Ecuadorian high school teachers´ perceptions on ICT use in their EFL classes

Abstract

This research is about the perception of the Ecuadorian high school teachers on the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in their EFL classes. The purpose of this study was to identify the EFL teachers´ perceptions about the use of ICT when teaching, the factors that they consider the most influential to use ICT in their classroom, and the aspects that they think as barriers to use ICT. The research was carried out in six high schools located in the North of Quito. Twenty teachers from public and private high schools, ten male and ten female, were selected as a sample. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The qualitative method was used to describe what teachers reflect about ICT; the problems that they encounter when using technology and what they think about it; meanwhile, the quantitative method was used to describe the numerical data. The results show that the main barriers to use ICT in teaching are: the lack of training, lack of confidence, and age of the teachers. In addition, ICT helps them to innovate their teaching methodology