Computer Literacy and Competency Among Teachers

COMPUTER LITERACY AND COMPETENCY AMONG TEACHERS IN GITAGUM AND LIBERTAD MISAMIS ORIENTAL

CRIZLIE JANE B. ENOT
IAN P. MORENTE
Bachelor of Secondary Education
Major in Physics

Department of Science and Mathematics Education
College of Education
MSU – Iligan Institute of Technology
Iligan City

October 2013
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE
Introduction
For years, schools across the nation have been joining the technology revolution. Today, students have at least some form of technology available to them in school (Computer Literacy, Access and Use of Technology in the Family and Consumer Science Classroom, 2008). This trend is not likely to change, so there is an increasing need for teachers who are literate in the use of the various types of technology. Mason and McMorrow (2006) suggested there are two distinct components to computer literacy, awareness and competence. Awareness requires that a person have understanding of how computers affect their daily life or society as a whole, and competence requires that a person be able to exhibit a hands-on expertise with a software application. Both of these components should be evaluated when looking at computer literacy within the classroom setting.
While teachers are trying to implement new types of instructional technology into their classrooms, many of them are faced with barriers that hinder their attempts to advance. Beyond mere awareness and competence, anxieties, lack of training, and outdated equipment are barriers that teachers face on a daily basis (Computer Literacy, Access and Use of Technology in the Family and Consumer Science Classroom, 2008).
If the barriers teachers face are addressed, they will be able to fully integrate more technology into the classroom, thus providing students with a variety of learning opportunities and help them to become more “technologically prepared for the future” (Manley, Sweaney, & Valente, 2000, p.27).

Statement of the Problem
This study aims to assess public high school teachers in Gitagum and Libertad Misamis Oriental on computer literacy and competency skills. Specifically, this study desires to answer the following questions: What is the profile of the respondents in terms of the following: Age Gender Subject area taught Internet connection Computer access Number of years in service Number of ICT-related trainings attended What is the computer literacy level of the respondents? What are the frequency levels of Gitagum and Libertad public secondary teachers in terms of Word processing E-mail World wide web Database Spreadsheet Graphics Multimedia (audio and video) Language software (CD-ROM) Bookmarking Blogging Wiki Online discussing group Text chatting Video chatting Video conferencing Computer games What are the computer competency levels of Gitagum and Libertad public secondary teachers in terms of: Word processing Spreadsheet Database Multimedia presentation Wed design Web search engine Communication application

Is there a significant relationship between computer competency levels and Age Subject area taught Length of service Internet connection Computer access Number of ICT-related trainings attended What are the perceptions of the respondents on the use of computers in the classroom?

Null Hypothesis Ho: There is no significant relationship between computer competency level and the age.
Ho1: There is no significant relationship between computer competency level and the subject area taught.
Ho2: There is no significant relationship between computer competency level and the length of service
Ho3: There is no significant relationship between computer competency level and computer internet connection.
Ho4: There is no significant relationship between computer competency level and computer access.
Ho5: There is no significant relationship between computer competency level and number of ICT-training attended.

Significance of the Study
Computer literacy is one of the skills that a 21st century teachers must have to meet the demands of the changing world, especially the needs of the learners to make learning meaningful. The researchers urge into action to assess computer competency level of teachers in using technology as an innovative tool in teaching.
Once literacy is determined, then plans for addressing various types of training and workshops can be developed. By implementing different types of trainings, teachers will gain a better understanding of what technology is available for their use, how it can affect their classroom, and how to implement it into the daily lessons. These improved skills will help the teacher to more effectively teach important concepts to students, which in turn will help students to be more successful in their acquisition and application of learned knowledge.

Scope and Limitation of the Study
This study focuses on the computer literacy and competency of Gitagum and Libertad public secondary teachers. This study is limited only to the respondents who are officially employed in Gitagum National Comprehensive High School, Lourdes National High School, and Libertad Nationl High School in the school year 2013-2014.

Operational Definition of Terms
The researchers include the operational definition of terms used to help the readers attain better understanding of this study.
Computer literacy- is the knowledge and ability to use computers and technology efficiently.
Computer competency- refers to the application of knowledge and skills of the respondents on word processing, spreadsheet, database, multimedia presentation, web design, web search, engines, communication applications using adapted modified questionnaire from the study “Computer Literacy and Competency:A Survey of Indonesian Teachers of English as a Foreign Language” by Jeong-Bae Son, Thomas Robb and IndraCharismiadj.
Computer competency level- refers to the competency level of the respondent’s knowledge on word processing, spreadsheet, database, multimedia presentation, web design, web search, engines, and communication applications.
Frequency level- refers to number of times the respondents use the Word processing,
E-mail, World wide web, Database, Spreadsheet, Graphics, Multimedia (audio and video), Language software (CD-ROM), Concordancer, Blogging, Wiki, Online discussing group, Text chatting, Video chatting, Video conferencing and Computer games.
Alubijid teachers-refers to public secondary teacher respondents who are officially employed in Alubijid National Comprehensive High School and Lourdes National High School in the school year 2013-2014.
Laguindingan teachers- refers to public secondary teachers respondents who are officially employed in Laguindingan National High School in the school year 2013-2014.
Perception- refers to the attitudes of teachers towards using computers.

CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the methods and procedures that are used in conducting the study. It includes the subject of the study, locale, methods and techniques used in study, instruments used in gathering the data and statistical measures used in analyzing the data.

Locale of the Study The study is conducted in Gitagum and Libertad Misamis Oriental; the two public secondary schools in Gitagum namely Alubijid National Comprehensive High School which is located in the town proper and Lourdes National High School which is located in Barangay Lourdes, several kilometers away from the town. The Laguindingan National High School is situated in the town proper. Subject of the Study
The respondents of the study are the public secondary teachers from Alubijid National Comprehensive High School, Lourdes National High School andLaguindingan National High School and are officially employed in the school year 2013-2014.

Research Design A descriptive survey method of research with purposive sampling method is used in this study.

Data Gathering Procedure The researchers ask permission from the principals of Alubijid National Comprehensive High School, Lourdes National High School and Laguindingan National High Schooland for a list of officially employed teachers of their schools. The researchers make use of the adapted questionnaire on the computer literacy survey by Jeong-Bae Son, Thomas Robb and IndraCharismiadj.

Instruments Used in Gathering Data The researchers adapt the modified questionnaire from the study “Computer Literacy and Competency: A Survey of Indonesian Teachers of English as a Foreign Language” by Jeong-Bae Son,Thomas Robb and IndraCharismiadj.

Statistical Tools The following measurements are used in this study. Mean – is used to measure the magnitude of the competency in each category. This can be computed using the formula below:
Where: Xi - frequency Wi – degree of responses N – number of respondents x ̅=(∑▒〖W_1 X_1 〗)/N Percentage- is the portion of the respondents taken from the total number of respondents being represented.
Where: n – number of respondents with the particular attributes
N- total number of respondents
% = n x 100 % N

Chi-square- is used as a test for significant relationship between computer competency of the respondents in their age, subject taught and length of service, regular access to computer, computer internet connection, numbers of ICT-related trainings attended and to check if there is a significant relationship between Gitagum and libertad teachers on their computer competency levels. This can be computed using the formula below:

Where: O1 = observed frequency E1 = expected frequency