INITIATIVES AND CHALLENGES ON INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Technology’s rapid advancement is quite exciting. Globalization and the information economy have made significant contributions to the economic, political, social, and technological development of a country’s economy (Roberts, 2003). Despite the fact that poor countries around the world, including Africa, are moving at a glacial pace, African nations are not immune to the revolution sweeping the world of information and communication technology. As a result, numerous studies have been conducted to ensure that African nations are adequately prepared to face the challenges of the information age. Electronic networks, software, and hardware, as well as numerous technological protocols, comprise ICT. ICTs are surrounded by networks and services that aid in the dissemination of private and public information both locally and globally. ICT includes internet services, broadcasting, information and technology equipment, and other information and communication activities (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, 1994). ICT is a computer-based technology that includes the processing, storage, transmission, and retrieval of information. It is clear that many African scholars are looking for ways to address data and information transmission issues. This is linked to the significant problem of ICT financing; agencies and the government should do what is necessary, such as providing infrastructure to support ICT and training staff to manage it. According to The Partnership for Higher Education in Africa (2007), some African countries have important ICT policies in place, while others have not. Despite the fact that several African universities are leaders in the collaboration, According to the research, they have no plans to make ICT nationally sustainable. Given the times we live in, if African institutions have made efforts in ICT, all of these universities should have home sites with every detail about the school- admissions procedures, faculties, and departments (Tziner, 2004). According to this study, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Ghana are among the countries with a reasonable level of ICT adoption in their higher education institutions. Ghana, for example, began using ICT in the 1990s and has made only slow progress since then (The Partnership for Higher Education in Africa, 2007). Slow enough that, in 2002, Ghana’s public institutions pooled bandwidth for the benefit of the internet via the Research and Development Corporation.According to the research, they have no plans to make ICT nationally sustainable. Given the times we live in, if African institutions have made efforts in ICT, all of these universities should have home sites with every detail about the school- admissions procedures, faculties, and departments (Tziner, 2004). According to this study, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Ghana are among the countries with a reasonable level of ICT adoption in their higher education institutions. Ghana, for example, began using ICT in the 1990s and has made only slow progress since then (The Partnership for Higher Education in Africa, 2007). Slow enough that, in 2002, Ghana’s public institutions pooled bandwidth for the benefit of the internet via the Research and Development Corporation. Network for Education (REN). Several institutions, however, have become self-sufficient in terms of internet access and connection due to REN’s inconsistencies. Tanzania, Uganda, and Mozambique are among the East African countries with only one university with internet access (Kopelman, 2003). Furthermore, Mozambique is now the second-most-connected country in Sub-Saharan Africa, trailing only South Africa. Stories about internet availability in Nigeria have been epileptic since the 1990s. The first internet experiment was carried out at the University of Ilorin with the assistance of McMaster University in Canada. Many university employees in Nigeria now have e-mail accounts, and over 60 universities have websites. Some make use of VSAT, while others work on a variety of educational programs (The Partnership). for African Higher Education, 2007). The Federal Ministry of Education has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a private company to provide computers to academic staff at universities in order to improve teaching and learning as part of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Computerize Nigeria Project (CNP). Furthermore, it is important to note that ICT in higher education in Africa has been hampered by a number of challenges (Abraham, 2010). As a result, it is necessary to assess how far African nations have advanced in ICT, what they know, what they don’t know, and how effectively they have addressed the challenges they face. It is critical to understand where we are in terms of ICT progress.
are going, and what needs to be done. In the 1980s, Nigeria’s educational system was largely manual, but in 1989, the National Universities Commission (NUC) introduced the computerized Management Information System (MIS) to Nigerian universities. 2005 (Mac-Ikemanjima). This research focuses on higher education’s information and communication technology initiatives and challenges.
1.2 THE PROBLEM’S STATEMENT
A number of factors, including: It is clear that ICT in higher education in Africa is constrained by a number of factors, including: Africans are conservative by nature, which makes them resistant to change. Following established teaching and learning methods at all times. As a result, African university administrators regard providing computer facilities for both students and instructors as a significant undertaking (Albirini, 2006). insufficient ICT infrastructure, such as
Unpredictable power supplies, prohibitively expensive internet bandwidth, and so on. Universities in Africa have been inundated with untrained ICT personnel. Many professors lack the necessary training to use ICT to educate and carry out their educational responsibilities. These are some of the issues that this study attempts to address.
1.3 THE STUDY’S OBJECTIVES
The primary goal of the study is to examine information and communication technology in higher education in Africa: initiatives and challenges. Other specific objectives include:
i.looking into the relationship between ICT and productivity in African higher education.
ii.To determine whether information and communication technology (ICT) improves access to instruction for African students.
iii.To identify solutions to Africa’s ICT challenges in higher education.
iv.To look into how private individuals can help Africans adopt ICT.
institutions.
v.To research the impact of information and communication technologies on the African economy.
1.4 QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH
i.looking into the relationship between ICT and productivity in African higher education.
ii. How can information and communication technology (ICT) improve access to education for African students?
What are the solutions to Africa’s ICT challenges in higher education? iii.
iv. How can private individuals help African institutions adopt ICT?
v.How do information and communication technologies affect the African economy?
1.5 THE STUDY’S IMPORTANCE
The goal of this research is to educate the general public, government officials, and higher education administrators in Africa about the initiatives and challenges of ICT in higher education in Africa. This study aims to educate African governments and citizens.
Higher education administrators on the importance of addressing ICT challenges in African universities. This research will be extremely helpful to other researchers who want to learn more about this topic, and it may also be used by non-researchers to supplement their own work. This study contributes to the body of knowledge and could serve as a model for future research.
1.6 STUDY OBJECTIVES
This research focuses on initiatives and challenges related to information and communication technology in higher education.
1.7 TERMS AND CONDITIONS
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT): An umbrella term for information technology (IT) that emphasizes the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals), computers, and the necessary enterprise software, middleware, and infrastructure.
Storage and audio-visual systems allow users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate data. ICT refers to the integration of audio-visual and telephone networks with computer networks via a single cabling or link system. There are substantial financial incentives to combine the telephone network and the computer network system through the use of a single unified system of cabling, signal distribution, and management (due to huge cost savings from eliminating the telephone network).
HIGHER EDUCATION: Post-secondary education, also known as third-level education, is a stage of formal learning that follows secondary education. Higher education is typically provided by universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology, but it is also available through some college-level institutions, such as vocational schools, trade schools, and community colleges.
as well as other career colleges that grant academic degrees or professional certifications. Non-degree tertiary education, as opposed to higher education, is also known as continuing education or further education.
INITIATIVE: The ability to evaluate and initiate activities independently.
CHALLENGE: A request to compete or fight in order to determine who is superior in terms of ability or strength.
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