A Study on the Feasibility of Promoting the Functions of Traditional Schools in Line With the Implementation of Smart Schools in Iran

Thisarticledescribeshowtoday’straditionalIranianschoolsneedtobereorganizedto complywiththerequirementsestablishedintheknowledgeandcommunicationfields, basedonmodernsocieties,becausetheyarepartofanincreasinglyglobalisedand complexworld.Since2010,thishasbeenimportantbecausetheIranianGovernment requiredschoolstobecome“smart,”withparticularattentiongiventotheknowledge and the skills that come from using modern technology, such as computers and the internet. Because of this there has been a large research effort promoting and monitoringtheapproachofschoolstoICT.Inthisarticle,theresultsofoneofthe researches carried out in Karaj (the second biggest city in Iran) are reported. This researchinvestigatedtheavailabilityofICTstructuresthroughasurveyonthepoint of view of teachers and headmasters. The random sampling method regarded 300 teachersand20headmasterstowhomtwosetsofquestionnairesweregiveninorder toverifyandcollecttheiropinionsonthedifferentaspectsofICTimplementation. ThereliabilityofthesequestionnaireshasbeenevaluatedbyCronbach’salpha(0/87). TheresearchfindingshaveclearlyshownthatinKarajtheteachers’knowledgeand skillsofintegratinginformationtechnologyineverydayteachingareatintermediate level,whileinfrastructuresandequipmentconsideredessentialfortheimplementation ofsmartschoolsareatalowlevel.