Availability and Usability of ICT as an Instructional Strategy for Improving Teaching and Learning Biology in Nigerian Secondary Schools

Abstract

A descriptive survey was carried out to investigate the availability and usability of ICT tools as a strategy for biology instruction in Nigerian secondary schools. Materials and Methods: The population for the study included all biology teachers in Ondo state; 60 biology teachers were randomly selected for this study, these included 30 biology teachers from the rural schools and 30 biology teachers from the urban center. A structured questionnaire which adopted a four-point Likert rating scale was employed. The questionnaire consists of three sections namely; Section A, which has three demographic data, Section B, which is on the availability of ICT tools in the secondary schools, Section C, which consists of fourteen (14) items on the competency of biology teachers and the usability of ICT in the implementation of Biology curriculum. The questionnaire was vetted by experts from Africa Center of Excellence for Innovative and Transformative STEM Education, Lagos State University, Nigeria, for content and face validity. Results: Findings from the study show that out of the (6) ICT tools identified for biology instruction in senior secondary schools, only (2) were adequately available (computer laboratory and generator), but not often utilized by the teachers for effective instruction in Biology, while the other tools were either not available or not adequately available. Furthermore, results from the study indicated that there is no statistically significant difference in the opinions of teachers from government and private schools, teachers from rural and urban schools on the availability and usability of ICT tools in senior secondary schools in Ondo State. Further analysis revealed no statically significant main effects of school status and school location on the responses of biology teachers (p<0.05). Keywords: ICT, Instructional Strategy, Availability, Usability and Biology Curriculum DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-16-09 Publication date: June 30 th 2022