ACCESSIBILITY AND USE OF THE INTERNET BY ACADEMICS OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

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Keywords: ACCESSIBILITY AND USE OF THE INTERNET BY ACADEMICS OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

ABSTRACT

This study was undertaken to explore the use of the Internet by academic staff in six (6) tertiary institutions in the Niger State. Investigation was carried out in respect of the kinds of Internet services available/accessible the various uses, preferences in the use of Internet satisfaction with the use of Internet, satisfaction with use and the provision of Internet facilities and factors influencing use. There was no study on the Internet use in Niger state necessitated this study. This study employed the survey research method which accommodates large population. There were a total of 2,634 academics in the selected tertiary institutions, out of which 600 respondents were selected for the study. However, only 572 of the lecturers completed and returned the questionnaires. The data collected were analyzed using frequency tables, mean, and percentages. The study revealed that all the selected tertiary institutions in Niger State are ICT compliant, and have Internet connectivity, although in varying degrees. Internet Chart Facilities, Discussion Groups, E-mail, and World Wide Web are available; whereas Video Conferencing, Tele-Conferencing, Internet Fax and E-Learning facilities are not available in all the tertiary institutions. The study equally revealed that some of the lecturers of these institutions have relevant technical skill for Internet use although majority of them actually utilize the E-mail and WWW facilities more than any other Internet resources. Moreover, they derive satisfaction from the utilization of Internet technology because it facilitates their teaching and research activities and finally. In spite of the under utilization of the Internet services in tertiary institutions in Niger state, academics agreed that the Internet has affected the quality and Quantity of their work. In the view of the above findings the research recommends that all the academics training/workshop on how to explore the full potential of the Internet should be organized for all academics of the institutions. The major challenges to the effective and full utilization of Internet facilities include: Erratic power supply, lack of standby generators hamper use of Internet, lack of skill on how to navigate on the Internet, etc.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. 1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The relevance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to the social, economic,
educational and scientific development of a society cannot be over emphasized. ICTs are
those inventions which facilitate easy and speedy dissemination and retrieval of information
on a large scale. These include radio, television, cable satellite, computer, telephone, Fax
machines, the Internet, and so on. The various ICTs can be used for communication between
man and man, between man and machine, between machine and machine, between
individuals and government, between government and its various organs or agents, as well as
between government and government. Of all these systems, the Internet appears to have
revolutionized administrative, teaching and research activities of educational institutions,
particularly in the technologically advanced countries. The Internet is a massive worldwide
network of computers by which information (e.g. words, video clips, and other data) is stored
on network servers. Each file has a unique location, address or file name which can be
searched and accessed by Internet users in any part of the world where Internet facilities are
available. This explains why the Internet is described as the “information superhighway”
which has the capacity to transform the way in which information is created, manipulated,
stored, retrieved, transferred and utilized. In other words, the Internet is the single most
powerful electronic information resource that ever existed; and it is, indeed, the greatest wonder of the 20th Century (Neil, McKnight & Solomon 1995; Bruce 1998; Oyinloye 1998;
Oloruntoba & Bolarinwa 2001; and Oni 2005).

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With particular reference to the education sector, the Internet is an invaluable and inestimable
resource for enhancing learning, teaching and research. In the developed countries, and even
some developing countries (e.g. Nigeria), Internet facilities are being used extensively for
service delivery. Teachers in Primary and Secondary schools, as well as university lecturers
use the Internet to discharge their statutory responsibilities of teaching and research more
efficiently and effectively. They can obtain information on materials and equipment for
teaching (Watson 1999; Dennis & Espinoza 2001; Oni 2005). In addition, the Internet can be
used to search for answers to certain academic questions by using Search Engines; to gain
access to old as well as current books, journals, magazines, daily or weekly newspapers; for
correspondence with other scholars and researchers via E-mail; for Tele- and Video
conferencing; Internet chat, and so on.

Today, the Internet is even used for teaching by institutions in the developed countries that
award on-line diplomas, and degrees (B.A; M.A; etc). According to Oni (2005:3), “the
Internet could be used as a teaching tool especially when the lecturer maintains a web page.
This practice is becoming more popular with the availability of user-friendly web page
publishing software. Examples of web page uses, according to Heron (1998) include posting
course syllabi, solution to problems, tips for students and announcement”. In essence, Internet
services, if properly harnessed in Nigeria, can facilitate teaching and learning via the “Open
University” or “Distance Learning” system of education (see also Bruce 1995; Bane and
Milheim 1995).

The use of the Internet by educational institutions has a long history in the technologically
advanced countries, but it is a relatively novel idea in the developing world. It was only in the
1990s that the computerization of Nigerian universities actually started. Whereas Internet use
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in the private sector is increasing significantly, progress has been very slow in the public
sector, including the tertiary institutions (Banjo 1998; Udo 1998; Oyinloye 1998; Abdullahi
2006). Today, most Nigerian institutions of higher learning have either full or partial Internet
connectivity; the enormous potentials of the Internet for academic purposes are yet to be fully
explored. Among the factors militating against effective use of the Internet are:
i. Erratic Power Supply;
ii. Shortage of Technical Manpower;
iii. Inadequate Equipment and Accessories;
iv. Poor and Expensive Telecommunication Facilities;
v. Inadequate Funding by Government;
vi. Poor attitude of Government to Computerization Oni (2005:4); and
Muhammad (2000).

Thus no academics can exist in coming years without familiarization in handling the Internet
Daniel (2000), Omemekwu (2001) and Oni (2005) In tertiary institutions today Internet has
become an important electronic services in the faculties and the department also in the library.

1.1.1 Uses of Internet
The introduction of the Internet to the tertiary institutions in the libraries departments and
faculties have greatly enhanced the efficiency and performance of the academics. According
to Osuala, (2000) and Oni, (2005) client can get satisfactory answers to their query/queries
within the shortest time while academics can perform their functions more effectively and
efficiently with the use of Internet. Among the benefit of the Internet is the inexpensive way
to communicate with other users in the world. Internet is used to obtain information on
important resources for teaching, learning and research. In addition books and journals that
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have hitherto been impossible to keep current copies in academic libraries especially of the
developing countries are now available electronically and instantly as they are published. The
internet could be used as teaching tool especially when the lecturer maintains a web page.
This practice is becoming more popular with the availability of user friendly web page
publishing software.

1.1.2 Use of Internet in Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria, for Teaching, Learning and Research

The internet was created in the academic environment since its creation it has grown to
become a commercial and popular medium the original use of uses of internet were to send
messages electronically (electronic mail or e mail) send documents on file to colleagues in
order places i.e. file transfer using ftp (file transfer protocol) act as information host and allow
for group discussion on line (bulletin boards and news groups) and access computers in other
location i.e. remote computers access (telnet) however, the use has expanded to include
finding information .(i.e. navigation) on internet sites using world wide web through a
graphical using interface (GUI) such as mackintosh or the Microsoft windows Randall, (1995)
today most web browsers come with the GUI features and are regarded as graphical web
browsers the world wide web is describe as a graphical client server information system
which uses hyper text to organize connect and present information and services throughout
the internet. That is a hypertext base system for finding and accessing internet resources.

Keywords: ACCESSIBILITY AND USE OF THE INTERNET BY ACADEMICS OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

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Keywords: ACCESSIBILITY AND USE OF THE INTERNET BY ACADEMICS OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

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