ICT by Novice Female Teachers in Saudi Arabian Primary Schools: The Current Use and the Perceived Training Needs
Abstract: This paper reflects one part of a bigger PhD thesis that is being written up. The overall focus of this study is ICT in primary schools in Saudi Arabia, in particular the training of novice female primary school teachers to enable them to integrate ICT into their classrooms. A questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used in this phase to collect data. The findings revealed that the participants do suffer from a great gap in their knowledge and in the technical and pedagogical skills of using technology in teaching including the basics. It was also found that their use of technology currently is very low. The reasons behind that could be lack of access to technology, lack of training, and lack of time. The paper also presents some features of the participants’ desired training programme.