Abstract
Background: The higher education sector is making a conscious effort to integrate information and communication technologies (ICTs) into the academe with a view to improving teaching, learning and access to knowledge. Unfortunately, the use of ICTs in teaching by academics in Nigerian universities is far below expectation.Objectives: The aim of this article was to report on a study that examined the underlying factors determining the use of ICTs in teaching by academics in private and public universities in Nigeria by using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) as a theoretical lens.Method: A mixed method approach involving the use of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews was adopted for the study. Data were collected from 267 academics in 3 faculties and 10 key informants who were in managerial positions at the University of Ibadan and Covenant University.Results: Regression analyses indicated that only facilitating conditions (FCs) (β = −0.345, t = −3.221, p = 0.002) have significant influence on the use of ICT in teaching at the University of Ibadan. However, both effort expectancy (EE) (β = 0.380, t = 3.116, p = 0.003) and FCs (β = −0.281, t = −2.327, p = 0.023) have significant influence on the use of ICT by academics in Covenant University. The qualitative study explicates these factors: institutional policy, technological infrastructure, simplicity of use, fund and organisational support as success factors for ICT use in teaching. Further findings revealed that age had an effect on EE and FCs amongst academics at the University of Ibadan, but out of all the demographic factors, age emerged as the only variable that had an effect on social influence amongst academics in Covenant University.Conclusion: The study concludes that stakeholders in higher institutions should give adequate attention to these underlying factors: FCs and EE for optimal success of ICT use in teaching. The findings of this study have far-reaching implications for policy makers within the educational environs and intervention strategies on the part of the university stakeholders in supporting ICT use in teaching.
Highlights
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide limitless opportunities for universities in developing countries to overcome many of the impediments to the successful delivery of higher education (Njoku 2015)
A majority of the academics were in the lecturer grade II category with 36 (27.5%) at the University of Ibadan (UI) and 23 (27.5%) from Covenant University (CU) followed by assistant lecturer cadre
Today’s academics must use ICTs in teaching to better position themselves within the learning curve as facilitators and not the sole custodians of knowledge
Summary
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide limitless opportunities for universities in developing countries to overcome many of the impediments to the successful delivery of higher education (Njoku 2015). The advent of ICTs and their application in different sectors of life has not just turned the world into a global village, and transmuted ‘the mode of access to information and how academics in universities worldwide use information in teaching’ (Okon, Ngulube & Onyancha 2014:52). This study operationalises ICTs as all forms of digital technologies used in education to significantly change the traditional mode of teaching in all higher institutions of learning. The higher education sector is making a conscious effort to integrate information and communication technologies (ICTs) into the academe with a view to improving teaching, learning and access to knowledge. The use of ICTs in teaching by academics in Nigerian universities is far below expectation
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