Research Article

Arab Pre-service Teachers’ Perspectives on the Role of ICT in Learning and beyond School

Amgad Ali Seif 1 *
More Detail
1 Al-Qasemi Academic College of Education, ISRAEL* Corresponding Author
European Journal of Interactive Multimedia and Education, 1(2), July 2020, e02008, https://doi.org/10.30935/ejimed/9138
Submitted: 16 May 2020, Published: 04 November 2020
OPEN ACCESS   1716 Views   1013 Downloads
Download Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

This study was necessitated by the paucity of the data on the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in the Arab education system in Israel. The study was conducted as a cross-sectional survey among novice students from the three Arab teacher training colleges. The aim of the survey was to examine whether students’ perceptions reflect the skills associated with the concepts of digital competence and higher order thinking skills (HOTS). Data were collected through the closed-item and mixed-item questionnaires. Open-ended items had also the purpose to examine participants’ reasoning skills. The results of the pilot showed good internal reliability for a closed-item questionnaire (α < 0.72) and for a mixed-item one (α < 0.76). Both quantitative and qualitative results suggested that the majority of participants understood the relevance of ICT to their learning and other areas of life and demonstrated safe and responsible use of ICT. The findings suggested that participants were less skilled in the areas of independent learning, teamwork, and developing creativity through digital tools. The results of this survey gathered baseline information for further investigations intended to examine pre-service teachers’ digital competence and develop intervention measures.
Keywords: digital competence, higher order thinking, reasoning skills, ICT, Arab pre-service teachers, Israeli education

CITATION (APA)

Seif, A. A. (2020). Arab Pre-service Teachers’ Perspectives on the Role of ICT in Learning and beyond School. European Journal of Interactive Multimedia and Education, 1(2), e02008. https://doi.org/10.30935/ejimed/9138

REFERENCES

  1. Abed, A., & Dori, Y. J. (2013). Inquiry, chemistry understanding levels, and bilingual learning. Educación Química, 24(1), 37-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0187-893X(13)73193-8
  2. Abu-Asbah, K. (2012). The Arab education in Israel: Dilemmas of a national minority. Jerusalem: The Floersheimer Institute for Policy Studies.
  3. Adler, R. F., & Kim, H. (2018). Enhancing future K-8 teachers’ computational thinking skills through modeling and simulations. Education and Information Technologies, 3(4), 1501-1514. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-017-9675-1
  4. Akshir Ab Kadir, M. (2017). What Teacher Knowledge Matters in Effectively Developing Critical Thinkers in the 21st Century Curriculum? Thinking Skills and Creativity, 23, 79-90 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2016.10.011
  5. Barak, M., & Levenberg, A. (2016). Flexible: An individual differences thinking in learning measure for learning in technology-enhanced environments. Computers & Education, 99, 39-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.04.003
  6. Baya’a, N., Daher, W., Jaber, O., & Anabousy, A. (2018). Educating pre-service teachers in metacognitive activities. In H. J. Weigand, A. Clark-Wilson, & A. Donevska-Todorova (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fifth ERME Topic Conference - Mathematics Education in the Digital Age MEDA (pp. 35-43). Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen.
  7. Ben David-Kolikant, Y. (2010). Digital natives, better learners? Students’ beliefs about how the internet influenced their ability to learn. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(6), 1384-1391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.04.012
  8. Blass, N. (2019). A glance at the education system. Jerusalem: Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel. [Hebrew].
  9. Bodily, R., Leary, H., & West, R. E. (2019). Research trends in instructional design and technology journals. British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(1), 64-79. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12712
  10. Bouygues, H. L. (2019). Does educational technology help students learn? Retrieved from: https://reboot-foundation.org/wp-content/uploads/_docs/ED_TECH_ANALYSIS.pdf
  11. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2012). Thematic analysis. In H. Cooper, P. M. Camic, D. L. Long, A. T. Panter, D. Rindskopf, & K. J. Sher (Eds.), APA handbook of research methods in psychology, Vol. 2, (pp. 57-71). American Psychological Association.
  12. Caldwell, H., & Heaton, R. (2016). The interdisciplinary use of blogs and online communities in teacher education. International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, 33(3), 142-158. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJILT-01-2016-0006
  13. Carretero, S., Vuorikari, R., & Punie, Y. (2017). DigComp 2.1: The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens with eight proficiency levels and examples of use. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
  14. Dkeidek, I., Mamlok-Naaman, R., & Hofstein, A. (2010). Effect of culture on high school students’ question-asking ability resulting from an inquiry-oriented chemistry laboratory. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 9(6), 1305-1331. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-010-9261-0
  15. Edwards, L. (2016, November-December). Education, technology and higher order thinking skills. Paper presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Conference. Melbourne, Victoria.
  16. European Commission (2018). Commission staff working document. Proposal for a council recommendation on key competences for lifelong learning. Retrieved from: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52018SC0014&from=EN
  17. Facione, P. A. (2011) Think critically. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Pearson Education.
  18. Figueiredo, J., & García-Peñalvo, F. J. (2017). Improving computational thinking using follow and give instructions. In J. M. Dodero, M. S. I. Sáiz, & I. R. Rube (Eds.), Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality (TEEM 2017) (pp.1-7), New York, NY: ACM.
  19. Fraillon, J., Ainley, J., Schulz, W., Duckworth, D., & Friedman, T. (2018). IEA International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2018 Assessment Framework. Amsterdam: Springer Open.
  20. Hardy, M., & Bryman, A. (2004). Handbook of data analysis. London: Thousand Oaks.
  21. Kearney, M., & Maher, D. (2019). Mobile learning in pre-service teacher education: Examining the use of professional learning networks. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 35(1), 135-148. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.4073
  22. Ku, K. Y. L. (2009). Assessing students’ critical thinking performance: urging for measurements using multi-response format. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 4(1), 70-76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2009.02.001
  23. Lavrakas, P. J. (2008). Encyclopedia of survey research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
  24. Merdler, M., & Peled, Y. (2016). Tendencies and preferences of choosing information sources in academic learning: A Case of native Hebrew and native Arabic speakers in Israel. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 6(1), 39-47. https://doi.org/10.5901/jesr.2016.v6n1p39
  25. Ono Academic College (n.d.). A questionnaire for examining students’ opinions on learning in the technology-based constructivist environment. Retrieved from: https://sites.google.com/site/mlaseminarproject/quest [Hebrew].
  26. Perkins. D. N., & Tishman, S. (2001). Dispositional aspects of intelligence. In S. Messick, & J. M. Collis (Eds.), Intelligence and personality: Bridging the gap in theory and measurement (pp. 233-257). Maweh, NJ: Erlbaum.
  27. Pieterse, E., Santo, Z., & Grinberg, R. (2018). A multicultural approach to digital information literacy skills evaluation in an Israeli college. In: Y. Eshet-Alkalai, I. Blau, A., Caspi, N. Geri, & Y. Kalman (Eds.), Proceedings of the 18th Chais Conference for the Study of Innovation and Learning Technologies: Learning in the Technological Era (pp. 174-183). Raanana: The Open University of Israel. [Hebrew].
  28. Ran, E. (2018). Desirable changes of learning materials in the education system in the 21st century. Tel-Aviv: The Mofet Institute. [Hebrew].
  29. Rohatgi, A., Scherer, R., & Hatlevik, O. E. (2016). The role of ICT self-efficacy for students’ ICT use and their achievement in a computer and information literacy test. Computers & Education, 102(1), 103-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.08.001
  30. Seif, A. (2017). Developing higher order thinking skills of Arab high school students in Israel (Doctoral dissertation). University of Derby, Derby, UK. Retrieved from http://derby.openrepository.com/derby/handle/10545/621587
  31. Seif, A. (2019). Integration of higher order thinking skills into the Arab education system in Israel: a general perspective. Italian Journal of Sociology of Education, 11(3), 304-326. https://doi.org/10.14658/pupj-ijse-2019-3-17
  32. Silverman, D. (2013). Doing qualitative research: a practical handbook. London: Sage.
  33. Subran, D. (2013, April). Developing higher-order thinking with ICT. Paper presented at the Biennial Conference of the University of the West Indies Schools of Education. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.
  34. Taber, K. S. (2018). The use of Cronbach’s Alpha when developing and reporting research instruments in science education. Research in Science Education, 48(6), 1273-1296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-016-9602-2
  35. Totari, M. (2009). The needs of Arab students in teacher training college and level of their adaptation to academic life. Kiryat Tivon: Oranim Teacher College. [Hebrew].
  36. Voogt, J., & McKenney, S. (2017). TPACK in teacher education: are we preparing teachers to use technology for early literacy? Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 26(1), 69-83. https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2016.1174730
  37. Webster-Wright, A. (2010). Making a difference through learning at work: Authentic professional learning. London, New York: Springer.
  38. Weiss, R. (2010). A study of processes leading to the practical and professional development for critical thinking skills among B. A. students of business administration (Doctoral dissertation). University of Derby, Derby, UK. Retrieved from http://derby.openrepository.com/derby/handle/10545/621587
  39. Winer, D. (2018). Israel: country report on ICT in education. Brussels: European Schoolnet (EUN).
  40. Wininger, A. (2018). The Arab education at a glance. Jerusalem: The Knesset. The Information and Research Center. [Hebrew].
  41. Wolf, L. (2014). Learning assessments in Israeli’s schools: Beyond controversy and towards best practice. Washington DC: GIIS-The Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies, University of Maryland.
  42. Yoad, T. (Ed.) (2009). Higher order thinking strategies: guiding document for national and local curriculum planners and for developers of learning resources. Jerusalem: Ministry of Education, Pedagogical Secretary, Division for Planning and Development of Curricula. [Hebrew].
  43. Zidan, W.S., & Ganayem, A. N. (2018). Technology, education and cultural differences. Tel Aviv: The Mofet Institute. [Hebrew].