A survey of ICT Use in Teaching and Publications in Tehran's High Schools

Technology has a long history of enthusiasm followed by disuse in education but the computer seems to be gaining ever wider use, more than any of the previous technologies. The present research has investigated the application of information and communication technology in the smart schools and in publication of electronic textbooks. In this study, skills, interests, and use of ICT as well as its advantages and disadvantages were explored using views of schools’ principals, teachers, and students. A number of electronic publishers were also provided with questionnaire to state their views on use of ICT in publication. The sample comprised of principals, teachers and first grade high school students in five smart schools in Tehran. Available electronic publishers were also selected. A Separate questionnaire was prepared for each group on the basis of the constructs under the study(r= 0/86,0/61,and 0/87) respectively. Results showed that; from principal's point of view, the infrastructures and equipments to access information technology as well as programs for teachers’ training and upgrading is widely available. Teachers showed high interest in using information technology and thought that using ICT helps students in their learning process. However, according to the respondents, students and teachers are ranked medium in terms of ICT's skills and use. The result of the study shows that although ICT technology plays an inevitable role in teaching and learning process, it may also reduce the role of teachers in learning environment. According to the e-publishers under the study, the technical and economical factors are in better conditions as compared to cultural, educational, and political factors in educational electronic publications. It was also observed that the ratio of computers per student in the mentioned smart schools is 11.