Teaching computer applications technology in an under-resourced school: a teacher’s self-study.

Abstract

My personal history self-study research focus was on teaching Computer Applications Technology in an under-resourced school. This study aimed to ascertain what I can learn from my personal history, to improve my CAT teaching practice in an under-resourced school by exploring effective teaching strategies. I was frustrated by my CAT learners, who were performing poorly in CAT due to the ineffective implementation of the CAT curriculum, thus producing the poor quality of CAT results. Adopting a Sociocultural perspective on teaching and learning assisted me in understanding that learning is constructed through social and cultural interaction and learners learn more efficiently by using tools to solve problems by using resources available to them in their environment. My first research question was: What can I learn from my personal history about teaching Computer Applications Technology in an under-resourced school? This question allowed me to revisit and re-examine my learning and teaching experience from when I first fell in love with technology at home and through doing practical subjects in high school and college studying computer studies. And as a novice teacher, I have a better understanding of strategies I can employ to improve my teaching of CAT in an under-resourced school. Throughout this self-study research journey, I worked closely with my critical friend, who was also a master’s student. I used various data sources to generate data for this self-study, such as my reflective journal, photographs, memory drawings, and a collage. My second research question: How can I improve my teaching of Computer Applications Technology in an under-resourced school? To respond to this question, I worked with my college friend, who is also my colleague, deputy principal, and a former CAT learner, as my participants. The different discussions and activities we had for this study helped me understand how they perceived and received my CAT teaching in an under-resourced school. I used multiple self-study practices that helped me generate data for my research. I used artefact retrievals such as photographs, a stiffy disk, and collage making. From my personal history selfstudy and contribution from my participants, I identified four significant learnings regarding teaching and learning of CAT in an under-resourced school: (i) CAT teacher as a resource manager, (ii) Time allocation according to policy document versus disadvantaged school and (iii) Collaborative learning as a response to limited computer resources. As a CAT teacher, I learned that I serve as a human resource that can connect other resources through interacting and collaborating with others to help me facilitate valuable teaching support to learners.