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ABSTRACT

    This study aims at investigating the extent to which the staff members in the teachers college in Riyadh have acquired some basic educational technology competencies in their work.

      For this reason, the researcher formulated the following questions:

1.     To what extent have the staff members in Al Riyadh Teachers College acquired the educational technology competencies that are specified in this study from their own perspective?

2.     How far  the staff members in Al Riyadh Teachers College utilize the educational technology competencies that are specified in this study  in their work from their own perspective?

3.     Are there any significant differences that can be attributed to qualifications differences among Al Riyadh Teachers College staff members with regard to the mastery level of the educational technology competencies specified in this study?

4.     Are there any significant differences that can be attributed to qualifications among  staff members in Al Riyadh Teachers College with regard to the extent to which they utilize the   educational technology competencies in their work?

To find answers to the above mentioned questions the researcher developed a questionnaire that included (51) educational technology competencies divided into( 6) main categories . After the validity and reliability of the questionnaire had been verified it was given to (150) staff members in Al Riyadh Teachers College  who were randomly chosen to represent different specialties , qualifications, nationalities , age groups and socio economic factors.

 Data analysis revealed the following:  

1.     The staff members in Al Riyadh Teachers College possess high mastery level of (42) educational technology competencies, and middle level of( 7) competencies.

2.     The  staff members in Al Riyadh Teachers College have high utilization level of (10) competencies , middle utilization level of (17) competencies and low utilization level of (10) competencies.

3.     There are no significant differences that can be attributed to qualification among Al Riyadh Teachers College staff members with regard to mastery of educational technology competences.

4.     There are significant differences in favor of Ph.d holders with regard to utilizing educational technology in their work.

      In light of the above-mentioned results the researcher recommended doing some further research, and offering training programs in the field of educational technology to staff members in AlRiyadh Teachers College.

Introduction

     The government of Saudi Arabia pays close attention to preparing teachers of all educational levels who are capable of teaching the new generations to cope with global changes and achieve prosperity and progress. For this reason ,it established schools of education in almost all the Saudi universities as well as 18 teachers college that belong to the Ministry of Education. These colleges are  trying hard to train big numbers of prospective teachers in all subjects and help them acquire the necessary teaching competences. 

     Among the necessary competences that all teachers should acquire are that of educational technology to be able to design, implement, and evaluate instruction in a systematic way that can lead to developing all aspects of the educational process.

        A review  of literature shows an agreement among educators  that educational technology can totally enhance education in any society and therefore, teachers should acquire all the necessary skills required for utilizing educational technology and making it an integral part of schools and university curricula .Among Arab educators who have such a view point are : Abu Gaber (1987) , Al Sabah (1994), Shawalb (1978), and Salama (2001).

       In order for staff members in teachers college to help prospective teachers acquire these competencies  and utilize them effectively in teaching, the staff members themselves should have these competences and utilize them in their work .

    A great deal of reports that issued from the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Education  however, as well as researches have pointed out that the reality of educational technology competences among staff members  are not satisfactory .

    In addition, the researcher as a staff member  in Al Riyadh Teachers College, noticed that the majority of staff members are having a hard time in this respect.

Problem of The Study

     For the above mentioned  reasons the researcher tried to investigate the extent to which the members in the teachers college in Riyadh have acquired the basic educational technology competencies  and how far they utilize these competencies in their work.

The present study therefore, tries to answer the following questions:

1.     To what extent have the staff members in Al Riyadh Teachers College acquired the educational technology competencies that are specified in the present study from their own perspective?

2.     How far the staff members in Al Riyadh Teachers College utilize the educational technology competencies that are specified in the  study in their work?

3.     Are there any significant differences that can be attributed to qualifications differences among Al Riyadh Teachers College staff members with regard to the mastery level of the  educational technology competencies specified in this study?

4.     Are there any significant differences that can be attributed to qualifications  among  staff members in Al Riyadh Teachers College with regard to the extent to which they utilize the   educational technology competencies in their work?

Importance of The Study

     For answering the study questions this study presents a list of educational technology competencies that are to be acquired by staff members in teachers college .

       This list may help staff members assess their own needs in educational technology and develop their skills.

      It also helps researchers and decision makers in assessing staff  members educational technology competencies and taking the necessary measures to overcome any possible problems in this area.

    The study results might shade light on some facts of importance to everybody who is interested in this area of research, as well as to authorities wishing to enhance the educational process in teachers colleges.

Definition of Terms

1.     Educational technology competencies:

A group of abilities, skills, and attitudes that staff members in teacher colleges should acquire and utilize in the field of educational technology for designing ,implementing, and evaluating instruction in a way that maximizes the effectiveness of teaching and learning.

2.     Utilization level of instructional technology competencies:

How far the instructional technology competencies are utilized by the staff member in his work. This is represented as high, middle, low rates of utilization.

3.     Qualifications:

The highest certificate which the staff member has got .

4.     Educational experience:

The exact period which the staff member has spent in teaching in the teachers colleges.

Limitations of The Study 

·       This study was conducted on only staff members in the teachers college in Riyadh.

·       The data collected represents only the view point of the staff members in the teachers college in Riyadh regarding their own educational technology competencies.

Previous Studies

     The previous studies referred to in this research are divided into three categories:

1.     Foreign studies.

2.     Arab studies.

3.     Saudi studies.

Foreign Studies                            

1.     Clay,(1994) conducted a study which aimed at identifying the educational technology competences among 164 junior high school teachers who graduated in Bemidji university as well as 86 university staff members. The research used a questionnaire that included 33 competencies as specified by the International Association for Educational Technology.  The results indicated that the teachers' competencies were far behind the university staff expectations. The staff members competencies on the other hand ,were far behind the international standards.

2.     Speight,(1994)conducted a study to evaluate the educational technology competencies among138 teachers who studied in 9 different American universities. The results showed that the majority of teachers have acquired the necessary educational technology competencies. The teachers asserted the importance of their training programs and the necessity of achieving consistency   between the training programs in the American universities and the standards specified by the International Council for Teachers Training .

3.     Kim,(1993) conducted a study to investigate the extent to which the educational technology competencies are utilized by Korean teachers, and the importance of these competencies in enhancing the educational process in the Korean schools. In spite of the fact that the teachers appreciated the usefulness of educational technology in developing education, they haven't acquired the competencies and the majority of these teachers use only audio and video tapes in teaching.

4.     Clausen,(1992) tried to determine the American technology teachers' perception of the  necessary competences for success inside the classroom. A questionnaire that consisted of 109 items was sent to three groups of participants :   

·        Teacher trainers specialized in educational technology.

·        Teachers of educational technology.

·        Supervisors of educational technology.

 The participants agreed upon 12 educational technology   competencies and assured the importance of  such competencies for success inside the classroom.

Arab studies

       Al Sabah ,(1994)conducted a study on a sample of 309 male and female teachers in 28 public and private teachers colleges in Jordan. He used a questionnaire that consisted of 48 educational technology competencies grouped under four main sections: students personalities, planning, educational design, and evaluation.

The results of the study indicated the following:

1.     The teachers highly acquired 34 competencies,

2.     Utilize 9 competencies effectively ,

3.     17 competencies are of great importance to the teachers,

4.     29 competences are of middle importance to them,

5.     No significant differences attributed to gender existed with regard to acquiring and utilizing the competency,

6.     A significant positive correlation existed between acquiring the competency and utilizing it.

        Al Ghazawy& Al Tobagy(1991) conducted a study in Kuwait which aimed at identifying a list of teachers competencies in educational communication media which the teacher must acquire during his undergraduate training program .The sample consisted of 165 educational technology specialists in Kuwait The researcher used a questionnaire of 36 competencies specified under the following domains : (1) utilization , (2) design, (3) selection ,(4) production , (5) evaluation of educational communication media, (6)operation of educational equipments, (7) principles of perception, education and communication, (8) discipline, (9) services of educational communication unit, and (10)educational research in the field of educational communication.

The results of this study revealed the following:

1)          The utilization of educational communication media, the selection of media, and operating the equipments are the most important.

2)          Communication and systems, and educational research are the least important.

        The researcher referred these results to the fact that the more the competencies are related to the final objective i.e effective utilization of communication media, the more important they are. 

        Al Sharee(1996) conducted a study in the Arab Republic of Yemen to see how far the programs of preparing social studies teachers consider the educational and psychological principles of educational technology. The study sample included 22 teachers and 264 students in the Faculty of Education in Sanaa University. He used a questionnaire of 101 items representing  principles of educational technology that were divided into 7 main domains as follows : objectives, content, activities, evaluation methods, role of staff member, role of student and the learning environment .

The result showed the following :

1.     The educational and psychological principles of educational technology were considered only for a limited extent when designing teacher training programs .

2.     There were no significant differences that can be attributed to gender between the responses of staff members and the students'.

        Al Nagar (1997) studied the educational technology competencies of elementary school teachers in Jordan and their utilization of these competencies from their own perspective; considering the variables of stage, gender ,qualification,  and experience. His sample included 584 male and female teachers in Irbid region. He used a list of 70 competencies divided into three main domains :designing instruction,   educational communication media, and evaluation.

          The results revealed the following:

§        The teachers indicated that they acquire 62 high level competencies, 7 middle level competencies, and 1 low level competency.

§        The teachers indicated that they utilize 46 competencies to a big extent, 21 competencies to a middle extent ,and 3 competencies to a limited extent.

§        There were a positive significant differences between acquiring the competence and utilizing them.

§        There were no significant difference that can be attributed to stage, gender, or qualification with regard to acquiring the competencies.

§        There were significant differences that can be attributed to experience in favor of those who have long experience with regard to acquiring the competencies.