CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Introduction

The uses of technology in the educational system within the university of Buea provide information that has led to the impact of student performance in the university. The use of technology has gone a long way to support low performance by students.

This chapter articulates the background of the study of the effect of modern technology on student academic performance in the university of Buea,  it goes on to give the problem statement, purpose, objectives, research question, hypotheses, significance, the scope of the study, and operational definition of the term.

 Background to the study

Teaching is becoming one of the most challenging professions in our society today where knowledge is expanding so rapidly that modern technologies demand the use of information and communication technology (ICT).

ICT has become within a short time one of the basic building blocks of modern society. Many countries now regard the understanding of ICT and mastering its basic concept as part of the core in education (UNESCO, 2002).

In some countries such as Uganda government has established a fully-fledged ICT ministry since 2009 to stress the importance of ICT in promoting economic growth and development.

Proponents of ICT suggests that our use of increasingly sophisticated and enabling technologies will continue to the extent that technology literacy will become a basic functional requirement for our work, social and personal lives. The National Council for curriculum and assessment, UK(2004), note that as the pace of technological development continues to grow, children in our school today will live in a world where ICT will be increasingly embedded in their daily lives.

The use of computer in education is not a new phenomenon. In the 1970s its promoters claims that it will transform and save education (Lockard and Abrams 1994}. The late 1980s saw growing shift towards computer integration which emphasis the curriculum and not the tool.

Its proponent felt that student will learn a new skill as they needed them in other to make computers work for them. The computer could now be viewed more like a partner as opposed to competitors and could be treated in a more natural manner (Lockard and Abrams 1994).

1990 saw a heightened focus on increasing the use of computer technology in the classroom, and not just the evangelist. Growing attention and pressure to implement technology in education is coming from many directions including parents and the business sector, not just departments in education.

One of the most significant features of the technological or digital era of more relevance to education is the internet technically and functionally as a worldwide network of computers and people interacting together.

To enhance and streamline the development in the ICT sector, the government of Uganda formulated an ICT framework in 2003 to meet the challenges and the harnessing of the underlying potentials and opportunities of the system (National ICT Policy framework, 2003).

The government recognizes that ICT has a big role to play in the stimulation of national development, in particular and globalization of the economy. In recognition of the need for ICT for the development process, the government undertook several initiatives to promote the development and application of ICT. The telecommunication sector was liberalized in 1996 by a policy framework that provided for the introduction of competition and licenses for operators.

The liberalization of the acquisition, use, and application of ICT led to a rapid expansion of the ICT industry over the last ten years. The Ministry of Education and Sport has approved a curriculum for ICT training for secondary schools.

These schools are been equipped under various programmed including the school net and connected projects. However only a very small percentage of secondary schools are offering ICT training and in almost all cases the facilities are awfully inadequate for reasonable hands-on experience (National ICT policy framework, 2003).

The ministry of sport and education has formulated an ICT policy for education that it hopes to adopt so as to drive ICT training in schools and other institutions under its mandate.

More and more studies now support the claim that technology has great potential to provide new kinds of instructional opportunities and to enhance the knowledge and learning experience of both the teacher and the student (o”connor and Polin, cited in fleming-McConick, et la 1995).

However, the effect of ICT in teaching and learning is not yet fully established. Yet the need to prepare students for the information age is a reoccurring education theme worldwide since today students are to spend their career life in a very dynamic technological environment (mbwesa,2003).

The University of Buea, being one of the oldest established was set up in the year 1993to serve as a launch pad for equitable development in Cameroon by providing knowledge, skill and stimulating innovation in education, technology economic advancement, and social development (research and education network 2003) however the university faces many challenges in regard to teaching and learning processes.

Classical instructional methods have been useful and continue to be used in the teaching and learning process with their limitation in different circumstances varying depending on students’ and instructors’ needs.

Little emphasis is been put on the embarrassment of educational technology, yet if properly use ICT will provide an array of a powerful tool that may help in transforming the present isolated teacher-centered and text-bound classroom into rich student focus interactive knowledge environment.

If not well addressed, investment in the development of ICT in the university will be wasteful and the teaching and learning process will continue to be very slow limiting the university from achieving it development it is hoped to bring in the university.

The World Bank (2003) Citing Rodrigues and Wilson,( 2000) stipulated that ICT is the set of activities that facilitate by electronic means the process transmission and display of information. According to United Nations, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP, 2001) ICTs refer to technology people use to share, distribute and gather information and to communicate, through computer and computer networks. In this study, ICT is viewed as a set of tools that can be used to process, avail, and access information and communicate services or products.

The service and product may include hardware and software; internet, telephone/mobile phones, telefax, typewriter, calculator, radios, hydraulimachinees use in industries among others. Bakkabulindi (2002;2000) observed that ICT are of two major types namely; ICT for converting or processing data into information such as adding machines, calculators, typewriters, and computer and ICT for communication of data and or information from one place to another; this include telegraph, telephone, telefax, and computer network. Interaction refers to the relation between the user and these gadgets.

In this study, ICT further refers to the availability, accessibility, and user-ability of these gadgets. Availability implies the presence of these ICT resources; accessibility means the degree to which these ICT resources are easily accessible by as many people as possible. Usability to the capability of the student and teacher to use this resource to achieve specified goals.

Learning refers to concerted activity that increases the capacity and willingness of students to acquire and productively apply new knowledge and skill to grow mature and to adapt successfully to change and challenges (warschaur, 1996).

Such learning empowers the student to make wise choices, solve problems and break new ground. Learning certainly includes academic studies and occupational training through high school and beyond.

In this study, learning will refer to the process whereby learners acquire and master knowledge and skill imparted in them by the instructor and through interaction with technological tools in relation to their academic performance, workplace preparedness, and application of the acquired skill and knowledge.

Statement of the problem

Student performance remains central in academic achievement debate. ICT provides a window for opportunity for educational institution and other organization to harness and use technology to complement and support teaching and learning student academic performance.

Among the reason given for the dismal is lack of student motivation to learn and hence low achievement.

The performance of students at the University of Cameroon has been very poor. In particular, the university of Buea has registered poor results at the end of the course examination, hence there is a need to investigate the effect of modern technology in the university.

Purpose of the study

The main purpose of the study was to identify the perceived effect of the availability and user availability, accessibility, and user of ICT resources on student learning and academic performance in the university using a cross-sectional survey design with a view to providing relevant recommendations.

Objectives of the objective

This study was guided by both the main and specific objectives

Main objective

To investigate the effect of modern technology on student academic performance

Specific objectives

1. To investigate the effect of the internet on student academic performance
2. To investigate the effect of social media sites (Facebook, and WhatsApp) on student academic performance
3. To investigate the effect of cell phone usage on student academic performance
4. To investigate the effect of laptops on students’ academic performance

See Also, Effects of Technological Advancements on Students’ Academic Performances in Secondary Schools in the Buea Municipality