The Challenges Facing the Integration of ICT in Teaching and Learning Activities in South African Rural Secondary Schools

The objective of this quantitative study was to investigate the impact of ICT equipment availability and accessibility and teachers’ training in ICT use on the integration of ICT into the curriculum related activities by teachers. The data used in this research was collected by means of structured questionnaires, from 146 participants in twelve secondary schools located in the Groot Letaba Circuit, Mopani District Municipality in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The findings reveal that, with the exception of a TVs, photocopiers and laptop/desktop computers, there is a scarcity of ICT resources available at schools for ICT integration, and that the teaching and curriculum administration functions of most teachers have been negatively impacted by a lack ICT equipment and/or insufficient use of these ICT resources for those schools who have them. In addition, while some teachers had received some form of ICT training, it was evident that such training has had minimal or no impact at all on the abilities and confidence of teachers to use ICT in their teaching. These factors that negatively influence teachers’ readiness for, and confidence in, using ICT; need to be dealt with by the various stakeholders including, and especially, the Department of Education and the school management and private partners. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p1087