ICT APPLICATION AND USE IN BUSINESS EDUCATION COURSES FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

1.1    BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Teaching and learning are inseparably connected ideas, with learning serving as a more critical function in teaching (Green, 2002). "Unless the child learns, the teacher has not taught," it is said. Despite the fact that teaching and learning are inseparably connected activities that are both interdependent and linked, teaching is a social phenomena and learning is a psychological phenomenon. Teaching usually leads to learning, although learning can sometimes happen without teaching (Adoni, 2000). Teachers are now considered as facilitators or guides in the modern trend of teaching and learning, and I feel that this may be improved with the use of ICT facilities (Chukwudi, 2007). The interaction between the eager learner and the competent co-teacher is at the heart of the teaching learning process. Effective teaching aids may be selected for creating strategies and tactics to achieve the optimal object of learning; the concept of the relationship between teaching and learning will be an aid in understanding the nature of teaching and thus, teaching theories may be evolved; the concept of the relationship between teaching and learning will be an aid in understanding the nature of teaching and thus, teaching theories may be evolved; the concept of the relationship between teaching and learning will be an aid in understanding the nature of teaching and thus, teaching theories may be evolved (Roa, 2004). The understanding of the link will also aid in the training of successful Business Education teachers. ICT has generally been recognised as one of the most important strategies for incorporating into the teaching and learning process. It refers to a wide range of electronic technologies, technical tools, and tools that are used to transmit, disseminate, store, and manage information in the context of teaching and learning (Louie, 2003). Computers, the internet, broadcasting technologies, and telephones are all examples of ICT (Kpangbam, 2010). The idea of ICT's influence on learning is that it allows people to study anywhere, at any time, and in any way. During academic activities, ICTs are used extensively, particularly by lecturers and students (Umoren, 2007). According to Miller and Akume, the introduction of information and communication technology (ICT) has completely transformed the way we access, process, store, retrieve, and distribute information inside organizations and across the globe (2009). Information and communication technology (ICT) is the systematic collection, processing, storage, transmission, and retrieval of data via print, broadcast, computing, and telecommunications media (Onwuagboke, 2009). Information and communication technology (ICT) is defined by Achuonye (2002) as the gathering, storage, processing, distribution, and use of data. Information and communication technology has the potential to accelerate, enrich, and deepen skills; motivate and engage students in learning; help in relating school experiences to work practices; contribute to radical school changes; strengthen teaching; and provide opportunities for connection between the school and the rest of the world (Kirschner, 2003). ICT, according to Ogunsola (2005), is an electronically based system of information transmission, receiving, processing, and retrieval that has fundamentally altered the way we think, live, and interact with our surroundings. Information and communication technology (ICT) may be utilized to prepare the present generation of students for the future workplace by giving tools for tomorrow's practices. This is emphasized in Lemke's (1999) foreword to the Milken Exchange commissioned study on education technology. "Today's students live in a global information-based era, and they need instructors who use technology (ICTs) to provide possibilities for pupils to become a part of the knowledge age and skills taught to young people in an increasingly complicated environment," Lemke said.

Teachers will need to utilize ICTs in order to provide tomorrow's employees and consumers with the skills and knowledge needed to use ICTs in their jobs (Tearle, 1999). Because of its dynamic, interactive, and engaging nature, ICT has had an influence on the quality and quantity of teaching and learning. Through the use of electronic media, the internet, and other ICT tools, teaching has been simplified. According to Ndukwe (2006), the manufacturing and introduction of calculators and computers into the global education system has aided in the simplification of teaching and learning in schools, as well as providing actual potential for personalised instruction. Business education is one of the courses taught in tertiary institutions. It is that aspect of the total education program that provides the knowledge, skills, understanding, and attitudes required to perform in the business world as a producer or consumer of goods and services offered by businesses  (Igboke, 2012). According to Azubuike (2013), business education is part of the high school program's creative, technical, and vocational subjects. The goal of the course is to provide students with real business skills that will enable them to participate meaningfully in future productioIt is meant to educate students for the world of work, both as workers and as employers, as a practical course, (chibuzor, 2012).  He also claimed that business education is an important part of general education since it focuses on the development of entrepreneurship in students. It is also concerned with the act of giving business orientation, according to him.  According to Okoli (2010), business education is an essential aspect of general education that focuses on the development of skills and competences for usage in offices and other business-related occupations. Business education, according to Nwazi (2010), includes education for office occupations, business teaching, business administration, and economic knowledge. According to Abdulkadir (2011), one of the most notable features of a business education program is that its graduates may work freely as self-employed and labor employers.To this purpose, fundamental education for teaching career, entrepreneurship, business knowledge, office management, and vocational activities is a pillar of business education.

The following are the goals of business education at all levels of education, according to Azubuike (2013):

- To build fundamental skills for future personal usage

 - Objectives To prepare students for additional business education courses.

- Objectives To give students the necessary basis for teaching business courses.

- To learn the fundamentals of working in an office.

- To link acquired knowledge and skills to national development.

- To learn the fundamentals of business education knowledge and abilities.

- To give orientation and fundamental skills with which to begin a working life for people who may not be able to continue their education.

1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Over the years, there has been a general poor performance in business education courses; this is true not only in secondary school where business education subjects are taught, but also in university where most students who enrol in the business education department do not graduate successfully with their peers (Bliss, 2006).

Unfortunately, there are few or no ICT facilities for teaching and learning in various classes at Ebonyi State University's Department of Business Education. In the classrooms of business education departments, teaching and learning methods are still based on the old traditional method of teaching, in which the teacher acts as a repository of knowledge while the students are busy coping with what is said and expected to regurgitate it verbatim during the examination (Clement, 2004). It is concerning since this has resulted in widespread test failure because students are rarely anchored in their learning and are instead primarily forced to memorizing of the contents presented (Azubike, 2013). The current study adds to the body of knowledge on the use of ICT in education by investigating the availability and level of ICT use in business education teaching and learning at Ebonyi State University.

1.3    OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The study's major goal is to examine the availability and level of ICT use in Ebonyi State University's business education courses for teaching and learning. The specific objectives are: i.to determine the availability of interactive ICT in the teaching and learning of business education courses at Ebonyi State University.

The specific objectives are:

i. To determine the availability of interactive ICT in the teaching and learning of business education courses at Ebonyi State University.

ii. To determine the extent to which Ebonyi State University uses interactive ICT in the teaching and learning of business education courses.

iii.Determine the availability of non-interactive ICT in business education teaching and learning at Ebonyi State University.

iv.To establish the extent to which Ebonyi State University uses non-interactive ICT in the teaching and learning of business education courses.

1.4     RESEARCH QUESTIONS

i. To what extent the availability of interactive ICT in the teaching and learning of business education courses be determined at Ebonyi State University?

ii. What is the  extent in  which Ebonyi State University uses interactive ICT in the teaching and learning of business education courses?

iii.What is the availability of non-interactive ICT in business education teaching and learning at Ebonyi State University?

iv. What are  extents in which the  Ebonyi State University uses non-interactive ICT in the teaching and learning of business education courses?

1.5  SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Students, teachers, education shake holders, and government donors will all profit greatly from the study's conclusions. Teachers and students of business education at Ebonyi State University would benefit greatly from this research since they will be able to determine the importance of information and communication in teaching and learning as a result of it. Secondly, academic institutions will benefit greatly from this effort. This is because they will be able to learn about the student's situation as a result of the investigation and will be able to devise solutions to the difficulties.

1.6       SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study focuses in determining the availability of interactive ICT in the teaching and learning of business education courses at Ebonyi State University, determine the extent to which Ebonyi State University uses interactive ICT in the teaching and learning of business education courses, determine the availability of non-interactive ICT in business education teaching and learning at Ebonyi State University, and establish the extent to which Ebonyi State University uses non-interactive ICT in the teaching and learning of business education courses.

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