Identification and Prioritization of Factors Affecting the Improvement of Teaching-Learning at Smart Schools

Background: Information and communication technology (ICT) is the empowerment key to the development of communities, especially in the education system. A smart school refers to educational units, who are flexible for students regarding capabilities and features and prepare learners for the future. Objectives: This study aimed at identifying and prioritizing ways to improve teaching-learning process in the second semester of year 2017 - 2018 at smart schools of Semnan province. Methods: This qualitative study included six experts in information and communication technology in smart schools, and in-depth interviews were carried out with 24 teachers, who were selected by purposive and snowball sampling. The analysis of the content of the interviews and theoretical basis was set in the form of questionnaire in two sections of ideal situation and the status quo. According to experts, content validity and reliability by Cronbach’s alpha had a good condition at 0.88 and 0.96. In the quantitative section, a questionnaire was completed by 310 teachers and administrators, who were selected using stratified sampling. Results: Result of freedman test for determining the significance of ranking methods of improving teaching- learning showed that it was valid at P < 0.05. The findings showed that teachers (with average of 6) were in the first place followed by interaction (4.48), students (4.41), content (3.11), teaching method (1.58), and evaluation with average of 1.42 stands was in the sixth place amongst factors effecting the teaching-learning process of smart schools. Conclusions: Development of education systems refers to creating fundamental changes in the process of teaching and learning. To enhance these changes, ICT is an empowering key factor. Teaching/learning process includes the teacher, student, and teaching methods. Among these, the teacher has a vital role because they provide information for thinking and reasoning.