The Level of ICT Infrastructure as a Factor of ICT Integration in Greek High School Science Teaching

Abstract

This paper examines the extent to which the level of technological equipment affects the integration of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Greek high school science teaching. The limited ICT infrastructure environment, with only one computer‑projector system available and access to the internet (“PC‑VP” environment), is compared to the high level ICT environment (“1:1” environment) where, in addition to the computer‑projector system, each student has access to a computer and the internet. It is a study relying on a relatively small dataset derived from student answers to a questionnaire aiming to determine the degree to which some of the “expected” ICT benefits reach the students. The level of ICT integration is judged by the degree to which the ICT benefits reach the students. That is, the more the ICT benefits reach the students, the better – or the greater ‑ the ICT integration is. The participants were eighty‑nine, 14‑year‑old students who belonged in four different classes and the teacher who taught Physics in those classes. The SPSS non‑parametric "Man‑Whitney U Test" test was used to compare the statistical distributions of student answers. The results show that, when the applied teaching approach is used, the ICT integration is equally successful in both environments. This questions the idea of investing in “1:1" environments in the Greek public schools where less student centered and inquiry oriented teaching approaches are the norm. It also highlights the importance of the specific teaching approach as an ICT integration tool in “PC‑VP” environments that still exist in most Greek schools.