Teachers’ and students’ perceptions towards uptake of educational technologies in christian religious education in secondary schools in embu county, kenya

Abstract

Educational technologies are essential for facilitating the instructional process. Several frameworks to support their adoption have been implemented. However, integration of these technologies still lags due to perceptions from teachers and students which affects their uptake. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the correlation between teachers’ and students’ perceptions and the uptake of educational technologies in CRE in public secondary schools in Embu County, Kenya. A multi-stage sampling technique guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used to collect data from a sample of 300 students, 30 CRE teachers, and 10 principals for a descriptive cross-sectional survey study. Semi-Structured questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data which was analyzed using SPSS version 25 software. Inferential statistics, such as Pearson correlation, simple and multiple linear regression analysis, were computed alongside descriptive statistics, such as frequencies, percentages, and means. Thematic analysis was employed to obtain the measures schools implement to support uptake of educational technologies in CRE. Multiple linear regression was employed to assess factors influencing teachers’ and students’ perceptions. Additionally, Pearson correlation and simple linear regression analyses were conducted to analyze the correlation between teachers’ and students’ perceptions and the uptake of educational technologies. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients (α) for teachers’ and students’ questionnaires were 0.79 and 0.75 respectively. The results revealed that a lot of measures to support the uptake of educational technologies favored science and mathematics subjects compared to CRE. The factors influencing teachers’ perceptions such as time, skills, availability of technologies, school support, adaptability to technological changes, like attitude, training, and comfort did have an influence. However, the influence was not statistically significant at (.05) level attributed to the smaller sample size which impacted the statical power. Students’ factors showed that time, availability of technologies and like attitude significantly influenced their perceptions. On the contrary, skills, school and teachers’ support, adaptability to technological changes and training had insignificant effects on their perceptions. Relationship between perceptions and uptake, teachers’ results had an insignificant relationship (r= .142, p= .453) while students’ results revealed a weak positive relationship (r=.180, p= .02). Thus, the study recommends policies to foster the integration of educational technologies in CRE in public secondary schools tailored to teachers’ and students’ perceptions. Lastly, in-service, and pre-service training on educational technologies for CRE teachers should be conducted to upscale their perceptions.