AN ASSESSMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS USES OF ICT ’ S : IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF ICT ’ S USE IN NIGERIAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

The use of ICTs in Nigeria and African countries generally is increasing and dramatically growing. However, while there is a great deal of knowledge about how ICTs are being used in developed countries, there is not much information on how ICTs are being used by teachers in developing countries. This study examined Nigeria secondary school teachers’ uses of ICTs and its implications for further development of ICTs use in Nigerian secondary schools. The study through census drawn on 700 teachers from twenty five purposefully selected private secondary schools in Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria. This comprised 430 males and 270 females. Their age ranged from 25 – 45 years with a mean age of 35 years. A modified instrument tagged Teachers ICT use survey adapted from ICT survey indicator for teachers and staff by UNESCO (2004) and ICT Teachers Survey by New Zealand Ministry of Education MINEDU (1999) were used for the collection of data. The results showed that teachers generally have access to ICTs in their various schools except e-mail and Internet because their schools are not connected. Technical support are lacking in the schools and teachers lack of expertise in using ICT was indicated as being the prominent factors hindering teachers readiness and confidence of using ICTs during lesson. Furthermore, the results show that teachers perceived ICT as being easier and very useful in teaching and learning. For continuous uses of ICTs by teachers, it was recommended among others that teacher training and professional development oriented policies should support ICT-related teaching models that encourage both students and teachers to play an active role in teaching/learning activities. And that emphasis must be placed on the pedagogy behind the use of ICTs for teaching/learning. Key wordsInformation communication technologies, Teachers, Teaching and Learning, Secondary schools, Nigeria. INTRODUCTION Africa have witness the development of ICTs in various sectors over the last decade including education. The change from teacher-centred education system to learner centred education the world over in the past view years contributes to the use of ICTs in education. Borrowing from the word “Knowledge –Driven world” as conceived by (Hawkins, 2004; Inwent, 2004), it means that education reform practices should focus on equal access and quality of education which should highlight the importance of change in the education sector through use of ICTs and equipping new generations with enhanced skills to operate in the 21 century. The use of ICTs in Nigeria and African countries generally is increasing and dramatically growing. However, while there is a great deal of knowledge about how ICTs are being used in developed countries, there is not much information on how ICTs are being introduced into schools in developing countries (Beukes-Amiss and Chiware, 2006). Looking at the developing countries according to these authors, there is generally limited access time per month using ICTs by both the teachers and students, and even less time spent with reliable Internet access. It should be noted that availability of ICTs vis-à-vis access in term of ratio of teachers and students differs significantly. Despite this, the new and emerging technologies challenges the traditional process of teaching and learning, and the way education is managed. While information communication technology is an important area of study in its own right, it is having a major impact across all curriculum areas. Easy worldwide communication provides instant access to vast array of data, challenging assimilation and assessment skills (Fowowe, 2006). Rapid communication plus increased access to ICTs in the home, at work, and in educational establishment, could mean that learning becomes a truly lifelong activityan activity in which the pace of technological change forces constant evaluation of teaching process itself. Formerly, the term IT was used to mean ICT, the term which was synonymous with computer but as the passage of time, it covered other equipment created to enhance acquisition, storage and dissemination of information materials. Most of these equipments were initially confine to the vicinity of offices. Libraries in the course of time embraced the use of these equipments to carry out their day-to-day activities as usage was adapted to carry out some routine activities. It functions does not end there. The current issue is the use of ICTs in the classroom by the teachers. This includes specifically the use of computers, Internet, telephone, digital camera, data projector, etc. As the world continues to revolve around technology, teachers need to continue incorporating these new technologies into their teaching. Meanwhile, it is observed that some studies have been conducted on uses of ICTs by teachers particularly on the issue of their professional development. Most of these studies were carried out in developed countries where the use of ICTs has come of age, and where there are resources and material to maintain them. However, the use of ICTs by teachers in Nigeria is just beginning to gain popularity and researches in the area have just started emerging. Emphatically, the use of ICTs by teachers to teach the students is highly advantageous. This is because its enable them to demonstrate understanding of the opportunities and implications of the uses for learning and teaching in the curriculum context; plan, implement, and manage learning and teaching in open and flexible learning environment (UNESCO, 2004). In the light of these therefore, more research is needed to showcase further development of ICTs use by secondary school teachers in Nigeria. INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES/ TECHNOLOGY Information communication technologies (ICTs) are information handling tools that are used to produce, store, and process, distribute and exchange information. These different tools are now able to work together, and combine to form networked worldwhich reaches into every corner of the globe (UNDP Evaluation Office, 2001). It is an increasingly powerful tool for participating in global markets, promoting political accountability; improving the delivery of basic services; and enhancing local development opportunities (UNDP, 2006). To Ogunsola (2005:3) ICT “is an electronic based system of information transmission, reception, processing and retrieval, which has drastically changed the way we think, the way we live and the environment in which we live”. It can be used to access global knowledge and communication with other people (Ogunsola, 2005:3). Students who use ICTs gain deeper understanding of complex topics and concepts and are more likely to recall information and use it to solve problems outside the classroom (Apple Computer, 2002). In addition, through ICT, students extend and deepen their knowledge, investigation, and inquiry according to their needs and interest when access to information is available on multiple levels (CEO Forum on Education and Technology, 2001:8). ICTS IN EDUCATION AND FOR EDUCATION The idea that teaching and learning can successfully take place through the application of electronic communication facilities between teachers and students is one which had generated, sometimes, hope and dismay and at other times, excitement and fear. Hope that many more learners can be reached at a more convenient pace that had erstwhile been the case, dismay that the infrastructures necessary for deploying an effective ICT platform is lacking in low-income countries like Nigeria (Olakulehin, 2007). However, the use of information and communication technologies in the education process has been divided into two broad categories: ICTs for Education and ICTs in Education. ICTs for education connote the development of information and communications technology specifically for teaching/learning purposes, while the ICTs in Education involves the adoption of general components of information and communication technologies in the teaching learning process (Olakulehin, 2007). Generally, however, the educational relevance of computers and other components of information technology cannot be overemphasized. Reference can be made to the period when skinner applied programmed instructions to teaching machines, through Brunner’s experiment with computers in instruction, to the current wave of information transmission and exchange via the worldwide web; we have seen different applications of ICTs in enhancing cognitive development. Thomas and Ranga in UNESCO (2004) in their classification divided the application of computers and other communication technologies in education into three broad categories. These are: Pedagogy, Training and Continuing Education. The pedagogical applicability of the ICTs is concerned essentially with the more effective learning and with the support of the various components of ICTs. Almost all subjects ranging from mathematics (the most structured) to music (the least structured) can be learnt with the help of computers. Olakulehin (2007) emphasized that pedagogic application of ICTs, involves effective learning with the aide of computers and other information technologies, serving the purpose of learning aids, which plays complementary roles in teaching/learning situations, rather than supplements to the teacher/instructor/facilitator. Computer is regarded as add-on rather than a replacing device. The pedagogic uses of the computer necessitate the development, among teachers as well as students, of skills and attitude related to effective use of information and communications technologies. Aside of literacy, ICTs also facilitates learning to programme, learning in subject areas and learning at home on one’s own, and these necessitate the use of new methods like modeling, simulation, use of data bases, guided discovery, closed-word exploration etc. The implications in terms of changes in the teaching strategy, instructional content, r