Online Survey on Changes of Teachers’ Minds on Information and Communication Technology Use and Programming Education in Japanese Elementary Schools between 2017 and 2022

Abstract

In line with the global trend, programming education became compulsory in Japanese elementary schools in 2020. This study conducted an online questionnaire survey of elementary school teachers nationwide. A mixed methods research was attempted by combining quantitative (chi-square test) and qualitative (case-code matrix) methods. The responses collected from across the country were compared with a previous survey conducted using the same methods in 2017, which revealed the following: (1) ICT use is advancing, and informatization, or DX in education, is progressing in both schoolwork and teaching/learning slowly and steadily. Child-centered teaching and learning methods using ICT in classrooms are spreading. (2) Although the percentage of respondents who have implemented programming education has increased significantly, half of the respondents have never taught programming. While the diversification of programming education practices is evident, the author also found that programming education is highly dependent on external environments such as technology developers. (3) While confidence in teaching programming increased significantly, confidence in using ICT decreased significantly. The rapid transition to DX is considered to be increasing the workload of teachers. (4) The physical environment for programming education is considered to be improving; however, some teachers remain skeptical of programming education.