ICT skills and knowledge management practice in Teachers’ Training Institute S. Sugunah Supermane Department of Educational Foundation and Social Science, Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, MALAYSIA. [email protected] Lokman Mohd Tahir Department of Educational Foundation and Social Science, Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, MALAYSIA. [email protected] Abstract As the world changes toward knowledge based economy, most of the organizations diverted their focus from hard and conventional resources to knowledge as their main resources. Aligned with the globalization in education, Malaysia has transformed itself to knowledge-based society too. Creativity and knowledge management are both important competences that students need to strive to develop in higher educational institutions. Prominently, Teachers’ Training Institutions as a part of higher educational institutions in Malaysia are mainly responsible in providing the demanding and vibrant accumulation and implementation of knowledge management to meet the world-class education quality. Information and communication technology (ICT) often plays a vital role in implementing knowledge management. Thus, this study examines the relationship between leader trainee teachers’ ICT skills and knowledge management practice in carrying out programs in Teachers’ Training Institutes. A survey research was conducted among 27 leaders from a Teachers’

Education Institute in southern region of Malaysia. Three elements of ICT skills and five dimensions of knowledge management were explored. The collected data was analyzed by using SPSS 22.0. The finding indicated an average level of relationship existed between leader trainee teachers’ ICT skills and knowledge management practice in carrying out programs in the Teachers’ Education Institute. Understanding the relationship between ICT skills and knowledge management practice among leader trainee teachers would enable policy makers to propose a valueadded teacher education syllabuses and programs. Keywords: knowledge management; ICT skills; leader trainee teachers 1.0

Introduction

As the world changes toward a knowledge based economy, most of the organizations diverted their focus from hard and conventional resources to knowledge as their main resources. Now, knowledge is known as the fundamental component of production and service (Drucker, 1993). Knowledge is a complicated concept. Though, Davenport et al. (1998) has defined knowledge as a blended fluid of encircled experiences, sense, logical data, expert insight and grounded intuition that gives a domain to assess and consolidate new experiences and data. Globalization in education has transformed Malaysia into knowledge-based society too. Creativity and knowledge management are both important competences that students need to strive to develop in higher educational institutions. Prominently, Teachers’ Education Institutions as a part of higher educational institutions in Malaysia are

mainly responsible in providing the demanding and vibrant accumulation and implementation of knowledge management to meet the world-class education quality. Knowledge is frequently alluded as the "concealed quality" of an organization. It is difficult to characterize property that everybody knows is justified regardless of an extraordinary arrangement yet discovers hard to express in fiscal terms. However, socialization, exchanging practices and creating community of practice will encourage innovations and knowledge sharing practises in organizations (Bukowitz et al., 2004). Leader’s role as a mentor, facilitator and stimulator enhance positive relationship and socialization in an organization(Yang, 2007). The success of an organization is depends on the capabilities of a leader(Choo,2010). Aligned with this, the success of teacher trainees in Malaysian Teacher Education Institutes(IPGM) also depends on the capabilities of leader teacher trainees in the institutes. The excellence of a teacher education institute(IPG) began with the determination of a realistic and committed vision and mission. In this case, almost all of the IPG in Malaysia aims to produce competent and spirited educators through a dynamic teacher development programs towards worldclass education. 2.0

Literature Review

Goldstein (1993) mentioned that development programs are systematic effort aimed at increasing the knowledge, skills and enhance one's ability. Thus, most of the teacher trainee development program in the IPG will be held under the leadership of the campus level trainee teacher

representatives. The young leaders who will become teachers at the school are holding the accountabilities to manage the programs in a proper manner. Along with the shift 7 in the Malaysian Education Blueprint (2013-2025), the student representative committee members should take advantage of ICT in enhancing the effectiveness of the program. Petrides & Nodine(2003) asserted that educational institutionals has invested in technologies to manage the available knowledge in seeking improvements. It has been supported by SP Bedi and S.C. Laroiya (2008) by urging teachers to be more innovative leader in distributing information and knowledge management incorporating the latest technology. Leaders nowadays are guiding the subordinates in evaluating and using information obtained from various sources. They are no longer suppliers of information. Therefore, prospective teachers need to be taught to manage with greater knowledge in order to be able to practice in schools. According to Chu Kai Wing (2013), knowledge management is a broad and complex field. Now, knowledge management has been widely adopted as a strategy to transform education. In addition, knowledge management enhances the instituitions learning abilitities(Chawla & Lenka, 2015). Knowledge management is widely viewed as a process involving several activities such as creating, storing/retrieving, transferring and applying knowledge(Alavi & Leidner, 2001). Srivastava et al., (2006) stated that a highperforming leader has a close relationship with knowledge management and the efficiency of the program. In fact, a well-managed knowledge impacted significantly in the success of a program(Daniel Bell, 1973). Thus, awareness of the importance of knowledge management should have in the soul of every young leaders in the IPG to ensure the

effectiveness of activities and programs that are accountable to them. Based on the studies that have been carried out, knowledge is important in determining the success of a school. According to Hans-Dieter Evers (2010), Malaysia was left behind in the knowledge-based program compared to the countries of Asia. This statement is supported by the study and exegesis of Zaidatun See Ching Ing (2010) which establishes the level of information to evaluate the knowledge of teachers in Sarawak and Melaka at the intermediate level. Fullan (2001) also argues that, public sector such as schools showed no interest in knowledge management. In fact, only a few studies and discussions have been conducted in the field of knowledge management. He believes that the ICT infrastructure, the existing system, teachers and leaders also become constraints and challenges in the application of knowledge management in schools. Leaders and teachers in schools are not aware of the importance of knowledge in creating excellent school. The importance of managing knowledge is not exposed to trainee teachers in educational institutions. Comprehensive knowledge management process is not reached among the trainee teachers in the institutes. IPG is a strategic place to discover new knowledge. However, much of the data has not changed because creating new knowledge culture is not emphasized in the teacher training institutes. These shortcomings can only be overcome if the introduction of knowledge management among young leaders in the IPG. According to Lisa I. P. and Susan Z.G. (2002), knowledge-based leadership has the potential to boost academic achievement and teacher excellence as a whole. It was able to create a learning environment aligned with the requirements of an innovative era of globalization.

Leaders (trainee teacher representative committee) should play a role in initiating the process of knowledge management. They have a unique role in creating learning organization. A positive effect can be obtained by members of the teacher trainee representative committee if knowledge management can be applied in all IPG programs. They should be a leader and mentor to other trainees in the field of knowledge management. Prospective teachers are instrumental in using knowledge management to improve the performance of the students in the academic and cocurricular activities. The knowledge obtained in the performance of routine activities will be enshrined in complex organizations where knowledge is not properly managed. Educators and trainee teacher only engage in activities just to meet the eligibility criteria for graduation. They do not use their expertise and skills to manage all information and knowledge gained from programs carried out during the period of their studies at the institute. Institute of Teacher Education is not used as a basis to create new knowledge. If the problem persists, IPG will not be recognized as a center of knowledge in the future. This may be caused by a lack of guidance and reference in the field of knowledge management. This has prompted researchers to study the relationship of ICT skills and knowledge management of representative committee of students in the institute. 3.0

Objective

This study aims to determine the relationship of ICT skills and knowledge management among leader trainee teachers in Johor Temenggong Ibrahim Teacher Education Institute.

4.0

Methodology

This is a descriptive study. A survey has been carried out using a questionnaire. According to John W. Best and James V. Kahn(1998), the descriptive study is used to interpret relationships exists, opinions that are held, on going processes, effects and developing trends. The questionnaire was used to gather feedback on the ICT skills and knowledge management among leader trainee teachers in Johor Temenggong Ibrahim Teacher Education Institute. The questionnaire for this study consisted of three parts, namely Part A, Part B and Part C. Part A of the questionnaire prepared consists of 2 parts. Part A (i) represents information about the background of the respondents, consisting of six items. It consists gender, age, race, subjects of specialization, type of school and year of studies. Part A (ii) is information on ICT equipment in the institute. There are 8 items in this section. Part B plays a role in reviewing the respondents' level of ICT skills. There are 15 items that comprise three essential elements. It consists of basic computer literacy, use of ICT equipment and software and the integration of ICT and networking. Part C is intended to determine the level of knowledge management. There are 26 items divided into five dimensions of knowledge management. A spearmann correlation of ICT skills and knowledge management used to determine the relationship between ICT skills and knowledge management of leader trainee teachers in Johor Temenggong Ibrahim Teacher Education Institute. A total of 27 leader trainee teachers (student representatives committee) IPGKTI, Johor from various options were chosen as respondents for this study. The data collected from the questionnaires was processed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)

version 22.0. This software was used to measure the frequency, percentage, mean and correlation. The Spearmann correlation used to assess the correlation between the level of ICT skills and knowledge management among leader trainee teachers in Johor Temenggong Ibrahim Teacher Education Institute. Correlation Index measures the degree and direction of a linear relationship of two variables. The positive index showed a congenial and negative index indicates an inverse relationship (Frederick, JG & Larry, BW, 2004). Correlation index mentioned above clearly shown in table 1. Table 1 Coefficient(r) index Range (+ or -)

Strength

0.0 to 0.19

Very weak

0.2 to 0.39

Weak, low

0.4 to 0.69

Moderate

0.7 to 0.89

High, strong

0.9 to 1.0

Very high, very strong Sumber: Frederick, J. G and Larry, B. W (2004).

5.0

Result

Statistical analysis of the survey data will describe demographic information, the mean and the relationship of the ICT skills and the level of knowledge management among leader trainee teachers in Johor Temenggong Ibrahim Teacher Education Institute.

5.1

Respondents’ background

This section contains background information about the respondents. In this section, researchers have put forward questions pertaining to gender, age, race, subjects specialization and year of studies. The results of the analysis indicated in table 2. Table 2 The background analysis of leader trainee

teachers in Johor Temenggong Ibrahim Teacher Education Institute. Gender Male female Age below 20 20 – 29 Race Malay Chinese Indian Others

Frequency 11 16

Specializations Malay studies English studies Mathematics Tech & designing Tamil studies Others Studies year First Second Third Fourth

4 23

Percentage (%) 40.7 59.3 14.8 85.2

16 2 8 1

59.3 7.4 29.6 3.7

2 10 3 3 3 6

7.4 37.0 11.1 11.1 11.1 22.2

3 10 9 5

11.1 37.0 33.3 18.5

5.2

The relationship of the ICT skills and the level of knowledge management

Data analysis has shown that there is a moderate positive correlation between ICT skills with knowledge management among leader trainee teachers in Johor Temenggong Ibrahim Teacher Education Institute. Table 3 The relationship of the ICT skills and the level of knowledge management among leader trainee teachers in Johor Temenggong Ibrahim Teacher Education Institute. Correlations KNOWLEDGE

Spearman's

ICT SKILLS

rho

ICTSKILLS

MANAGEMENT

1.000

.692**

.

.000

27

27

.692**

1.000

.000

.

27

27

Correlation Coefficient Sig. (2-tailed) N

KNOWLEDGE

Correlation

MANAGEMENT

Coefficient Sig. (2-tailed) N

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Table 3 shows the relationship between ICT skills and knowledge management among leader trainee teachers in Johor Temenggong Ibrahim Teacher Education Institute. The value of the coefficient of correlation level ICT skills and knowledge management of leader trainee teachers in Johor Temenggong Ibrahim Teacher Education Institute is

r = 0692. Relationship between the two variables is also positive. This means, a moderate and significant relationships exists between these two variables. 6.0

Discussion

Generally, this study achieved the objective of knowing the relationship of ICT skills and knowledge management of leader trainee teachers in Johor Temenggong Ibrahim Teacher Education Institute. The result revealed the existence of a moderate but significantly positive relationship between ICT skills and knowledge management among leader trainee teachers. Aligned with the seventh shift in Malaysian Education Blueprint (20132015), ICT is integrated well in all the activivities been carried out in the Teacher Education Institute. The result matched perfectly with Laudon and Laudon(1997). According to them, ICT and knowledge management are two different fields but come attached together. Petrides & Nodine (2003) confirmed that technologies are main organizational resources that enable them to use and share information. ICT skills are known as complement to knowledge management and it has been proved in the context of Teacher Education Institute in this study. Abdullah et al., (2014) affirmed that challenges in new millennium require teacher education institutes for the retracement paradigm to educate future teachers in nurturing balanced and harmonious citizens. The integration of ICT is one of the approaches used in objectify the retracement paradigm in education. Umar & Jamiat, (2011) has mentioned earlier that the integration of ICT in teacher education has already started in 2006 but not holistically.

Furthermore, the relationship between ICT skills and knowledge management among leader trainee teachers is positive because the role of ICT skills as a backbone in knowledge managing activities(Johari, A., 2002). Therefore, trainee teachers are urged to master the ICT skills in order to acsess borderless information and knowledge. Previously, Handziz (2004) has mentioned that knowledge management depends on the effectiveness of ICT network used by the members of an organization. It is also a powerful factor in the processing of information. Along with the importance of ICT skills in knowledge management, teacher education must give the same priority in increasing ICT skills as well as a workshop or course on disclosure of knowledge management. 7.0

Conclusion

In a nutshell, the objective of the study is well achieved. There is a moderate but positive relationship exists between ICT skill and knowledge management of leader trainee teachers in Johor Temenggong Ibrahim Teacher Education Institute. Positive relationship exists between the two variables because creativity and knowledge management are both important competences in that students need to strive to develop in higher educational institutions. ICT skills are used in academic activities in order to be creative. A blended knowledge management model consist of knowledge sharing, knowledge internalization and knowledge creation was used to create an instructional program for higher education students. The created program has enhanced the students creativity(Yeh et al., 2012). Trainee teachers in Teacher Education Institute are exposed to these competences too. However, the exposure and workshops on the importance of ICT skills and

knowledge management need to prominent in Teacher Education institutes to strive for a strong relationship between the two variables in the future.

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