Assessment of the Benefits of ICT Integration in Teaching Kiswahili in Public Primary Teachers’ Colleges in Kenya, the Case of Rift Valley Region

Abstract

This paper is a report of a study carried out in 2017 in Public Primary Teachers,’ Colleges (PTCs) in Kenya, Rift Valley Region. The study sought to establish the benefits of application of ICT in the teaching of Kiswahili and was guided by Social Cultural Theory (SCT). The inquiry employed sequential mixed methods design and pragmatic philosophical paradigm. Purposive sampling was used to select five PTCs, 36 tutors, all second year student teachers, five Deans of Curriculum and Director e-Learning at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD); stratified random sampling was used to get 232 student teachers from the colleges. Data was collected using questionnaire, structured observation and interview schedule. Quantitative data was analyzed descriptively, presented using tables and bar graphs in frequencies and percentages while qualitative data was analyzed and presented in themes. The investigation found that student teachers are able to have a new dimension of doing things, retain knowledge, get updated knowledge and learning becomes easier and fun, they are motivated to apply technology and emulate the tutors’, coverage of course content was fast. To achieve the benefits KICD should engage Kiswahili experts and also tutors to develop ICT Kiswahili content in soft copy, that can be disseminated to the PTCs for the tutors’ to integrate. These include DVDs in all Kiswahili topics, e books, and hyperlinks on various topics.