The Extent of Al-Balqa Applied University’s Students’ Perception of the Importance of Means of Information and Communication Technology in High Education in Jordan

Abdallah S Al Zou’Bi,Sabah Al-Onizat

doi:10.5539/ies.v8n7p229

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the effectiveness of using information technology and communications’ means in the academic education from the perspective of Al-Balqa Applied University’s students. And to achieve this goal, the researchers prepared and developed a questionnaire as a tool of the study including 26 items. The population of the study, which consisted of all the students of Al-Balqa Applied University, was (10434) male and female students according to university’s statistics for the academic year 2013-2014 and the sample of the study which consisted of 500 male and female students was selected by the simple random method. The results of the study showed that the degree of the students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of using information technology and communications’ means in the academic education was high where the total average of the items was (4.02) and it is considered a positive average that indicates a high degree of perception. The results also showed that there were no statistically significant differences attributed to the faculty and the academic level variables on Al-Balqa Applied University’s students’ perception of using means of information technology and communications in the academic education, and there were statistically significant differences attributed to the gender in favor of females. And in light of these results, the researcher presented some recommendations

Highlights

IntroductionThe revolution of information and communications has made changes in the educational process with all its factors and there is a need to be aware of these changes and to respond to them appropriately and because of the scientific progress and technology development at the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century have changed greatly the educational process, the traditional education was no more able to meet the requirements of the educational institutions in a century characterized by the speed of the knowledge and technology skills especially in the field of preparing and training human resources and the specialized technical skills plus the latest trends in the education field and improving learning outcomes (Salim, 2004).The university is the major source of building the human resources that respond to the requirements of the comprehensive social development as its role is to prepare the generations: mentally, emotionally and physically. leaders of the society n different fields are mainly university graduates so the more the university teaches and trains the human being on the use of scientific method in solving the problems, taking decisions, adapting to developments, being able to choose from different alternatives that appear in light of the information and communications revolution, the more the society moves forward and develops (AL-Gharaiba & Gharaibah, 2001).The interaction between means of information and communications technology and the educational system in a century characterized by the knowledge and information explosion will lead to great changes in this system
The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences attributed to the faculty and the academic level variables on Al-Balqa Applied University’s students’ perception of using means of information technology and communications in the academic education, and there were statistically significant differences attributed to the gender in favor of females
Because the student is the core of the educational process, this study aimed to identify the efficiency of using means of information and communication technology in the academic education from the students’ perspective

Summary

Introduction

The revolution of information and communications has made changes in the educational process with all its factors and there is a need to be aware of these changes and to respond to them appropriately and because of the scientific progress and technology development at the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century have changed greatly the educational process, the traditional education was no more able to meet the requirements of the educational institutions in a century characterized by the speed of the knowledge and technology skills especially in the field of preparing and training human resources and the specialized technical skills plus the latest trends in the education field and improving learning outcomes (Salim, 2004).The university is the major source of building the human resources that respond to the requirements of the comprehensive social development as its role is to prepare the generations: mentally, emotionally and physically. leaders of the society n different fields are mainly university graduates so the more the university teaches and trains the human being on the use of scientific method in solving the problems, taking decisions, adapting to developments, being able to choose from different alternatives that appear in light of the information and communications revolution, the more the society moves forward and develops (AL-Gharaiba & Gharaibah, 2001).The interaction between means of information and communications technology and the educational system in a century characterized by the knowledge and information explosion will lead to great changes in this system. Teaching and providing the information that the students need using the computer and other means of technology to be line with the latest developments in the educational process especially many resources and references are stored electronically and the possibility to use them many times requires a kill of using the modern technology and so the traditional sources of knowledge are no longer sufficient to get the educational content and it becomes necessary to get help from modern banks of information that store knowledge electronically It has become a necessity for the teacher and the student in the university to master the skills that enable them to find out the information and use it (Shomali, 2007; Siemens & Conole, 2011)

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