TEACHERS’ USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN PUNJAB’S SCHOOLS: A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY OF A PUBLIC, A PRIVATE, AND A PARTNERSHIP SCHOOL Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Leicester by Muhammad Shahbaz Khan The School of Education August 2019 i TEACHERS’ USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN PUNJAB’S SCHOOLS: A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY OF A PUBLIC, A PRIVATE, AND A PARTNERSHIP SCHOOL Muhammad Shahbaz Khan ABSTRACT This research studied teachers’ use of technology in Punjab’s schools. The research questions were: (1) “How are public, private, and partnership schools using technology for teaching purposes?” (2) “What is teachers’ and school administrators’ attitude towards the use of technology for teaching and learning?” (3) “What factors influence their attitude?” (4) “How is their attitude affecting the schools’ teaching and students’ learning?” (5) “What can be done to effectively train the stakeholders in using technology meaningfully for the teaching and learning process?” This qualitative research employed comparative case-study method to study three different types of schools in Punjab province of Pakistan. A public, a private, and a public- private partnership school’s teachers and school leaders were research participants. Semi- structured interviews and relevant official documents provided the data for this study. Findings depicted major weaknesses in Punjab’s teacher training, recruitment and professional development domains. Several intrinsic and extrinsic factors were highlighted by teachers and school leaders to identify those factors’ impact on participants’ attitude and execution of learning with technology. Teacher’s willingness to learn and improve was one of the salient positive results of this study. However, there was not enough evidence of eagerness from national government, provincial government, school owners, or policy makers, to bring about major changes to incorporate a culture that is conducive to meaningful use of technology. The original contribution of this study to the body of knowledge is by depicting the struggle and occasional success of a monolingual (for example, Urdu speaking) teacher trying to make meaningful use of technology, where most of the support is being provided Muhammad Shahbaz Khan ii in a foreign language (English). This study highlighted technological, linguistic, gender, cultural, and economic barriers faced by a predominantly female teaching staff while working in the participant schools. Non-meaningful use of technology due to lack of proper training was also studied and potentially rectified using information dissemination workshops. Muhammad Shahbaz Khan iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was only made possible due to the academic, financial, mental, emotional, and professional assistance, guidance and support from various individuals and entities. I would like to thank all of you for your contribution. First and foremost I would like to thank Commonwealth Scholarship Commission for giving us Pakistanis a chance to study abroad in prestigious institutions, free of cost. I am extremely grateful to University of Leicester in general and Department of Education in particular for providing me with the care and guidance during and outside of my stay in Leicester. Specifically, I would like to extend my sincerest and deepest gratitude towards Ms. Blair and Ms. Saini for treating me like family and extending all possible professional help to guide me towards completion of my thesis. I am and I will always be grateful for the guidance and supervision of my first supervisor Dr. Palitha Edirisingha. His thorough, kind, clear, and perspicacious tutorials, emails, and other in-person communications were instrumental in completing the thesis. Finally, I would like to thank all my family members whose patience and support kept me mentally strong during this rigorous and top quality PhD degree program at the University of Leicester. Muhammad Shahbaz Khan iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................. xi LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................. xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 1.1 Types of Schools in Pakistan ........................................................................................ 2 1.1.1 Public Schools in Punjab ........................................................................................ 4 1.1.2 Private Schools in Punjab ....................................................................................... 5 1.1.3 Partnership Schools in Punjab ................................................................................ 5 1.2 Motivation for this Research ......................................................................................... 7 1.3 Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 8 1.4 Theoretical basis for the Research Questions ............................................................... 8 1.5 Scope of this Study...................................................................................................... 10 1.6 Significance of this study for Pakistan’s school education ......................................... 10 Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................. 11 Chapter 2: Literature Review ................................................................................................ 13 2.1 What is a meaningful use of technology? ................................................................... 13 2.2 What are 21st Century Skills ....................................................................................... 20 2.3 Technology Integration Matrix ................................................................................... 26 2.3.1 Background ........................................................................................................... 26 2.3.2 Levels of Technology Integration ........................................................................ 26 2.3.3 TIM Version 1 Descriptors in Detail .................................................................... 27 2.3.4 TIM Version 2 Support Material .......................................................................... 32 2.3.4.1 Detailed Matrix ......................................................................................................... 32 2.3.4.2 Video Examples ......................................................................................................... 32 2.3.4.3 Textual lesson plan guidance .................................................................................... 32 2.3.4.4 Online assistance ....................................................................................................... 33 2.3.4.5 Books and research material..................................................................................... 33 Muhammad Shahbaz Khan v 2.3.5 Research based rationale for choosing Technology Integration Matrix as a framework ...................................................................................................................... 33 2.4 Educational Technology in Developed Countries ....................................................... 36 2.4.1 Teachers’ Use of Technology in Finland ............................................................. 36 2.4.2 Teachers’ Use of Technology in the United Kingdom ......................................... 38 2.4.3 Teachers’ Use of Technology in United States of America ................................. 41 Policy factors ......................................................................................................................... 48 Research ................................................................................................................................ 48 School administration ........................................................................................................... 49 Technology skills and proficiency .......................................................................................... 50 Attitudes and beliefs ............................................................................................................. 50 2.5 Educational Technology in Developing Countries ..................................................... 53 2.6 Quality of Public Schools in Punjab ........................................................................... 54 2.7 Quality of Private Schools in Punjab .......................................................................... 63 2.8 Quality of PPP Schools in Punjab ............................................................................... 64 2.9 Use of technology in Public schools ........................................................................... 70 2.10 Use of technology in Private Schools ....................................................................... 71 2.11 Use of technology in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Schools .............................. 72