Evaluating the Usage and Integration of ITs and ISs in Teacher Education Programs in a Sprouting Nation

Abstract

This article explores the impact of the changing context of information technologies (ITs) and information systems (ISs) on teacher education (TE). ITs and ISs have influenced educational philosophy and classroom practices all over the world. Significant technological innovations over the last three decades have altered the environment in which educators operate, and profoundly changed the experience of both formal and informal education. The impact and pervasiveness of ITs and ISs have forced traditional Colleges and of Education and University Faculties of Education into a period of transition and transformation. Colleges and Faculties of Education have, for example, become sites of branding and rebranding. The policy makers associated with these programs reflexively look to market-based solutions without first giving serious thought to the challenges preventing the effective integration and use of ITs and ISs in TE, particularly in developing economies. Using a theory-based method of analysis, this paper gathers and analyzes contemporary views and ideas on education and technology. This paper finds that the impact of ITs and ISs on TE programs in Nigeria has shortchanged these programs. As a result, education consumers and stakeholders are dissatisfied with the slow integration and use of ITs and ISs in government owned institutions of higher education in general and in TE programs in particular. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n16p63