european journal of social sciences issn: 1450-2267 - EuroJournals
european journal of social sciences issn: 1450-2267 - EuroJournals
european journal of social sciences issn: 1450-2267 - EuroJournals
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European Journal <strong>of</strong> Social Sciences – Volume 5, Number 3 (2007)<br />
teachers to be trained pr<strong>of</strong>essionally to acquire knowledge and skills to enable them to fulfill their roles<br />
in the application <strong>of</strong> ICT in schools.<br />
Furthermore, technology is the catalyst in the process <strong>of</strong> transforming traditional schools and it<br />
is indispensable for the success <strong>of</strong> the schools in the information age (Hashim & Man, 1999).<br />
According to Attaran and Vanlaar (2001), technology forces change management style. Also, it forces<br />
administrators to reevaluate not only what they do, but also who they are. In this way, new<br />
organizations require new management philosophy and principals must change the way they think,<br />
organize, plan, deploy, inspire and reward the performance. Principals are responsible to infuse<br />
technology into schools and they play a critical role in technology integration (Schorny et al., 1999).<br />
Therefore, principals must increase their computer competence in order to provide vision and<br />
understanding needed to guide the development <strong>of</strong> instructional computing programs in their schools.<br />
2. Role <strong>of</strong> Principal in Technology Implementation<br />
Effective leadership is a critical element in the success <strong>of</strong> schools seeking to implement change<br />
(Calabrese, 2002). Although infrastructure is important, leadership is the critical element in<br />
establishing technology as a part <strong>of</strong> school culture (Anderson and Dexter, 2000). Hence, principals<br />
have important leadership roles in relation to teaching with ICT and their approaches are influenced by<br />
personal beliefs (Otto & Albion, 2004).<br />
According to Han (2002), principals play various roles such as change agent, lifelong learner,<br />
principal supporter, and resource provider in relation to ICT implementation in schools. Similarly<br />
Flanagan and Jacobsen (2003) identified the principals’ role responsibilities which are leader <strong>of</strong><br />
learning, leader <strong>of</strong> student entitlement, leader <strong>of</strong> capacity building, leader <strong>of</strong> community, and leader <strong>of</strong><br />
resource management. In this way, principals should be able to identify and articulate a vision, provide<br />
an appropriate model, provide individualized support, provide intellectual stimulation, foster<br />
acceptance <strong>of</strong> group goals, and achieve high performance expectations (Leithwood, 1994).<br />
Therefore, familiarity with computer hardware and s<strong>of</strong>tware is essential and fundamental for<br />
school management. Principals must assess hardware costs and capabilities, s<strong>of</strong>tware availability and<br />
compatibility, and hardware quality. They must be able to match equipment and materials with the<br />
priorities <strong>of</strong> the school (Ross, 1996). Besides, successful adoption <strong>of</strong> computers is important for school<br />
principals who must use computers and model their use for their staff (Tiede, 1992). If this modeling is<br />
successful, the staff may then model the use <strong>of</strong> computers for students. In this way, principals who do<br />
not have positive expectations for computer use or do not instill or support a culture <strong>of</strong> technology use;<br />
integration is inhibited (Anderson & Dexter, 2000). For this reason, principals should possess adequate<br />
level <strong>of</strong> ICT skills and knowledge. Apart from that, they should also have positive attitudes toward<br />
implementation ICT in schools.<br />
3. Selected Factors Related to Computer use<br />
According to Rogers (1995), attitudes toward a new technology are a key element in its diffusion. He<br />
argued that barriers to technology integration can be the result <strong>of</strong> either internal or external sources.<br />
Internal sources include “principal attitude” or “perception” about technology. Hence, principals’<br />
attitude toward technology is a variable that determine the extent to which computers are used by<br />
principal at school. Similarly, Wolf (1993) found that principal’s positive attitude toward technology<br />
have a strong impact on the effective use <strong>of</strong> computers in the school. Therefore, positive attitudes<br />
encourage principals to acquire knowledge and skills necessary for the utilization <strong>of</strong> ICT.<br />
Moreover, Rogers (1995) stated that the perceived attributes <strong>of</strong> an innovation are the most<br />
important explanation <strong>of</strong> the rate <strong>of</strong> adoption <strong>of</strong> an innovation. Based on past research, Rogers (1995)<br />
identified five innovation attributes that may contribute to the adoption or acceptance <strong>of</strong> an innovation:<br />
relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, observability, and trialibility. In addition, he found that<br />
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