CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

      1.1       Background to the Study

 The use of ICT could be an effective tool in attaining any goal set by Tertiary Institutions, the Society and the Government. Many investigations and researches have revealed that ICT is an important fulcrum on which modern society revolves around. This mean it is an effective instrument in bringing change which could lead to faster advancement in every sector of human life, most especially if effectively and efficiently managed. Historically, when modern technology emerges first in other parts of the world including Africa and precisely Nigeria, traditional systems of instruction was common before the recent replacement with a new one that is ICT-based, some of the changes introduced were partly adopted while some were wholly adopted in schools, most especially in the developing countries, Nigeria inclusive. These adoptions or uses were visible in almost all levels of education system- pre-primary, primary, secondary, and Tertiary Institutions.

 Institutional activities like record keeping, admission processing, students registration, teaching, learning, practical demonstrations, assessments and so on could be achieved via the use of ICT. Therefore in trying to put into our knowledge how system of Nigeria‟s education looks like, it is classified into different levels mainly four or five viz pre-primary, primary, secondary (JSS and SSS) and tertiary levels (Adeyemi and Olaleye, 2010). In short, the system is designed as 6-3-3-4 system before it was recently changed to 1-6-3-3-4 system which made it five levels. In recent periods, the traditional methods were commonly employed such as chalkboard, human talks and poor quality print materials. But as time progresses, modern man understood the need to simplify and improve his life, these resulted in the design and implementation of the use of variety of machines that formed the basis of new process for passing information, of communications, of management and administration in education and in other areas as well. These led to the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

resources in tertiary institutions.

  What is ICT? ICT refers to so many things but for the sake of simplicity and clarity in this research work, it refers to the integration of computing technology and information. Also, Mohanty and Vohra (2008) added broadly that ICT could also be defined as „„anything which allows us to get information, to communicate with each other, or to have an effect on the environment using electronic or digital equipment.‟‟ In the views of Asiabaka and Oku (n.d), the heart of the ICT revolution are the computers because they are fast information processing machines (IPM), configured to receive input in the form of information, systematically process the input and provide organized information that serves the needs of the user.

 The early computers were designed to aid computation, however, today, their use has become diverse and computation is just one among the many functions of the computer. Adeyemi and Olaleye (2010), emphasised that the use of ICT can improve education quality, expand learning opportunities and make education accessible. If education is made accessible to all, people who lived both in the rural and urban areas, learners with special needs and others would benefit more with less difficulty.

  It is due to the above and other advantages of use of ICT that the Nigerian Educational reforms stressed the importance of use of computer technology in schools during the 32nd Ministerial Council meeting of the National Council on Education in 1987, (Adeyemi and Olaleye, 2010).  Emphatically, the National Policy on Education

(FRN) as revised in 1988 and 2004, re – emphasized the need for the integration of this

ICT education in the Nigerian educational system. This is an acceptance of the need to go beyond computer to the level of ICT which also call the need for infrastructure, (Agbetuyi and Oluwatayo, 2012). It is the hope of this research to identify whether these ICT resources are provided in Lagos State Tertiary Institutions or otherwise.

 In analysing the policy of Nigeria‟s education system, Zubairu (2013) noted that the policy (National Policy on Education) was inadequate for positive impact on the Nigerian education system. This, he noted, stems from the fact that the philosophical frame of reference is market driven, and that there is little emphasis on the integration of ICT in instruction. It should be noted that none of the policy documents, National

Policy on Computer Education, neither National Policy on Education nor Nigerian

National Policy on Information Technology recognised the need to use the computer or ICT to provide access to education for people with disability. This underscores a major inadequacy in the policy document, (Zubairu, 2013). In addition the strategies outlined in the document were not followed. These might have made still difficult to marry out this new development in to our tertiary institutions.

      1.2       Statement of Problem

 In spite of the contributions and advantages which ICT has brought to all human endeavours such as improvement of the quality of education, simplifying the general administrative and management activities, expansion of the learning opportunities and making education accessible, much have not been done in its development in Lagos State, Nigeria. Few Tertiary Institutions in the State took a serious step in providing the necessary atmosphere and environment for the inclusion of Information and

Communications Technology resources. The enormous increase in students‟ and lecturers‟ quest and pursuit for information, government and societal need for fast growth and development, has doubled over the years. This increase has called for the use of sophisticated equipment and facilities such as ICT resources for the processing, analysis and interpretation of raw data. It has been observed by experts, however, that ICT resources might not have been used effectively in institutions in Lagos State.   Inspite of the benefits attached to the use of ICT still there is problem in the area of application most especially in education. These have resulted in poor lesson delivery by lecturers, and low assimilation and comprehension of facts, ideas and information looking at the population explosion in our schools. Also, lecturers and students have become adamant in updating their knowledge through research and online investigations. Important activities such admission processes, public lectures and announcements, classroom lecture presentations, grading, scoring and marking, result preparation and checking as well as general inter and intra school communications are still manually done, these are serious problems. It is further recognised that despite the fact that some institutions may be offering ICT related study programmes, most have relied on theoretical elucidation, explanation and description of concepts and ideas instead of the practical aspects of explanation and pedagogy.  The benefits related to ICT use in education are enormous and unquantifiable but many foreseen and unforeseen factors have not allowed students, lecturers, government, society, individuals and other users to reap the benefits attach to it. Examples of these benefits are found in the social, economic, political and business experiences of the society. Therefore this research study wishes to investigate and assess the general use, problems and prospects of the use of ICT resources in Tertiary Institutions in Lagos State,

Nigeria.

      1.3       Objectives of the Study

                  The following objectives were raised to guide the study:

1.                  Determine the extent to which ICT resources is provided in Lagos State University

2.                  Assess the types of ICT study programmes offered in Lagos State University

3.                  Find out about the lecturers‟ access to ICT resources for teaching in Lagos State University

4.                  Find out about the students‟ access to ICT resources for learning in Lagos State University

5.                  Determine the lecturers‟ perception on the benefits of ICT resources in Lagos State University

6.                  Determine the students‟ perception on the benefits of ICT resources in tertiary

institutions in Lagos State.

      1.4       Research Questions

                  The study will seek to answer the following research questions:

1.                  To what extent does Lagos State University provide ICT resources?

2.                  Does Lagos State University offer ICT related study programme(s)?

3.                  What are the ICT resources lecturers have access to for teaching  in Lagos State University?

4.                  What are the ICT resources students have access to for learning in Lagos State University?

5.                  What are the lecturers‟ perceptions on the benefits of ICT in Lagos State University?

6.                  What are the students‟ perceptions on the benefits of ICT in Lagos State University?

      1.5       Significance of the Study

                          The research will expose facts to both lecturers and students which will

eventually instill into them the needed attitude towards understanding the significance of ICT in their research and learning activities as well as teacher-student interaction, and avail them more to the global challenges of modern techniques of accessing new information. For instance students will be exposed to typing skills and discovery, interpretation and analysis of new facts which otherwise couldn‟t have been possible without ICT. Lecturers would be able to undertake cumbersome and huge amount of their work simply and accurately. For example by calculating and presentation of student‟s results and grading and research works. 

 The research will be a useful tool for the government, policy makers in education at all levels thereby understanding the contribution of ICT in the socioeconomic development of the state. With ICT, social interaction is enhanced, and the economy is developed because modern society and economic development depends largely on the level of ICT development of a country, (Anie, 2011). It is hoped that this research material will enable school managers, government and private individuals and organisation to understand the significance of ICT in today‟s life thereby provide more assistance to Tertiary Institutions (and other non-tertiary schools like primary, secondary schools etc) with the needed ICT resources and other forms of instructional materials. This would help in transforming the whole of educational activities viz production of admission lists, records keeping, scoring and marking, and even and effective administration of  Lagos State University.

      1.6       Scope of the Study

 The research work is on the assessment of the use of ICT in Lagos State University . The research was limited to Lagos State University; the information used was obtained from the Department of Higher Education Lagos State. The lecturers, and students who were in the 2017/2018 academic session, precisely final year level will constitute the scope of the research. Reason for this selection is that the information received from these respondents will be able to give the researcher a picture and view of some of the efforts made by government in ICT development in Lagos State University.

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