POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS’ LEVEL OF ICT RESOURCES UTILIZATION IN RESEARCH PROJECTS IN VOCATIONAL TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMMES IN THE UNIVERSITIES IN ENUGU STATE

Abstract

Information communication technology is a technology that has influenced the entire world in unimaginable ways. There is no field of life that does not employ this technology in order to facilitate activities in such fields. The study, therefore, aims at identifying postgraduate students’ level of ICT resources utilization in research projects in VTE programmes in the Universities in Enugu State. Six research questions and three hypotheses were formulated (all derived from the literature review) in order to carry out this study. Descriptive statistic, mean, standard deviation and t-test statistical tool were employed for analyzing data. The sample consisted of 268 respondents (118 postgraduate students of 1997/1998 set in the Vocational Teacher Education Programme in UNN and 150

postgraduate students of the same 1997/1998 set in Vocational Teacher Education Programme in ESUT). A structured questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection. The instrument was

subjected to face validation by three experts. Cronbach Alpha formula was used to establish the internal consistency of the instrument. Based on data, it was found out that the level of basic ICT skills possessed by postgraduate students of VTE programme in Universities in Enugu State is above average. This also applies to their level of ICT resources utilization in literature review. Postgraduate students of VTE in these universities have a very low level of ICT resources utilization in proposal presentation. The study also showed that postgraduate students’ level of ICT resources utilization in research documentation is high. Again, it is also evident from the study that postgraduate students of VTE in the Universities in Enugu state do not utilize ICT resources in data collection in research projects while their level of utilization of ICT resources in data analysis is on the average. Consequently it was recommended among others that, School administrators should ensure that postgraduate students are provided with ICT resources for them to be able to have access to those resources as some of the students will not be able to procure some of the ICT resources.

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Background of the Study

The society is very complex with numerous individuals and institutions

interacting in varied ways. As a result of this, a lot of information is being generated in different areas of life which has resulted in an uncontrolled growth of information, that is, information explosion. This in turn resulted in a high-tech revolution which is the development of tools to make information accessible to those who would use it. This

high-tech revolution turned the information explosion into information revolution, that is, the combination of massive increase in the world’s inventory of information and the technical development of the means of coping with it. This technical aspect of the information society means using a telephone, television, radio set, microcomputer and other communication tools, (Richard,1986). The use of these digital and electronic equipment in the proclamations, dissemination, retrieval or manipulation and transmission of digital data is what is called Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Information and Communication Technology, therefore, encompasses any

product that will store, retrieve, manipulate or transmit information electronically in a digital form. Examples of these products are personal computers, digital television, e- mail, robots (Yeo and Oh, 2008). Information is the processed data that is useful and meaningful to people (Nelson, 2002). To define communication means make something known, to pass something on, to exchange new information, ideas and so on with somebody. In the same way, Technology means human innovation in action that involves the generation of knowledge and processes to develop systems that solve problem.

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(Office of Management and Budget (OMB), United States of America) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is not exactly the same as Information Technology (IT) and a complete understanding of ICT, there is a need for a distinction between ICT

and IT. Information Technology (IT), has to do with the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to employ information and communications technologies appropriately, securely and fruitfully in learning, employment and everyday life. IT is to ICT as literacy is to books, journals or screen displays. While ICT focuses on the subject matter, or on the information that one aims to acquire using these technologies in question, IT focuses, on the acquisition of skills and knowledge to use these technologies in question. It can, thus, be concluded that ones capabilities with ICT is the main focus of IT.

Mitchell (1999) defined Information Communication Technology as an electronic

means of capturing, processing, storing and communicating information. ICT, therefore, in a key phrase to indicate the dynamism that can be achieved with the convergence of computing and telecommunication. Putting the ‘C’ in the middle of IT in important to emphasis that it is not just about technical matters but is relevant to everyone whose job involves communication.

Anything that offers help when needed is a resource. We have both human and material resources that offer different assistances whenever needed. ICT resources, therefore, means all the ICT products, equipments and facilities that facilities and aides activities and operations in any area of ICT application. These resources include CD- ROM, micro computer with appropriate keyboards and other devices, digital television, e-mail, robots, electronic toys, Internet, Microsoft word, Excel, Power point, SPSS,

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printer, and lots more.   Again, all the electronic facilities and tools that are used for capturing, processing, storing and communication information are called ICT Resources. Information Communication Technology resources has a wide range of application in different areas which includes research, where it performs manifold roles in most of its

activities like reviewing the literature, proposal presentation, collection of pertinent data for answering research question, analyzing the data to answer the research questions and hypothesis and research project documentation. In these activities, there are numerous ICT resources like CD ROMs diskette, flash disk, internet, electronic library, power

point, scanner, digital camera, e-mail, charting, Nigerian University Management Information System (NUMIS), University Portals, Public Electronic Network (PEN), SPSS, Excel, MS Word and Star Office. Details about these resources are contained in chapter two under literature review.

Any course that a student undergoes after obtaining a first degree can be called a postgraduate study and such a student can be called a postgraduate student. Level, according to web definition means position on a scale of intensity or amount or quality. Utilization, on the other hand, is the noun form of the verb ‘utilize’ which means to make good use of something.

Vocational Teacher Education (VTE), is a utility education which is aimed at skill acquisition, preparing individuals for employment and also equipping those individuals with teaching skill with which they can impart the acquired skills into others. It is also referred to as that aspect of education process that in addition to general education involves the study of technologies and related science, and the acquisition of practical skills, attitudes, understanding and knowledge relating to occupations in various sectors

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of economic and social life (FGN, 2005, UNESCO AND ILO, 2002, in Ogwo and Oranu

2006).

Educational Research, according to Nworgu (1991) is a systematic approach to

the solution of educational problems. Therefore, Vocational Education Research is a systematic approach to the solution of vocational educational problems. A project is a

piece of work that is organized carefully and designed to achieve a particular aim, an example is a research project like this one that I am writing.

Within half a century, computers and information technology have changed the world and affected millions of lives in ways that no one could have foreseen, (Heathcote,1997). The Computer technology is transforming the ways in which we learn, communicate, do business, enjoy our leisure and live our everyday lives. Whatever career one pursues in the future, a knowledge of ICT skill and concept is likely to be beneficial

or even essential.

Having established that computers and information technology have changed the world and affected millions of lives in ways that no one could have foreseen, the researcher wishes to find out the level at which post graduate students of Vocational Teacher Education utilize ICT resources in their researches.

The level at which postgraduate students of VTE utilize ICT resources in their

research projects will, to a large extent, depend on their possession of basic ICT skills. This means that a postgraduate student needs to have a good knowledge of ICT and its resources for him to be able to utilize it in research projects. Again, postgraduate student’s level of ICT resources utilization in research projects will also depend on their

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level of ICT resources utilization in some research activities like review of related literatures, proposal presentation, data collection, data analysis and documentation. Moreover, there are always some gender differences in the use of certain technologies and their resources. In some technologies like ICT, the masculine gender

seems to be favoured as many of them develop more interest in the use of the resources that the technology offers, while in some others like sewing, the female show more interest. The EC (European Commission, 2002) supported this view by reporting that

gender is an issue which determines the use of ICT by teachers, stating that 77% of male teachers use a computer of line compared with 66% of female teachers and points out that the gap is wider when looking at the use of internet where 56% of male teachers use internet compared with 38% of female teachers.

Statement of the Problem

Information and Communication technology covers all forms of computer and communications equipment and software used to create, design, store, transmit, interpret and manipulate information in its various formats. Personal computers, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, transport systems, televisions, and network technologies are just some examples of the diverse array of ICT tools (Brisbane, 2010). This ICT provides diverse resources in diverse fields of live. As a matter of fact, the amount of benefit a person will enjoy from any technology depends on the person’s level of utilization of the resources of the technology. ICT, for instance has a wide range of applications in different areas of

life like Politics, War, Tourism, Engineering, Demography, Education, Health, Law, Business and lots more. In each of these areas, there are a lot of ICT resources that are available and that enhance productivity in such areas. The extent a person can go in such

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areas depends, to a large extent, on the person’s degree or percentage of usage of these ICT resources. In health sector for instance, a given hospital may just be using computer for entering of data and for their correspondences alone without knowing that there is a billing software and applications for diagnoses.

The place of ICT resources in research cannot be overemphasized. For instance,

before the use of ICT in research, researchers used to spend a lot of time analyzing data with pen, pencil and paper. Imagine how one can analyze a data of one thousand samples using ANOVA without the use of even a simple calculator (which is also an ICT

resource). This will take weeks if not months but with ICT resources, such analysis can be done within two to five minutes. Nevertheless, some postgraduate students are still dancing to the old tune simply because of a low level of or lack of utilization of ICT resources in research. Post graduate students are mainly charged with the responsibility

of providing answers to most of the questions and problems in the society and for them to achieve this; they are supposed to be in phase with the latest technology in research like the Information and Communication Technology.

Since a persons’ level of utilization of the resources that are available in any given technology can affect his or her progress in that technology and in other fields of life that the technology supports, postgraduate students’ level of ICT resources utilization in research can determine their progress in research projects.

In other words, if the level of ICT resources utilization by postgraduate students

of VTE Programme is low, the progress of research in Vocational Teacher Education will be clogged.

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Purpose of the Study

The major purpose of this study is to determine postgraduate students’ level of ICT resources utilization in research projects in Vocational Teacher Education Programmes.

The Specific Purposes are to determine:

1. The Level of possession of basic ICT Skills by postgraduate students of

Vocational Teacher Education (VTE) programme.

2. The level of postgraduate students’ ICT resources utilization in literature review in research projects in VTE programme.

3. Postgraduate students’ level of ICT resources utilization in proposal presentation

in research projects in VTE programme

4. Postgraduate students’ level of ICT resources utilization in data collection in research projects in VTE programme.

5. Postgraduate students’ level of ICT resources utilization in data analysis in research projects in VTE programme.

6. Postgraduate students’ level of ICT resources utilization in research project documentation in VTE programme.

Significance of the Study

A study of post graduate student’s level of ICT resources utilization in research projects in Vocational Education Programme will be of a great importance to many people like the post graduate students of VTE, other post graduate students,

undergraduate students, other researchers, curriculum planners, ministry of education, the economic growth of our nation, teachers lecturers, research institutes and so on.

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When the postgraduate students of VTE are able to possess a high level of ICT

resources utilization in research projects, they will be able to excel in research since ICT makes research project easy. For instance they can analyze their data very fast and accurately no matter how voluminous the data is.

Undergraduate students as well as other researchers will find this study very relevant as it will lead to the solution of most of their problems in research, like availability of research materials, documentation, analysis and so on. For instance a

researcher who wants to know the latest demand of any reference style can simply go the internet and down load all that he or she needs in that regards

Curriculum planners will also find this study very relevant as it will provide them

with a lot of information concerning the place of ICT in research. This information will

help them to plan a curriculum that will be useful to the society and that will meet the latest demand of the society in solving their problems through research. The study will also be of relevance to lecturers and teachers as well. It will serve as an eye opener to them and will make life easier for them in the areas of research.

Other sectors like the Ministry of Education and research institutes will also enjoy

the revelations of this study. The study will provide them with enough information that will aid in decision making and other managerial and administrative functions.

This study will also help to reduce the problem of unemployment as graduates can now enter into research work without tears which can lead to self reliance that is a solution to unemployment. The study will also lead to economic growth of the nations. Since this study will promote research projects, it will boost people’s interest and moral in research.

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This will lead to a number of discoveries that will lead to general economic growth and development.

Research Questions

1. What is the level of basic ICT skills possessed by postgraduate students of

Vocational Teacher Education (VTE) programme.

2. What is postgraduate students’ level of ICT utilization in literature review in research projects in VTE programme?

3. What is the level of ICT utilization by postgraduate students’ in proposal presentation in research projects in VTE programme?

4. What is postgraduate students’ level of ICT utilization in data collection in research projects in VTE programme?

5. What is postgraduate students level of ICT utilization in data analysis in research projects in VTE programme?

6. What is postgraduate students level of ICT utilization in research documentation in VTE programme?

Hypothesis

1. There is no significant difference in the mean response of male and female postgraduate students of vocational education programme on their level of basic ICT skills possession

2. There is no significant difference in the mean response of male and female postgraduate students of VTE programme on their level of ICT resources utilization in the review of related literatures in research projects.

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3. There is no significant difference between the mean response of male and female postgraduate students of VTE on their level of ICT resources utilization in data analysis in research projects.

Delimitations of the Study

This study is not centered on the use of ICT facilities or on IT. Moreover, it

covered VTE programme in Enugu State University of Science and Technology and

University of Nigeria Nsukka.

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