Key Features:

- No of Pages: 68

- No of Chapters: 05

Buy Now

Introduction:

Abstract

This study on the use of ICT in University of Jos Faculty of Social Science Students show that ICT facilities and that these facilities are used for educational purposes, (research and learning), communication purposes, recreation, entertainment and on-line shopping. The respondents stated that constraints to the use of ICT in university libraries include irregular power supply, lack of ICT skills, high cost of ICT facilities, constant breakdown and poor funding.



It was recommended that the government should be approached through advocacy to make laws and provide funds for ICT development. There should also be adequate training of staff and students to facilitate effective use.

Table of Content

CHAPTER ONE

Background of the study

Statement of research problem

Research Questions

Research objectives

Significance of the study

Scope of the study

Definition of the term



CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Introduction

The rate of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Usage

The Nature Of Information And Communication Technology (ICT) Usage

The Benefit Of Information And Communication Technology (ICT)Among The Student

The Consequences Of Information And Communication Technology (ICT) Usage

Theoretical Framework



CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

Introduction

Location of the study

Population and sampling technique

Types and sources of data

Technique of data analysis

Problems encountered from the field



CHAPTER FOUR

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Data analysis



CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary

Discussion

of Findings

Conclusion

Recommendation



REFERENCES

QUESTIONNAIRE

Introduction

According to Bartlet (2002) information and communication technology refers to systems for producing, storing, sending and retrieving digital files. These files can contain texts, sounds, and images both still and moving. According to Uhegbu and Igwe (2006) ICT is seen as a group of technologies that are used to handle and manage information and records and records as well as in transmitting information to whomever is in need of it. ICT is also seen as the processing and maintenance of information and the use of all forms of computer, communication network to obtain.



While we recognize that the use of instructional technology in the higher education teaching and learning processes is still in its infancy in Nigeria, ICT instructional use is vital to the progress and development of faculty and students alike. Higher education institutions, especially those in the West, have adopted ICT as a means to impart upon students the knowledge and skills demanded by 21st century educational advancement (UNESCO, 2002a). According to UNESCO (2002b), ICT now permeates the education environment and underpins the very success of 21st century education.



ICT also adds value to the processes of learning and to the organization and management of learning institutions. Technologies are a driving force behind much of the development and innovation in both developed and developing countries. As such, all countries must seek to benefit from technological developments. To be able to do so, professionals (including faculty) have to be educated with sound ICT backgrounds, independent of specific computer platforms or software environments, to meet the required competencies of the ever-changing global environment.



The information and communication technology revolution is sweeping through the world and the gale has even caught up with developing countries like Nigeria. Information and communication technologies have introduced new methods of teaching and conducting research and have been brought into education facilities for online learning, teaching and research collaboration. While some university communities in some countries enjoy free or inexpensive Internet access, students and faculty/staff in Nigeria must pay for time spent accessing the Internet, whether at a cyber café or in the library (although the library offers a discount). To improve ICT services in the library, therefore, researchers need to show how students and faculty/staff are using the Internet in the academic environment. University administration at many Nigerian universities sees information and communication technologies as necessary in the process of learning and teaching. Information and communication technologies have given rise to new modes of organizing the educational environment in schools and new concepts in the teaching process as well as the remodeling of the roles played by the participants in the educational process.



According to Ojedokun and Owolabi (2003) teachers in the developing world will have to change their teaching styles and acquire Internet skills as new technologies transform classrooms over the next 20 years. Teachers will need to learn new skills to teach students how to search for and use information from the Internet safety issues. Internet’s seemingly infinite information offers access to up-to-date research reports and global knowledge (Nwokedi, 2007) so it has become an important component of electronic services in academic institutions. Therefore, the Internet has become an invaluable tool for learning, teaching and research (including collaborative research) in Nigeria.



An access to the use of the information and communication technology (ICT) as a medium of communication diffused widely and swiftly across the globe. It has been researched that the number of Americans online grew from 25 million in 1995 (When only 3% of Americans had ever used the Internet) (Pew Research Center for People and Press, 1995) to 83 million in 1999 (Intelli-Quest, 1999), with 55 million Americans going online on a typical day in mid-2000 (Howard et al, forthcoming). The amount of information available on the world wide web has also risen exponentially, from fewer than 20,000 web sites in 1995 (John, 1996) to over 10 million in 2000 (Net Craft, 2000), representing over two billion web pages, with as many as two million pages added daily (Lake, 2000).



Information and communication technology ( ICT) means an electronic network of networks that links people and information through computers and other digital devices allowing person-to-person communication and in information retrieval (DiMaggio et al. 2001) while Watson and Hill (1977) see the Information and communication technology as a World Wide Web network that links computer systems using a common language by providing a swift exchange or video that are all linked via telephone and other high speed data lines. We used the information and communication technology to refer both to technical infrastructure (Public TCP/IP networks, other large-scale networks like AOL, and foundational protocols) and to uses to which this infrastructure is put (World Wide Web, electronic mail, online, and multi-persons interactive spaces among others).The information and communication technology presents researchers with a moving target which Agre (1998) describes as a “Meta-medium,” meaning a set of layered services that make it easy to construct new media with almost any properties one likes.



Harr (2000) posited that, “the Information and communication technology is mostly popular among the students.”Ac cording to him, about 75% of people aged 16-22years old are Information and communication technology users compare to 61% of the general population. Information and communication technology has influenced the youth in so many ways. In facts, they cannot turn their lives without it. Height et al. (2001) opine that youth today are caught in a web of networks in that they cannot imagine going about life without this new technology that is, the information and communication technology. Height et al. (2001) noted that the youth of today are competent around the World Wide Web (WWW), downloading thousands of songs on their iPods and sending text messages at the same time. It has now become their way of life and this is developing an entirely new breed of youth. Encyclopedia Microsoft (2003) in the same vein holds that “The youth of today used Information and communication technology to communicate in diverse ways including text messaging, chart room, electronic – mail and so on. It enables the youth to send notes, reports, photos file and different data. Information and communication technology also allows actual talking of person to person with a computer microphone and speaker. You could also access videos musicals and different information using the medium.



Thompson (1995) posited that “Youths in virtually all communities use words on the computer screen to exchange pleasantries, engage in intellectual discourse, conduct commercial activity, exchange knowledge and share emotional problems, make gossips, find new friends, play games and many more.” A study supported the connection between stu dy habits and Information and communication technology use. Students who dedicate more hours per week studying are also logging more hours online than those who devote less time to their academic work (Height et al. 2001).



Many observers have accepted that information and communication technology is changing society. Perhaps not surprisingly, given the novelty of the new digital media, there is little agreement about what those changes are. Our purpose here is to summarize research by social scientists about the internet and to encourage more sociologists to address these issues for three reasons. Firstly, the medium’s rapid growth offers a once in a life time opportunity for scholars to test theories to technology diffusion and media effect during the early stages of a new medium’s diffusion and institutionalization. Secondly, information and communication technology is unique because it integrates both different modalities of communication (reciprocal interaction, broadcasting, individual reference searching, group discussion, person/machine interaction) and different kinds of content (text, video, visual images, audio) in a single medium. This versatility renders plausible claims that the technology will be implicated in many kinds of social change, perhaps more deeply than television or radio. Finally, choices are made and systems developed, money invested, laws passed, regulations promulgated that will shape the system’s technical and normative structure for decades to come. Many of these choices are based on behavioural assumptions about how people and the internet interact. We believe such assumptions should represent more than guesswork. The emerging technology which is the (internet) has changed the way we communicate, work, and travel (New Mexico State University Library, 2002).



Information and communication technology is currently changing how knowledge is defined. Today information and communication technology has succeeded in circumventing geographical distance and educational domain is still one of the largest contributors to the internet use however, information and communication technology is unorganized, and website appear and disappear, more or mutate on a daily basis, the internet is difficult to search. Moreover, the information found on the internet has both useful and useless benefits coexisting (New Mexico State University Library, 2002).



Therefore, many research conducted by sociologists focused primarily on general and public uses of information and communication technology but many topics of interest have not been addressed systematically include the use of digital technologies for communication within formal organizations, the technology’s potential contribution to the conduct of scientific and social scientific research and scholarly communication, or the much broader topic of social antecedents and consequences of computerization. Hence, this research narrowed its interest in “the use of information an d communication technology (ICT) among students of University Of Jos a study of Social Science Faculty”.