The Readiness of Preschool Teachers in Integrating 4th Industrial Revolution Skills in Classroom

Abstract

The use of Information Communication and technology (ICT) in education enhances the quality of education in line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) as there is an increasing demanded for ICT to be used in the workplace. The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is a program designed to prepare students for the workplace in line with the IR4.0 vision. As the demand for ICT competent workers increase, the use of ICT methods in the classrooms to cater for TVET programs are becoming more and more important. It is important that we prepare our next generation from an early stage the familiarization of technology in their daily lives. The purpose of this research is to investigate the readiness of preschool teachers in integrating IR4.0 skills in classroom. This research uses a survey distributed through social media and consisted of 302 respondents whom are preschool teachers in the Kota Kinabalu Sabah, Malaysia. The reliability of the instrument used was verified to be larger than 0.6 for each element of the instrument by calculating the Cronbach’s Alpha value. A 4- and 5-point Likert Scale was used in this research. The findings from this research indicated that preschool teachers in Kota Kinabalu Sabah has a positive attitude towards the implementation of ICT in the classroom is positive (M = 3.11, SD = 1.36). The ICT skill level of the preschool teachers are high (M = 2.89, SD = 1.45). The effectiveness of ICT towards the preschoolers was at a moderately high level (M = 3.27, SD = 1.24). The frequency in which teachers faces obstacles when using ICT was at a moderate level (M = 2.44, SD = 1.28). In conclusion, this research findings shows the preschool teachers of Kota Kinabalu Sabah, Malaysia is ready to use ICT in the classroom to prepare for the IR4.0 demands.