Abstract:
Nowadays, considering the great developments of technology in all aspects and its fast
widespread among students in Lebanon, we can describe the new generation as smart.
The new generation uses the information and communication technology (ICT) to a big
extent. As students in Lebanon gain the chance to use the new technology more,
especially tablets (including iPads) for education purposes, their passion for attending
classes and gaining knowledge might increase. Thus, there is a need to enhance today‟s
teaching styles using new learning technologies. Therefore, integrating this kind of
information technology (tablets) into the learning process among school students has
become an important area to examine and explore. Nevertheless, the importance of this
process is subject to debate amongst educators in the schools operating in Lebanon.
While some support the idea of integration, opponents claim that tablets‟ costs outweigh
their benefits. Questions such as: “Are our schools ready for the technology integration
in classrooms?” and “will these technologies contribute to better learning performance?”
need to be answered. This study aims at examining the integration of tablets in teaching
English in a third grade class at a school operating in Lebanon. A quasi-experimental
design was deployed to assess the impact of tablet use on the performance of students
and to check whether this technology integration in teaching results in significant
differences in the students‟ learning outcomes. A conceptual model was developed
based on a theoretical framework combining the Gamification in education Theory (Pelling, 2011) and the Theoretical Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model
(Venkatesh & Davis, 2000). Regression analysis was deployed, and results showed that
teachers‟ perceived usefulness of tablets in classrooms is determined by the level of
perceived school support and their perceived computer self-efficacy. Results also
showed that students‟ satisfaction is influenced by the device characteristics as well as
their perceived fun and engagement. The quasi-experiment revealed in general that the
use of tablets may contribute to better performance among students in gaining the
English language skills.
