(MyCASELT 2010) ICT adoption by language teachers in urban Malaysian private schools.

Education technology has long been recognised as an important means of disseminating knowledge and skills to students. Nevertheless, even though the Malaysian government has spent millions of ringgit to equip schools with computers and to train local teachers, the actual adoption rate of ICT is not what is expected. It is also increasingly clear that having access to technology does not mean that it will automatically be integrated as a resource for day-to-day teaching with any great effect. In our study, we examined the adoption rate of ICT by teachers of language in two private schools near the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. We also wanted to find out to what extent these our participants use ICT in their classroom language teaching. We found that the use of ICT is common among upper secondary school teachers and the teachers in our study are also positively inclined towards ICT use in teaching, but are not taking advantage of the range of opportunities ICT offers, such as interactive exams and web discussions. Our participants were also unconvinced that the use of ICT in teaching will lead to better learning outcomes. The feelings of our participants indicate that the introduction of ICT has not changed the nature of teaching. Technology has simplified teaching preparation but has not led to new forms of instruction.