Availability And Utilization Of Ict Facilities In The Teaching And Learning Of Social Studies In Awgu Local Government Area Of Enugu State

Statement of Problem

Information and communication technology is already a vital factor in the successful development of education; therefore, teaching and learning for the new emerging societies require effective utilization of ICT’S to facilitate instructional delivery.

The federal republic of Nigeria (FRN, 2002) in line with the global best practices in the field of education came up with a national IT policy. The national IT policy’s strategies for education include the integration of it into the mainstream of education, training and the establishment of facilities for electronic and distance learning networks and ensuring internet connectivity among others.  

Despite these efforts by both government and non-governmental agencies in making ICT facilities readily available and accessible to schools, some vital areas of ICT application in teaching appear not attended to in secondary schools in Awgu local government area of Enugu state.

The implications of this scenario are far reaching to the field of education in general and social studies education in particular. If social studies teachers and students do not take full advantage of ICT in teaching and learning, the chances to expand educational opportunities or improve the quality of existing education could be lost. More also, the opportunities to provide social studies teacher education to a broader audience are hampered as much as the vision and mission of education are mere dreams. It has been noticed that in most secondary schools in Agwu local government area, ICT facilities are not made available or accessible to enhance their adequate utilization, while in some cases, the teachers lack the requisite knowledge on ICT utilization even when it is available, and in other cases the facilities are inadequate which may also be responsible for the poor quality of graduates produced in our secondary schools in terms of knowledge of social studies. The problem of this study is to identify the ICT facilities that are available for teaching and their utilization by teachers for the purposes of teaching social studies in Awgu local government of Enugu state.

Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this study was to determine the availability and utilization of ICT in teaching social studies in junior secondary schools in Awgu local government area of Enugu state. Specifically, the study sought to:

1. Identify the various Information and Communication tools available for the teaching and learning of social studies
2. Determine the extent of utilization of in the teaching of social in public secondary schools in Awgu local Government Area of Enugu state
3.  Identify the factors that hinder the effective utilization of ICT facilities for the teaching and learning of social studies?
4.  Suggest strategies that can be employed to improve the effective use of ICT facilities in the teaching and learning of social studies?

Significance of the Study

The following people will benefit from the study:
Social studies education teachers: will find the findings of this study quite beneficial, as they will be exposed to the need to regularly use ICT facilities to enhance their teaching. The findings will also serve as a parameter for self-evaluation for the teachers who will also see the need to develop ICT competences or requisite skills and how to use ICT facilities to access resource materials for teaching social studies subjects in secondary schools. They will also be encouraged to use ICT facilities effectively to improve the quality of their presentations in class, select the appropriate facility for particular lessons, motivate students to achieve positive attitudes to learning of social studies subjects and identify aspects of the subjects where students’ individual needs can be met more effectively through the appropriate use of ICT resources.

Educational administrators/policy formulators: at the various levels will benefit immensely from the findings of this research work because it will fashion their administrative approaches in terms of training and retraining of staff along the line of ICT competence, the type of facilities or equipment to acquire (in terms of quantity and quality), staff recruitment, provision of infrastructure, e.g. Classroom and lecture theatre.  Methods of instructional delivery will also be designed by the teacher in collaboration with educational administrator to accommodate the utilization of ICT facilities. Educational administrators will greatly benefit from the findings of this study as it relates to organizational approach to more flexible teaching/learning, research oriented education and flexible attitude to time and space.

Students: will equally benefit from the outcome of this research work because they will be exposed to the numerous benefits of ICT utilization during the teaching of social studies. These benefits include, arousing their curiosity whereby, they will be engaged in meaningful and relevant learning, and exposure to construction of knowledge which will reduce the risk of failure. ICT utilization will improve their creativity, become useful aids to problem- solving, lead to unrestricted access to learning materials and the use of ICT facilities for researches.
It will help the students to identify and appreciate other ICT facilities such as CD-ROM, slides, tapes, other than internet and computer. This will enable them exploit the information contained therein either for their assignment, class work or research work.

Scope of the Study
The study is delimited to finding out the available ICT facilities in teaching social studies in junior secondary schools, the extent to which the available facilities are being used, the factors that hinder the utilization of ICT facilities, and ways of improving on them in  junior secondary schools in Awgu local government area of Enugu state. The secondary schools chosen for this study are public and privately owned secondary schools. The subject of this study comprises of teachers, students, researchers, principals/school administrators etc.

Research Questions
The study was guided by the following research questions:

1.  What Information and Communication tools available are for the teaching and learning of social studies?
2. To what extent are ICT facilities utilized for the teaching and learning of social studies?
3. What factors hinder the effective utilization of ICT facilities for the teaching and learning of social studies?
4. What strategies can be employed for improving the effective use of ICT facilities in the teaching and learning of social studies?