Abstract—A number of studies have argued that the use of new technologies in education is essential in the information age. The integration of information and communication technology (ICT) in teaching and learning provides more opportunities for teachers and students to work better in an information age. However, some barriers may discourage teachers to integrate ICT in the classroom and prevent them to introduce supporting materials through ICT usage. Examining the barriers for using ICT in education can assist the educators to overcome the obstacles and integrate the ICT in everyday education. This study aims to investigate the teachers’ perceptions of the barriers and challenges preventing teachers to integrate ICT in the classroom. Therefore, a validated questionnaire was administered to 30 high school English teachers who were selected from the five main educational districts in the city of Isfahan, Iran. Stratified random sampling was used to select equal number of respondents from each educational district. The findings indicated that although teachers had a strong desire to use ICT in the classroom, they were encountered with some barriers. Insufficient technical supports at schools and little access to Internet and ICT were considered as the major barriers preventing teachers to integrate ICT into the curriculum. Moreover, the descriptive analysis of the results showed that shortage of class time was another significant barrier discouraging teachers to use ICT into the classroom.

Index Terms—Information and communications technology (ict), challenges, barriers, insight, curriculum.

H. Salehi and Z. Salehi are with Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Isfahan, Iran (Corresponding author’s email: hadisalehi1358@yahoo.com) (zeinab.salehi1364@yahoo.com).

Cite: Hadi Salehi and Zeinab Salehi , "Challenges for Using ICT in Education: Teachers’ Insights ," International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 040-043, 2012.