Understanding perspectives of teachers in Thailand towards information and communication technologies integration in the classroom

The purpose of this research is to explore Thailand teachers’ perspectives towards the integration of ICTs into the teaching and learning process in order to better understand how teachers use technology for classroom instruction and their perceptions of the factors that influence their use of ICTs. The study applied Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA) approach to draw a systems thinking of teachers and to provide in-depth perspectives of teachers about their implementation of ICTs in the classroom. Eighteen computer teachers and twenty-two mathematics teachers participated in a focus group interview. Fifteen computer teachers and fourteen mathematics teachers were invited to participate in an individual interview. Results from the data analysis based on the IQA approach showed that teachers’ perspectives on their integration of ICTs encompassed several components including School management and administration, Content and curriculum, Teacher, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), Student, Environment, Time, and Parent or guardian. The results also revealed a systems thinking of teachers that showed the interrelationships of the affinities. The statistical analysis comparing the perceptions of two teachers groups showed that there was only one affinity, which was “Student”, found to be significantly different at the .049 level. This could be because of difference in teacher perceptions of students. For other affinities, the results showed that both groups of teachers did not perceive their work experiences in a significantly different way.