The Impact of Information Communication Technology (ICT) on Legal Education
Abstract
This study was on a the impact of information communication technology (ICT) on legal education. Three objectives were raised which included: Studying Information and Communication Technology in depth, reviewing the early and the current methods of education and instruction in Faculties of Law and Law Schools in Nigeria, retrieving public opinion on the impacts of ICT on the educational sector and specifically the Legal Sector and deducing the areas the Legal education sector has come short in terms of infusing and taking advantage of the exceeding possibilities of ICT. A total of 77 responses were received and validated from the enrolled participants where all respondents were drawn from selected secondary schools in Akwa Ibom state. Hypothesis was tested using Chi-Square statistical tool (SPSS).
Chapter one
Introduction
Background of the study
This project centers on the ICT world in general, and also its relationship with the Legal Education system. The Legal Education sector, just like virtually any other sector that exists in the world has been integrated to some degree with ICT. The study is going to center around the students and educators in the Legal Education system. It will be in form of a survey to evaluate and analyse opinions on the ICT impact on their sector of expertise.
ICT refers to Information and Communication technology. It really emphasizes the role of unified communications and the key integration of telecommunications and computer systems with necessary enterprise software, middleware storage and audiovisual devices which enable the users of the service stated to access, store, transmit and manipulate information. These actions are performed digitally. The concepts that are involved in the broad term of ICT keep evolving and new applications and services are constantly in implementation.
Simply put, it is the merger or convergence of audiovisual and telephone networks with computer networks through a single cabling or link system.
Merging of telephone networks with the computer networks through a single cabling system comes with its own economic incentives through specific action which include;
- Using a single unified system of cabling
- Unified Signal Distribution
- Unified Network Management
There are a varying number of advantages and disadvantages of the ICT on any educational sector and these will be itemized at great length and studied in depth.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The world of Information And Communication Technology has progressed in the past decades and it has shall we say infiltrated almost every sector of the economy be it education, manufacturing, finance, business and other sectors. It has now become inevitable to conduct research and studies on the potential pros and cons of the implementation in the Legal Sector
MOTIVATION OF THE STUDY
The study was motivated by the increasing trend in the tech world especially with ICT and its resulting innovations in various sectors of the economy. We are currently a service based world and the field of education is no exception.
The Legal Education sector is considered to be one of the prestigious sectors of the Nigerian Educational system and as with other sectors, we can draw from the usefulness of ICT, study the pros and even the cons to as to mitigate negative effects of the impacts.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The aims and objectives of this study include;
- Studying Information and Communication Technology in depth
- Reviewing the early and the current methods of education and instruction in Faculties of Law and Law Schools in Nigeria
- Retrieving public opinion on the impacts of ICT on the educational sector and specifically the Legal Sector.
- Deducing the areas the Legal education sector has come short in terms of infusing and taking advantage of the exceeding possibilities of ICT
RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
The following research hypotheses are formulated;
H1: There is no early and the current methods of education and instruction in Faculties of Law and Law Schools in Nigeria
H2: There is no areas the Legal education sector has come short in terms of infusing and taking advantage of the exceeding possibilities of ICT
OUTLINE OF METHODOLOGY
This research work adopted the descriptive survey design to gauge the opinions of students, educators and academicians in selected institutions to asses the impacts whether positive or negative on the impacts of ICT on Legal Education and the Legal profession at large. This design was selected for the study to elicit a reasonable response rate from the participants. This will enable the researcher to gather sufficient data which will be coded and analyzed in a quantitative manner. The methodology will involve relationships which are measured to determine the degree of association between the variables of interest.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study focused on the impact of Information And Communication Technology in Legal Education, getting the opinions from a total of 120 participants which include 60 students and 60 educators from select Higher institutions.
SIGINIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study is significant in the sense that it explores the benefits and the drawbacks of ICT in the educational sector and steps to address them.
ORGANISATION OF THE PROJECT
The project is organized such that; Chapter One examines and discusses at reasonable length, a background of the independent parameters considered in carrying out the study of ICT integrated with Legal Education. In Chapter Two, we have a broad look at the history and related works in terms of ICT and the Nigerian Legal Education. Chapter Three explores the methodology employed in carrying out this study. Specifically the methodology of this study will practically be in form of descriptive survey. Chapter Four presents the result of the research carried out. Chapter Five rounds off the project work with the summary, conclusions and recommendations for future works.
References
- Pearl, G. (2001). Legal Education and Technology: An Annotated Bibliography. Law Library Journal. 93(3).
- Pratt, M. K. (2022). ICT (information and communications technology, or technologies). Retrieved from: https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/ICT-information-andcommunications-technology-or-technologies
- Sage, A. (2012). Information Technology and Civil Engineering in 21st Century. ASCE Talk. Webopedia, (2015) Technology. Available at: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/T/technology.html accessed 30 April, 2015.
- Wikipedia, (2022). Legal profession. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_profession
- Oyebode, A. (2005). Law and nation building: selected essays. CEPAR Publication Lagos, Pp 44-47
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