EFFECTS OF AVAILABILITY AND INTEGRATION OF ICT IN PRIMARY PUPILS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN IBEJU, LAGOS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background to the study
The use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in education and training has been a priority in most European countries during the last decade, but progress has been uneven (Pelgrum, 2004). In most developed countries such as UK, schools have embedded the use of ICT in teaching and learning into the curriculum and demonstrate high level of effective and appropriate use to support teaching and learning Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, (OECD, 2004).
Furthermore, (UNESCO, 2005) reiterates that those countries have integrated ICT into their education system because of its profound implications such as enabling teachers and pupils to construct rich multi-sensory, interactive environments with almost unlimited teaching and learning potential. According to (Unwin, 2004), computers and internet can be used to increase teachers’ basic skills and subject mastery, to provide resources that can later be used in classroom, and to help teachers build familiarity with specific instructional approaches. (Privateer, 1999) also notes that ICT is supposed to add value to education and to support more effective pedagogy to provide knowledge for learners and by enhancing communication that promotes learning. In addition, as ICT becomes more pervasive, computer based equipment is integrated into every aspect of schools operation, having thus an influence on the student’s performance. A number of researchers including (Iding et al, 2000) among others assert that the use of ICT in teaching and learning can help learners become more knowledgeable. In addition to efforts to employ ICT to improve learning, the emergence of knowledge economy has also brought a much greater emphasis on education (Wong, 2003).
The rapid growth of the global economy and the information-based society has pressurized education systems round the world to use ICTs to teach the knowledge and skills they need in the 21st Century (World Bank, 2004). The growth of the ICT sector has challenged teachers to prepare for effective use of the new teaching and learning tools in their teaching profession. (UNESCO, 2002) (Laferreire, Breuleux and Bracewell, 1999) argue that there are significant benefits of using ICT as part of teaching and learning process as long as teachers recognize the relationship between the use of ICT and overall curriculum. ( Haddad and Draxler ,2005) point out that different ICTs do make some valuable contributions to various parts of educational development and effective learning through expanding access, promoting efficiency, improving the quality of learning, enhancing quality teaching and improving management systems.
On the contrary, many developing countries in Africa are living in a world of technological deficiency, that is, lack of access to knowledge that is learnt via the internet (OECD, 2006). Additionally, if Africa aims to better prepare its citizens for the challenges of the 21st century, it must also foster thorough integration of ICT in order to tap new, attractive, promising and diversified potentials. In cognizance of the critical opportunities accorded by ICT in service delivery as well as teaching and learning, the governments of many Africans countries have over the years invested heavily in the requisite ICT infrastructure.
New partnership for African’s Development, (NEPAD, 2003). Grabe and Grabe, (2007) emphasizes that technologies can play an important role in enabling pupils gain skills and knowledge in the teaching and learning process. In Nigeria, this sessional paper NO1 of 2005 emphasizes that ICT skills play a key role in Promoting the economic development of a country MOEST (2005). As a result, the government recognized that an ICT literate workforce is the foundation on which Nigeria can acquire the status of knowledge and economy.
The Government as a result has made education the avenue for equipping the nation with ICT skills in order to create a vibrant and sustainable economic growth. The National ICT policy was launched in 2006 in response to issue raised in seasonal paper NO1 of 2005 according to MOE, (2006). It was also meant to assure the nation achieve part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The policy framework of Ministry of Education indicates that there are a number of challenges concerning access to and use of ICT in Nigeria, including high level of poverty, limited rural electrification and power disruption. Most primary schools have some computer equipment. However, this could consist of a few computers in the schools operations.
Very few primary schools have sufficient ICT tools for teachers and pupils. Even the schools, which have computers, the pupils-computers ratio is 150:1 (Farell, 2007).
1.2. Statement of the problem
The use of information and communication technology (ICT) in Nigerian education is lagging behind expectation and desire. This was revealed by the fact while most primary schools have some computer equipment; only a fraction was equipped with basic ICT infrastructure necessary for teaching and learning. Essentially, ICT in education is used to promote information literacy that is the ability to access use, evaluate information from different sources so as to enhance teaching and learning, solve problems and generate new knowledge. Furthermore, United Nations and the World Bank affirms that ICT can increase access to education network for pupils, teachers and broaden availability of quality education material for emerging global economies.
According to (MOEST, 2003) if primary schools in Nigeria provide access to ICTs, there would be improvement in quality education that would enable improve the productivity and competiveness of Nigeria’s human resource pool by developing a highly skilled human resource base to respond to social and economic challenges.
However, was noted that Rachuonyo South district in Homabay County like many other districts in the county was still limited to computer use in primary schools. Statistics from the DEOs office Rachuonyo South indicated that only eight Primary schools had embedded the integration of ICT out of eighty-five Primary schools in the district. This signified that over 90% of the schools had not embraced ICT in their curriculum. This described the use of ICT in the district as almost negligible. This meant that learning outcomes of the pupils in primary in the district might be dismal due to the absence of ICT in most of the primary schools in the district.
This short fall in learning outcomes created a “gap” because it is at primary schooling where returns to student education are highest and it is particularly important to acquire skills and competencies needed to become ideally empowered to respond to social change in societies for the better. But without ICT in education, especially pupils in Rachuonyo South might lack the social empowerment that can make them compete with others favorably. Thus, failure to re-shape education practices to embrace ICT in schools in the district might be the main bottleneck preventing the pupils from acquiring equitable access of educational opportunities for quality education. Therefore, the researcher intended to find out the use of computers in teaching and learning process and its subsequent effects in Rachuonyo South District schools.
