E-LEARNING AND CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION IN COMPUTER AGE PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS IN NIGERIA UNIVERSITIES

E-LEARNING AND CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION IN COMPUTER AGE PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS IN NIGERIA UNIVERSITIES

ABSTRACT

This study examined E Learning and curriculum implementation in computer age: problems and prospects in Nigeria universities. The study was carried out using tertiary institutions in Lagos state . It implored the use of questionnaires as instrument to generate data. Questionnaires administered to one hundred and twenty (120) lecturers selected as the sample population, different views were collected, analysed and the findings revealed that, many university lecturers do not have access to E-learning facilities. For continued use of E-learning by lecturers, it was recommended among others that lecturers training and professional development oriented policies should support E-learning-related teaching models that encourage both students and lecturers to play an active role in teaching/learning activities. And emphasis must be placed on the pedagogy behind the use E-Learning for teaching/learning. The study recommended the government should partner with the private organisations to provide E-learning tools for faculties in the state, and needs assessment should be carried out to determine what type of training lecturers need before they are selected to go on training.

E-LEARNING AND CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION IN COMPUTER AGE PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS IN NIGERIA UNIVERSITIES

                                              CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The world is moving at an unimaginable speed in the area of information use and dissemination. According to Olaniyi (2006), with the use of Information technology, knowledge and information can be transferred and cross-fertilized in real time. Hence, the need to pay attention to the way information technology has changed the educational sector through the internet. E-learning has been described as one of the educational challenges of the modern age about which progressive academic institutions must make bold efforts to excel and compete favorably in the global market where education is a commodity.

The term e-learning is not a new phenomenon in promoting education in some parts of world. Presently, some institutions in Nigeria are using it to promote distance education (DE) and life long learning. E-learning according to Sale (2002), is the use of electronic technology to deliver education and training applications, monitor learner’s performance and report learner’s progress. Advances in e-learning have revolutionized higher education in many ways like increasing access to post-secondary instruction, improving the availability of educational resources, facilitating meaningful interaction among learners, outmoded educational system and as such better prepare students and the average citizen for the information age, and or accelerate national development efforts (Albirini, 2006). E-learning has become a new paradigm and a new philosophy in the educational sector with a mission to serve as a development platform for present-day society based on knowledge. E-Learning can be describe  as all forms of electronic supported learning and teaching, which are procedural in character and aim to effect the construction of knowledge with reference to individual experience, practice and knowledge of the learner. Information and communication systems, whether networked or not, serve as specific media to implement the learning process.

E-learning involves the use of Internet technologies to enhance knowledge and performance (Olojo, Adewunmi&Ajisola, 2012). E-learning technologies offer learners control over content, learning sequence, pace of learning, time, and often media, allowing them to tailor their experiences to meet their personal learning objectives. to manage access to e-learning materials, consensus on technical standardization, and methods for peer review of these resources. E-learning refers to the use of E-Learning i.e. Information and Communication Technology to enhance and support teaching and learning process.

E-learning ranges from the way student use email and accessing course work online while following a course on campus to programs offered entirely online. E-learning presents numerous research opportunities for faculty, along with continuing challenges for documenting scholarship. Innovations in e-learning technologies point toward a revolution in education, allowing learning to be individualized (adaptive learning), enhancing learners’ interactions with others (collaborative learning), and transforming the role of the teacher.

E-learning has been used very effectively in university teaching for enhancing the traditional forms of teaching and administration. Students on many courses in many universities now find they have web access to the lecture notes and selected digital resources in support of their study, they have personalized web environments in which they can join discussion forums with their class or group, and this new kind of access gives them much greater flexibility of study.

Therefore, with the proliferation of the various e-learning technologies in universities in Nigeria, it is necessary to delve into issues of the effects and impact of this technology on higher education.

1.2     Statement of Problem

Traditional educational practices no longer provide students with all the necessary skills to survive economically in today’s work place. Technology integration to support education has been underway for many years. E-learning is not a new phenomenon in promoting education in some parts of world. Presently, institutions in Nigeria are using it to promote distance education and it is integrated with the conventional classroom teaching. E-learning can be viewed as computer assisted learning and comprises all forms of electronically supported learning and teaching (Olojo, Adewumi and Ajisola, 2012).

Therefore, it is not out of place to look in depthly into how the introduction of E- learning has affected either positively or negatively higher education in Nigeria. Hence, this research will examine E Learning and curriculum implementation in computer age: problems and prospects in Nigeria .

1.3 Objective of the study

The major objective of this study is to examine E Learning and curriculum implementation in computer age: problems and prospects in Nigeria. Specifically the study is to

1. Investigate the availability of E-learning facilities in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
2. Examine the extent of E-learning tools utilization by university lecturers in Nigeria.
3. To examine the factors hindering lecturers’ readiness and confidence in using E-learning.
4. To determine the factors affecting lecturers readiness and confidence in using E-learning.

   1.4 Research questions

• How readily available are E-learning facilities in school for the purpose of teaching and learning in Nigeria?
• To what extent do University lecturers utilize the E-learning facilities in Nigerian Universities?
• What are the factors hindering lecturers readiness and confidence in using E-learning?
• Which E-learning facilities do lecturers have access to in tertiary institutions in Lagos State?

1.5 Significance of the study

Higher educational institutions are increasingly moving toward the use of the Internet for delivery of their courses, both on campus and at a distance. So, studying  the effect of this technology on student and lecturers in these institutions will put forward the kind of effects it has on higher education maybe positive or negative.

The present study has great significance. First of all, the study findings provide an idea about the e-learning aspects and academic performance in order to provide key information to further research work in such areas. In the same way, the study provides knowledge and guidelines to that may be of help to policymakers. The research is therefore of importance for planners, and other social scientists. Finally, this study provides an input to the students, lecturers and researchers in the areas of e-learning.

Researches in this area of study  will  be of importance to other researchers in similar areas of study. The outcome of the study is expected to equip lecturers and students in tertiary institutions with the potentials of efficient procurement, management and utilization of  available E-Learning resources.

1.7 Scope and Limitations of the study  

The current study is only concerned with E Learning and curriculum implementation in computer age: problems and prospects in . some The limitations encountered in this work include:

• Lecturer’s attitudes: The unwillingness of some lecturers to provide much needed information and obviously has an adverse effect on the study. Oral assurance was also given that information will be treated confidentially; several trials of discussion had to be made before some piece of information was finally related.
• Finance is very important factor that contribute greatly to the success of any undertaking. The present financial difficulties in the country also affect the effectiveness of the study
• Time is vital in all aspects of our daily lives, a study of this nature will definitely required plenty of time to enable the researcher collect and analyzed data in order to attain a supportable conclusion, due to lack of adequate time research was carried out under great pressure.
• Transportations: faculties selected were far from each other and where I live. In pursuance of the research undertaking, the researcher has made various journeys to the premises. The problem; like transportation for added a burden to the research project.

• Other financial commitments are data collection which arises in administering questionnaires and down (materials) loading from the internet to get secondary information. This time constraint made the researcher to limit the studies some selected faculties in Lagos State university and the time allocated for this research work was short considering the academic pressure couples with the writing of this project.

Finally, difficulties where encountered in the collection of data and administering of questionnaire due to lack of incomplete information by the         lecturers.