הערכת תרומת תכנית התקשוב הלאומית לקידום עבודת המורים

The current study examines the impact of the national ICT program on the changing classroom performance of teachers with regard to both their use of technology and their perception of the change. The research methodology -integrated qualitative and quantitative methods. A total of 1,035 elementary -school teachers who joined the program in 2010-2011 responded to a semi enclosed questionnaire that was constructed especially for this study. The main finding indicates that the technological tools and services used the most by the teachers were visual illustration tools and digital content applications. Other findings indicate that most teachers use technology as a supplement for the existing teaching-learning methods rather than introduce a meaningful change into their work that may lead to transforming the teaching-learning task from traditional into advanced digital teaching. In addition, the findings indicate that the teachers who use sharing and communication tools in their teachings exhibit updated, high pedagogical-technological thinking as compared to teachers who do not use ICT tools. These findings reinforce the need for promoting the socio-constructivist teaching approach, which emphasizes the importance of collaborative learning as a contributor to progressive and meaningful learning. It can be assumed that if the education system continues to support the training of teachers in the field of ICT and consistently and systematically outlines a suitable pedagogical path, a significant change in teachers’ work characteristic can be .expected in the course of the next several years