E-Learning Adoption among Selected Secondary Schools of Ogun State, Nigeria

Introduction

Education unlashes all human potentials and a critical factor to human life. It is generally accepted worldwide that education is the instrument “par excellent” for bringing about national development. Such development can be seen in the positive roles education play in the socio-cultural, political, economic and human aspect of nation building (Olorundare, 2003). When appropriately implemented therefore, education has the capability of boosting the welfare and productivity of the citizens. Hence, it is not surprising that most government in developed and developing countries spend a sizable portion of their resources for the development of education. Nigeria’s realization of the pivotal role of education can be seen with a perusal of the National Policy on Education (2013) document. For this to be achieved, the source and channel through which knowledge is passed to pupils/students cannot be over emphasized. This is to say that our educational products are not only determined by the quality of curriculum, but also by the quality of teachers and medium used in imparting knowledge on the students.

The world of technology is continually growing and it is necessary to state here that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) have fused all nations into one and has thus, made the world a global village. The fields of computer science, computer engineering, software development and others related to ICT have offered unlimited channels for learning through electronic platforms (Rozina, 2002). This was buttressed by Abimbade (2002) who argued that educational technology has expanded the width of education and created new ones, especially at the beginning of the 21st millennium. One of these new and rapidly expanding boundaries is E-learning which is offering tremendous advantage to education sector. E-learning as an aspect of Information and communication Technology (ICT) is relatively new in Nigeria’s educational system. It has become a novel epitome in library services as well as educational sector with a mission to serve as a development platform for knowledge-based society. It is a departure from the conventional approach in curriculum implementation. E-learning has the potential to revolutionize teaching and learning (DfES, 2003).

Experts maintained that students who use ICTs gain deeper understanding of complex topics and concepts and are more likely to recall information and use it to solve problems outside the classroom (Apple Computer, 2002; Arinze, 2012). Therefore, the relevance of ICT to learning reaffirms that students must have variety of skills to express themselves not only through outdated channel of paper and pen but through digital systems such as audio, video, and animation designed software. It is observed from the aforementioned statement that there is a need for students to develop learning skills that will enable them to think critically, analyze information, communicate, solve problem and compete successfully with their colleagues all over the world. Against this background, the study examines E-learning adoption in Ogun state, specifically secondary schools in Ago-Iwoye, which comprises of both privately and publicly owned schools. Specifically, the study: compared the E-learning facilities available for teaching; examined the level of teachers’ application of E-learning facilities in teaching; and identified the challenges facing the adoption of E-learning among selected secondary schools in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State. Hence, the study hypotheses are:

• H1: There will be significant difference between E-learning facilities available in private and public secondary schools

• H2: There will be a significant relationship between availability of E-learning facilities and teachers application

• H3: There will be significant relationship between challenges of E-learning adoption and its application