Relationship between the utilization of internet based information by secretarial teachers in the Nigerian Colleges of Education and the effectiveness of their lesson delivery

Abstract

This study assessed the relationship between the utilization of internet based information by secretarial teachers in the Nigerian Colleges of Education and the effectiveness of their lesson delivery. 250 secretarial teachers drawn from 58 accredited Nigerian Colleges of Education responded to the questionnaire that was divided into 4 parts. The questionnaire was used to obtain information on the respondents’ bio-data and computer use background, Teacher Information Technology Skill Acquisition Competence (TITSC), Teacher Information Technology Skills Usage (TITSU), Teacher Information Technology Internet Knowledge (TITIK), and the extent of usage of internet information to teach the secretarial courses. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The null hypothesis tested significant at 0.01 level of significance. The result of the study showed lack of some basic learning experiences that are needed to adequately equip these teachers with ability to download and upload quality information. Owing to the lack of these IT skills therefore, the teachers were not able to access internet and use some IT facilities to move the frontiers of classroom lesson delivery to an enviable greater height. There was, although, a significant relationship between the IT skills of Secretarial Teachers and their awareness to use internet for lesson delivery, and their ability to use the internet to access information for lesson delivery, though the strength of these relationships were not strong enough. It was discovered that Secretarial teachers in the Nigerian Colleges of Education do not access Internet to obtain information to teach the courses available under the programme except office practice.  The reason is because the requisite IT skills that will enable the secretarial teachers to search extensively for learning materials to teach effectively other courses with internet based information, outside office practice were lacking.  It was therefore recommended that, the Ministries of Education should seek more collaboration with Education Trust Fund (ETF) to enable them develop integrated broad based model or strategy for applied Information Technology to secretarial education with a definite timeline for completion.   Key words:  Information Technology (IT) skills, internet utilization, lecture delivery