PanAf – Ghana Phase 1 Research Report / Results / Recommendations

Introduction to research team Partner institution: University of Education, Winneba, Ghana Focal Point: Prof. D. K. Mereku, Ph.D. Primary Researcher: Issifu Yidana, Ph.D. Secondary Researcher: Mr. Wisdom Hordzi Others in Research Team / Assistants – Messrs: J. B. Williams, I. Tete-Mensah, T. Akorlie – Mrs. W. Tete-Mensah

Overview of Participating Schools Institution Size ( Females % )*Level/Type Mixed/ Single- sex Type of Location University of Education, Winneba, Winneba 24, 982 (36%) Teacher Training (advanced/ Public ) MixedUrban Senior High Secondary- Technical, Obrachire 810 (39%) Secondary/Techni cal (upper/ Public ) Mixed Non- urban Asuasi Technical Institute, Asuasi 647 (2.6%) Secondary/Techni cal (upper/ Public ) Single- sex (mixed) Non- urban Ayirebi Junior High, Akyem-Ayirebi 200 (41%) Secondary (lower/ Public )- Mixed Non- urban Tamale Senior High Secondary School, Tamale 1,794 (28%) Secondary (upper/ Public ) MixedUrban

Overview of Results General state of pedagogical integration of ICTs – State of integration in Ghana is low – Impact on Educators/Learners could not be established as very few teachers actually use ICT – No examples of ICT-based productions by learners were obtained, because many schools still lack computer accessories Highlighted successes in pedagogical integration of ICTs – limited impact was observed in educators and learners involved in department-based ICT courses (Math, Music, Arts, ICTE, ICT); FM Radio Lectures

Overview of Research Results (Contd) Specific challenges in pedagogical integration of ICTs – Limited ICT facilities and resources (Computers, Accessories, and multimedia digital Equipment); high students per computer ratios – Limited access time for student ICT use – Unreliable power supply and poor maintenance culture, resulting in high down-time of equipment – Lack of efficient connectivity, Limited Internet Connectivity – Lack of management support, motivation and incentives for innovative educators – Lack of computers and presentation equipment in classrooms – Lack of Subject-based Software – Lack of institutional ICT Policies

Data Analysis Policy – Vision 2015 Thrusting Ghana into a middle income country – ICT4AD (2003) Development and deployment of ICTs to modernize the educational system of Ghana – Anamuah-Mensah’s Educational Review Committee Report (2006) – ICT in Education Policy (2006) – e-Readiness assessment of second cycle institutions in Ghana Report (2009)

Data Analysis (cont’d) Access to / connectivity of computers in schools – Inadéquate & obsolète stand-alone PCs, no/unreliable Internet connectivity Pedagogical use of ICTs by educators/learners – Educators of across the curriculum, except the Core ICT course, did not use ICTs for instruction – No examples of ICT-based productions by learners were obtained, because many schools still lack computer accessories and use obsolete computers (low speed and storage capacities) Tertiary Level – Some limited impact was observed in educators and learners involved in department-based ICT courses (Math, Music, Arts, ICTE, ICT); FM Radio Lectures

Data Analysis (cont’d) Reported impact of ICTs on teaching / learning – Impact on Educators could not be established as very few teachers actually use ICT in their instruction – Impact was minimal at the tertiary level, based on Academic Departments’ innovativeness Managerial use / impact of ICTs – Largely in processing and storage of students and personnel data and information (Admissions, Student Academic Records, Personnel Records, Payroll, etc)

Data Analysis (cont’d) Themes of particular interest (gender, language, special needs) – At the tertiary level, a proportional gap of 0.56 was observed for male/female learners’ ICT use (average hours/week) for academic purposes in favour of males – At the tertiary level, male educators’ average ICT use for academic purposes was three times that of female educators (8:24) – For educators at the secondary level, not much difference was observed between female and male, since ICT is not generally being used across the curriculum – No significant impact of native language on ICT use by Educators/Learners Other results to highlight: Continuing TPD Activities Pre-tertiary level, under 5% of female educators had TPD activities not exceeding 50 hours (overall was 10%) Tertiary Level, almost all the female educators had up to 50 hours of TPD activities

Policy Dialogue Overview of policy dialogue workshop – Participants, Objectives, Presentation, Group Discussions Recommendations ensuing from policy dialogue workshop – Ghana Education Service (GES) should establish a reward system to recognize innovative teachers who use ICT – The Ministries of Education (MOE) and Communication (MOC) should collaborate to assist educators to acquire their own computers – MOE, GES & Schools Management should make budgetary allocations annually to acquire, maintain, replace, and expand ICT facilities and resources in schools – Continuing TPD programmes should be made formal in institutions to equip educators with skills and knowledge in ICT Integration; and interactive tutorial packages should be developed to facilitate this process.

Policy Dialogue (Contd) Next steps (how the dialogue will continue) – Find means and strategies to support heads of institution to address identified challenges – Identify software packages that can be adopted for teaching the core subjects at various levels (Mathematics, Science, English Language, & Social Studies) – Design model lessons that use appropriate modern instructional strategies (e.g., PBL, IBL, Connected Learning, and Authentic Assessment models) and develop these into multimedia packages (CDROMs) to guide formal TPD programmes

Conclusion Review successes and challenges in the pedagogical integration of ICTs – The contextual conditions that facilitate ICT integration and use by educators were inadequate – Not much can be said about successes What does this say about the country’s education system more generally? – Generally, the e-Readiness across all educational levels in Ghana is low; – Some tertiary and private insitutions have started making serious efforts to address the challenges in the pedagogical integration of ICTs

Conclusion (cont’d) What recommendations (supported by the data) for change to ICT4ED policy and practice? 1.Identify, in the various subjects, specific content areas where ICT tools (hardware/software) can be integrated into the teaching and learning processes 2.Select four core courses (Mathematics, English Language, Integrated Science, and Social Studies) to determine which software packages can be used to teach these subjects and train teachers to use them 3.Design model lessons that use appropriate modern instructional strategies (i.e. those that facilitate and meet the diverse learning styles and needs of digital learners) and develop these into multimedia packages (CDROMs) to guide formal TPD programmes 4.Review pre-service programmes to equip trainees with skills and knowledge to effectively Integrate ICT in their instructional activities

Conclusion (cont’d) What is missing in order to substantially improve teaching and learning through ICTs? – National minimum ICT standards and benchmarks – ICT policy at the institutional level – ICT focused teacher education curriculum (both pre- & in- service), which emphasises Subject-based software multimedia packages using modern instructional strategies interactive tutorials for TPD of teachers

PanAf Phase 2 General reflections on scientific publication – The PanAF data on the observatory could used to write refereed papers for dissémination of findings to the general readership/community – Postgraduate students should be encouraged to replicate the study in other schools General reflections on potential partnerships – PaNAf/Sponsors, ERNWACA, UEW, MOE/GES, MOC & ICT Service Providers could collaborate to address the myriad of challenges in the pedagogical integration of ICTs General reflections on additional research – Follow-up intervention, using phase 1 participating institutions (Helping these institutions to address some of the challenges)