ABSTRACT
This study was intended to evaluate the effect of computer usage on academic performance of students. This study was guided by the following objectives; To examine the relationship between computer usage and academic achievement of secondary school students in Nigeria, To examine the effectiveness of computer usage in teaching and learning process in secondary schools in Nigeria, To identify the disadvantages of computer usage in secondary schools in Nigeria.The study employed the survey design; questionnaires in addition to library research were applied in order to collect data. Primary and secondary data sources were used and data was analyzed using the correlation statistical tool at 5% level of significance which was presented in frequency tables and percentage. The respondents under the study were 200 parents and teachers of Christ the King Secondary School Port Harcourt, Rivers state.
The study findings revealed that Christ the king secondary school Port Harcourt is computer oriented. Computer usage is essential for educational development. There is a relationship between computer usage and academic achievement in secondary schools. Computer usage influences academic achievement in schools. Many secondary schools in Nigeria are not computer oriented.
The outcome of this study aims at determining whether or not the use of computers has any significant influence on the academic achievement of students in secondary schools in Nigeria.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
During the last two decades education institutions have invested heavily in information and communication technologies (ICT) particularly computers. The use of computers has had a major impact in the secondary school context, and in teaching and learning methods (Ema and Ajayi, 2006).
One puzzling question is the effective impact of these computers usage on student achievement and on the returns of education. Many academic researchers have tried to answer this question at the theoretical and empirical levels. According to Anyanwu (2003), they have faced two main difficulties. On one hand, student performance is hard to observe and there is still confusion about its definition. On the other hand, computer is evolving technologies and their effects are difficult to isolate from their environment.
There is no standard definition for student achievement. The standard approach focuses on achievement and curricula, how students understand the subjects and obtain their certificate or their marks. However, a more extensive definition deals with competencies, skills and attitudes learned through the education experience (Kamba, 2009). The narrow definition allows the observation of the outcomes of any change in secondary education, while the more extensive definition needs a more complex strategy of observation and a focus on the labour market. The outcomes of education are mainly validated in the higher institutions.
The effect of computer usage on learning is currently in relation to the internet to facilitate teaching and learning. Computers are the technologies used in conveying, manipulation and storage of data by electronic means, they provide an array of powerful tools that may help in transforming the present isolated teacher-centered and text-bound classrooms into rich, student-focused, interactive knowledge environments (Ogunsola, 2005).
To meet these challenges, secondary schools must embrace the new technologies and appropriate computer use for learning. The relationship between the use of computer and student performance in secondary schools is not clear, and there are contradictory results in the literature. Earlier economic research has failed to provide a clear consensus concerning the effect on students’ achievement (Kamba, 2009).
Since student performance is mainly explained by a student’s characteristics, educational environment and teachers’ characteristics, the use of computers may have an impact on these determinants and consequently the outcome of education. The differences observed in the performances of students are thus more related to the differentiated impact of computer usage on the standard determinants.
