Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 33, pp 35/54 2008
School Administrators' Perceptions of their Roles Regarding Information Technology Classrooms
Sadegül Akbaba-Altun* Melih Derya Gürer** Suggested Citation:
Akbaba-Altun, S. & Gürer, M. D. (2008). School administrators' perceptions of their roles regarding information technology classrooms. Egitim Arastirmalari-Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 33, 35-54.
Abstract
Problem Statement: It is a well-documented fact that school administrators have a crucial role in the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) in education and in the effective and efficient use of ICT for educational purposes. In the Turkish educational system, school administrators have important roles and duties regarding the integration of information technology (IT) classrooms (which are established through the Basic Education Project) for instruction and learning, for the utilization of the equipment in those classrooms, and for the utilization of those equipment in the classes by the community. The question arises, how do school administrators perceive their own roles regarding information technology classrooms? And what influences those perceptions? Purpose of the study: This study aimed to determine how the school administrators themselves perceive their roles regarding information technology classrooms, and whether school administrators’ levels of perception differ according to their gender, education, amount of in-service training in which they participate, job experience, and level of computer ability. Data Collection and Analysis: Data was collected through an instrument developed by the researchers. After the validity and reliability study of the instrument, the instrument was sent to all primary school administrators whose schools have IT classrooms in Ordu province to determine the perceptions of school administrators of the Ordu province regarding their roles in IT classrooms. Of those administrators, 100 completed the instrument and returned it to the researchers. The mean scores and the standard deviation were computed. To analyze the data, the MannWhitney U-Test and Kruskal-Wallis tests were employed. Findings: The dimensions of the roles of administrators regarding IT classrooms are staff development, communication, facilitator, maintenance
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Assoc. Prof. Dr., Başkent University, Faculty of Education, akbabas@baskent.edu.tr M.A., Abant İzzet Baysal University, Faculty of Education, gurer_m@ibu.edu.tr
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of the infrastructure, ergonomics, supervision, leadership, public relations, mentoring, empowerment, and ethics. There was no significant difference in the mean scores of the perception levels of school administrators according to their gender, employment, education, job experience, amount of in-service training in which they participated, and perceived computer ability. Recommendations: It is suggested as further study that the relationship between school principals’ perceptions of roles regarding IT classrooms and their realization level should be investigated. Keywords: School principals, Information Technology Classrooms, Perceptions, Basic Education Programme.