ANALYZING THE ENCOURAGING FACTORS AND BARRIERS TO THE ADOPTION OF INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES IN REGULAR AND SPECIAL EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: TRANSFORMING EDUCATION IN PUNJAB

Abstract

Modern advancements caused schools, colleges and universities to rethink their existing educational systems including how to use instructional technologies effectively and successfully. Partially or fully usage of instructional technologies may not be rapidly possible in under developed countries like Pakistan. Therefore, it was important to review literature on using instructional technologies at educational institutions and to understand this complex phenomenon in Pakistani perspective. The present study aimed to investigate the encouraging factors and barriers in using instructional technologies at the general and special educational institutions of the Punjab province, Pakistan. The researchers reviewed academic literature and grey literature, identified total forty eight encouraging factors to the use of instructional technologies and thirty seven barriers to the use of instructional technologies on first stage. Fifty one of these cases were purposefully selected for further exploration on second stage. By using thematic analysis, these fifty one cases were abridged into thirty six major themes on third stage. Eighteen were related to the encouraging factors to the use of instructional technologies and eighteen were related to the barriers for the usage of instructional technologies. The encouraging factors to promote the instructional strategies included the supply of material and resources, adequate infrastructure, formulation of effective policy to implement the instructional technology. The barriers in the adoption of the instructional strategies included the insufficient investments made by the government, lack integration of curriculum, lack proper knowledge of teachers in use of instructional strategies, poor access to libraries and laboratories and low level of teacher interest. It finally led to discuss and reflect it in higher education context of Pakistan at the end.