The use of ICT in teaching of Geography in selected schools of Petauke district in eastern province of Zambia

This article explored the use of ICT in teaching of Geography to pupils in selected schools of Petauke district in eastern province Zambia. Objective of this article was; to establish the types of ICT materials available for teaching Geography in secondary schools in Petauke District, Zambia, to explore the extent to which ICT devices/platforms were being integrated in the teaching and learning of geography in selected schools of Petauke district; and to suggest the best means of integrating ICT’s in teaching and learning of geography in selected schools of Petauke district. A qualitative approach with a descriptive study design was used to collect data through in-depth interviews and observations. A total of twenty-eight (28) respondents were involved in the study and the information collected was thematically analysed with the guidance of Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six phase framework. The study revealed that computers, laptops, projectors, printers, smartphones and tablets were among the widely used ICT devices in the teaching and learning of Geography in the selected schools of Petauke district. However, these devices were very few and could not cover the needs of every learner or teacher due to the resource to user ratio, which proved highly unsustainable. The findings showed that integration of ICTs was hindered by the unavailability and shortage of resources. The findings further pointed out that teachers and learners lacked in skill to use most ICT resources beyond these resources’ basic functions. According to the findings, the conclusion drawn was that to enhance effective integration of ICTs in the teaching and learning of Geography, teachers and learners need to be provided with adequate ICTs resources in their teaching and learning of Geography. It is also important for school management to provide adequate funding to enable its Teachers to attend workshops where they can gain skills and knowledge for integrating ICTs in the teaching and learning of Geography.