2. Thair A. Kadhim
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1. INTRODUCTION
A Smart School is defined as an educational establishment that utilizes instructional
processes and educational management practices that encourages systemic changes
that will allow its learners to solve challenges that are common to the era of ICT
(Zahra, 2015; Wan, 2009). These schools have undergone systemic reorganization,
especially in the context of teaching, learning practices, and school management. In
the frame of the information age, a smart school is expected to constantly evolve
based on needs, with changes to its professional staff, educational resources, and
administrative capabilities. This evolution needs to occur simultaneously alongside
student developments to prepare them for a world characterized by ICT (Markoe et
al., 2014).
New York Smart Schools Commission Report by Geoffrey (2014 ) confirms that a
successful evolution to smart schools will require adequate physical and human
infrastructure. First and foremost, schools will require sufficient broadband access and
wireless networking, while also ensuring that their staff and teachers are properly
trained to deal with this transition in their respective classes. Other researchers, such
as(Kalantarnia, et al., 2012; Mohammed et al., 2013) supported the aforementioned
report, and opined that school districts are required to engage in a strong, successful
planning process to guarantee the pinnacle of academic outcomes via an infusion of
technology. This whole process must include stakeholders, generate buy-in, plan for
contingencies and sustainability, and, perhaps most importantly, allow for rapid
alterations in the event of a failure or unexpected catastrophes. This is due to the fact
that even the best plans might run into something unexpected along the way, and the
ones that will benefit the most are the schools that are able to face these problems
head on.
The challenges that are familiar to both students and teachers in their respective
utilization of ICT are mostly in the context of administrative execution and
infrastructures. School inspectors are more concerned with course content and test
scores, as opposed to ICT usage (Jo Shan, 2013 ); the lack of proper administrative
support to effectively utilize ICT (Lim 2007); mandates from the administration
pertaining to better test results, all of which diverted focus from utilizing ICT to
prompt students to participate in higher-order thinking activities (Goktas, Yildirim
and Yildirim 2009); the absence of a suitable course content, instructional programs,
hardware, software, and materials (Jo Shan, 2013).
There are certain barriers that needs to be overcome to ensure seamless integration
of technology from a teachers’ point of view, such as lowered expectations from
teachers and the absence of a defined goals for utilizing ICT in schools (Jo Shan, 2013
);the absence of teacher participation or pedagogical support, along with the lack of
knowledge on the part of the teachers who do cooperate (Ertmer and Otternbreit-
Leftwich 2010);the lack of time required to develop skills in current software of the
integration of ICT in classes (Almekhlafi and Almeqdadi 2010);unable to manage
teaching materials (Jo Shan, 2013); software incompetence and complacency in
students’ learning approaches(Goktas, Yildirim and Yildirim 2009);lack of
knowledge in the use of ICT for teaching (Honan 2008);no specific knowledge on
technology and unable to integrate it with existing pedagogical content knowledge for
teaching students (Hutchison and Reinking 2011);too much emphasis on imparting
knowledge on technical or operational skills as opposed to course content (Lim
2007);being expected to increase score in national examinations (Jo Shan, 2013 );the
absence of motivation to effectively utilize ICT (Tezci 2011a);the absence of an in-
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service training upon the utilization of ICT (Jo Shan, 2013);the presence of technical
problems in relation to the class (Jo Shan, 2013);ineffective classroom management,
especially for the larger classes (Tezci 2011a);unmotivated workforce due to the lack
of technical and financial support (Jo Shan, 2013 );doubt some of the advantages of
utilizing ICT in the class (Jo Shan, 2013 ); and finally the absence of a detailed idea
on how the integration of technology will enhance students’ learning (Jo Shan, 2013).
The Commission filed a report (2014) (available online at
www.smartschoolsny.com), while researchers such as Jo Shan (2013), MDC (2012),
Zaleha (2011), and Geoffrey (2014)agreed on seven (7) keysto the successful
implementation of the smart school concept: (1) Embrace and expand online learning,
which will break down geographic barriers, provide access to the best sources of
instruction in the world, and level the playing field for students in rural and smaller
school districts. (2) Utilize transformative technologies, such as tablets, laptops, and
interactive whiteboards to deliver differentiated instruction tailored to students’
specific abilities and needs that lets them learn and advance at their own pace. (3)
Connect every school to high-speed broadband using technology that is capable of
scaling up over time and deliver sufficient wireless capability to serve every student.
(4) Extend connectivity beyond the four walls of the classroom so students from all
backgrounds have equal access to the information superhighway. (5) Provide high-
quality, continuous professional development to teachers, principals, and staff to
ensure successful integration of technology into the teaching and learning experience.
(6) Focus on demandsin the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)
skills through addressing education policy and curriculum choices in schools to
improve competitiveness in technology development to ensure that students graduate
with 21st century skills. (7) Plan, plan, and plan again.
2. OVERVIEW OF ELEARNING PROJECTS IN IRAQ
UNESCO’s annual accounts (2011), titled “The Hidden Crisis: Armed Conflict and
Learning,” confirms that nations in the Middle East, which include Iraq, will not be
able to achieve their Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in the near future, due to
its current status and conditions. UNESCO pointed out factors, such as former UN
allowances, poor safety, and a fragile financial environment as preventing Iraq’s
desire towards realizing learning and literacy goals. Certain General Directorate of
Education (GDEs) in Iraq successfully implemented small projects, such as the
electronic classes and smart board, which are collaborative projects with the
government, local officials, and community-based organizations. The ones who took
actions are convinced that these projects represent a large scientific step in keeping
pace with developed countries while also helping to decrease the burden on the
students by eliminating the need for textbooks, which will duly be replaced by an
electronic curriculum facilitator.
Electronic classes are regarded as newly implemented technology, which are
currently being used in schools in and around Baghdad as a springboard towards the
full implementation of electronic learning in education. This project is endorsed by
the Education Ministry and executed by iCube Development Company, which is in
charge of designing a program for students that would eventually substitute
schoolbooks. Students are expected to do their work ona computerized active board,
which would link them to their teachers and help them complete their homework. The
government of Iraq pointed out that the introduction of technology to schools
represents their effort in increasing the level of education in Iraq. Other Iraqi schools
4. Thair A. Kadhim
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will eventually adopt this pilot plan, and this first step is intended to close the huge
gap between the education levels in Iraq and the world (MoE-Iraq, 2015).
There are also other small projects being implemented in Iraqi schools, among
them the Electronic library. Tentative analysis showed the amount of books borrowed
is increasing, especially on scientific, literary and cultural topics. This necessitates the
establishment of a comprehensive digital library, which will help spread knowledge
and culture at a faster rate. The smart school project is currently not a part of the Iraqi
school system; instead, it is represented by a decentralized effort from individuals or
organizations in seeding the idea of a smart school in an Iraqi context
(Ibid).Furthermore, the programmers, education staff, and students are all involved in
designing computer programs that will help archive student records, which eliminate
the need for a manual filing system. However, these programs are still not up to par,
and lag behind their peers in other countries, especially in terms of bookkeeping and
grade records.
3. METHODOLOGY
Data from current published work, books, and reports are gathered and read to
comprehend the latest situation pertaining to ICT development in Iraqi school
education. This study uses a quantitative approach to collect data from the database of
the General Directorate of Education (GDE) in Babylon-Iraq via a questionnaire,
while the qualitative method involves conducting interviews with key stakeholders of
the ICT transformation process in the Babylon Province (policy makers, head
teachers, and senior teachers). The data are then statistically analyzed to determine
relationships and associations using Cronbach/SPSS tools. This study used data from
three sources; document study, survey, and interviews with teachers and
policy/decision makers.
This research involves the seven steps shown in (Figure 2) for data analysis. SPSS
is regarded as the perfect tool to key in data, creating new variables, performing
Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA), and performing formal statistical analyses, and
thus SPSS was used for data analysis.
Data Collection: After identifying potential respondents, the questionnaires were
mailed out to them. A covering letter and the permission letter from the GDE in
Babylon requested that the respondent complete the questionnaire in the span of 2
weeks. The head of information and communication section of the schools were
expected to collect and return the questionnaire forms. The data were collected from
the respondents themselves, and the relevancy of the data was reliable, as the
researcher collected it.
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Document Study: The document study conducted in Babylon province resulted in the
following; 114 computer laboratories are present in 175 secondary schools (53
schools have their own independent laboratory and 61 schools share their laboratories
with other schools). This indicated that from all secondary schools (319), there are
205 (64%) that lack their own computing laboratories. Furthermore, 144 secondary
schools (45%) lack computing facilities. In contrast, there are 175 secondary schools
(55%) possessing independent computing facilities.
Survey: This formula is reliable to 95% and less than 5% deviation factor. The
Formula is:n=N/ [1+Ne2
], where: e=deviation of sampling, N=size of population,
n=size of sampling, the is Formulation: n=11174/[1+(11174 x (0.05)2
]=
11174/[1.84]= 386.1759=386
Therefore, the sampling size is 386 samples. The target population group of the
questionnaire is the secondary schools' teaching staff in Babylon province. A
questionnaire of 27 questions (Dhiaa, 2014) was distributed to 386 teachers, with 347
being returned. 13 responses were excluded due not being complete; hence, the total
number of actual completed forms is334.
Data Analysis: The data was analyzed using the SPSS program “Statistical Package
for the Social Science” to obtain research statistic. Descriptive test was used to
explain the respondents’ background, the knowledge level of the respondents in using
ICT, attitude towards the use of ICT, use of ICT among respondents and challenges or
obstacles faced by them in order to gauge the readiness of their schools in
implementing the smart schools project.
4. EXISTING ICT INFRASTRUCTURE
The Directorate also has a program to provide schools with technical support, either
directly from the Ministry, or through private providers.The aim of data analysis from
the available document in Secondary Schools GDE of Babylon – 2015 is to gauge the
status of ICT infrastructure at the schools in Babylon.
The analysis has established the following: In the Babylon governorate, the
education sector has 188 computer laboratories; they are distributed to 252 schools
(53 schools have their own independent laboratory and 61 schools shared their
laboratories with other schools). Hence, this means that there are 181 secondary
schools without their own independent laboratories. In addition, secondary schools
(49.05%) are without access to computers; in the contrast, 188 secondary schools
(35.63%) have independent access to computers. Figure3shows the existing computer
laboratories in the Babylon secondary schools.
6. Thair A. Kadhim
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Generally, documents study and database of e-learning section show that access to
the Internet, servers, and communication in the secondary schools is rather poor.
There are only two schools (0.54%) equipped with a Local Area Network (LAN) and
servers; four schools (1.08%) have access to the internet; low levels of software usage
is also evident, with only seven schools (2.17%) having the software to manage their
activities, as shown in Figure 4. The documents’ results also revealed that the
infrastructure of ICT in schools activities is rather low.
Furthermore, there are various ICT tools available. These tools include personal
computer desktop, laptop, data show, scanner, printer, smart board, and phone lines.
Figure 5 shows the number of available IT technology tools used in secondary schools
of Babylon Governorate and the number of each per school. Certain ICT tools exert
their own respective influence upon Education. These are important tools in fostering
successful ICT initiatives. The total number of PC is (3234), distributed among 369
schools, which means that the average number of computers is 8.76 computers per
school. This gives an average of 1PC to 54.08 students, basically implying that most
students are only minimally in contact with the computers at their respective schools.
The computer department maintains a record of all schools in the GDE of
Babylon-Iraq, including numbers of students, classes, labs, computers, printers, and
other relevant data. Annually, the directorate produces a report on the student-to-
computer ratios in all government schools in Babylon. They use the data as a guide to
show the number and percentage of schools having a student-to-computer ratio of
under 10:1 to more than 40:1. The following is the reported results for secondary
schools in the academic year 2014-2015 (Figure 6).
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In addition, the number of personal computers (PCs) of each laboratory is
different, as shown in Figure 7. Secondary schools that do not have PCs are 172
(46.61%); without PCs, they lack access to other technology tools; 107 secondary
schools have the maximum number of PCs, which is between 21 and 25, while the
minimum number of schools having PCs falls between 16 and 20.
In rural schools, students are not getting proper ICT-based education due to the
lack of ICT infrastructure. Internet connection is unavailable in remote areas, and the
number of IT tools is very low, so the government should ensure that an adequate
amount of computers and Internet connectivity, especially in rural schools, are
available in order to facilitate the ICT based education for rural school students.
Figure 8 shows the IT tools in secondary schools in Babylon.
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Iraqi schools cannot be classified as having implemented ICT, due to the lack of
ICT and network infrastructures and communications, and the antiquated management
approach, especially by the government. The results showed that the current allotted
educational budget is inadequate, and should be increased. This is because there are
no instructional media and educational technologies being offered till now; hence, the
educational sector standards, especially in schools, must be changed according to the
practice and standards of international schools. The results on gauging the readiness
of embracing ICT in schools and the education sector are illustrated in Table 1.
Table 1 Gauge schools readiness to accept the ICT
Q Statements SA A N DA SDA Mean
1
The classic instructional media are offered to the
teachers in the classrooms.
3 7 20 130 174 2.61
2
Up-to-date technology is also offered to the teachers
in the classrooms such as computers, projector, and
other multimedia instruments.
3 10 13 114 200 2.52
3
It is better to use the English language in the learning
process especially in ICT.
67 124 17 80 47 4.25
4
Using of educational technology is first step to supply
all the classrooms with up-to-date technology as well
as training the teachers.
177 107 13 30 7 5.25
5
It is very important to push the school staff to use
educational technologies in the learning process.
107 190 17 13 7 5.13
6
It is better to establish ICT centers in education
management.
73 160 43 30 27 4.07
Scale: SD=Strongly Disagree D=Disagree N=Neutral A=Agree SA= Strongly Agree
5. EXISTING TEACHING STAFF
There are 11174 teachers in the General Directorate of Education (GDE) in Babylon,
while the number of ICT teachers are only 404; 58 of them are currently not working
for many reasons (sick, pregnant, and maternity leave), which means that the actual
number of ICT teachers presently working is 346. In other words, the mean of actual
ICT teacher/ students is (0.002), actual ICT teacher/ classes are (0.078), and actual
ICT teacher/ schools are (0.840).
The ICT skills of teachers and staff in most of the schools are inadequate in the
context of implementing ICT in the schools. This is mainly due to their incompetence
in using software and communication tools. Low-level ICT use could provide a good
starting point, and this adjustment will come once the capability of the teachers and
administrators in the educational sector are further developed. The interpretation of
percentage for this part of the finding is based on these classifications, where
Excellent (90-100%), Very good (80-89%), Good (60-79%), and Poor (0-59%)
(Amer, 2010). These distinctions are used to represent the respondent’s knowledge
with regards to a particular statement. The results of the teachers’ readiness to use
ICT in education are shown in Table 2.
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Table2 Descriptive Statistics of Teachers’ readiness to use ICT tools
Q Statements
Mea
n
%
7 I know how to use MS Windows. 4.13 82.60%
8 I know how to use all the applications in MS Office. 4.58 91.60%
9 I know how to use MS Word. 4.44 88.80%
10 I know how to use MS PowerPoint. 3.85 77.00%
11 I know how to use MS Excel. 3.95 79.00%
12 I know how to use MS Access. 3.38 67.60%
13 I know how to use the Internet. 4.34 86.80%
14 I know how to use e-mail. 4.55 91.00%
15
I have Internet connected to my computer at my office in the
school.
2.47
49.40%
16 Computer and projector are very important in the classroom. 4.67 93.40%
17 I have good knowledge about ICT networks. 2.45 49.00%
18 I feel comfortable using ICT as a tool in teaching and learning. 4.47 89.40%
19 I will use educational technologies if it is offered in the classrooms. 4.99 99.80%
20 A lot of ICT training coursesare offered for the teachers. 3.38 67.60%
21 I use ICT to prepare lessons. 3.51 70.20%
22 I use ICT to design and produce my own digital learning resources. 2.95 59.00%
23 I use ICT to communicate with colleagues. 2.94 58.80%
24 I use ICT to communicate with students. 2.94 58.80%
25
I use ICT to communicate with the school management and
education administrators.
2.84
56.80%
26 The computer will change the way students learn in my classes. 4.73 94.60%
27 The computer helps teachers to teach in more effective 4.63 92.60%
0 - 59 60 - 79 80 - 89 90 - 100
Poor Good Very good Excellent
6. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
There are 54.8 students per computer on average in GDE –Babylon. Low ratios of
student-to-laptops in Babylon; its only 538 laptops are available to secondary schools,
with no access to tablet and net books. Also, 154 interactive boards are available on
average, translating to 0.4 interactive boards per school. Lownumber of data
projector; 0.46 per school; 1011 student per data projector. Most secondary schools
(98.02%) lack Internet connection; they failed to fulfill the minimum acceptable level
for websites, emails for students and teachers, a local area network (LAN), or a virtual
learning environment. Generally, lack of own personnel (whether teachers or
technical support staff) who play a large part in maintaining the growing amount of
ICT equipment in schools and lack of ability for teachers and staff to utilize software
and communication tools. Additionally, no overall relationship was found between
high levels of ICT provision and student and teacher confidence, use, and attitudes.
Furthermore, most eLearning projects in the education sector are sporadic projects,
there is a need for the establishment of a comprehensive plan that will help minimize
time and associated costs.
10. Thair A. Kadhim
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7. CONCLUSION
In a modern era of rapid changes pertaining to information and technology, the
process of teaching and learning is fast changing. Using ICT in education has been
proposed to increase education quality, expansion of learning chances, and increase
accessibility of education beyond the classroom. Smart school revamped teaching and
school management via capturing technological utilities. The application of the smart
school concept leads to increased stakeholders’ participation. Gauging the readiness
of schools for the implementation of smart schools is quite useful, and the results can
be built upon to develop a comprehensive plan, in collaboration with stakeholders and
in accordance with the available material and technical capabilities.
Based on the results, most secondary schools in GDE-Babylon lack electronic
infrastructure. Teacher skills are quite basic, and most of them require extensive
training in ICT. However, it was also established that teachers are more than
enthusiastic in using technological tools, and receptive to the idea of shifting towards
learning, although some of them do not seem keen on the idea. According to the
findings from the survey, this study suggest that supporting and developing teachers
could be as important as providing the technology; this is especially true at a level
where infrastructure provision is adequate. Furthermore, the number of ICT teachers
is inadequate, and more than half of the schools lack them and technical support,
making it difficult to implement the smart school project there. In addition, the
standardization of electronic projects in the education sector needs to be done via a
comprehensive plan in order to minimize time and associated costs.
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