A Study of Technophobia Among Primary School Teachers in Nigeria

Abstract

The subject of phobia has been extensively covered in the psychological literature of Freud and others, but its link with educational technology has not been investigated. Nigerian primary school teachers have been observed to entertain a phobia towards educational technology by avoiding the use of equipment in teaching. This study was designed to investigate the causes of teachers’ apathy towards equipment and to verify possible links with technophobia. Results have yielded only inconclusive evidence of the presence of technophobia in the three‐phase study. The 48 subjects demonstrated lack of knowledge of educational technology (equipment) and mere traces of technophobia. Such inconclusiveness may be due to some of the limitations of the study. The subject calls for more rigorous study in the attempt to make educational technology a reality in primary education in Nigeria.