INCORPORATING ICT INTO TEACHING AND LEARNING IN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN AJUMAKO: CHALLENGES FOR TEACHERS AND THEIR SUPPORTSTRATEGIES

The study aimed atexamining the challengesthe basic school teachers in Ajumako Township face in incorporating ICT into teaching and learning as well as the support systems available to them. The descriptive survey design was employed for this study. The researcher used questionnaire as the main instruments for data collection. The target population for the study was all the basic school teachers in Ajumako of theCentral Region of Ghana. In all, 40 teacherswere used for the study. Simplerandom sampling strategy under the probability sampling technique was employed to select respondents for the study. Percentages were used for the analysis of the response. It emerged from the study that availability of ICT resources, students’ readiness to embrace technology, teachers’ readiness to embrace technology, availability of technical support, stable power supply and intention to facilitate teaching and learning are the factors that influence the teachers’ usage of ICT resources in teaching and learning in basic schools in Ajumako. The study also found outthat providing effective pedagogical strategies for effective ICT introduction, offering opportunity to observe teachers who use technology virtually or in real practice, augmenting curriculum with technology-enhance instructions, providing freedom for teachers in selecting and using curriculum and provision of effective, timely and continuous training to improve ICT skills and manage a technology-rich classroom are the support systems available forthe teachers to incorporate ICT into teaching and learning. Based on the findings, it was recommended that ICT basic resources like computers, laptops and infrastructures should be provided to basic schools in Ajumako of the Central Region of Ghana for effective use of ICT in teaching and learning since it is the basic stage of equipping the youth with the necessary skills and knowledge for national development. Teachers should also be given the necessary training in ICT usage so that they become familiar with modern pedagogy of imparting knowledge and skills, and possiblybecome part of curriculum structure for their professional training.