THE PERCEPTION OF TEACHERS TOWARDS INTERNET AS A TEACHING RESOURCE IN ENUGU STATE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Every now and then, there is always the need for a man to get an optimum result in the most convenient and safest manner. Nothing has ever contributed more to the spread of knowledge than man’s invention of the ways of recording his thoughts in lasting form. Of all the qualities that make man an inventor, imagination is the foremost. It is the imagination that allows man to transcend his passive environment into the active form and meet up with other challenges within man’s environment. As man has settled in his environment, the human population increases; the entire system becomes complex. The amount of knowledge being received becomes very high and technical, too. The complexity of the society and overflow of information necessitate the man’s crave to provide alternative means to acquire the right and richly available information. This ushered in Information and Communication Technological revolution in the 20th century.

During the 20th century, there were many changes but none of them was as profound as the effect of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The 20th century was the century of the physical sciences, the transistors, the computer and other material sciences. New technologies and new techniques were engendered by the Information and Communication Revolution, which allow for the knowledge and the dissemination of Information and knowledge. The new technologies include the Internet, CD-Rom and other electronic media forms. Among all the new technologies, Internet remains the most effective Information and Communication Technological resource (Liverpool, 2001).

According to Abraham (2002), the Internet has been the driving force for new interest and new learning device. It is often referred to as the Net, the information super high way and the cyberspace. It has been seen as a dazzling new product, a new information system, a new way to find out things, a new communication medium. It may as well be described as a global market place, where people can find any type of information that is of great interest to them. Daly and Miller (1998) state that the Internet is an interesting and vital technical change and a basis for virtually instantaneous communication worldwide.

Internet is an educational medium. It changes the way people work, live, play, and learn. Daly and Miller in their investigation found out that over 70 million people receive education on the Internet yearly and that everyday training of people for every job on earth is readily available on the Internet. The use of Internet in educational institutions has gained grounds whereby the staff and students use the Internet for various purposes such as E-mail, E-learning, news, games, research, phone call, lottery, admission and employment.

In Nigeria, the Federal Government has prepared citizens on how to live in the Internet age through its policies and actions. In 1994, the ministry of Education commissioned the use of Internet in Nigerian tertiary schools and education. The National University Commission (NUC) established National University Network (NUNET), which was published in 1996. It was specifically established for instructional purposes, research and administrative processes through the installation of a campus wide voice and data communication network. These facts suggest that Internet has been introduced, tested and established in Nigeria for her educational values or purposes.

On these notes, Fajuyigbe and Ekubase (2001) state that gone were the days of hyper-dermic needle method of teaching and teachers’ myopic and narrow-minded instructions. Then, teachers and lecturers saw themselves as the oracles and “sage on the stage” delivering lectures, giving information and transmitting knowledge to eager students whose minds were supposedly empty vessels waiting to befit. Coy (2001) in similar thoughts, opts that with the exponential growth of the Internet; the traditional methods of learning are fast vanishing. There has been a general awareness and awakening of the Nigerian populace of what Internet can achieve for the education of the citizenry.

Incidentally, Hanif (2006) observes that even though the Internet allows the citizenry, to move along on the same pace, the teachers take the lead and play the role of guiding and facilitating or assisting students to gain the skills required to acquire and utilize the knowledge available in various forms. In spite of the functional and dynamic values of Internet services to education, teachers still delve into using the traditional approaches in teaching. They still pose as the repertoires of all knowledge. Their teachings and learning are still modeled rigidly and awkwardly along the old system and style where learners are meant to memorize all rules, all forms and take in the strict definitions. The technique, which appears very prescriptive, is found with a total disregard for dynamism and eclectism. It is fraught with unfunctionality, role and parrot learning.

Emelife (2008) equally observes that people generally have been aware of the Internet but not all people perceive the role of-Internet in education. Some people have misconception about Internet. In his investigation, out of thirty people he interviewed, seventy percent was of the view that Internet is a source of corruption. Massari (1999) states that there are problems in the use of Internet in Nigeria. He outlined them as: Lack of reliable communication, infrastructure, competitive regulatory policy, fluctuation of network, high cost of equipment and Internet connectivity and lack of awareness of potential benefit. These problems suggest that the use of Internet in teaching and learning in Nigerian tertiary schools is quite unsatisfactory.

Another issue in this study is on the categories of teachers and their respective attitudes. There are four types of teachers. They are grouped as Laissez-fair, autocratic, authoritarian and democratic teachers. Ejili and Anyanwu (2006) remark that laissez-fair teachers are carefree; autocratic are rigid and strict to a fault; authoritarian teachers are high handed, strict and harsh, while democratic teachers are sensitive, friendly and open-minded. These differences in behavior pose a problem and may affect the teachers’ perception.

Again, there is the issue of gender differences. On this note, Agwu (2007) in his findings confirms that female teachers perceive things better than their male counterpart. On the contrary, Aniforo (2005) from his investigation, states that male teachers are more active, and sensitive and perceive things better than the female teachers. Adebayo (2005) finds out that none of the sexes does better than the others. These findings suggest conflicting issues.

Statements of the Problem:

Government and parents are worried over the poor academic performances of their children in schools. The government through the National University Commission sets up ‘NUNET’ and some other Networks to enable both the citizenry benefit academically. Some parents install Internet in their private places while some other parents install Internet in their commercial houses. On 14th February 2009, the Governor of Enugu State, Barrister Sullivan I. Chime launched the Coal City WIFI (Super WIFI). The Enugu State government installs free Internet services for three months and other subsequent months at reduced cost. The state government embarked on it so as to promote academic excellence and progress in citizenry awareness.

In order to ascertain the perception of teachers, various classes of teachers abound in the society. The teacher may or may not be aware that intent can be used for instructional purpose. Intent resources may not be available in the school for teachers and students to use for their academic purposes. Infrastructural facilities may or may not be available for their intent services. Teachers may provide reasons for using or not using the Internet services. Therefore, the problem of this study is what is the perception of teachers towards the use of Internet as a teaching resource in ESCET?

Purpose of the Study:

The aim of this research is to find out the perception of teachers teaching in the Enugu State College of Education (Technical) Enugu. Specifically, the researchers intend to

i.                 determine how the teachers in Enugu State College of Education (Technical) Enugu generally perceive the use of the Internet as a resource material in teaching;

ii.                determine the extent of difference between male and female teachers of Enugu State College of Education (Technical) Enugu in the use of Internet as a resource material in teaching;

iii.               elicit the percentages of teachers who use the Internet for email, research, teaching and newsgroup;

iv.              find out the reasons for teachers’ use of Internet in the school;

v.                find out the percentage of teachers of Enugu State College of Education (Technical), Enugu that are computer literate;

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