Barriers thrusting e - learning to the backseat: Nigeria a case study

Abstract

Today, Internet Technology is no longer a barrier; on the contrary it has become a necessity of a society across the globe. The rise of Internet has facilitated the emergence of the `e' word referred to as electronic which today is applied to every walk of life such as commerce, communication, healthcare, learning to name a few. Modern achievements in the field of computing and communication technologies has offered tremendous opportunities for learning by electronic means popularly referred to as e-learning. The use of new multimedia technologies and the Internet in learning is seen as a means to improve accessibility, efficiency and quality of learning by facilitating access to resources and services as well as remote exchange and collaboration. These new technologies allow more flexibility in learning and a wider reach for education. e-learning continues to grow over the years, in 2012, over 1.4 billion students and 62.5 million educators got involved in e-learning. However, adoption of e-learning is faced with challenges especially in the developing countries. This paper focuses on the aspect of e-learning in an education environment in Nigeria, analyzes and identifies the factors forming a barrier in its successful taking off within the region. These barriers are identified under four heads namely: Non Influencing Environment, Lack of State-of-the-art Facility, Financial Resistance and Community Mindset. The paper analyzes the factors identified and proposes a framework that will give a breakthrough for e-learning from the vicious technology cycle.