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@article{208178,
        author = {Dr. Sydney Chiyaba},
        title = {ASSESSING THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION: A STUDY OF URBAN SCHOOLS IN ZAMBIA},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {4},
        pages = {1249-1260},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=208178},
        abstract = {The role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the education systems of the world is becoming more central and Zambia is not an exception. Over the years, the successive policies such as the 2013/2014 Policy on ICT in Education, have accorded technology as an instrument for better access to and quality of learning and teaching. Yet there is limited and inconsistent research on how well policy intentions are being realized in the classroom in urban schools in Zambia in relation to investments and discourse in digital transformation. This study aims to explore and evaluate the access, utilization, and effectiveness of educational technology in a sample of primary and secondary schools in urban Zambia within the context of infrastructure infrastructure, teacher competence, and challenges of integration. Data were obtained from 156 teachers, 24 school administrators, and 6 purposively selected schools in urban areas in 2 provinces using a mixed methods approach of structured questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and lesson observations. Descriptive and inferential statistics analysis were used to analyse quantitative data, while qualitative data obtained from the interviews were analysed thematically. Results show that if the facilities are available (basic infrastructure like electricity etc. and computer laboratories in most sampled schools), real meaningful pedagogical integration of ICT is still weak as less than 14 percent of teachers reported that they use ICT in their teaching daily, and a strong positive correlation (r = 0.79) was found between the composite school ICT access index and mean learner examination performance. The most frequently mentioned barriers were unreliable electricity and internet connectivity, lack of devices, and lack of teacher training. Overall, the study's findings suggest that focusing exclusively on urban settings for this experiment will not lead to effective technology integration, implying that it is now time to move the focus from providing the infrastructure to teacher friendly ongoing professional development, maintenance funding and school level ICT leadership.},
        keywords = {Information and Communication Technology (ICT), educational technology, urban schools, Zambia, technology integration, digital literacy, teacher competency.},
        month = {September},
        }