UNPACKING THE ROLE OF ICT AND FACULTY COMPETENCY IN ENHANCING TEACHER PERFORMANCE: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY

Abstract

This study examines the effect of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) resources and teacher competency on teacher performances in higher education. A quantitative, cross-sectional study was designed of 250 faculty members working in public universities in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. The structured questionnaire inquired the degree of ICT resources used, the self-assessed ICT competencies of the teachers as well as their performance in teaching. Reliability and validity of the measurements were determined using Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability, and exploratory factor analysis. Data were analyzed using the statistical package, The Statistical Package and Program for Social Studies (SPSS), using descriptive statistics, correlations and a regression modeling program. Results demonstrated significant positive relationships among all constructs. ICT resources explained 66.7% of the variance in teacher performance (β ≈ 0.817, p < 0.001) and 75.0% of the variance in teacher competency (β ≈ 0.866, p < 0.001). Teacher competency alone explained 44.3% of performance variance (β ≈ 0.665, p < 0.001). A multiple regression model confirmed that both ICT resources (β ≈ 0.345) and teacher competency (β ≈ 0.505) were significant predictors of performance, accounting jointly for 56.8% of the variance (R² ≈ 0.568). These findings indicated that teacher performance is also directly improved by access to ICT and indirectly improved through competency development. The study concludes that higher education institutions should pursue a dual approach to the use of ICT that expands ICT infrastructure and simultaneously invests directly in ongoing teacher training programs. Policy implications point to the need for capacity-building programs to ensure the effective utilization of technological resources for the eventual improvement of educational quality and outcome.