The Use Of Innovative Ict Facilities For Effective Teaching Of Business Education In Michael Okpara University Of Agriculture.
Abstract
There has been a persistent problem of lecturers and students of Business Education at the B.Sc level not applying information and communication technology (ICT) in teaching and learning. Interactions and observations with respondents prompted investigation on the use of innovative ICT facilities for effective teaching of business. This study was conducted in Michael okpara university of agriculture with a population of 1392, using descriptive and survey design. Five research questions were raised as well as five null hypothesis postulated. Data collected were analyzed using percentages, and the five null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using Independent T-test. The findings of the study among other revealed that ICT have not made significant positive change on teaching and learning of business education due to non availability of ICT facilities, cost of acquiring ICT facilities, and poor network. The first, second, third and fifth null hypotheses were rejected because the t-value was greater than t-critical value. On the basis of the findings the researcher concluded that most business education lecturers and students lack ICT skills which makes it difficult for them to compete in the world of work. The researcher made some recommendations which includes, that business education lecturer should engaged themselves in continuous training in ICT facilities to enable them delivered a more effective instruction. Also, there should be adequate and sustainable funding to enable the programme survive.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Objectives of the Study
1.4 Research Questions
1.5 Research Hypotheses
1.6 Significance of the Study
1.7 Basic Assumptions of the Study
1.8 Delimitation of the study
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Theoretical Framework
2.2 Concept of Information Communication and Technology
2.3 Concept of Business Education
2.4 Concept of Teaching and Learning Business Education
2.5 The use of innovative ICT facilities for effective teaching and
Learning in Business Education course
2.6 Empirical Studies
2.7 Summary of Reviewed Literature
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design
3.2 Population for the Study
3.3 Sample Size and Sampling Procedure
3.4 Instrument for Data Collection
3.4.1 Validity of the Instrument
3.4.2 Pilot Study
3.4.3 Reliability of the Instrument
3.5 Procedure for Data Collection
3.6 Procedure for Data Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
4.1Demographic Data –
4.2 Answering of Research Questions
4.3 Hypotheses Testing
4.4 Discussion of Findings
CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Summary
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendations
5.4 Limitation of the Study
5.5 Suggestions for Further Study
References
Appendices
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Education is the most important agent of change and the bed rock of industrial development as well as socio-economic growth. Education can be said to be the greatest investment a nation can make for the quick development of its social, economic, political, technology and human resources.
Hence most nations of the world give education high priority in their developmental efforts. Developed countries such as USA, Britain and Japan among others have embraced and recognized technology as a means of realizing economic independence and self-reliance. Information and communication goes hand in hand and although information can always be communicated, yet not everything that is communicated is information. Communication becomes information only when data derived from it have been organized and interpreted in such a way that they contain meaning beyond the individual facts and can be used in decision making. While technology means the tools people and organization apply to operation to get things done more quickly, more easily or more efficiently.
Information and Communication Technology is a force that has changed many aspects of the ways we live. If one was to compare such fields as medicine, tourism, business, law, banking, engineering and architecture, the impact of ICT across the past two or three decades has been enormous. The ways these fields operate today is vastly different from the ways they operated in the past, but when one looks at business education, there seems to have been an uncanny lack of influence and far less change than other field have experienced.
Business education is an important integral part of general education which emphasizes skill and competence acquisition for use in offices and business. Aliyu (2006) considers business education as education for the development of skills and competencies, attitudes which are necessary for efficiency of the eco-social system. In the view of Nwanewezi (2010), business education encompasses education for office occupations, business teaching, business administration and economic understanding. In today‘s world of business, business education curriculum needs to replace the traditional pedagogical practices that still underpin its teaching and learning process. From a competitive stand point, the greatest challenges faced by business education products are that they appear to be relatively deficient in computer skills and understanding of international business trends. The curriculum needs ICT component not only as a tool for communication, but also as a tool for teaching and learning and in carrying out of researches.
The rapid advancement in information and communication technologies is offering new potentials for producing and distributing knowledge. These technologies are fundamentally altered how we live and work as well as how we learn and have transformed into a global community. This is in line with the view of Ononogbo (1990) of Information and Communication Technology as a revolution, which has penetrated almost all fields of human activities, thus, transforming our economic and social life. Information and Communication Technology therefore, refers to the use of skills such as browsing, power point, Microsoft word, in combining information and communication processes and devices to obtain, analyze, store, recall and transmit accurate information from one place to another at very high speed.
Teaching generally is a planned effort to bring about desirable change in behaviour. The changes cover the three major domains of blooms taxonomy of education, which comprises cognitive, affective and psychomotor abilities. Teaching influences the cognitive ability by increasing in storing useful information and understanding of basic concept, principles and operation taught in a particular subject. In affective domain, teaching provides a change in the possession of desirable attitudes and ideals. It also develops the learner through increasing satisfaction about learning achievements. Teaching in the area of psychomotor abilities provides changes in the acquisition of practical skills, abilities and habits on how to perform certain job activities efficiently.
Learning is seen as a modification of a person‘s behaviour in a particular area of study so that his or her behaviour is changed on a more permanent basis. In learning, learner‘s behavior can be modified through organized experience provided in the learning process. In the learning process, learners are provided the opportunity to acquire knowledge to enable them perform a given task completely.
Globally, the nature of teaching and learning is changing rapidly due to increase interaction from more accessible global telecommunication networks driven by the content of the internet. With the increasing capacity of information and communication technology, there is a
rise in new learning opportunities beyond the traditional ―Book-teacher‘s model‖. The shift from the teacher centered to student learning via the internet means teachers and students at all level need to embrace information and communication technology.
Information and communication technology is generally accepted as a model instrumental tool that enables the business educator to modify the teaching and learning methods use in order to increase the student‘s interest. Though the chalkboard, textbooks, typewriters, duplicating machine, dictating machine, radio, film have been used in teaching business education over the years, none has quite impacted on the teaching and learning of business education process like the computer-internet. Typewriters and radio impact only on the audiovisuals facilities of users and acquisition of skills in a slow pace, the computer is capable of activating the sense of sight, hearing and touch of the users. ICT has the capacity to provide higher interactive potentials for users to develop their individual skills, intellectual and creative ability. The collective and rigid nature of learning and the nature of the learning associated with the use of typewriter, radio, duplicating machine and chalk-board do not contribute serious innovative changes to traditional methods of teaching business education programme. Information and Communication Technology are being used in the developed world for instructional functions in teaching and learning as many nation are adding computer literacy, reading and writing literacy as skills students will need for succeeding in a technologically developed world.
The goals of reviewing existing or designing a new programme is to ensure that it meets existing or emerging challenges in a discipline. The major purpose of curriculum study and development programmes in business education is to improve the quality of schools in order to make them more proficient in fortifying students with broad knowledge and varied skills.
Studies attest that there is deficiency in the curriculum content of business education. Okeke and Eze [2010] submitted that vocational education [business education inclusive ] has inadequate curriculum to meet with the current technological development which hinges on information and communication technology. However, there should be reasonable degree of correlation between the curriculum in use and knowledge and skills required by the employers .School curriculum should be built to produce graduates for current jobs and not jobs that existed in some years ago.
With the emergences of Information and Communication Technology on teaching business education courses in universities, teaching and learning has changed from traditional chalkboard to electronic learning requiring such skills as internet browsing, Microsoft word, power point, Microsoft excel and teleconferencing gadgets from teachers and students. Nwosu (2003) specifies the benefits of ICT skills to business education students to cover development of multiple sensory delivery, increased self expression, active and cooperative learning. A graduate of business education from various universities are supposed to be at the fore front of applying ICT skills in their daily contact which is geared towards preparing them for the place of work and also the classroom. All these therefore form the background to which the study is based on The use of innovative ICT facilities for effective teaching business education courses in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Nigeria was planned.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Even with the incorporation of ICT into the curriculum of business education in Nigerian universities, the performance of NCE business education students has not changed. Despite the introduction of the new teaching method that are ICT based, most lecturers prefer to use the traditional method in teaching and learning business education such as chalk board, outdated equipment for teaching skills acquisition courses such as type writer. A lot of reasons were advanced by lecturers and students for still maintaining the old method of teaching and learning.
Based on the researcher‘s interaction with some lecturers from colleges studied, it was observed that the incorporation of ICT in teaching business education courses has not made any much impact due to unavailability of the relevant ICT facilities for teaching purpose. Similarly, the students interviewed complained that the ICT facilities provided by the colleges cannot go round the students due to their unavailability, which is making the students to be deficient in using the new technology, lack of adequate ICT facilities tends to hamper effective teaching of business education courses. Some other students the researcher interacted with complained that some lecturers are not skilled in using ICT in teaching their students. This is why such lecturers prefer to stick to the traditional method of teaching. This can be supported with the view of Adeshina (2007) who stated that for business education lecturers to grow professionally and remain relevant, they must possess ICT skills.
On the basis of the foregoing, the researcher is concerned with knowing the level of influence that ICT had in teaching business education courses in Nigerian universities, Nigeria
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this study is to determine the level to which Information and Communication Technology influences teaching of business education courses in co, Nigeria. The specific objectives are to:
- establish the extent to which business education lecturers and are skilled in the use of ICT facilities in teaching business education courses in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria.
- identify the extent of availability of ICT facilities for teaching business education courses in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria.
- ascertain the extent of utilization of ICT facilities provided for teaching business education courses in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria.
- identify the challenges in the use of ICT facilities for teaching business education courses in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria.
- determine the extent to which available ICT facilities has help students in learning business education courses in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria.
1.4 Research Questions
For the purpose of this research work, the following research questions were answered:
- Are business education lecturers skilled in the use of Information and Communication Technology facilities in teaching business education courses in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria?
- Are ICT facilities available for teaching business education courses in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Nigeria?
- To what extent are ICT facilities utilized for teaching business education courses in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria?
- What are the challenges in the use of ICT facilities in teaching business education courses in Michael Okpara University, Umudike, Nigeria?
- To what extent do available ICT facilities help business education students in learning business education courses in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
In line with the specific objectives and research questions, the following null hypotheses was tested:
- There is no significant difference in the opinion of business education lecturers and students in the use of Information and Communication Technology facilities for teaching business education courses in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria.
- There is no significant difference in the opinion of business education lecturers and students on the availability of Information and Communication Technology facilities for teaching business education courses in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike Nigeria.
- There is no significant difference in the opinion of business education lecturers and students on the utilization of Information and Communication Technology facilities provided for teaching business education courses in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria.
- There is no significant difference in opinion of business education lecturers and students on the challenges in the use of ICT facilities for teaching business education courses in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria.
- There is no significant difference in the opinion of business education lecturers and students on the help of available ICT facilities in learning business education courses in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria.
1.6 Significance Of The Study
The significance of a study is to announce and indicate those who are to benefit from the research findings. Therefore, it‘s hoped that this study will be of great benefit to federal and state government, business education lecturers, students and other researchers.
The result of the study will be beneficial to the federal and states government as an employer of labour in that it will tackle the problem of obsolete and outdated office equipment, poor working condition, poor infrastructure, and inadequate network. It will assist the commission to evaluate the implementation of ICT in teaching and learning in Michael Okpara University, Umudike, Nigeria and make necessary recommendations to the Federal Ministry of Education.
The outcome of the study will provoke business education lecturers in Universities to acquired Information and Communication Technology skills relevant in teaching business education courses and the need for the lecturers to attend conference, seminar and workshops to update their knowledge. Also, the result will provide guide and direct the students to acquired saleable skills that will give them competitive advantage in the world of work.
In addition, intending researcher will find the work useful for further studies in this area. Also, Management of different Universities can use the result of this research to provide adequate Information and Communication Technology facilities for teaching and learning business education in their various institutions.
1.7 Basic Assumptions of the Study
The researcher has the following assumptions:
- Information and Communication Technology enhances students over all learning experience.
- Lecturers and students are skillful in Information and Communication Technology.
- Adequacy of Information and Communication Technology facilities in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike.
- There is no obstruction of power supply in the use of Information and Communication Technology.
- All instructional materials for teaching and learning are provided by the colleges.
1.8 Delimitation of the study
This study was delimited to all Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria. The study was equally restricted to all business education lecturers and Year 3 students requiring ICT skills such as internet browsing, Microsoft word, power point and Microsoft Excel. This was because they are direct beneficiaries involved in using Information and Communication Technology in teaching business education courses.
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