Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 2016, 12(10), 2657-2670 doi: 10.12973/eurasia.2016.1287a Integrating Technology Into Instruction At A Public University In Kyrgyzstan: OPEN ACCESS Barriers And Enablers Gulshat Muhametjanova Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University, KYRGYZSTAN Kursat Cagiltay Middle East Technical University, TURKEY Received 4 August 2015Revised 28 January 2016 Accepted 24 February 2016 The purpose of this study was to determine enablers and barriers to the technology integration into education based on the example of the situation at the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University as reported by students and instructors. The study employed the mixed-methods research design, combining data obtained from 477 student and 57 instructor questionnaires supplemented by interviews with 11 students and 9 instructors. The study revealed that although technology is being used at the universities all over the country, there still exists the lack of both hardware and software laboratories and the instructors have limited knowledge and experience with technology, which, in its turn, indicates the shortage of qualified technical personnel. The cost of personal computers and problems with the Internet connection were claimed to be the major barriers for students. Keywords: Information and Communication Technology (ICT), technology integration, barriers, enablers, Kyrgyzstan INTRODUCTION In view of technological developments, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are becoming more popular, and educational policy makers tend to make great investments in order to integrate ICT into the teaching and learning processes. By investing in technology, educational policy makers expect its use to benefit both instructors and students and, consequently, to increase the quality of education. However, there are a number of factors preventing the use of technology in education, such as lack of training, time, equipment and materials (Beggs, 2000; Newhouse, 1999; Ertmer, 1999; Bingimlas, 2009; Touray, Salminen & Mursu, 2013; Mtebe & Raisamo, 2014; Porter & Graham, 2015; Tarus, Gichoya & Muumbo, 2015; Hossain et al. 2016). Correspondence: Gulshat Muhametjanova, Department of Applied Mathematics and Informatics, Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University, Chyngyz Aytmatov Campus, 720038, Djal, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. E-mail: [email protected] Copyright © 2016 by the authors; licensee iSER, Ankara, TURKEY. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original paper is accurately cited. ISSN: 1305-8223 http://iserjournals.com/journals/ejmste G. Muhametjanova & K. Cagiltay Studies on the use of ICT in education conducted State of the literature in developing countries show that the major barriers are: lack of hardware, lack of technical Faculty members perceived lack of hardware, support (Goktas, 2004; Al Senaidi, 2009; Keengwe lack of appropriate software and instructional et al. 2008; Mtebe & Raisamo, 2014; Helm, 2015; materials, lack of out-of-class computer access Porter & Graham, 2015; Gupte, 2015; Al Gamdi & for students, lack of technical support, lack of Samarji, 2016), lack of in-service training on ICT in-service training on ICT, inadequate (Willis, Thompson & Sadera, 1999; Shrum, 1999; repertoire of knowledge and skills for the Goktas, 2004; Muhametjanova & Çagıltay, 2012), integration of ICT-assisted instruction, and inadequate repertoire of knowledge and skills for lack of basic knowledge-skills as major the integration of ICT into instruction, lack of basic barriers. knowledge-skills (Goktas, 2004; Pelgrum, 2001; Faculty members have positive attitudes Ihmeideh, 2009; Ssekakubo et al. 2011, Hossain et toward ICT and its role in higher education. al. 2016; Muhametjanova &Çagıltay, 2012; Tarus, There is a need of National Policy for ICT use Gichoya & Muumbo, 2015), mismatch between ICT in HigherEducation, cultural obstacles should and existing curricula and teachers' low level of be taken into consideration. access to computers (Albirini, 2006; Al Gamdi & Contribution of this paper to the literature Samarji, 2016), lack of time (Al Senaidi, 2009; Albirini, 2006, Helm, 2015). ICT plays an important role to move to a Kyrgyzstan is a developing country, with a Knowledge Society. Kyrgyzstan is a population of 5.582 million (2012) and the total developing country, and there is still much to expenditure on education reaching 19.3 billion KGS be done in order to enable such a (390 293 225 USD), and on higher educational transformation. The number of computers institutions-2.9 billion (58 645 096 USD), which and Internet users at schools is still low in accounted for 15% of GDP in 2011. Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan. significantly increased its expenditure on education Only a few research studies focused on from 3.9% of GDP in 2001 and 5% in 2005 to 6.5% assessing the level of ICT use in Higher in 2007 (Tempus Report, 2012). education in Kyrgyzstan and on discovering Although according to the Program of the level of ICT use by instructors and International Student Assessment (PISA) report for students. 2006 and 2009 there is a significant increase in the This is a pioneering study to gain insight into expenditure on education, Kyrgyzstan is ranked last the current situation of ICT use at universities in the Program of International Student Assessment. in Kyrgyzstan. The number of computers at schools is very low, and the use of ICT is limited to the teaching of informatics and computer skills. Some of the reasons are a lack of adequate financial resources allocated from school budgets, and lack of technical access to the Internet (Asian Development Bank, 2012). Based on the findings of a study conducted by Akin (2013) on computer and internet usage in higher education at a Kyrgyz University and having university students as the main participants, 53% of the students do not have personal computers at home. 74% of the students not having a computer at home stated that it is too expensive to buy one. 74% of the students having a computer at home do not have the Internet access, and 62% of them stated that the cost of the Internet connection is too high. Although it is now commonly accepted that “ICT can act as a tremendous facilitator of the speed with which knowledge is developed....ICT can assume such a role as a result of its ability to package and move around information within the factories of meaning and between them” (UNESCO, 2005, p 49), only a few research studies focused on assessing the general level of ICT use in Higher education in Kyrgyzstan and on discovering the level of ICT use by instructors and students. The present study was conducted at the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University, which was established in 1995. It is a public university with 2 official languages of instruction: Kyrgyz and Turkish. There are 8 faculties at the university (Faculty of 2658 © 2016 by the authors, Eurasia J. Math. Sci. & Tech. Ed., 12(10), 2657-2670 Integrating technology into instruction Education, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Faculty of Communications, Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Arts, and Veterinary Faculty) and 6 higher vocational schools (School of Foreign Languages, Tourism and Hotel, Conservatory, Physical Education and Sports, and Vocational School). At the beginning of 2013-2014 academic year there were a total of 4481 students enrolled in different faculties and high schools (Manas University, 2013). The total number of instructors is 526, of which 133 are coming from Turkey, 245 are from Kyrgyzstan, and 4 are from other countries (Manas University Report, 2011). Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University has the following technological infrastructure: in the 2010-2013 period, 370 personal computers, 37 notebooks, 40 printers and 49 projectors were purchased. Furthermore, 9 existing laboratories were improved, and 29 new laboratories were established (Manas University, 2013). However, even with a clearly-defined technological infrastructure, it is not possible to determine to what extent various types of technology are integrated into the process of instruction, how they are used by instructors and students, and what specific obstacles preventing the efficient and effective use of technology exist. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Barriers and enablers of ICT integration in higher education According to Ertmer (2001) there are external and internal barriers to ICT integration. Lack of equipment, unreliability of equipment, lack of technical support and other resource-related issues represent external barriers, whereas organizational culture, teacher-level factors, their beliefs about teaching and openness to change are the internal barriers to ICT integration (Ertmer, 2001). Other studies (Beggs, 2000; Newhouse, 1999; Larson, 2003; Al Senaidi, 2009) reported the lack of training, lack of time, and lack of equipment to be the barriers to technology integration. Some faculties are reported to be unable to make appropriate use of technology in their own classrooms and unwilling to try to do so because of such factors as anxiety, lack of interest, and lack of motivation. In a study conducted by Cuban (2001) at Stanford University, the major reported barriers were lack of time and lack of technical support. Nicolle (2005) revealed that faculty members’ attitudes and