Project Abstract

<p> </p><p>The study was designed to determine the extent of ICT facilities utilization<br>by lecturers and enhancement of effective teaching in Colleges of Education<br>in Cross River State. Specifically, the study was designed to determine the<br>extent of ICT facilities availability, accessibility, requisite skills of lecturers,<br>how often lecturers utilize ICT facilities and how they on the utilization of<br>these facilities in enhancing effective teaching. The study was guided by 5<br>research questions and 5 null hypotheses. Descriptive survey design was<br>adopted for the study and because of the size the entire population was<br>studied. Utilization of ICT Facilities for Effective Teaching Questionnaire<br>(UICTFETQ) was the instrument used for data collection. The instrument<br>was validated by four experts and the overall reliability coefficient of 0.771<br>was obtained. The data collected from the five research questions of the study<br>were analyzed using the mean and standard deviation. A one way analysis of<br>variance (ANOVA) was used to test the null hypotheses 1-4. The<br>independent t-test was used to test hypothesis 5. The data analysis revealed<br>that, the availability and accessibility of ICT facilities in enhancing effective<br>teaching is to a very low extent, the extent to which lecturers possess the<br>requisite skills of ICT facilities utilization is to a low extent. That lecturers in<br>the Colleges very seldom utilize ICT facilities and that the extent to which<br>lecturers in public and private colleges differ on the utilization of ICT<br>facilities in enhancing effective teaching is to a low extent. It was<br>recommended that, Government and other agencies should ensure the supply<br>of ICT facilities and lecturers be allowed access to the available ICT<br>facilities. Training programmes on ICT utilization should be organized for<br>lecturers regularly.</p><p>&nbsp;</p> <br><p></p>

Project Overview

<p> INTRODUCTION<br>Background of the Study<br>Information and communication technology (ICT) is already vital tool<br>in the successful development of education. Therefore, teaching and learning<br>in the emerging societies require effective utilization of ICT to facilitate<br>instructional delivery. Information and Communication Technology has<br>therefore become a critical tool for professional training of teachers.<br>It facilitates teacher training for an improved educational system.<br>Consequently, the sooner teachers and students alike understand how to use<br>ICT facilities, the earlier they would appreciate its importance in realizing<br>their teaching and learning objectives. Recently, the Federal Government<br>contended that computer knowledge would be a requirement for teacher<br>employment, interviews and in some cases promotions. (Ikenga, Akiti and<br>Onyemah, 2009).<br>The utilization of ICT facilities in teaching and learning will<br>immensely enhance the quality of instruction in Colleges of Education.<br>However, availability, accessibility and requisite skills of lecturers in ICT<br>facilities may affect utilization. This may account for why lecturers in<br>Colleges of Education still employ only the traditional classroom method of<br>teaching, which has not meaningfully contributed in reviving the downward<br>trend in the educational system.<br>2<br>ICT refers to the automated and computerized form of collecting, typing,<br>copying, processing, analyzing, managing, storing, retrieving and using<br>information for problem-solving and decision making in every aspect of<br>human endeavour. It is daily giving rise to new concepts, new ideas and<br>creating impact in the education sector on a daily basis, such that the teaching<br>and learning process has been enhanced through it (Ajayi, Ekundayo &amp;<br>Haastrup 2009). The emergence and use of ICT has simplified teaching and<br>learning through the application of electronic media, Internet, computers, epresence<br>video-conferencing and power point. This is confirmed by Ndukwe<br>(2006), who observed that the production and introduction of calculators and<br>computers in the education system has helped in simplifying teaching and<br>learning in schools thereby promoting and ensuring teaching effectiveness.<br>This has facilitated the paradigm shift from the traditional<br>instructional material or traditional pedagogical methods to a more modern<br>and innovative technologically based teaching and learning methods. Thus<br>the emergence of ICT has completely overhauled ways in which information<br>is accessed, processed, retrieved and disseminated within organizations or<br>across the globe and has positively affected the process of teaching.<br>(Anaekwe, 2003). Therefore, the application of ICT to the core business of<br>teaching and learning provides flexibility to meet the varied learning needs<br>and abilities of learners. Akpan, (2008) asserted that, ICT utilization in<br>teaching is capable of yielding numerous results which include: providing<br>3<br>learners with immediate access to richer source of materials and providing<br>information in new and relevant ways, which help learners to understand,<br>assimilate and use it more readily. It motivates and stimulates teaching and<br>learning, and as well enhances learning for learners with special needs. It also<br>motivates learners to try out new ideas and take risk, encourages analytical<br>and divergent thinking. It encourages teachers to take fresh look at how they<br>teach and ways in which students learn. It sharpens learners’ attention and<br>also offers potentials for effective group and individual work (Ugwoke,<br>2011).<br>ICT facilities on their own do not enhance or stimulate the teaching<br>/learning process. They need to be manipulated. This has to do with the<br>lecturers’ ability to utilize the available and accessible ICT facilities. Pacey<br>(1999) stated that awareness towards the use of ICT in teaching and learning<br>is increasing in the classroom in the developing world such that, mere<br>verbalization of words alone in the classroom to communicate ideas, skills<br>and attitude to educate learners is futile.<br>Despite the enormous usefulness of ICT utilization in the teaching/<br>learning process, it may be obvious that most lecturers in Colleges of<br>Education do not use them because they lack the requisite skills on the use of<br>the facilities or that the facilities are not available or accessible. This may<br>have greatly affected their use in enhancing teaching effectiveness.<br>According to Yusuf (2005), the effectiveness of instructional delivery<br>4<br>depends on the lecturer’s ability to effectively use ICT facilities to enhance<br>his teaching. Considering the poor quality of the output in the Colleges of<br>Education today, it is only the appropriate and adequate utilization of ICT<br>facilities by lecturers for effective teaching and learning that can quickly<br>arrest the rapid decline in the educational standard. This perhaps, made<br>Laporan (2002) to make a case for exploring the significant use, availability,<br>accessibility and the level of ICT skills possessed by lecturers in enhancing<br>effective teaching and learning.<br>Asogwa (2007), also stated that, ICTs have encouraged new<br>researches and developments in teaching and learning techniques which<br>teacher training institutions should adopt to keep pace with ICT driven<br>society. Stevens (2001) listed the following as some of the ICTs for teaching<br>and learning. They include: audio-cassette tapes, radio, video-tapes, CDROM,<br>DVD, Internet, Web-Based Training (WBT) programmes, public<br>address system, audio-conferencing, interactive television, e-learning, videoconferencing,<br>computers and power point.<br>In the service of education, some of the ICT facilities have been<br>configured to specific systems, such as, Computer-Assisted Instruction<br>(CAI), Computer-Assisted Learning (CAL), Computer-Based Training<br>(CBT), Computer-Based Learning (CBL), Internet Based Learning (IBL) and<br>Electronic Learning (e-learning) (Ugwoke, 2011). Compared to the<br>5<br>traditional lecture method of teaching, the configuration of these facilities<br>have greatly enhanced teaching with better results.<br>Teaching and learning in this computerized and digital age have gone<br>beyond the didactic teacher standing in front of a group of students and<br>disseminating information to them effectively, without the adequate use of<br>ICT facilities. (Ajayi, 2008).<br>Babajide and Bolaji (2003) are of the view that, the various ICT<br>facilities used in the teaching and learning process in tertiary institutions in<br>Nigeria appear not sufficiently provided and thus might account for why<br>teachers do not use them in their teaching. In furtherance to this assertion<br>,Ajayi (2008) stated that, it must however be stressed that the effective use of<br>the various ICT facilities in teaching and learning depends on availability and<br>accessibility of the facilities and teachers competence in using them.<br>According to him, this might hinder the teachers exposure’ to the use of ICT<br>in teaching.<br>Lecturers in Colleges of Education in Cross River State may still be<br>relying on the traditional “chalk and talk” lecture method of teaching rather<br>than embracing the use of ICT to enhance instructional delivery. It is in this<br>vein that Okebukola (1997), posited that, computer is not part of classroom<br>technology in over 90% of tertiary institutions in Nigeria, thus the<br>chalkboard and textbooks continue to dominate classroom activities.<br>This presupposes that, there is a tendency that lecturers in Colleges of<br>6<br>Education do not avail themselves of the opportunities which ICT offers in<br>the teaching-learning activities. There is need to replace the traditional<br>pedagogical practices in Colleges of Education that emphasize didactic<br>approaches where the teacher is seen as the only source of knowledge rather<br>than participatory and discovery approaches that allow for multi-media<br>applications which enrich and enliven teaching, stimulate the learners, help in<br>retentions, illuminate and clarify non-verbal images, symbols and qualitative<br>relationship, thereby making learning available to wider audience and free<br>the teacher from repetitive tasks. It therefore becomes necessary to replace<br>the didactic methods of teaching with more innovative methods that<br>emphasize the use of a variety of ICT facilities .<br>Other areas of ICT utilization to enhance effective teaching in the<br>Colleges of Education that may have suffered neglect include admission of<br>students (through on-line registration and placement of students), registration<br>of students (through the provision of facilities for on-line registration),<br>students orientation (on-line information on course requirements, course<br>outline, procedure for adding and dropping courses, grading criteria etc),<br>instructional delivery (inadequate utilization of e-learning facilities to aid<br>students in their independent studies, which is very necessary for this<br>category of learners who are predominantly adults learners) and assessment<br>of students performance to ensure prompt release of results. (Akpan, 2008).<br>7<br>It may also be obvious that in the Colleges of Education in Cross River<br>State ICT facilities are either not available, accessible or that lecturers lack<br>the requisite skills to effectively use the facilities. Hence they do not use ICT<br>facilities to enhance effective teaching in such areas as practical lessons,<br>experiments, teaching large classes, teaching new concepts or methods<br>(which is of immense benefit to the students in their independent studies as<br>adult learners), conducting and grading of assessment tests .This may be<br>responsible for why lecturers in Colleges of Education still use the traditional<br>lecture methods of teaching for instructional delivery instead of employing<br>more modern ICT facilities to enhance teaching effectiveness. It is therefore<br>against this background that this study seeks to determine the utilization of<br>ICT for effective teaching in Colleges of Education in Cross River State.<br>Statement of the Problem<br>Education in the new emerging societies requires ICT facilities<br>application to facilitate more meaningful teaching and learning. The<br>utilization of ICT facilities in lectures , laboratories and other ways of<br>instructions could easily enhance the teaching /learning process. But the<br>effective utilization of ICT facilities to enhance effective teaching is largely<br>dependent on the availability, accessibility and the requisite skills of lecturers<br>on the ICT facilities utilization. One of the major challenges confronting<br>instructional delivery in Colleges of Education in Cross River State is the<br>8<br>issue of adjusting from the traditional lecture method to a more ICT<br>integrated teaching methods.<br>In view of the above, it might be that ICT facilities may not have been<br>provided in the Colleges of Education in Cross River State or that the<br>facilities are not accessible to lecturers for utilization or that the lecturers lack<br>the requisite skills to use the facilities which may be responsible for why they<br>do not use them.<br>The above reasons could adversely hinder the utilization of ICT facilities<br>for effective teaching in the colleges, which may also be responsible for the<br>poor quality of NCE (Nigeria Certificate in Education) graduates from<br>Colleges of Education in Cross River State. The problem of this study is to<br>determine the extent to which ICT facilities are available for lecturers’ use,<br>the extent to which the facilities are accessible to lecturers, the extent to<br>which lecturers possess the requisite skills to use the facilities and how often<br>they utilize them to enhance effective teaching in Colleges of Education in<br>Cross River State. Consequently this study sort to determine the extent of<br>ICT facilities utilization by lecturers in enhancing effective teaching in<br>Colleges of Education in Cross River State.<br>9<br>Purpose of the Study<br>The general purpose of this study was to determine the extent of ICT<br>facilities utilization in enhancing effective teaching in Colleges of Education<br>in Cross River State.<br>Specifically, the study sort to:<br>1. Determine the extent of ICT facilities availability in Colleges of<br>Education in Cross River State for lecturers’ utilization in enhancing<br>effective teaching.<br>2. Determine the extent of ICT facilities accessibility for lecturers’<br>utilization in enhancing effective teaching in Colleges of Education in<br>Cross River State.<br>3. Ascertain the requisite skills of lecturers on ICT facilities utilization in<br>enhancing effective teaching in Colleges of Education in Cross River<br>State.<br>4. Investigate how often lecturers utilize ICT facilities in enhancing<br>effective teaching in Colleges of Education in Cross River State.<br>5. Ascertain the extent to which lecturers in public and private Colleges<br>of Education in Cross River State differ in the utilization of ICT<br>facilities in enhancing effective teaching.<br>10<br>Significance of the Study<br>The outcome of this research work will be highly beneficial to<br>educational administrators at the level of Federal and State Ministries of<br>Education (involved in formal adult education programmes), the National<br>Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE-the supervisory agency for all<br>Colleges of Education) Management Committees in the various Colleges of<br>Education, Lecturers and students in the Colleges of Education .<br>Educational Administrators (involved in formal adult education<br>programmes) at the various levels will benefit immensely from the findings<br>of this research work because it will fashion their administrative approaches<br>in terms of training and retraining of staff along the lines of ICT competence,<br>the type of facilities or equipment to acquire (in terms of quantity and<br>quality) staff recruitment, provision of infrastructure e.g. classroom or lecture<br>theatre. The NCE curriculum / minimum standard will also be fashioned in<br>an integrative form, so that ICTs will be an integral part of the prevailing<br>curriculum. Methods of instructional delivery will also be designed to<br>accommodate the utilization of ICT facilities. Educational administrators<br>will greatly benefit from the findings of this study as it relates to<br>organizational approaches to more flexible teaching/learning, research<br>oriented education and flexible attitude to time and space.<br>The various Management Committees in the colleges of Education<br>will find the findings of this study quite rewarding because it will provide<br>11<br>them adequate information on the adequacy of the available ICT facilities,<br>whether lecturers in their colleges use the available ICT facilities for<br>teaching, the extent to which lecturers in their colleges have acquired the<br>basic ICT skills to enable them use the available facilities and the type or<br>common ICT facilities that are required for effective teaching. This<br>information will in a nutshell assist college managements to address the ICT<br>needs in their colleges.<br>Lecturers will find the findings of this research study quite beneficial,<br>as they will be exposed to the need to regularly use ICT facilities to enhance<br>their teaching. The findings will also serve as a parameter for self-evaluation<br>for the lecturers who will also see the need to develop ICT competences or<br>requisite skills and how to use ICT facilities to access resource materials for<br>effective teaching. They will also be encouraged to effectively use ICT<br>facilities to improve the quality of their presentations in class, select the<br>appropriate facility for particular lessons, motivate students to achieve<br>positive attitudes to learning and identify aspects of the coursework where<br>students’ individual needs can be met more effectively through the<br>appropriate use of ICT.<br>Students will equally benefit from the outcome of this research work<br>because they will be exposed to the numerous benefits of ICT utilization in<br>the teaching/learning process, which could also be useful in their independent<br>studies (as adult learners). These benefits include, arousing their curiosity,<br>12<br>engagement in meaningful and relevant learning (through access to resource<br>materials), exposure to construction of knowledge, reduce the risk of failure.<br>They will also be exposed to numerous ways of improving their creativity,<br>which can also serve as useful aids to problem solving and the use of ICT<br>facilities for research.<br>The outcome of this research study will generally contribute to<br>improving the teaching-learning process through the utilization of relevant<br>ICT facilities and also bring out the benefits of ICT in enhancing effective<br>teaching.<br>Research Questions<br>The study was guided by the following research questions<br>1. To what extent were the ICT facilities available in Colleges of<br>Education in Cross River State for lecturers’ utilization enhanced their<br>effective teaching?<br>2. To what extent were the ICT facilities accessible in Colleges of<br>Education in Cross River State for lecturers utilization enhanced their<br>effective teaching?<br>3. To what extent did lecturers in Colleges of Education in Cross River<br>State possessed requisite skills on ICT facilities utilization for<br>enhancement of their effective teaching?<br>4. How often did lecturers in Colleges of Education in Cross River State<br>utilized ICT facilities in enhancing effective teaching?<br>13<br>5. To what extent did lecturers in public and private Colleges of<br>Education in Cross River State differ in the utilization of ICT facilities<br>in the enhancement of effective teaching?<br>Hypotheses<br>This study was guided by the following hypotheses, all of which will be<br>tested at .05 level of significance.<br>1. There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of lecturers in<br>Colleges of Education in Cross River State on the availability of ICT<br>facilities for effective teaching.<br>2. There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of lecturers in<br>Colleges of Education in Cross River State on accessibility to ICT<br>facilities for effective teaching.<br>3. There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of lecturers in<br>Colleges of Education in Cross River State on requisite skills of<br>lecturers on ICT facilities utilization for effective teaching.<br>4. There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of lecturers in<br>Colleges of Education in Cross River State on how often they utilized<br>ICT facilities for effective teaching.<br>5. There is no significant difference in the mean rating of lecturers in<br>public and private Colleges of Education in Cross River State on the<br>utilization of ICT facilities in enhancing effective teaching.<br>14<br>Scope of the Study<br>This research work studied the utilization of information and<br>communication technology (ICT) in enhancing effective teaching in Colleges<br>of Education in Cross River State. The study will involve only lecturers in the<br>four colleges of education in Cross River State. The colleges are: – Federal<br>College of Education, Obudu, Cross River State College of Education,<br>Akamkpa, Elder Oyama Memorial College of Education, Obubra (Private),<br>Steady-Flow College of Education, Akparabong – Ikom (Private).The study<br>will specifically be directed at determining which of the ICT facilities are<br>available in the colleges, the requisite skills of lecturers on ICT utilization,<br>extent to which lecturers use ICT facilities for their teaching and which of<br>the ICT facilities are commonly used.<br>15 <br></p>