Motivational Potential of ICT on Lower Primary Students in 2 Schools

In the educational context, the motivation of a student to study is dependent upon various factors, including the manner in which a subject is taught - the resources used to develop students' interests and keep it alive; collaboration, and how intrinsically motivated the students are to learn the subject/topic. The teacher's role is to help develop an expectancy of a benefit that will occur as a result of their participation in an instructional experience. A study was conducted keeping these factors in mind, and the fact that the curricula taught at Lower Primary (Grades I and II) in the selected Schools A and B, do not have ICT integration. ICT integration was piloted in School A last year whereas School B did not have ICT integration. The teachers of school A are using bottom up approach to integrate ICT with all subjects. The findings of the study show that the use of ICT has a significant potential to motivate Lower Primary students. The findings also revealed that there werea number of limitations that prevented an effective use of ICT integration in School A; Learning did take place in School B as well; however, the students were found to be less motivated and disengaged.