SKILLS REQUIRED FOR INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION CAPACITY BUILDING AS PERCEIVED BY BUSINESS EDUCATION TEACHERS IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN NORTH- EAST ZONE NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The major thrust of this study is to determine the skills required for ICT capacity building as perceived by Business Education teachers in Colleges of Education in  North  East  Zone of  Nigeria.    In  doing  this,  three  (3)  purposes identifying 3 ICT tools was proposed as follows – multi-media projection skills, internet skills and word/data processing skill.  On the process, three (3) research questions  and   three   (3)   hypotheses  were  formulated  to  guide   the  study. Background information was provided in chapter one which explains ICT skills as having the basic understanding of what computer and other ICT tools are and how they can be used as resource materials to facilitate effective instructional delivery. And capacity building as activities which strengthens the knowledge, abilities, skills  and  behavior  of  individuals  and  improve  institutional  structures  and processes such that the organization can effectively meet its  mission and goals in a sustainable way. Chapter two was devoted to an indepth discussion of related literature under conceptual framework, theoretical framework, related empirical literature and summary.  Survey research design was used for the study and the population was the 137 Business Education teachers in the 4 Federal and 6 State Colleges of Education in North East Zone of Nigeria.  A structured questionnaire containing 89 items was used for data collection.   The  response  options  of  the questionnaire  were  arranged  under  a  five-point  rating  scale  of  Very  Highly Required  (VHR),  Highly  Required  (HR),  Averagely  Required  (AR);  Fairly Required  (FR)  and  Not  Required  (NR)  for  skills  required.  The  validity  and reliability of the instrument was carried out and Cronbach Alpha Co-efficient of

0.991 was obtained.  Mean and standard deviation was used to answer the three research question while t-test was used to analyze the three hypotheses.  The mean was interpreted in relation of real limits of numbers assigned to the response options.  Statistical package for social sciences was used to ensure accuracy of the data analyzed.  The result of the data analysis revealed that all the items presented in the questionnaire were required for ICT capacity building as perceived by Business Education teachers.  The three null hypotheses were upheld stating that there is no statistical significant different between the mean responses of teacher in both federal and state Colleges of Education.  It was recommended among other things that Business Education teachers should be retrained from time to time to acquire the ICT skills necessary for using ICT tools for instructional delivery.

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Effective performance in any given occupation requires acquisition of certain skills and knowledge  in  that  occupation.    Skill  is  important  because  it  enables  an  individual  to  do something well.  In the process of teaching business education courses in this era dominated by technology, information and communication technology (ICT) skills are required in order for Business Education teachers to be able to use ICT tools for teaching in business education.

One of the major concerns of Business Education programme is to provide instruction for and about business and to prepare professional teachers to teach business education courses. Amahua (2011) defined business education as that branch of vocational and technical education which equips the learners with knowledge, skill and attitude which will enable them to function efficiently in the production and consumption of goods and services.   Nwosu (2003) emphasized that business education at tertiary institutions’ level is concerned mainly with the development of skills and knowledge needed to enable an individual function well in the world of work.  In the context of this study, Business Education is a programme of study designed to develop in teachers the skills, ability, understanding, attitude, work habit and information needed by them to enter and make progress in the work environment as offered in Colleges of Education.

Colleges of Education are the “train-the-trainers” institutions established to train and equip teachers for their job. Colleges of Education provide training courses in education for

qualified teachers; arrange conferences, seminar, and workshops in line with the objectives of the

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College.  In  the  context  of this  study,  Colleges  of Education are  those  tertiary  institutions established to prepare NCE teachers.

A Teacher is male or female person, who possesses practical and theoretical knowledge of his/her discipline, with clear understanding of the student he/she teaches. He or she ensures increase in the knowledge of his subject matter from time to time. A teacher is the corner stone of every educational foundation that is why Eze (2005) states that no education policy can be effective without adequate preparation of the teacher who is going to implement the policy. Business Education teacher  could  be  defined as  one  who  facilitates  learning of constantly changing business subject matters in a dynamic learning environment (Okute & Agomuo, 2010). Obi & Akarahu (2010) agrees that business education requires some level of ICT skills for effective transfer of knowledge from teachers to the students, especially in this era of technology. This, therefore, means that business education teacher should be properly trained to acquire necessary skills required.  In the context of this study, Business Education teacher is a person prepared to facilitate the learning of business education courses which includes accounting, marketing and office education options in a changing environment and has acquired adequate preparation through capacity building.

Capacity building is the process of developing/training of the human resource in skills needed to improve their working capital, to increase their working capacity, and to increase their level of productivity outcome (Nyenwe & Ishikaku, 2012). Capacity building is a training aimed at enhancing and increasing teachers’ performance and output. Capacity building could also be seen as the effort geared towards improving the level of knowledge, skill and attitude possessed by a teacher for proficiency in instructional delivery.  It increases and provides more access to information and experiences for teachers. In this study, capacity building is the development of

new strategies and skills in Business Education teachers through training for effective instructional delivery using Information and Communication Technology.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) refers to the process of gathering, accessing  and  dissemination of data  electronically  for  an  enhanced  learning.  ICT  includes electronics, information processing technologies such as computers, internet and other sophisticated gadgets used for dissemination of information in the learning process (Ukandu,

2004).   ICT enhances effective and efficient instructional delivery, and as such Business Education teachers should stay abreast of changing technology to  enable them possess the required skills in the use of ICT for instructional delivery.

Skill  is  a  situation  where  someone  has  the  ability  to  do  something  expertly  well, especially as a result of long practical experiences.  Ifeanyieze (2010) defines skill as the ability of an individual to  use special knowledge and  techniques to  carryout a task;   that  is,  the capability a person has that helps him utilize different methods to accomplish such task successfully. According to Osinem & Nwoji, (2010) Skill can be cognitive when it involves the use of logical intuition and creative thinking or psychomotor when it involves manual dexterity and the use of methods, materials, tools and instruments.  Succinctly, skill is the person’s ability in performing a given task well as a result of his/her training and practice. In the context of this study, skills required for ICT capacity building as perceived by Business Education teachers entail the proficiency, strategies, and roles, practices which will enable the teachers to effectively display and deliver instruction using ICT tools. The acquisition of these skills and competencies through ICT capacity building requires that it should be complemented with the mastery and understanding of ICTs.  The skills required for ICT capacity building as perceived by Business Education teachers includes: multi-media projection, internet and word/data processing.

Multi-media projection skill is the ability to combine various digital media types such as text, images, sound and video into a multi-sensory interactive application or presentation to convey a message or information to an audience.   Multi-media projection skill involves the ability to connect the projector, computer, interactive white board/blackboard and software to incorporate  video,  CD-ROM,  floppy  disks  and  internet  in  such  a  way  that  interactive presentation is possible.  Internet is composed of many interconnected computer networks, each linking thousands of computers enabling them to share information and process power.  Internet skill is the ability to perform the following online activities– networking, e-mail and listserv to enhance instructional delivery.   Word/data processing skill is the ability to use computer to formatting  numbers and text for information handling as is the case of Colleges of Education in North-East Zone.

North-East zone is located at the north eastern side of Nigeria. There are 10 Colleges of Education both federal and state owned in the zone where business education teachers are being prepared at NCE level.  Federal Colleges of Education are those Colleges that are run by federal government while the state colleges are those run by state government but they are all under the National Commission for Colleges of Education. North-East zone is suitable for this study because it is part of the educational disadvantaged zones in Nigeria.  The disadvantages in their training affect both male and female teachers and when the teachers are found deficient in their performance, they need to be equipped with the right skills, knowledge and attitudes to be able to provide their students with the new curricula, pedagogies and learning environments (Obasi, Okogbe & Ike, 2013).   In North-East zone, for Business Education teachers to be competent enough in this technology era, they must not only have the knowledge of the subject matter but also  possess  the  skill  in  operating  ICT  tools  for  instructional  delivery.  In  this  present

dispensation the quality of Business Education teachers must include the ability to use ICT for instructional delivery to enable them influence the quality of education for national development and global compliance. Where they are deficient, they require ICT capacity building.

ICT Capacity building is one of the measures geared towards equipping teachers for effective instructional delivery using ICT Tools. The concept of ICT capacity building is an additional provision for teachers to learn and acquire appropriate ICT skills to perform their duty effectively.    Therefore, it is relevant that Business Education teachers who were not skilled in using ICT tools for instructional delivery require ICT capacity building in order to acquaint them with the skills required for using ICT tools for instructional delivery. Based on the foregoing, however, the researcher deem it necessary to sought the answers to the questions that remains germane  “…what  are  the  skills  required  for  using  ICT  capacity  building  as  perceived  by Business Education teachers in both Federal and State owned Colleges of Education in North- East zone of Nigeria?”

Statement of the Problem

Teacher preparation is one  major tool for effective  integration of ICT  in classroom process; hence the emphasis on availability and utilization of ICT in teaching/learning in our education system.  In institutions of higher learning, such as Colleges of Education, different ICT materials have been installed in our classrooms such as multi-media projector, internet facilities, word/data processing etc. These materials are seldom used for instructional delivery as noted by Hoffman (2001) who suggested that access; training and target must be provided for teachers, because one of the five interlocking frameworks for change is teacher development. As it stands

in these Colleges now most teachers, especially Business Education teachers have not been empowered with the skills to use ICT.

Many Business Education teachers have been in the classroom with their traditional method  of  teaching  before  the  ICT  innovation,  and  have  not  had  further  training  on  the utilization of ICT materials for instructional delivery. ICT has significant effect in teaching and learning, hence its incorporation into the Education system, but a good number of teachers in Colleges of Education, Business Education teachers inclusive have very little knowledge and skills in using technology to deliver instruction and it is ridiculous to think that a teacher who is technologically inexperienced could teach a lesson involving technology.  Business Education teachers require serious ICT capacity building to transform their pedagogical practices in ICT mediated classroom. Another area of note is that, the crash programme organized for teachers on ICT skills such as multi-media projection, internet and word/data processing does not enable them to integrate ICT in their day-to-day activities and master the use of ICT as an effective tool for instructional delivery.  This constraint has created a gap between what is expected of them and what they actually do.  This study therefore is aimed at bridging the created gap so that they could be retrained to acquire the skills required for using ICT for instructional delivery.  Based on this premise, this study is therefore necessary to determine the skills required for ICT capacity building as perceived by Business Education teachers in Colleges of Education in North-East Zone, Nigeria.

Purpose of the Study

The major purpose of the study is to determine the skills required for ICT capacity building as perceived by Business Education teachers in Colleges of Education in North-East Zone, Nigeria.  Specifically, the study seeks to:

1)  determine  the  multi-media  projection  skills  required  for  ICT  capacity  building  as perceived by the Business Education teachers;

2)  determine the  internet  skills required for ICT capacity building as perceived by the

Business Education teachers ;

3)  determine the word/data processing skills required for ICT capacity building as perceived by the Business Education teachers;

Significance of the Study

It is hoped that when this study is concluded and some facts probably established, it will be significant to the following:  Business Education Teachers, Student of Business Education in Tertiary institutions, School Administrators, Government, Curriculum Planners and Researchers.

Business  Education Teachers  will  benefit  from  this  study as  it  would  enable  them discover the required skills for using ICT tools for instructional delivery.  It would also help in updating their knowledge, enhancing their productivity as well as increase their confidence level and job satisfaction.  Students of Business Education in tertiary institutions would benefit from this study as it would help them to acquire skills on the application of ICT facilities during instruction delivery as would-be teachers.

For the School Administrators and Government, the information from the study would be an eye-opener to them at both federal and state level and in particular College level to know that ICT capacity building for teachers, especially for Business Education teachers is very important. To equip them with the skills required in integrating ICT into the classroom process.  It would also help them to see the need for adequate provision of ICT facilities, in-service training need for teachers. This would enable the nation to achieve the objectives for inclusion of ICT into education and the objectives of teacher education in general.   Teacher Education Curriculum Planners will benefit from the information emanating from this study as it would help them to plan, review and update the curriculum at teacher preparation programme level.   Fellow Researchers who wish to carry out further research work on skills required for ICT capacity building by Business Education teachers will be more focused using the wealth of information emanating from this study as literature.

Theoretically, the acquisition of ICT skills by Business Education Teachers is centred on four broad stages of ICT adoption and use. This is supported by skill acquisition theory that states that there are five stages that an individual goes through in order to become an expert. The behavioural theorists are concerned with observable overt behavioural changes which occur as learning is intended from medium to complex kinds of cognitive and psychomotor learning, and allows the learner to experience the physical handling of the ICT materials being studied and be directly involved in the demonstration of the skill involved in using the ICT tool.

Research Questions

Three research questions will guide this study based on the specific purposes of the study.

1)  What  are  the  multi-media  projection  skills  required  for  ICT  capacity  building  as perceived by the Business Education teachers?

2)  What  are the  internet  skills required for ICT capacity building as perceived by the

Business Education teachers?

3)  What are the word/data processing skills required for ICT capacity building as perceived by the Business Education teachers?

Hypotheses

The following three null hypotheses will be tested at 0.05 level of significance.

Ho1         there is no significant difference between the mean responses of teachers in Federal Colleges of Education and State Colleges of Education on multi-media projection skills required for ICT capacity building as perceived by them;

Ho2         there is no significant difference between the mean responses of teachers in Federal Colleges of Education and State Colleges of Education on internet skills required for ICT capacity building as perceived by them;

Ho3       there is no significant difference between the mean responses of teachers in Federal Colleges of Education and State Colleges of Education on word/data processing skills required for ICT Capacity building as perceived by them.

Delimitations

This study is  delimited to  multi-media projection skill,  internet  skill and  word/data processing skills required for ICT capacity building as perceived by Business Education teachers in Colleges of Education in North-East Geo-Political Zone of Nigeria.  Other variable intended to cover in this study is: school type .

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