The Impact of ICT on Job Satisfaction among School Teachers
swaytabasu1985@gmail.com ,
Abstract: This study explores the influence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on job satisfaction among school teachers. With the increasing push for digital literacy and e-learning integration in rural and semi-urban education systems, it is crucial to examine how ICT adoption affects teachers' motivation, teaching experience, and overall job satisfaction.
Keywords: ICT, Job Satisfaction, School Teachers
INTRODUCTION
The integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education has revolutionized teaching methodologies, offering both opportunities and challenges. While ICT can enhance teaching efficiency and resource accessibility, it also introduces complexities that may affect teachers' job satisfaction.
According to Toomey, "ICT generally refers to those technologies that are used for information access, gathering, manipulation, presentation, and communication."
According to Ahmed, M., information and communication technology (ICT) is about using technology to gather, process, improve, and share user-friendly information.
ROLE OF TEACHER
One of the greatest gifts that Almighty God can provide to humans is education and training for children; with this, a teacher may assist his pupils develop a variety of values. They will develop inside the educational shell like heavenly endowed pearls.
Henry Von Dyke has related stories of educators and their "Ah! There you have it: the profession with the lowest salary and the most rewards. Enter only if you really adore it. It does not guarantee fame or fortune for the great majority of men and women, but those who value it for its own sake are among the noblest people on the planet. This is described in the philosophical sense of teaching, but it is also quite relevant and significant. "I sing the praise of the unknown teacher, king of himself and leader of the mankind," the speaker says.
The nation's accomplishments and goals may be measured by the teacher. We are able to assess a nation's potential and value thanks to the efforts of its teachers. "The people of a country are the enlarged replica of their teacher," someone once said. The true creators of nations are teachers.
The key to the educational system is the teacher. A teacher is the key to every educational system's success or failure. Only when instructors are well educated, intelligent, capable, and have a strong work ethic can the educational system be considered successful. On the other hand, if the instructors lack the necessary training and are unable to dedicate themselves fully to their work, the system will ultimately collapse. The most crucial element of the school is the instructor.
An educator is the lifeblood of every organisation. A school without teachers is like to an automobile without an engine, a skeleton devoid of life and blood, or a shadow devoid of depth. The social engineers are the teachers. Their manly attributes have the ability to humanise and engage the younger generation.
TEACHING EFFECTIVENESS
It is quite difficult to describe instructional effectiveness in a relative sense since the phrase is so vague. It is made up of the terms efficacy and teaching. Teaching is the typical action done while delivering education in a classroom setting. Effectiveness is a phrase that describes certain standards. A few factors may be used to determine how successful a lesson is.
According to the Remmers-led Teaching Effectiveness Committee, evaluations of both teaching ability and effectiveness should include the impact on students. These impacts, which go under several names such as "student gain," "student growth," or "student changes," all include measuring behavioural changes in students, some of which may be analytically attributed to the influence of a specific instructor. Harris supported the use of process criteria to evaluate the efficacy of instruction. It is made up of the facets of both teacher and student conduct that are crucial to the learning process. The majority of the time, process criteria are defined and assessed in terms of the environment, tone, or common scenarios involving student-teacher social interactions in the classroom. Two different types of process criteria are derived from student behaviour and instructor behaviour observation, respectively. Harris goes on to provide four criteria for evaluating the efficacy of instruction. He or she includes things like the personality traits of teachers, their expertise and accomplishments, the features of in-service teachers, etc.
According to Fanders and Simon (1969), the field of study known as "teacher effectiveness" examines the connection between a teacher's instructional style and the learning outcomes of their lessons.
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY – CONCEPT
The acronym "ICT" was created by separating the letters "C" from "IT." Software that is used with computers is referred to as information technology. In this case, the letter "C" stands for dialogue. Placing a "C" in the centre of IT highlights the fact that everyone whose line of work includes communication should be aware of ICT, not only those who deal with "techie" issues. Information and communication technologies are the two components of ICT.
NEED OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING AND LEARNING
The present classroom's look differs from that of previous classrooms. The use of technology in the classroom should not be beyond the capabilities of the instructors. While ICT is not a must-have tool for teachers in their day-to-day job, it does provide opportunities for professional growth.
In traditional education, input and output take up the majority of the time, leaving less time for the process; in contrast, ICT-based instruction reduces input and output time while increasing process time. The length of student activities and discussions increases along with the process duration. When we use ICT to aid with teaching, correlation with other topics will grow, as will brainstorming, learning, and other activities. We also have more time for the process phase, which is more crucial during a 45- to 60-minute lesson.
The efficacy of teachers is correlated with the integration of ICT into educational activities. The ability of a school to advance teaching standards and implement positive ICT transformation is referred to as its "e-capacity." Four subcategories are created from these states: teacher-applied ICT, teacher-associated ICT circumstances, school-associated ICT situations, and school-advancement scenarios. The multi-coating nature of circumstances impacting ICT amalgamation is explained by these subgroups.
This framework developed from a perspective of school improvement and the conditions that were in place to support the integration of ICT into educational procedures. The most important aspect of this structure is an institution's e-capacity, which refers to the ability of the institution to create and improve teacher and institution standard scenarios in order to achieve effective ICT transformation. These circumstances have been divided into four subgroups: scenarios where teachers are really using ICT, situations where teachers are using ICT, situations where schools are using ICT, and situations where schools are advancing.
ICT is not a magic bullet for every educational problem, but modern technologies are essential tools for the teaching and learning process. A variety of ICT may simplify the learning process as well as the delivery of instructions. For today's educators, it provides more adaptable and effective ways for long-term executive growth. Research shows that ICT may change how instructors educate and that it is most useful in assisting in the development of more student-centered suggestions, as well as in building excellent skills and promoting group activities. Recognising the importance of ICT in the educational field, the majority of nations have offered different types of ICT teacher training. It is possible to train teachers to use ICT efficiently. ICT may be used as a main tool in the process of training teachers.
UTILITY OF ICTS ASSIST IN UPGRADING THE DEGREE OF EXCELLENCE OF PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION AND TEACHER’S
Improving the quality of professional education and teachers' work is crucial, especially at this period of educational expansion. Among the many ways in which ICT may raise the bar for excellence, the following are just a few:
Make learning a priority
A teacher may engage students in the learning process by providing material that is authentic and based on their efforts. So, he or she may combine visuals, audio, and text with the use of information and communication technology.
To facilitate the acquisition of basic competence
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) make it simple to practice and repeat basic skills and concepts, which form the basis of strong reasoning abilities and inventiveness. The original purpose of computers was to facilitate computer-based learning, which focused on topic and skill excellence via practice and reinforcement.
Ongoing education
The subject matter and science of teaching are at the core of education to reform in the 21st century, and research shows that ICTs, when used correctly, may activate these exceptional improvements. Using information and communication technologies (ICT) in the classroom, if done well, may help students gain the knowledge and abilities they need to keep studying.
Professional Development
The part of teachers has substituted and constantly to shift or transfer from being an trainer to becoming a producer, advisor, tutor and designer of learning environment.
New requirements- At present teachers are required to be:
· Co-ordinators assisting students to make judgments about the degree of excellence and validity of latest sources and understanding
· Unbiased and analytical self-reliant professionals
· Active co-operators and an associate in labour
· Mediators between learners
Major themes of ICT
There are six major themes of ICT in educational process at six different levels.
1) Impression of activities
2) Help in act of refining
3) Modified surroundings
4) Increase the level of Motivation
5) To shape again the learning
6) To replace teaching
Fostering the amalgamation of ICT into education and learning activities
Amalgamation of ICT into education learning activities is related to teacher effectiveness. The e-capacity of a school refers to the school’s capacities to develop the school and teacher standard to bring about constructive ICT change. These states are assembled into four subgroups: teacher’s real application of ICT, ICT associated teacher situations, ICT associated school situations, and school advancement situations. These subgroups explain the multi-coating essence of situations influencing ICT amalgamation.
ICT use as pivotal content emphasis of teacher training
Training programs for information and communication technology teachers in the 1990s mostly focused on the practical applications of ICT. Training educators to effectively integrate technology into their lessons is a major tenet of this strategy. Items such as selecting appropriate ICT tools and assisting students in their use, promoting learning activities using ICT, developing new approaches to learning facilitation, evaluating student presentations, and so on were categorized. By making information and communication technologies (ICT) the primary focus of teacher education, we can better prepare future educators to use these tools effectively in the classroom. Now that we've covered the fundamentals, the art of science teaching methods for incorporating ICT into the classroom are available.
ICT utility as component of teaching techniques
The goal of this call is to streamline some aspects of teacher training by using ICT. The School Administrator's Office is a good place to build this plan for integrating technology.
Project with resources. Expanding educators' ICT-pedagogy combination abilities via the distribution of rich instances and practical conceptions is the primary focus of this initiative, rather than skill development per se.
ICT as pivotal technology for conveyance teacher training
This proposal places a strong emphasis on the use of ICT as a means of providing teacher training with practical learning experiences. Although there is little focus on actual ICT competence in this plan, it does address several ICT benefits.
ICT utilized to smooth efficient advancement and networking
There are many instances of how information and communication technologies, especially the Internet and web-based communication tools, are helping teachers with their present-day networking and efficiency, which suggests that they might be useful as a key technology for teacher training.
CONCEPT OF WORK MOTIVATION
What we call "work motivation" is really a combination of internal and external influences that propel people to do their best job. Form, direction, intensity, and length of time spent engaging in work-related behavior are all under their purview. Motivation is the inherent propensity for an individual to engage with, initiate, and ignore negative stimuli. One tool for assisting and predicting behavior is motivation, which differs substantially from one individual to the next and must be linked to psychological and environmental factors to significantly influence behavior and outcomes. Institutions must comprehend the significance of motivation in determining actions and results in the workplace if they are to create a setting that promotes efficiency and prevents waste.
The goal of this training is to provide workers the tools they need to succeed in their roles. The first step is to hire the best people for the job and then give them challenging, personally-tailored assignments. The unique creature is born from a combination of powerful forces, which then start to work with it, shaping its structure, order, strength, and longevity. Work motivation is a psychological phenomena that develops as a result of an individual's engagement with their surroundings. Your level of work motivation may be influenced by your work environment, your individual demands on the job, and the degree to which your requirements are met by the environment in relation to your objectives. Motivated effort is required when an individual is compared to a high-quality challenge in the shape of a typical, specified objective or something similar. Improving workers' mental health by positive reinforcement and direction is the major objective of workplace motivation. Workers that are emotionally and psychologically well are more productive. Employees are motivated to do their best job because of this. Furthermore, it maintains employee interest in their job. Employees' views of the organization's worth might be influenced by job motivation. When employees feel valued, they are more invested in the company's success. The worker has a sense of fulfillment and achieves greater achievement in the field of education.
Most men get a lot of what they want from their employment. Security, social, ego, and physiological requirements are just a few of the numerous types of needs that work may effectively provide. The social realities and the expectation of labor dictate that men should conform. In addition to elevating his social standing, it also bonds him to the community. According to Roe, "in our culture, work is a source of need and satisfaction, and it is extremely important." It's likely that jobs have become so important in our culture because they fulfill so many needs.
An imbalance exists between a person's innate abilities and their intrinsic drive to succeed in the workplace. Thus, motivation is an essential component in management, as it is difficult to accomplish organizational objectives in the absence of it. It is a method of assigning workers so that they may accomplish goals with little exertion and maximum efficiency. Management tasks lose all significance if team members aren't willing to put in the time and effort required to do the tasks assigned to them. Being motivated is key to improving performance. When people are motivated, they develop task schemes, which are defined by Mitchell and Daniels as "patterns of behaviour produced to reach a particular goal."
CONCLUSION
The study aligns with global literature that points to ICT as a double-edged sword: it enhances satisfaction when used correctly but contributes to frustration when resources and support are inadequate. Despite infrastructural deficits, the enthusiasm for ICT is evident. Teachers are open to technological interventions but require systemic support to fully benefit from them.