & Goodell, 2016; Kamei, 2015; Tolica, Sevrani, & Gorica, 2015). The integration of technology in education is associated with the promise of enhancing quality and efficiency in teaching and learning activities, particularly in developing countries. Monitoring and assessing the extent to which technology is integrated into the education system, so as to maximize the outcomes, affects decision-making processes. Moreover, the effective implementation of technology in the education sector must align with the contextual background, which involves political, cultural, technical, and social entities. An understanding of technology implementation in which the socio-technical context influences the acceptance and usage of technology is limited in Mozambique. A key aim of this thesis is to understand the effective implementation and use of technology in secondary schools in Mozambique, which is a developing country. In order to gain insight into the implications of this use, a blend of Actor Network Theory (ANT) and elements of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) have been employed to evaluate the process of technology integration into the education system as a package, in which the mutual dependence between the social and technical is highlighted. Maputo province in Mozambique was chosen as the site for this research. Both qualitative and quantitative data approaches were employed. Empirical data was drawn from three public secondary schools from different localities that comprise the research case study. For the contextualization of the research topic, data were collected by employing interview-based case studies, document analysis, observation, and a questionnaire-based survey to complement and explore the views of students and teachers. The findings revealed that technology implementation in secondary schools is a dynamic process which is impacted either positively or negatively by the surrounding contextual situation. The study emphasizes that the role of non-human actors such as the ICT curriculum guide, the time- table and the schools’ basic infrastructure and its relationship with human actors, such as the heads of schools, teachers, and students, is gradually shaped by technology and its related network entities. Therefore, acceptance and use of technology in the education system may be observed through a successful translation of technology into schoolwork practices. The thesis hopes to contribute to the theoretically based framework by providing an alternative perspective to research technology implementation in education, in which socio-technical assumptions are considered. The thesis captured salient actors in the integration of technology, both human and non-human, relevant to user acceptance and use of technology.