Information and Communication Technology Practices in Biology Teaching in Lesotho High Schools

Abstract

Information and communication technology (ICT) has never been more important in schools than in the current context of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many more teachers to use ICT for teaching, even in less resourced countries such as Lesotho. In this quantitative study, teachers’ ICT practices in Lesotho during the year 2020 were examined through the lens of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). The objectives were to investigate the ICT tools that teachers commonly use, describe the practices that characterize the patterns of use, and determine the correlation between teachers’ practices and their use of ICTs for teaching. Altogether, 107 respondents, selected by a systematic probability sampling technique, completed a five-point Likert scale questionnaire comprising closed-ended items that explored their practices on ICT use for teaching the subject of biology. Data were analyzed for frequencies, means, and standard deviations using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program. The results indicated that biology teachers in Lesotho use ICTs rather sporadically in their teaching and are consequently ill-prepared to adapt to and mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on schooling in Lesotho. The study concluded that teachers’ ICT practices are inclined towards supporting more traditional and teacher-centered approaches that rely on face-to-face teaching and learning, with most schools thus remaining closed during the pandemic. The study makes recommendations about the possible ways in which biology teachers in particular could be better prepared to specifically use ICT to teach biology either online or as part of a face-to-face classroom.