Information Communication Technology Skills Research Articles

Role of Information Communication Technology in Enabling Management of Day Secondary Schools

World over, the teaching and learning institutions have been redesigning their methodologies of service delivery using the modern and efficient platform if information technology propelled by the forth industrial revolution paradigm shift. The study sought to establish the role of information communication technology as an enabler in the management of secondary school affairs. The study sought to: Establish the availability of information communication technology (ICT) used in the day to day teaching and learning services at day secondary schools; Find out the status of day secondary schools’ principal’s current awareness on the use of ICT in the day to day running of their schools’ affairs; and assess the extent of ICT employability in the management of school records. The study employed descriptive survey and systematic random sampling drawing a sample of 110 respondents who responded to interview schedules and questionnaires. The study established that 49% of the teaching force in day secondary schools were had bachelor’s degree. On ICT integration, 87% of the sampled academic and examination departments conducted their activities through ICT processes. The study concluded that information communication technology is as an indispensable tool in the daily management of secondary schools, teaching and learning process during the 4th industrial revolution era of information technology. Finally the study recommended that schools should endeavour to retool teachers on ICT skills and competencies as enablers for 21st century pedagogies for teaching and learning.

Adult learning theory tenets: A panacea to ICT skills gaps among educators in South Africa

The integration of information communication technology (ICT) in education is vital for achieving educational objectives, and South Africa has undertaken diverse efforts and initiatives to promote this integration in schools. Despite policy support and financial backing, there persists a gap in educators' ICT skills uptake. This paper adopted conceptual analysis to make sense of the principles of adult learning theory (ALT) as a veritable tool for improving ICT skills uptake among educators. The paper outlines the Department of Basic Education's efforts in promoting ICT integration in schools and discusses the associated challenges. Overall, the article advances ALT tenets in planning and implementing ICT-focused, school-based teacher professional development (SBTPD) in schools. These tenets include the need-to-know principle, self-concept or self-directedness principle, learners' experiences principle, readiness-to-learn principle, orientation-to-learning principles, and intrinsic-motivation principle as effective correlates of ICT-oriented SBTPD training. Based on the explication, the paper recommends reforming existing teacher professional development policies, promoting a decentralised approach to ICT training, and conducting comprehensive ICT needs assessments to design effective ICT-oriented needs-based SBTPD training.

Examining the barriers to the adoption and integration of information communication technologies as e-Government in Africa

The study explored the adoption of information communication technologies (ICT) and its integration in Africa as an e-Government system. The article contributes to the continuing debate regarding the constraints that developing-country e-government systems face when it comes to the implementation and adoption of ICT as e-Governance for service delivery and the realization of socio-economic development. The study covers the various stakeholders who may have an impact on the implementation of e-Government at the grassroots level. It also highlights the barriers cited by other scholars of e-Governance that require local government attention. The impediments include challenges with governance, access to resources, leadership, ICT skills and funding. The study primarily relies on secondary data that is available in both the private and public domain to produce qualitative primary data. The research observations are on the essential role that local municipalities play in pursuing e-Government by using inductive thematic data analysis. The research concluded that the planning and implementation of e-governance should focus on finding methods to address a variety of issues which includes amongst other ensuring that the existing e-Governance initiatives gives valuable insight into what works and what does not, and provides meaningful guidance in developing and refining e-governance.

Level and Nature of ICT Use in Teaching and Learning in the Special Primary Schools of Learners with Visual Impairments

Information communication Technology (ICT) has become the most suitable tool for learners with different learning demands exercise their rights to education. Information Communication Technology literacy has enhanced teaching and learning through its dynamics, interactive and engaging content and opportunities for individualized instruction. However, given the role that ICT plays in instruction, the level and nature of ICT use by learners with visual challenges in Kenya should be looked into. The findings are significant for it would help the policy makers as they will be able to come up with effective policies that will aid in the provision, planning and use of ICTs in schools of learners with visual impairment. The objective of the study was to determine the level and nature of ICT use in teaching and learning in the special primary schools of learners with visual impairments in Kenya. The survey adopted descriptive survey research design. The study targeted seven public special schools for visually impaired learners and 1667 learners. The study sampled three schools situated in different counties in the country; Kiambu county, Meru county and Mombasa county. Judgemental sampling technique, stratified random sampling and simple random sampling were used to draw samples. The sample consisted of three primary schools for learners with visual impairments, 168 learners and 18 class teachers. Data collection instrument was observation schedule. Content validity was determined by seeking expert review. The instruments were submitted to experts iteratively for consideration and their suggestions in different items were used to refine them increase validity. The Cronbach Alpha formula was employed to compute the reliability of the instruments. A reliability coefficient of 0.72 was used to judge the reliability of the instruments. Qualitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics. The study found that ICT enjoyed full support from learners with visual impairments and teachers in class. It was seen as an essential tool for teaching and learning in special schools for the learners with visual impairment. However, the use of ICT in teaching and learning was not effective. Both the teachers and learners’ ICT skills were low and the schools were not well equipped with quality ICT resources. The study recommended that schools be equipped with modern technologies and teachers be trained on the use of ICT in teaching learners with visual challenges.

Information Communication Technology Skills and Competencies of Library Professionals in Engineering College Libraries in Karnataka State

Information Communication Technology Skills and Competencies of Library Professionals in Engineering College Libraries in Karnataka State

Critical analysis of integration of ICT and data analytics into the accounting curriculum: A multidimensional perspective

AbstractUndertaking a multistage qualitative approach, this study explores the accounting profession's demands for information communication technology (ICT) skills as well as the opportunities, challenges and influential factors that accounting academics encounter in embedding ICT and data analytics skills in the accounting curriculum. We employ content analysis of the course syllabi of all major Australian and New Zealand universities using term frequency‐inverse document frequency (TF‐IDF), and survey accounting heads of departments (or equivalents) and interview members of the industry. Our findings reveal diverse pedagogical approaches to embedding ICT and data analytics in the accounting curriculum. The findings also portray the gap between university accounting curricula and the professional bodies' ICT competencies requirements at the point of data collection. As such, challenges and future opportunities for the integration of topics related to ICT and data analytics are identified, which should be beneficial to academics and practitioners interested in future‐oriented curriculum designs that are fundamental to accounting graduates and the future of the profession.

Perceptions of digital competence in learning and teaching English in the context of online education

Digital competence has become a crucial capability in the learning process, in the working place, and in personal communication. The aim of the article is to explore master students’ perceptions of their digital competence by identifying frequency, expertise, and satisfaction in using information communication technologies (ICT) in their learning process when studying at university and teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in the context of online education. The sample comprised 49 master students who participated in distant evening classes at a private university in Kazakhstan while working simultaneously as teachers of English in various educational institutions during the day. Master students’ perceptions of digital competence is one of the approaches to reveal the gaps in students’ digital competence development necessary for learning and teaching EFL online. The main research tool for data collection was the online survey allowing the master students to measure their level of digital competence. Evident from the results, the majority of respondents are digitally competent; yet there is a cohort of master students who scored low on ICT skills needed for teaching and admitted the necessity of improvement. Also, according to the findings, the respondents’ frequency, expertise, and satisfaction level by their digital competence needed in the learning is higher than that in teaching. This can also imply that even though the frequency and expertise in using digital technologies for learning contributes to the development of the expertise in using them for conducting their own classes, master students need special training on the use of ICT for pedagogical purposes.

Cognitive level classification on information communication technology skills for blog

<span lang="EN-US">Learners can study and update their knowledge continually due to the rapid growth of online content. The Medium blog is a well-known open platform that encourages authors who want to share their experiences to publish content on various topics in multiple languages. Meanwhile, readers can query interesting content by searching for a related topic. However, finding suitable content is still challenging for learners, especially information communication technology (ICT) content in Thai, and needs to be classified into beginner, intermediate, and advanced cognitive levels. Moreover, ICT blog content is usually a mix of Thai language and technical terms in English. To overcome the challenge of content classification, a deep neural network (DNN) classification model was constructed to classify the ICT content from the Medium blog into three levels based on cognition. We examined and compared the classification results with strong baseline models, including logistic regression, multinomial naïve bayes, support vector machine (SVM), and multilayer perceptron (MLP). The experimental results indicate that the proposed DNN model attained the highest accuracy (0.878), precision (0.882), recall (0.878), and F1-score (0.875). </span>

Relationship of business students’ information-seeking anxiety with socio-academic variables in the digital environment

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the relationship of information-seeking anxiety (ISA) with socio-academic variables of business students in the digital environment.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional survey using a questionnaire was conducted. The questionnaire, composed of 47 items of Information Seeking Anxiety Scale along with certain socio-academic variables, was administered personally among business students by visiting their classrooms at the Lahore School of Economics, Pakistan. The received 283 responses were analyzed by applying descriptive and inferential statistics such as mean, standard deviation, t-test and one-way analysis of variance.FindingsThe results revealed that a large majority of business students were less comfortable in information seeking and experienced anxiety from mild to moderate levels. There were only a few respondents who faced either low or severe levels of ISA. In relationship testing, the students’ socio-academic variables such as program type, gender, school background, geographical background, information communication technology skills and English language competence did not appear to be the predictors of their ISA.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of this study should carefully be used while making generalizations for all the business students in Pakistan and abroad as this research collected data from the business students of a single university in Pakistan.Practical implicationsThese results have greater implications for the future directions of information literacy as creating awareness and building capacity for skills about the information search process will help in reducing ISA. These findings provided a pragmatic insight that can be used as a guide by information professionals, especially those engaged in information services, to develop a need-based curriculum of information literacy which would ultimately help in the alleviation of anxiety and combating its effects on students’ academic performance.Originality/valueThis study address specifically ISA of business students that would make a worthy contribution to the existing research on ISA as, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no such study has appeared so far.

Does teacher's data literacy and digital teaching competence influence empowering students in the classroom? Evidence from China.

With the digital transformation of education, data and digital technologies are regarded as the driving forces for teaching innovation. Teachers’ data literacy and digital teaching competence are becoming increasingly important for empowering students’ digital capacity, ethically technology usage, and collaboration or communication skills in the classroom. Therefore, whether teachers’ data literacy and digital teaching competence can empower students in the classroom needs to be explored. This study aims to reveal the relationship between teacher’s information communication technology (ICT) attitude, ICT skills, data literacy, digital teaching competence and empowering students. The data were collected from an online self-assessment scale which included a total of 629 K-9 teachers who participated in this study. Using SPSS and AMOS, a model was built by using Structural Equation Models to explain and predict the relationships. The results indicated that: (a) ICT attitude had no significant impact on digital teaching competence, and ICT skills significantly predicted digital teaching competence, but neither ICT attitude nor skills had a significant direct impact on empowering students; (b) data literacy significantly predicted digital teaching competence and had a significant direct impact on empowering students; (c) digital teaching competence, as dominant mediator in ICT attitude, ICT skills and data literacy, strongly predicted empowering students. The findings provided valuable evidence for teachers, policymakers, administrators, teacher educators, and teachers to better reimagine the teachers’ digital teaching competence. In the future, the teachers’ digital teaching competence should become the top priority in teacher ICT training, which was the most direct influencing factor for empowering students.

Investigating of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Skills and Professionally-based Competencies of Translator Candidates

In this study, it is aimed to examine the professionally-based competencies and ICT skills of translator candidates with a relational approach. Relationships between professionally-based competencies and information communication technology (ICT) skills were examined. The sample of the study was conducted in Kazakhstan with 166 translator candidate participants. In the study, information communication technologies skills scale and Translator Professionally-Based Competence test were used to collect data from translators. Independent Samples t test, One Way ANOVA and Multiple Regression Analysis techniques were used in the analysis of the research data. According to the research findings, the professionally-based competencies of the participants were found to be high in general. However, it was observed that the participants had some problems in the domain/thematic sub-competence, Textual sub-competence, Research and technological sub-competence, Strategic sub-competence, Knowledge about translation sub-competence dimensions. On the other hand, professionally-based competencies show differences according to the class level and achievement perceptions of the participants. It was found that the general ICT tendencies and software usage skills of the translator candidates were at a medium level, their hardware knowledge was at a low level, while their access and communication skills in a virtual environment were at a high level. ICT skills differ according to the gender, class and achievement perceptions of the translator candidates. Finally, significant correlations were found between the professionally-based competencies and ICT skills of the translator candidates/

WHERE ARE WE IN SPACE: EXAMINING TEACHERS’ ICT COMPETENCY IN TEACHING LEARNERS IN SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KENYA

<p>Information Communication Technology (ICT) plays a central role in facilitating education in the 21st century. For successful integration of ICT in teaching and learning teachers play a key role. As such, there is a need for competent teachers in applying ICT skills to teach and facilitate learning. This study sought to examine teachers’ ICT competency in implementing Digital Literacy Programme (DLP) in public primary special schools in Nairobi County ii Kenya. The study used a semi-structured questionnaire tool to collect data from 99 teachers and 41 head teachers from public primary special schools in Nairobi County. Mixed-Methods Research (MMR) where both Statistical Methods and thematic analysis approaches were used to analyse the data. Statistical Methods used include descriptive analysis such as frequencies and percentages and bivariate analysis approaches including Chi-square tests of hypothesis regarding the relationship between teacher’s ICT competency and implementation of DLP. The study found that the role played by DLP in building teacher ICT skill capacity is 28.4% lower in special schools compared to regular schools. As a result, teachers of children with disabilities and special educational needs have limited relevant ICT skills such as assistive technology to support teaching and learning. The study also found that whilst there may be a significant proportion of teachers skilled with ICT skills, lack of access to digital devices and internet connectivity makes it difficult for them to demonstrate their competency and apply the same to the teaching of children with disabilities. Based on the results of this study, recommendations for policy enhancement and improvement of practice have been made.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0978/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Teacher Development During and Beyond COVID-19: Perspectives from Zimbabwe

The purpose of the study was to examine how Zimbabwean teacher educators can develop pre-service and in-service teachers to teach effectively during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. This qualitative study, guided by the case study method, gathered the perspectives of experienced teachers and teacher educators in schools, teacher colleges and universities in Harare. Data was generated by means of face-to face interviews, Zoom meetings, WhatsApp and Google Talk, and it was analysed using the content analysis technique. My study found that pre-service and in-service teachers should acquire pedagogical and technological skills in addition to what they have been taught. Teacher educators as well as pre-service and in-service teachers also need information communication technology (ICT) knowledge and skills to implement blended teaching and learning, use the On-Demand Examination system, and develop and implement formative and summative assessment. Beyond the pandemic, the traditional 3-3-3 model of teacher development (i.e., 1 year, 3 school terms in college; 1 year’s teaching practice;1 year in college)will likely continue to be based on blended learning and Open and Distance eLearning (ODeL). It is recommended that technology infrastructure in Zimbabwe be upgraded to allow teacher educators, practising teachers and student teachers easy access to the internet, while also training them in ICT skills and knowledge.

Customer Satisfaction with Electronic Banking Services in the Iraqi Banking Sector: a case of Duhok city banks

This paper looks at the effect of electronic banking on customer satisfaction of three bank customers in Duhok city including: Kurdistan International Bank, RT bank and Cihan Bank. In the latest time because of development of international economy there has been a significant increase in the using electronic banking. Questionnaire is used for this paper to get the data and descriptive statistics used for analyzing data. The project has found that there is an important association between electronic banking and customers’ satisfaction and it can be concluded that there is a strong and positive impact of e-banking on customer satisfactions especially in crisis times like Corona virus. It is highly suggested that these banks should add other e-banking services behind current services like internet banking, mobile banking, and ATM. Moreover, these banks should also ensure that their staffs acquire basic information communication technologies skills to use e-banking services correctly. Finally, the findings from this paper suggest that these banks should provide e-banking services during all 24 hours and in all days to satisfy their customer.

ICT skills activation for secondary school students and its implication on mathematics proficiency

The study investigated an assessment of ICT skills needed for mathematical proficiency among secondary school students. Mathematics proficiency made up of procedural fluency (PF), conceptual understanding (CU), strategic competence (SC), adaptive reasoning (AR) and productive disposition (PD) were examined in the study. The research design employed was descriptive survey, as it enables the researcher describe the existing situation regarding participants’ opinion towards the integration of Information Communication Technology (ICT) into teaching and learning of mathematics. The population of this study consists of mathematics teachers and students of senior secondary schools in Ado-Ekiti Local Government of Ekiti State. The sample for the study consists of 1000 students selected from 189 public and private secondary schools in Ado-Ekiti. The instrument used in carrying out this research was a questionnaire on the level of students’ use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and mathematics proficiency. Face and content validity of the instrument was ascertained while the reliability of the instrument was ensured by administering it on 20 students outside the sample used in this study. The Pearson's Product Moment Correlation analysis was used which yielded a reliability co-efficient of 0.80. Data collected were analyzed using the descriptive statistics of frequency, percentage, and inferential statistics such as t-test, regression and analysis of variance. The findings of the study revealed that the procedural fluency in ICT makes students more effective in learning mathematics. Also, there were significant possible correlations among senior secondary school students’ conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, strategic competence, adaptive reasoning, productive disposition and performance in mathematics. Based on these findings, it was recommended that PF, CU, SC, AR and PD should be applied in order to achieved mathematics proficiency expectations and teachers and students should be skillful in ICT.

Information Communication Technology Use to Improve eHealth Literacy, Technophobia, and Social Connection among Community Dwelling Older Adults

ABSTRACT The Intergenerational Forum (IF), an innovative intervention, offers andragogic programs for community-dwelling older adults, enabling them to engage in youth-led tutorials to learn about Information Communication Technology (ICT). This study examines the outcome of a 12-week class focused on encouraging intergenerational exchange and mutual aid between college students and older adults. Fifty older adults in South Korea participated in the 12-week IF program. First, older adults’ Internet usage patterns were examined. Using a pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group design with multiple outcome measures, we compared older mentees’ e-health literacy, technophobia, feelings of social isolation, and social capital following the IF classes. Our findings suggest that older adults’ adoption and employment of ICT skills improved their overall eHealth literacy and perceived usefulness of the Internet. Consequently, older IF participants with technophobia saw a decrease in anxiety, and an improvement in their confidence in using computer technology throughout the study period. Study findings imply that developing educational programs specifically designed for community dwelling elders with restricted access to ICT and little digital literacy is both desirable and feasible.

Applications of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Academic Libraries: An Overview of Turkana University College Library

Information is considered as need of human in the recent undertakings. In this paper the study has been done to research on application of Information communication Technology (ICT) and uses of ICT tools in Academic Libraries, with a focus on Turkana University College Library, to find out the application of ICT skills in Library Information Science professionals and to modernize the libraries. The study has been done in the School of Science and Technology and School of Education and Social Sciences, with the aims: (1) how students in these schools apply ICT in the library, and (2) how ICT tools are applied to provide innovative services to the users. This paper shows that the application of ICT tools is increasing in academic libraries especially from the two schools of Turkana University College, due to the development of technologies and according to the respondent ranking mobile phone is making it inevitable, due to easy access at any time anywhere.

The Impact of Information Communication Technology (ICT) on Procurement Processes: Case of Zimbabwean Urban Councils (2009 to 2018)

The research aimed at determining the impact of ICT applications on procurement processes. The population of study was composed of 110 respondents from Chegutu, Kadoma, Kwekwe, Chinhoyi and Gweru urban councils with a representative sample of eighty-six participants all drawn from the procurement, finance and works departments of the five councils. Quota sampling was used in this research with strata based on the level of employment in the three different divisions. The research utilized a proportion of 78% from each stratum to select eight-six respondents. Both primary and secondary data was used. Primary data was collected through questionnaire which was designed to satisfy research objectives. Secondary data came from relevant literature review, journals, business magazines, conference papers, and internet. Questionnaire responses were tabulated, coded by use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16 to analyze quantitative data. Qualitative analysis was used to obtain in depth knowledge of the level of ICT utilization and why users were operating at different levels. Findings of the study indicated that although ICT infrastructure with procurement application is in existence and available, utilization of Information Communication Technology is at basic level. Acceptance and adoption of ICT in procurement was driven by both organization and personal objectives. The view that technology adoption is based on the Technology Acceptance Model was applied in this study by testing the perceptions of ease of use and usefulness of ICT. The study revealed that ICT adoption in procurement improves the process and benefits other operations of the business. ICT training and skills development, coupled to organizations’ leadership commitment and availability of financial resources were cited as critical success factors in the acceptance and improved utilization of ICT in procurement. The researchers recommended further studies on the topic of ICT adoption in business operations by public entities.

Pengembangan Perangkat Pembelajaran Evaluasi IPA Biologi Berbasis Digital Untuk Meningkatkan Kompetensi Keguruan Bagi Mahasiswa UNIMED

The development of information technology encourages the Teaching Faculty to produce Pre-service graduates who master professional and pedagogical competences enhanced by Information Communication Technology skills. This development research aims to develop evaluation instruments for digital-based education courses, especially evaluation. The ADDIE model is implemented to compile lesson plans and digital-based evaluation instruments. The research was conducted in five stages, namely the stages of analysis, material design, development, and implementation. The results of implementing digital-based evaluation instruments show efficiency and effectiveness for lecturers because the kahoot application provides direct reports for feedback and respondents are very motivated to answer the next point better and accurately. Respondents were impressed by the kahoot application with text, images, time allocation and also music, it was more attractive for respondents to focus more and think faster. Likewise with google form s with its efficiency and effectiveness for students and lecturers because it immediately reports immediately after the complete answer is submitted along with the output ranking. This research implies the importance of considering the use of digital-based evaluation instruments for better, more efficient, more effective feedback and follow-up for future evaluation courses.

Information Communication Technology in schools: Students Exercise ‘Digital Agency’ to Engage with Learning

In contemporary society nationally and internationally, the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) has become a vitally important component in the workforce, recreationally, and in schools. In Australia, as in many countries, there is a nation-wide priority within education systems that endeavours to ensure that in an increasingly digital world, students possess the ICT skills to participate fully in their schooling and, later in contemporary society. While progress has been made towards achieving these goals, research demonstrates that there is a general loss of engagement and confidence in ICT tasks as student progress through school systems. In order to explore what students currently in secondary schools think and feel about their use and engagement levels regarding ICTs, this paper draws on a pilot project conducted in Australian schools. This pilot study found that agency and design-based pedagogy concerning the use of ICTs were key factors in engaging students and promoting learning. To further explore the findings of the project, the authors have formulated a model of Digital Agency. This term, ‘Digital Agency’ is defined as the students’ experience of autonomous technology learning in the classroom.