BEST PRACTICES IN USING EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY BY OUT-OF-SCHOOL TIME LEARNERS

This paper identifies the best practices in the use of educational technology during out-of-school time learning. The study was conducted in Arusha, Dar es Salaam and Mwanza regions in Tanzania. A preliminary study was first carried out to establish actual practices in the use of educational technology among learners. Learners were asked to state the actual practices that they apply in using the educational technology. The most frequent perceived best practices were used as a benchmark in constructing a questionnaire which was later administered to the respondents from the research regions for them to rank the perceived best practices. The findings suggest that effective use of educational technology demands users jot down key ideas, pay due attention to the media, identify problem areas, and keep records of essential programmes for future reference. Additionally, learners have to adhere to the schedules, and avoid unintended programmes especially those forbidden by adults. These findings call for the joint efforts among educational stakeholders especially school administrators, teachers and parents to ensure that learners in both public and private schools actually embrace the best practices in the course of using Information Communication Technology (ICT) with a view to creating enabling OST learning environment among learners and ultimately improve academic performance. Furthermore, studies need to be done to find the best ways the findings of this study could apply to other countries and higher levels of education.