Information and Communication Technologies Serving Educational Transformation: Emotions, Benefits and Efficacy of ICT

Abstract

Education systems must be constantly renewing to offer quality education that is in-keeping with 21st-century society’s demands. In recent times, information and communication technologies (ITC) have gained strength and become revitalising elements at all social levels. In the education domain, the application of technological resources can make a valuable contribution to promote overall student development and to favour the teaching-learning process. Bearing in mind this reality, this article aims to analyse the perceptions of the relatives of students aged 3-18 years of the impact that technology has on their children’s education in terms of emotions, benefits and efficiency. It also aims to examine if the emotional factor is a conditioning factor for how the benefits and efficacy obtained from using ICT in classrooms are perceived. Likewise, the underlying relation between the variables referring to ICT benefits and efficacy is studied. For this purpose, a survey was devised, which 720 mothers and fathers completed. To this end, descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) and the Structural Equation Model (SEM) were applied. The application of SEM revealed that positive emotions had a positive significant effect on perceived benefits. Another positive significant effect was found for positive emotions and benefits on perceived efficacy. Although there is a significant diversity of perceptions, families identify the greatest benefit of ICT in education as its remarkable capacity to motivate students in their educational processes and to develop digital competence. Regarding the efficacy of these tools, participants have highlighted how ICT can facilitate access to online materials for all students. From the study results, we can conclude that relatives recognise that technological tools confer their children’s educational process benefits and efficacy.