FACTORS AFFECTING THE USE OF TECHNOLOGICAL TOOLS AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN TEACHING CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN BENIN METROPOLIS

ABSTRACT

This research work is on the Factors affecting  use of technological tools among primary school teachers in teaching children with disabilities in Benin Metropolis. The aim of the study is to; Examine the commonly used technological tools used in teaching pupils with disability among primary school teachers in Benin Metropolis. Examine if primary school teachers differ in the use of technological tools in teaching pupils with disability based on educational qualification in Benin Metropolis. Examine if primary school teachers differ in the use of technological tools in teaching pupils with disability based on teacher’s sex. Examine if primary school teachers differ in the use of technological tools in teaching pupils with disability based on teaching experience.  

Descriptive research design was used for the study and the population of the study comprised of 50 teachers selected from four primary schools in Benin Metropolis. The study adopted the entire population of 50 primary school teachers in four selected schools in Benin Metropolis as a sample size.   Five research questions were raised and three hypothesis were raised also which are; What are the commonly used technological tools among primary school teachers in teaching pupils with disabilities in Benin Metropolis. Do primary school teachers differ in the use of technological tools in teaching pupils with disability in Benin Metropolis based on educational qualification. Do primary school teachers differ in the use of technological tools in teaching pupils with disability in Benin Metropolis based on teachers sex. Do primary school teacher differ in the use of technological tools in teaching pupils with disability in Benin Metropolis based on teaching experience.  And the hypothesis; Primary school teachers do not differ significantly in the use of technological tools in teaching pupils with disability in Benin Metropolis based educational qualification. Primary school teachers do not differ significantly in the use of technological tools in teaching pupils with disability in Benin metropolis based on teachers sex. Primary school teachers do not differ significantly in the use of technological tools in teaching pupils with disability in Benin Metropolis based on teaching experience. The instrument used in this study for data collection is an adapted instrument from Konca (2015) titled “Factors Affecting The Use Of Technological Tools scale Questionnaire (FAUTTS). The questionnaire was a 4-point Likert scale response of Strongly Agree (SA=4), Agree (A=3), Strongly Disagree (SD=2), Disagree (D=1). The questionnaire consists of 13 items. The minimum and maximum scores are 13 and 52 respectively. The research instrument was validated by the project supervisor and two other experts in the Department of Educational Evaluation and counselling Psychology to confirm for content validity. The reliability of the instrument was determined by applying the Cronbach’s  Alpha reliability method. The reliability coefficient obtained indicate the reliability coefficient 0.66. Descriptive statistics such as frequency count, percentage was used to answer research question 1. Mean, and standard deviation will be user to answer research questions 2, 3 and 4. Hypothesis 1 and 3 will be tested using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). While hypothesis 2 will be answered using independent sample T-test at 0.05 level of significance.

Findings emerged that primary school teachers use tools such as interactive whiteboards, hearing aids and braille typewriters to support pupils with disability. It was also revealed that special education teachers in Benin Metropolis use technological tools to teach pupils with disabilities at a similar rate regardless of their educational qualifications. It was also discovered that both female and male primary school special education teachers in Benin Metropolis use technological  tools at similar rates to teach pupils with disabilities. The following recommendation were suggested that government should continue and expand professional development opportunities to ensure all teachers remain updated on the latest technological tools and teaching method. Maintain and improving the equitable distribution of technological resources across schools to ensure that all teachers, regardless of their background have access to the necessary tools to support pupils with disabilities effectively. Fostering a culture of collaboration among teachers to share best practices and innovative used of technology. Edo state Government should provide technological tools for special teachers in Benin Metropolis.