DR MRS. ALICE MBAEZUE STATES THAT WE NEED A MORE SOPHISTICATED EQUIPMENT AND AN EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY AT ESCET

ASSESSMENT OF THE URGENT NEED AND ESSENTIAL BENEFITS OF A LABORATORY BASED ICT TRAINING IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION IN A DEPRESSED ECONOMY BY POLYTECHNIC LECTURERS IN SOUTH EAST NIGERIA AND  SITING ONE AT OUR SCHOOL OF BUSINESS EDUCATION  IN ESCET, ENUGU.

By

Dr Alice N. C. Mbaezue, Ph.D. FABEN, FAPSSON

Phone 08038109688, E-mail : ambaezue@yahoo.com

Princess Ugochi Genevieve Danmbaezue, B.Sc.:

Phone : 08036491010, Email: shizzlebabe@yahoo.com

Research Members @ School of Business Education

Enugu State College of Education Technical, Enugu

This study focused on the assessment of the benefits of ICT in entrepreneurship education in a depressed economy so it can impact more positively on every aspect of human life in our nation.  Since competence in ICT appears to be entrepreneurship oriented and is the most essential ingredient in Nigeria’s depressed economy, it was introduced to address the proper teaching of our students to be prepared to solve its needs in the labour market on graduation from our institution by proffering them with practical answers to the problems facing entrepreneurs in commerce and industries in the wider society and in a globalised economy.  ICT is inseparable from entrepreneurship education, however, the benefits of ICT in the world of work have not been adequately identified and resolved in our nation’s curriculum for entrepreneurship education. This vacuum, gap or lack in a depressed economy was/is what informs and makes this study very important.  Two research questions were formulated to guide the study and two hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance.  A descriptive survey design was adopted.  The population comprised 150 OTM lecturers in all the federal, state and private polytechnics in South East Zone of Nigeria.  The main instrument for data collection from our experimental subjects was a structured questionnaire with 30 main items and a five-point scale of response options.  The instrument was validated by five experts in entrepreneurship education and ICT and its reliability coefficient was .71.  The data were analysed by the comparing of means scores of respondents with their standard deviations and t-test statistics. 

The data statistically when analysed revealed among others facts,

*1. OTM lecturers required more ICT competencies for effective and efficient instructional delivery in entrepreneurship education in a depressed economy and

**2. The levels of education OTM lecturers as well as their duration of experience had no significant influence on the results of our assessment of ICT benefits in the zone. 

***3. Our conclusions and recommendations included that acquisition of adequate ICT competencies will make for a better efficiency in lecturing and will also guarantee effectiveness in instructional delivery in entrepreneurship education in our schools.

Based on these findings and conclusions, it was recommended that more sophisticated equipment and an experimental laboratory be installed at School of Business Education of ESCET, Enugu with the greater scope of effectively delivering improved entrepreneurship education and student numbers be enlarged to be utilized in service of our nation’s depressed economy.

Keywords:

Education, Entrepreneurship Education, Depressed Economy and ICT

INTRODUCTION

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a very powerful instrument for inculcating competencies necessary for enhanced economic development of any nation.  It is highly relevant in the society today. Acquisition of appropriate ICT competencies, skills and knowledge has been identified as one of the major problems facing developing countries, Nigeria is inclusive. The advent of ICT has triggered off a new method of teaching and learning, thus making moribund the older methods of traditional classroom. It is increasingly pervading today’s modern education enterprises both locally and internationally and has practically affected every aspect of office work.  The very nature of ICT is characterized with innovations.  Ntukidem (2000) observed that with the rapid innovation in ICT, one more sophisticated computer outdates the other. One can comfortably watch events and lectures taking place thousands of kilometres away from one’s home or transmit messages to a very far distance within seconds. The cumulative effects of these dramatic changes are altering the basic construct of society and the way we study, live, work and play. The development of E-mail, internet, telecommunications, microelectronics, and other information technology resources are hinged on computer technology. One therefore will not be mistaken to assert that ICT is the nerve centre of the electronic world. The ICT resources have reduced the long labour hours of lecturers and students to mere pressing of buttons to attain a more effective and efficient instructional delivery. The presence of these innovations in ICT has created a glaring need for lecturers to acquire more ICT competences and skills in order to bring up the calibre of graduates that will fit squarely into the modern challenging work trends.  Folundo and Fadare (2007) observed that many polytechnics lecturers in Nigeria lack basic practical skills and transfer of secretarial skills. Chibuike and Igboke (2009) found that ICT content taught to Business Education students in Nigerian tertiary institutions was generally inadequate in all the institutions producing business educators in Nigeria.    In view of the above it was feared that OTM lecturers in polytechnics in South East geopolitical zone of Nigeria might not possess substantive ICT competencies to enable them bring up students for computerized office jobs in this era of globalisation.  The problem therefore was to identify the ICT competencies required by the OTM lecturers that will enable them produce graduates that are adequately ICT compliant.  The main purpose of the study was to ascertain the ICT competencies required by OTM lecturers in polytechnics in the South East geopolitical zone of Nigeria for effective teaching and learning in order to achieve qualitative education.  Specifically the study was designed to ascertain the: I. Word Processing Competencies; II. Spreadsheet Application Competencies; III. Power Point Presentation Competencies; IV. Database Management System Competencies; V. Desktop Publishing Competencies and VI. Webpage Design Application Competencies required by OTM lecturers in polytechnics in South East geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Six Research Questions and six hypotheses in line with six specific purposes guided the study.  Relevant literature was reviewed under the following major subheadings: Conceptual framework, Theoretical framework, Review of Empirical studies and Summary of review of related literature.

METHODOLOGY

The design of the study was a descriptive survey. The study was carried out in all the polytechnics in South East geopolitical zone of Nigeria comprising Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States with particular reference to ICT Competencies Required by OTM lecturers in polytechnics in this zone.  The population of the study covered the 150 OTM lecturers in Federal, State and Private polytechnics in the five states in South East geopolitical zone of Nigeria.  The researcher used the entire population without sampling because the number was small and manageable and according to research experts should be studied in its entirety in order to obtain a more reliable result (Nwana 1981) and Abugu (2008).  A structured questionnaire containing parts 1 and 2 was used. Part 1 dealt with  demographic data and part 2 was divided into 6 sections based on the research questions and had 95 items altogether broken into Sections: A and F had 14 items each, B 17, C 16, D 15 and E 19 in accordance with the specific purposes of the study.  The instrument was structured to elicit information from respondents on a five point scale thus: Very Highly Required (5); Highly Required (4) Moderately Required (3) Lowly Required (2) and Not Required (1).  The instrument was face-validated by five experts – two in Business Education, two in Computer Science and one in Measurement and Evaluation.  The 150 copies of the questionnaire were administered and collected personally by the researcher and research assistants to ensure accuracy of the data for the study.  Five were considered useless hence 145 were used for the study. The data collected from the respondents were used to compute the reliability coefficient using Cronbach Alpha Statistical Method.  A reliability coefficient Index value of 0.71 was obtained which was considered high enough to be used for the study. The data generated from the study were analysed using Mean with Standard Deviation and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).  The Mean with Standard Deviation was used to answer the Research Questions in order to obtain the measure of spread of the respondents’ opinions.  Null hypotheses 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 were tested using t-test statistics while null hypothesis 2 was tested using One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).  These statistical tools were considered appropriate for the study.

RESULTS

After data analyses the major findings were summarized. I  The OTM lecturers considered all the fourteen suggested Word Processing application competencies as required.  The hypothesis revealed that male and female OTM lecturers did not differ significantly in their opinions of the required Word Processing application competencies. II The OTM lecturers considered all the seventeen suggested Spreadsheet application competencies as required.  The hypothesis revealed that Federal, State and Private polytechnics OTM lecturers differed significantly in their opinions of the required Spreadsheet application competencies. III The OTM lecturers considered all the sixteen suggested PowerPoint Presentation competencies as required.  The hypothesis revealed that experienced and less experienced OTM lecturers differed significantly in their opinions of the required PowerPoint Presentation competencies. IV The OTM lecturers considered all the fifteen suggested Database Management System competencies as required.  The hypothesis revealed that experienced and less experienced OTM lecturers differed significantly in their opinions of the required Database Management System competencies. V  The OTM lecturers considered all the nineteen suggested Desktop Publishing application competencies as required.  The hypothesis revealed that experienced and less experienced OTM lecturers did not differ significantly in their opinions of the required Desktop Publishing application competencies. VI. The OTM lecturers considered all the fourteen suggested Webpage Design application competencies as required.  The hypothesis revealed that male and female OTM lecturers differed significantly in their opinions of the required Webpage Design application competencies. Relevant discussions were made with regard to findings on the Research Questions and Hypotheses.  Recommendations included that: the NBTE should review the (2004) OTM curriculum vis-à-vis modern ICT requirements.  Recruitment and employment of OTM lecturers and even assigning them to administrative positions in OTM Departments should not be gender-biased.  Conferences, workshops, seminars and symposia should be constantly organized by professional bodies and other stakeholders to create awareness on the need for proficiency in ICT. OTM lecturers who are still deficient in the above listed ICT competencies should also make personal efforts to update themselves in order to be more effective and efficient in presenting lectures on ICT related courses.

The data statistically when analysed revealed among others facts,

*1. OTM lecturers required more ICT competencies for effective and efficient instructional delivery in entrepreneurship education in a depressed economy and

**2. The levels of education OTM lecturers as well as their duration of experience had no significant influence on the results of our assessment of ICT benefits in the zone. 

***3. Our conclusions and recommendations included that acquisition of adequate ICT competencies will make for a better efficiency in lecturing and will also guarantee effectiveness in instructional delivery in entrepreneurship education in our schools.

CONCLUSION:

WE NEED A MORE SOPHISTICATED EQUIPMENT AND AN EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY AT ESCET

Based On These Findings And Conclusions Permit Me As The Chairman of Local Organising Committee Of This First International Conference On Entrepreneurship Education In A Depressed Economy  To Plead On Behalf Of My Provost And Dear Students That A More Sophisticated Equipment And An Experimental Laboratory Be Installed At Our School Of Business Education Of ESCET, Enugu With The Greater Scope Of Effectively Delivering Improved Entrepreneurship Education And Student Numbers Be Enlarged To Be Utilized In Service Of Our Nation’s Depressed Economy.