The world is going through a kind of tremendous change in its structures with the advent of technology. Technological development has gone through the tool stage, to the machine stage and now the automation stage and the robotic stage. The age of the Information and Communication Technology has continued to drive the advancement in science and technology which in effect has changed the socio-economic, socio-political, socio-geographic and socio-de elopement of man. I take a look at the twentieth century and I saw a change in the way of life of the people which is as result of the exploration and use of ICT in all facets of life.
The introduction of ICT which is an acronym of ‘information and communication technology’ came into being in the 1980s. Pelgrum and Law (2003) stressed that near the end of the 1980s, the term “computers” was replaced by “IT” (information technology) signifying a shift of focus from computing technology to the capacity to store and retrieve information. This was followed by the introduction of the term “ICT” (information and communication technology) around 1992, when e-mail started to become available to the general public (Pelgrum and Law 2003).
The information and communication technology is one important driving force for modern development. With the advancement of ICT, one can live in the global village irrespective of distances, national and international boundaries. The term ICT springs from the convergence of telecommunication, computing and broadcasting through the use of digital information. It covers any products that will store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit and receive information electronically in a digital form. ICT comprehends technologies that can process different kinds of information i.e. voice, video, text, data and facilitates different forms of communications among humans and among information systems. The telecommunication infrastructure plays an important role to boost the development of a country in this information society. The advent of ICT brings all the citizens of this planet close together and has a quicker access to all the information and benefits that the world may have.
ICT encompasses the broad fields of information and communication tools are being increasingly used for organizational/personal information processing in all sectors of economy and the society as a whole. ICT is a broad term that includes telecommunications engineering, design and development of micro chip technology, computer science and software engineering, information systems, multimedia, the internet and interactive environment, and the management of information. The ICT industry is rapidly changing and evolving and requires responsive teachers and graduates.
Similarly, the introduction of information and communication technology (ICT) into education has been a remarkable landmark in the education sector. The application of ICT is already changing the organization and delivery of higher education. In relation to teaching and learning, information and communication technology (ICT) is more commonly used as a source of information to support learning and to play a significant role similar to traditional classroom tool.
The pedagogical and socio economic forces that have driven the higher institutions of learning to adopt and incorporate ICTs in teaching and learning includes greater information access; greater communication; increased cooperation and collaboration; cost effectiveness and pedagogical improvement. However, ICT have not permeated to a great extent in many higher institutions of learning in most developing countries due to many socio economic and technological circumstances.
On the other hand, there are a number of challenges that face higher institutions of learning in developing countries as they seek to implement the e-learning system. AAU (2001) asserts that African universities which should be in the forefront of ensuring Africa’s participation in the ICT revolution, they are themselves unable and ill-prepared to play such a leadership role. This is because of the information infrastructure of African universities which is poorly developed and inequitably distributed.
The challenge facing tertiary education institutions concerns the rapid development of ICTs. For example, Seely Brown and Duguid (2000: 210) argued that: these technologies offer new ways of producing, distributing and consuming academic material. As with so many other institutions, new technologies have caused universities to rethink not simply isolated features but their entire mission and how they go about it.
From the foregoing, it is expediently necessitous for the inclusion of ICT gadgets in aiding teaching and learning in the universities. This will bring about the development that Africa craves.
References
Association of African Universities (AAU) (2001) “Core Programme of
activities 2001 – 2004: themes and sub-themes” www.aau.org, accessed 11 February, 2017.
Pelgrum, W. J., Law, N. (2003) "ICT in Education around the World:
Trends, Problems and Prospects" UNESCO- International Institute for Educational Planning.
Seely Brown, J. and Duguid, P. (2000) The social life of information, Harvard Business School Press. Boston, MA.