Abstract

Schools and educators are under considerable pressure to change. Educators have reported varying attitudes to the use of computers, ranging from supportive to negative. However, there is an acceptance that cannot simply be overlooked. It will also be important to consider all aspects of the educators’ beliefs, resistance and the anxieties that many express towards the use of computers. Educators’ theories and beliefs are shaped by their teaching philosophies. For the use of computer technology to be successful in classrooms, educators must be keen to change their beliefs and roles. Educators must be confident and competent when using computers so that these skills may be transferred to their students as well. Educators’ theories and beliefs are not easy to change and many educators do not enjoy changing them. Therefore, it may be suggested that computer technology should synchronise with the existing theories and beliefs of educators. By only focusing on how to use computers, and by not dealing with the issue of how to teach students more efficiently, the use of computer technology integration into education has failed. The findings recommend that education teaching programs must provide pre-service educators with a conducive and non-threatening learning environment so that they may experience success in using computers in their instruction.

Key words: Beliefs, computers, educator, secondary schools, classroom.