CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The usage of the internet has deepened the world of today, making practically everything easier; the learning and teaching environment, as well as the business environment, have improved through time (Kloe, 2004). The Internet has made a significant contribution to our modern society. For the sake of this research, consider the case study. Fusing the National Open University of Nigeria, Abuja Centre as a case study, we will evaluate the impact of E-readiness on higher education institutions. The increased usage of the Internet has resulted in significant changes in teaching techniques, resulting in a more involved learning process (Bima, 2003). Information and Communication Technology (ICT) arose as a result of internet advancements and is now regarded a new communication technology in use to upgrade and replace existing outdated information delivery and exchange methods (Horak, 2006). They’ve grown in importance as tools for accelerating social, economic, and educational progress. For example, according to Horak, the term “e-readiness” refers not only to the use of ICT and connection to the Internet, but also to the use and advantages of ICT (2006). ICTs are viewed as pedals of educational system and change, according to UNESCO (2002), the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization of Nigeria. However, the use of ICT as a development strategy is critical to the operation of universities in both rich and developing nations. Similarly, because of the nature of ownership and policy, numerous initiatives at institutionalizing ICT for development in the National Open University of Nigeria, Abuja centre have been focused towards public institutions with less emphasis on private institutions. This might be argued from the perspective that the resources needed to institutionalize ICT in our different institutions are available if and only if they can be effectively utilized (Fuchs, 2005). In the course of examining these indicators, Colle (2004) defines e-readiness as “relevant content, human resources, practical research, training capacity, and the ability to sustain these utilities” (resources). Colle (2004) defined e-readiness as “a notion commonly used to nations and it relates to a nation’s inventory of ICT resources for operating in a modern information society.” This is especially evident in Colle’s definition. He went on to say that a country’s e-readiness comprises things like service providers, networking facilities, acceptable ICT legislation, adequate human resources, and telecoms competition, among other things. Universities all throughout the world have a key role to play in every country’s development endeavor, with theoretical capacity to be the living force that may lead internet use in their individual countries and even beyond national borders (Lia, 2002). Any activities being undertaken by the national government as a whole to develop ICTs, such as identifying university capability. To support the above, it is vital to note that the evolution of the Internet cannot be compared to previous technologies. For example, according to Molosi (2001), the television revolution took years to reach 30 million people, but the internet did it in only four years. There is little question that the rate of adoption of new technology in poor nations, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, is low. According to Schutte, this is especially evident in the domain of communications and computer infrastructure, such as telephones, power supply, creation of appropriate electronic networks, and so on (1999). The expansion of communications infrastructure has resulted in increased Internet connectivity today. Despite this, the majority of universities in emerging and developing nations demonstrated a poor degree of e-readiness (Naidro, 1999). This is in terms of having appropriately skilled human resources to deploy the internet effectively and efficiently. There was also the issue of a lack of practical resources, to name a few, particularly in private universities, which is the focus of this research. As a result, the purpose of this research is to look into the influence of e-readiness on the educational growth of our case study. The purpose of this research is to determine the impact of e-readiness at a selected private institution on educational progress in Nigeria.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
However, despite the growing adoption and demand for ICT in education, there is very little systematic research and hard data about how ICT is actually used in universities, and even less about its impact on educational outcomes, social behavior, employment (human resources), and student productivity (Naidro, 1999).
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
i. Determine the impact of E-readiness on Nigeria’s educational growth.
ii. To assess the state of infrastructural facilities at Nigeria’s national open university, Abuja center.
iii. To examine the impact of E-readiness on student preparation at Nigeria’s national open university, Abuja centre.
iv. To figure out what function E-readiness plays in Nigeria’s social, economic, and educational growth.
