How Prepared are Trainee Teachers of University Putra Malaysia (UPM) to Integrate Computer Technology in Classroom Teaching?(Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION Malaysia places a great emphasis on information technology by making it a dominant feature of the national policy. In fact the Prime Minister of Malaysia foresees Malaysia to be a pioneer in electronic governance, a multi-mediated paperless administration. To be able to achieve these objectives, Malaysia has to prepare its workforce to be competent in the related technology and it has to begin in schools. Computer technology was introduced in Malaysian school system as early as 1983. The objective at that time was to equip students with basic knowledge of computers and its applications. It was not until late 1990's that a more rigorous effort to integrate computers in Malaysian educational system was made. A large amount of budget has been proposed by the government to initiate the infrastructure development and training needed to prepare students for the information age. In the 2002 budget, the government has proposed a sum of more than RM200 million for the computerization of schools.