Abstract:
It has become mandatory that the teaching community acquire expertise in the
computer to ensure that they cope effectively with the future demands of the knowledge society
with respect to the class room set up. Therefore, The Ministry of Education of Sri Lanka urges all
teachers to receive International Computer Driving License (ICDL) training. The ICDL training
aims to improve teachers’ ICT proficiency at three levels: ICT skills, pedagogical skills, and
curriculum training. The purpose of this study is to examine how teachers apply practical
experiences from ICDL coursework to their teaching. It also examines whether ICDL training
increased teachers’ professional, ICT and pedagogical skills in their day to day teaching and
learning process, whether the ICDL training results in the teachers’ use of new software
applications in the classroom and the factors that affects teacher use of ICT in the class room
after ICDL training. Mixed method was selected as the research design. Purposive sampling
has been used to select the teacher sample for this study. A sample of 85 teachers was selected
from Badulla district. A questionnaire with attitude scales and interviews were the data collecting
methods, and data were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods, to achieve
the objectives of the study. It was revealed that an average of the ICDL participants (51%) stated
that ICDL training resulted in their use of new software applications in the classroom. Most of
teachers can apply what they had learned in the Presentation module and a majority of the
teachers can not apply data base applications and spreadsheet applications in their teaching
learning process. However, the findings show that computer knowledge and skills have not
affected them at all in the use of ICT in the teaching learning process among the teachers who
had undergone ICDL training. It was recommended the duration for ICDL training needs to be
extended. Additional vendor-specific training might be required for all teachers after obtaining
ICDL certification. These findings, conclusions and recommendations would be useful to the
authorities to improve ICDL training.
