On the Usage of Databases of Educational Materials in Macedonian Education

International Journal on Integrating Technology in Education (IJITE) Vol.5, No.4, December 2016
DOI :10.5121/ijite.2016.5402 13
ON THE USAGE OF DATABASES OF EDUCATIONAL
MATERIALS IN MACEDONIAN EDUCATION
Mimoza Anastoska-Jankulovska and Pece Mitrevski
Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies,
University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Bitola, Republic of Macedonia
ABSTRACT
Technologies have become important part of our lives. The steps for introducing ICTs in education vary from
country to country. The Republic of Macedonia has invested with a lot in installment of hardware and
software in education and in teacher training. This research was aiming to determine the situation of usage of
databases of digital educational materials and to define recommendation for future improvements. Teachers
from urban schools were interviewed with a questionnaire. The findings are several: only part of the
interviewed teachers had experience with databases of educational materials; all teachers still need capacity
building activities focusing exactly on the use and benefits from databases of educational materials;
preferably capacity building materials to be in Macedonian language; technical support and upgrading of
software and materials should be performed on a regular basis. Most of the findings can be applied at both
national and international level – with all this implemented, application of ICT in education will have much
bigger positive impact.
KEYWORDS
Databases of Educational Materials, Teachers, Education, Questionnaire
1. INTRODUCTION
A Database of Educational Material (DEM) is an organized collection of digital educational
materials: sometimes it has free access, sometimes it can be updated by the user. Regardless of
that, its main aim is to provide materials that can facilitate the educational process by using the
existing technologies. Structured DEMs are the next developmental stage; they consist of more
information about the implemented changes, their author, usage of material, achieved results,
time and date of accomplishments, etc. Using structured DEMs in education will provide more
information about the progress of students, but will also provide teachers with an opportunity to
design own subset of materials that is suitable for them and their students.
During the previous decade in schools in the Republic of Macedonia a lot of hardware has been
installed, and teachers have received a lot of capacity building training: computers in schools are
installed and connected on the Internet; numerous software applications have been translated and
adopted for Macedonian education; each teacher has received a laptop to facilitate own
preparation for work and implementation of teaching activities [1]. Having in mind that for more
than a decade different projects were focusing on preparation of digital teaching/learning
materials for Macedonian schools, it is important to see if and how the digital materials have
changed the educational process, and if and how the approach of teachers has been changed.
The problem targeted with this research was exploring how databases of digital educational
materials are used and how they are affecting the education in urban schools in the Republic of
Macedonia. Research’s aim was to identify to what extent structured databases of educational
materials are used in Macedonian educational system. After a critical engagement with relevant
literature in Section2, we explain the research protocol and methods in Section 3 and present the
research findings in Section 4, whereas Section 5 concludes the paper.

14
2. RELATED WORK
Generally, the usage of ICT in education is a relatively new topic all across the world.
Possibilities of introducing the new technologies in classes are widening and changing every day.
Researches have been done in some countries with more advanced usage of ICTs. One important
finding that reappears is that transition from traditional teaching and learning into electronic will
not change anything if same strategies, methods and techniques are continued to be implemented
[2]. This is also supported by an OECD finding [3] that crucial improvements were not visible in
the countries that have made huge investments in ICT in schools. The first recommendation
internationally is that together with introducing new technologies in schools, changes in
approaches and practices should be introduced.
Another finding is that vocational teachers are not prepared enough for implementing ICT in
pedagogy, which results in divided approaches in schools [4]. Another recommendation emerging
from several researches is that teachers should be adequately prepared and their capacity should
be continuously built in order to establish and maintain the quality results from implementation of
ICT in schools. Teachers should be agents of change in schools, not only with their acceptance
and introduction of new technologies, but with creating and designing of the technological
innovations [5].Teachers should be leading not only the implementation, but also the creation of
digital educational materials in schools.
3. RESEARCH PROTOCOLAND METHODS
The guiding hypothesis of this research was “Implementation of DEMs promotes bigger quality
in education through more motivated teachers and better learning results”. This research has been
implemented in urban schools across the country, not selecting any educational level in particular.
In total 182 teachers were interviewed, and their answers were analyzed. The questionnaire was
done as short as possible, consisting of 17 questions in total. Few general questions in the
beginning of the questionnaire were about gender, type of school, or working experience in
education. These questions were included in order to define if there is correlation of these data to
usage of databases of educational materials. Then questions about the use of ICT in education, for
work and private purposes followed. There were several open-ended questions at the end of the
questionnaires aiming to collect more detailed information about what kind of materials and
software are used by teachers, and also to receive more qualitative data about the teachers’
approach towards ICT. These questions were not compulsory – if a teacher did not have any
experience in the topics, he/she could leave it unanswered. These questions were increasing the
test’s validity – even an unanswered question is giving information for the analysis. With this
approach, additional information about teachers’ experiences was received.
Statistical analysis of received answers has been performed. Received results are showing that
valid instrument was used. Cross-tabulating, as a tool for defining the frequency of answers with
the combination of two or more questions, was one of the analytical approaches used. By
combining the answers from two questions, more insight about the teachers’ views and
approaches towards databases of educational materials is received.
The distribution of the respondents across gender, age, or schools’ levels is matching the general
distribution of teachers against these criteria in all schools in the Republic of Macedonia; hence, it
is supporting the reliability of the research and endorsing the findings from this research. The
selected finding from this research is presented in this paper and is illustrating the most
characteristic research findings.

15
4. RESEARCH FINDINGS
Considering the availability of hardware in schools and laptop computers for teachers, the
questionnaire for this research was uploaded online with the aim to ease access to it, and give
teachers the possibility to fill it at preferred place and time. At the commencement point of the
research, even before starting the data processing and the data analysis, one finding emerged: The
teachers were not willing to fill online questionnaires. Although, the link to it and information
about the research were distributed in many schools across the country, only 1/3 of all final
respondents (60 teachers) have used this online possibility. However, when the teachers received
paper copies of the questionnaire, their response rate was much higher. The reasons can be
numerous:preference of human interaction while delivering paper copies; no willingness to work
with digital documents; problems with the equipment in schools; or something else. This research
had no ambition to define the reason behind this striking finding. The reason why teachers are not
willing to fill online surveys/documents can be a topic for a future research.
The total of 182 teachers have responded on paper or online questionnaires. The gender
distribution of respondents is: 32% male and 68% female. Their age distribution is as follows.
Fig. 1 presents the age distribution of respondents: 27% less or equal to 35 years old, 34%
between ages of 36 and 45, 33% between ages of 46 and 55, and 6% more than 55 years. The
gathered data from these questions were cross-tabulating with other answers to determine if there
is a difference in understanding and approaches between genders or age groups, or experience
with ICTs or the duration of experience in schools has bigger impact.
Figure 1. Age distribution of respondents
The predominant number of respondents have said that they are using ICTs for private purposes
for more than 10 years (>64%), and the others between 3 and 10 years. Most of the respondents
(64%) have stated that they are using ICTs in schools between 3 and 10 years. Usage of ICT in
education is presented in Fig. 2.
Several questions were focusing on the databases of educational material (DEM). During the
implementation of different projects and training activities in the past period, a lot of digital
educational materials were developed and shared between different groups of teachers. It was
expected that the interviewed teachers will have experience with DEM and can explain own
understanding and approach.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
less than 35
between 36 - 45 year
between 46 - 55 years
more than 56 years
Age
respondents

International Journal on Integrating Technology in Education (IJITE) Vol.5,
Figure 2. Distribution of respondents based on
duration of experience with use of ICT in education
The interesting result is that 15% of the teachers think that DEM will not affect or will reduce the
success of students learning. Although this percent is not high, it is still significant since it is
supporting the finding of international researches say
in classes, instant success and change cannot be expected [6], [7]. With this first recommendation
will be that introduction of ICT in education should be done in the same time with introduction of
new educational approaches by using these technologies.
Important is the percent of teachers that don’t have opinion, and with that meaning no experience
with DEM, which is 24% (Fig. 3). This is showing that although a lot of technology is installed in
schools, not all teachers have experience with using digital educational materials. Some future
research should focus on why the technologies are not used to full extend in schools and why not
all teachers have experience in implementing digital educational materials.
Figure 3. Effect of usage of DEM on success of learning
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
more than 3 years
24%
International Journal on Integrating Technology in Education (IJITE) Vol.5, No.4, December
Figure 2. Distribution of respondents based on
duration of experience with use of ICT in education
supporting the finding of international researches saying that only with introducing ICT and DEM
introduction of ICT in education should be done in the same time with introduction of
approaches by using these technologies.
teachers have experience with using digital educational materials. Some future
all teachers have experience in implementing digital educational materials.
Figure 3. Effect of usage of DEM on success of learning
more than 3 years between 3 and 10
years
more than 10 years
2%
13%
61%
DEM reduces success of
learning
DEM do not affect on
success of learning
DEM enforces success of
learning
I cannot say
December 2016
16
ing that only with introducing ICT and DEM
introduction of ICT in education should be done in the same time with introduction of
teachers have experience with using digital educational materials. Some future

17
Big percent of the respondents (≈60%) have selected that they think DEM is helping them
improve the effectiveness of their own work (Fig. 4). Approximately 30% have replied that they
cannot say how DEM will affect their work, which means that they do not have enough
experience in implementing DEM in education.Having in mind the previously mentioned fact that
there have been a lot of materials developed, this finding is revealing that these materials are not
widely used in schools. The recommendation will beto make a collection with all previously
prepared digital educational materials to be available for teachers to use in everyday
work.Guidelines can be drafted for new teachers tobe able to use all existing materials.
Figure 4. Effect of usage of DEM on effectiveness of teachers’ work
Each question is shortened with abbreviation presented in the below tables. Questions are divided
in two groups – independent variables/questions(Table 1) and dependent variables/questions
(Table 2).
Table 1. Abbreviations for independent variables.
Abbreviation Question
TU 2. What type is your school?
POL 3. Your gender?
GOBR 4. How long do you work in education?
VOZR 5. How old are you?
KOBR 6. How long are you using ICT in education?
KPC 7. How long are you using ICT for private purposes?
DNMOB 8. How long are you using digital educational materials in education?
Table 2. Abbreviations for dependent variables.
Abbreviation Question
POMR 10. According to you, to what extend are digital educational materials
supporting teachers work?
SOVL 11. According to you, to what extend databases of educational
materials are supporting successful learning?
PBDNM 12. How often would you like to use digital educational materials in
your classes?
2% 9%
60%
29%
How DEM are affecting teachers' work?
DEM decreases the
effectiveness of teachers’
work
DEM doesn’t affect
teachers’ work
DEM improves
effectiveness of teachers’
work
I cannot say

18
Correlation (Comparative analysis) can be done with comparing answers to separate questions. To
accomplish this, first answers are coded with numbers. Those questions with 4 possible answers
can have numbers from 1 to 4, others with 3 options can have answers from 1 to 3 etc. Using
coded answers like this, average of received answers, median, standard deviation, variance and
other statistical data can be obtained. They are presented in thetable below (Table 3) for each of
the questions.
Table 3. Statistical analysis for each of the questions.
Min Max Sum
No. of
answers Average Median
Standard
deviation
Sum of
squares
of
stand.
dev. Variance
TU 1 3 349 182 1.9176 2 0.8179 121.763 0.66903
POL 1 2 306 182 1.6813 2 0.8162 39.516 0.21712
GOBR 1 3 466 182 2.5604 3 0.8185 54.835 0.30129
VOZR 1 4 394 182 2.1648 2 0.8179 145.055 0.79700
KOBR 1 3 411 182 2.2582 2 0.8202 52.863 0.29045
KPC 1 3 482 182 2.6483 3 0.8184 43.494 0.23898
DNMOB 1 3 385 182 2.1154 2 0.8166 50.575 0.27789
POMR 1 4 575 182 3.1593 3 0.8147 80.379 0.44164
SOVL 1 4 558 182 3.0659 3 0.8142 81.209 0.44620
PBDNM 1 3 425 182 2.3352 2 0.8122 80.555 0.44261
These data can be used to determine correlation between received answers for each questions
(Table 4). The smaller received number is (in absolute value), the smaller the connection between
these two questions is. The bigger received number is (in absolute value), the bigger the
connection between these two questions is. The biggest value is 1, meaning the direct relation
between the two questions.
Table 4. Correlation between received answers to questions.
TU POL GOBR VOZR KOBR KPC DNMOB POMR SOVL PBDNM
TU 1
POL -0.083 1
GOBR 0.189 0.075 1
VOZR 0.244 -0.032 0.731 1
KOBR 0.273 -0.044 0.551 0.471 1
KPC 0.353 -0.082 0.182 0.171 0.407 1
DNMOB 0.213 -0.073 0.441 0.333 0.591 0.285 1
POMR 0.014 -0.031 0.056 0.021 0.023 0.003 -0.037 1
SOVL 0.020 -0.056 -0.041 0.037 0.105 -0.097 -0.084 0.236 1
PBDNM 0.132 -0.028 0.027 -0.038 0.280 0.193 0.328 -0.046 0.012 1
The important information can be derived from correlation between independent and dependent
variables. In the above table that is presented with grey cells. In this part it can be noted that the
biggest value is received in correlation between duration of usage of digital educational materials
and desire to use DEM frequently and with all classes and subjects. The smallest is the correlation
between type of school and motivation of teachers for usage of DEMs. Unexpectedly small is the
correlation of usage of ICT for private purposes and motivation for usage of DEMs in education.
This means that usage of ICT for private purposes is not affecting implementation of DEMs in
classes, but some other factors are influencing it.

19
Several tables have been received with cross-tabulating of the answers. Selection of them is
presented in the following text. Table 5 is presenting the frequency of answers on how the usage
of DEM is affecting the teachers’ work divided by gender of respondent.
Table 5. Cross-tabulation betweengender and effect of usage of DEM on teachers’ work
%
DEM
decreases the
effectiveness of
teachers’ work
DEM
doesn’t
affect
teachers’
work
DEM
improves
effectiveness
of teachers’
work
I cannot
say
TOTAL
Male 0.0 10.3 60.3 29.3 100
Female 3.2 8.1 59.7 29.0 100
For both genders, the biggest percent of teachers think that DEM will improve the effectiveness
of teachers work. However, it is important to note that for both gender this percent is almost the
same. These data are not supporting the bias that one gender is more open to usage of technology;
these data are showing that both gender are similarly open to usage of databases of educational
materials in education in terms of improving effectiveness of teachers’ work.
It is important to realize that there is no difference based on gender in acceptance of DEM and
ICT in educational processes as a general rule. In all questions, the general distribution is almost
equal between genders without any difference – in general, women are equally willing to use
DEM in their work as men are.
A bigger percent of respondents (55.6%) with less than 3 year experience in use of computers
cannot say how it will affect teachers’ work, which is expected (Table 6). With increasing the
experience of use of computers, the percent of the teachers that think that DEM will increase the
effectiveness of teachers work. The future work on capacity development of teachers should
target use of DEM in education in order to provide experience to teachers sooner in their working
life, so that they can implement DEM more freely and benefit from their potential. The
experience of teachers that were using DEM in education longer is very positive and is stating
that also students can better learn the material by using DEMs [8].
Table 6. Cross-tabulation betweenduration of computer usage and
perception of DEM’s usage effect on teachers’ work
%
DEM
decreases the
effectiveness
of teachers’
work
DEM
doesn’t
affect
teachers’
work
DEM
improves
effectiveness
of teachers’
work
I cannot
say
TOTAL
<= 3 years 0.0 22.2 22.2 55.6 100
between 3 and 10 years 3.4 12.0 53.8 30.8 100
> 10 years 0.0 0.0 78.6 21.4 100
If a teacher has short experience with DEM, he/she cannot decide how it will affect the success of
learning. With the increase of length of teachers’ experience with DEM, the percent of teachers
thinking in favor of usage of DEM for successful learning is increasing. The biggest percent of
teachers that think DEM is enforcing success of learning (almost 90%) is for teachers that have
been using DEMs for more than 10 years (Table 7); this is also supported in literature and
international research [9]. Helping and supporting teachers in introducing and implementing
DEM as early as possible will result in quicker and more effective adoption and usage of DEM.

20
Table 7. Cross-tabulation between duration of DEM’s usage and
perception of DEM’s effect on students’ learning
%
DEM
reduces
success of
learning
DEM do not
affect on
success of
learning
DEM
enforces
success of
learning
I cannot
say
TOTAL
<= 3 years 0.0 18.8 37.5 43.8 100
between 3 and 10 years 3.1 14.0 56.6 26.4 100
> 10 years 0.0 5.4 89.2 5.4 100
Teachers working in VET schools in the Republic of Macedonia are willing to implement DEM
in their classes; and most of them want to do it with all classes and subjects. On the contrary,
most of the teachers from gymnasia are willing to use DEMs only partially, with some classes or
subjects (Table 8). It cannot be neglected the percentage of teachers from basic schools and from
gymnasia that are not willing to use DEM at all. That may mean that they have no experience
with DEM or their experience is negative. More research should be done in order to determine
what the reasons for this percentage (13%) are.
Table 8. Cross-tabulation betweentype of school and
willingness to implement DEMs in education
%
I do not want
to use DEM
Only with some
classes/subjects
I want to use
DEM with all
classes/subjects
TOTAL
basic education 13.0 44.9 42.0 100
gymnasium 13.6 50.8 35.6 100
VET 5.6 37.0 57.4 100
Younger teachers are accepted as “digital natives”, by default. Therefore, it was expected that
younger teachers will be more eager in accepting ICTs and DEMs in their own work. However,
findings are that older teachers and teachers with longer teaching experience are more willing to
use DEM with all the classes and during all of the subjects. This can be observed also in the
following Table 9, which is showing no difference in acceptance of DEMs between gender, but is
striking that younger teacher are more reluctant in accepting DEMs in their everyday working
practice. One of the reason is that younger teachers are not adequately prepared for using DEMs
in their professional life [10].Future capacity building activities should especially target younger
teachers too, without positive discrimination of them and prejudice that they are “digital natives”,
and that they have experience in how to use any technology under any circumstance.
The qualitative analysis of the open-ended questions has revealed several important findings.
Experiences in implementing DEMs in educational process are divided – there are positive and
negative ones. The given answers are supporting the previous quantitative finding that with only
introducing DEMs without other additional changes, no positive result and improvement can be
expected. Another finding is that the teachers still need a lot of training and capacity building in
effective implementation of DEMs; permanent technical support should be available combined
with timely upgrading of hardware and software. Another recommendation coming from
open-ended questions is that larger volume of digital materials in Macedonian language will help
and facilitate the introduction of DEMs at all levels.
Very positive was the finding that teachers understand the importance of the professional
development and are doing their best to use all available resources, especially with the help of
technology, to improve own development. This teachers’ attitude towards professional
development is important because it is also found that teachers need quite a lot of training on
understanding, using, preparing and updating DEMs. This is especially important because a lot

21
of the respondents have identified as weakness non-existing (or very few) digital educational
materials in Macedonian language; in the near future, a lot of digital educational materials in
Macedonian language should be developed. With this, DEM in Macedonian language should be
created. This area should be in a focus of the future developments in education.
Table 9. Cross-tabulation between teachers’ gender, teachers’ age and
willingness to implement DEMs in education
male
How old are you?
How would you like to use DEM?
I do not
want to use
DEM
Only with
some
classes/subjects
I want to use
DEM with all
classes/subjects
<= 35 years 2 7 6
between 36 and 45 years 0 11 10
>= 56 years 2 0 3
female
How old are you?
How would you like to use DEM?
I do not
want to use
DEM
Only with
some
classes/subjects
I want to use
DEM with all
classes/subjects
<= 35 years 0 21 14
>= 56 years 1 2 2
5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The experience of Macedonian teachers with DEMs is very various even within one single school.
One of the most important recommendations from this research is that adequate capacity building
should be implemented in order to reach similar level of knowledge and understanding for most
teachers. All teachers should be trained to be able to design, implement and upgrade DEMs.
Preparation of digital educational materials in Macedonian language is the prerequisite in order to
improve the quality of education and to achieve the same level of technology usage in all schools
and by all teachers and students.
Introducing only of DEMs in schools itself cannot result in big improvement because adequate
attitude and practices should be in place, too. This research has identified that teachers should be
equipped with adequate teaching approach in order to be able to use DEMs efficiently and to
achieve the desired results. Another recommendation is to implement frequent periodic
professional development training for all Macedonian teachers in order to exchange experiences
and improve their own teaching approaches while using technologies and databases of
educational materials.
This research was focusing on Macedonia as a specific case. However, its findings can be
generalized on the international arena – continuous capacity building is important for every
institution; teachers should be adequately prepared to develop, use and update DEMs; usage of
materials in national language is prerequisite in every country; established practices and attitudes
in schools should be targeted and revised in order to have efficient usage of DEMs.
Continuous capacity building of teachers will enable teachers to improve and adapt to the usage
of DEMs. Updating DEMs and sharing experiences about it will support and help in producing

22
new and update the existing DEMs. Materials in national language will be useful to all
stakeholders in schools regardless of their age levels. But, most importantly, introducing
DEMs itself will not change anything if practices are not adapted, too – this finding has
already beenemphasized in international research and was identified with this research, as
well.
REFERENCES
[1] Anastoska-Jankulovska, M. (2009) Information systems in education, Bitola, Macedonia.
[2] World economic forum (2015)Does technology in schools improve
education?,https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/09/does-technology-in-schools-improve-education/
[3] OECD (2015) “Students, Computers and Learning: Making the Connection”, PISA, OECD
Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264239555-en
[4] Uzunboylu, H., & Tuncay, N. (2010) “Divergence of Digital World of Teachers”, Educational
Technology & Society, 13(1):186-194.
[5] OECD (2015) Students, Computers and Learning: Making the Connection, PISA, OECD
Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264239555-en
[6] Bingimlas, K.A. (2009) “Barriers to the Successful Integration of ICT in Teaching and Learning
Environments: A Review of the Literature”, Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and
Technology Education.
[7] National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (2007) ICT Framework – A structured approach
to ICT in Curriculum and Assessment, Ireland.
[8] Scrimshaw, P., ed. (2004)Enabling teachers to make successful use of ICT, Coventry: British
Educational Communications and Technology Agency, UK.
[9] Tondeur, Jo, van Braak, Johan, Sang, Guoyuan, Voogt,Joke, Fisser, Petra& Ottenbreit-Leftwich,
Anne (2012)“Preparing pre-service teachers to integrate technology in education: A synthesis of
qualitative evidence”, Computers and Education, 59(1):134-144.
[10] West, D. (2013)Mobile Learning: Transforming Education, Engaging Students, and Improving
Outcomes, Center for Technology Innovation in Brookings, Washington, USA.
Authors
Mimoza Anastoska-Jankulovska is a PhD student at the Faculty of Information and
Communication Technologies, University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – Bitola, Republic of
Macedonia. She has extensive experience in teaching with and about ICTs. She has been
pioneering introduction of ICT in educational process and has vast experience in teacher
training for effective usage of ICT in educational process. Her research interest is
e-learning and digital educational materials.
Pece Mitrevski received his BSc and MSc degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science, and the PhD degree in Computer Science from the Ss. Cyril and Methodius
University in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. He is currently a full professor and Dean of
the Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies, University “St. Kliment
Ohridski” – Bitola, Republic of Macedonia. His research interests include Computer
Architecture, Computer Networks, Performance and Reliability Analysis of Computer
Systems, e-Commerce, e-Government and e-Learning. He has published more than 100 papers in journals
and refereed conference proceedings and lectured extensively on these topics. He is a member of the IEEE
Computer Society and the ACM.

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