Background to the Study
Over the years, educationists view knowledge as something that proceeds from the teacher to the learner which can only be acquired within geographically delineated areas called schools. Teachers were then viewed as custodians, givers and distributors of knowledge. The learning content was considerably stable and consequently a teacher could use the same lesson note for many years, presenting the same learning content to different groups of learners. The predominant pedagogical design was teachercentered. However, the breathtaking developments in technology advancement (e-learning) are continuously revolutionizing the instructional process not just through introduction of technological devices but by making 360 degrees shift in the instructional pendulum, from teacher-centered to learnercentered instruction. It is in this regard that November in Okure (2008) exclaimed that the real revolution in learning is not about adding technology on top of current structure of schooling; instead, the real revolution is about a transformational shift of control from the school systems to the learners. Therefore, this shift in the instructional process is the advent of e-learning which implies learning through electronic media, otherwise called electronic learning. 2 Electronic learning is an inclusive term that describes educational technology that electronically or technologically supports learning and teaching. Naidu (2006) described e-Learning as incorporating all educational activities that are carried out by individuals or groups working online or offline, and synchronously or asynchronously via networked or stand alone computer and other electronic devices. Electronic learning is concerned with learning through any electronic medium that may or may not be connected to the internet. Electronic learning is basically the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance and support teaching and learning (Ipaye, 2011). Electronic learning tools are those electronic learning devices that can be use to enhance and support teaching and learning. Brown and Voltz (2005) viewed e-Learning tools to include: multi-media, internet, and blended learning, Electronic learning has an advantage of enabling students to learn from anywhere and anytime. It also provides a one-stop service for business educators and lecturers in order to create and deliver educational content quickly, effectively, and economically (Bupo & Ndinechi, 2015). In supporting the above view, Naidu further highlighted the attributes of elearning as to include: “ability to enable access to hypermedia and multi-media based resources, ability to enable flexible access to information and resources, ability to afford a wide range of opportunities to capture, store and distribute information and resources of all forms and formats, 3 which can be realized through individualized self-paced offline and online e-Learning as well as synchronous or asynchronous groups-based e-Learning” (p.39). The primary role of these e-Learning tools for teaching strategies was to provide effective and efficient ways to improve teaching and learning in business education in tertiary institutions. Therefore, multimedia are needed because they involve the combination of the various digital media types such as text, sound, CD-Rom, video dice, hypermedia software, video camera, interactive radio, multimedia projector, digital projector and virtual library among others into an integrated application or presentation to convey a message or information to an audience. The use of under listed multimedia for teaching would aid a business educator organizes his/her course content in such a way that enhances experience of the students. Ogunsola and Adesoye (2006) asserted that multimedia add new dimension to learning experience because concept is easier to present and complemented with image and animation. Some business education programme in tertiary institutions seems not to have been using multimedia for teaching. It appears that the unavailability of these multimedia in business education in tertiary institutions in south east Nigeria has affected business educators. Some tertiary institutions have been using e-Learning tools; however there seem to be a disparity in how business educators use internet tools for teaching strategies. Internet involves the change from traditional pedagogical practices that underpin teaching and learning processes because they are teacher- 4 centered methods. Where business educators are not placed with internet tools like virtual library, face book site, web 2.0 site, google search engine, and blogs, the issue of using them will be a mere tale. Some business educators have personally adopted the use of computer, internet connection for e-Learning tools. Some others rely on traditional mode of teaching and learning. The importance of these e-Learning tools cannot be over emphasized. Internet tools for teaching strategies will lead to better teaching and learning processes which is learner-centered. This can be achieved when teaching and learning involve blended learning (Naidu, 2006). Blended learning is a combination of computer, internet and digital media with established classroom forms that require the physical copresence of the teachers and students (Naidu, 2006). It helps business educators to acquire learning on face-to-face mode while enjoying the fruits of the far available items like computer, plasma screen, power point, educational software, and virtual classroom among others. Many schools have utilized blended learning tools for teaching strategies, however; the extent to which they are used is still unknown. The importance of these blended learning is that, it is a means to a learning encounter in which faceto-face or the traditional teacher-learner instruction is combined with technology-mediated instruction. To be successful in utilization of elearning, teaching and learning could appropriately involve the use of telecommunication (Horton & Horton in Bupo (2012). 5 Telecommunication is a means of exchange of information over significant distance by electronic means. Some business educators in schools have been provided with this e-Learning tools but the extent to which they are used is still unknown while in some schools they are not. Horton and Horton in Bupo (2012) pointed out that the use of mobile smart phones, interactive television, podcasting, video conferencing, computer aided assessment and satellite cable among others will improve learner-centered learning. There seem to be uncertainty in how business educators utilize telecommunication tools for teaching strategies. Electronic Learning tools for teaching strategies by business educators is pivoted by training and retraining given to business educators. Training is the process of developing skills, habits, knowledge and attitudes in employees for the purpose of increasing the effectiveness of the employees in their present positions as well as preparing them for future positions in the service, while retraining means providing additional training to people who are already trained, in order to further enhance their productivity, that is competence to handle contemporary challenges in their professional areas (Cole in Otuka, 2010). This can be done through in-service trainings, conferences, seminars, and workshops on the use of e-Learning mode for the process of teaching and learning. Kling in Bupo (2012) noted that the use of e-Learning is affected by level of training and retraining of business educators on the use of information communication technology devices. 6 Business educators who are not trained and retrained in the general use of eLearning tools will not be able to use them for educational purposes and hence they will discourage the new trend of using electronic devices for education. Thus, effective utilization of electronic learning tools as teaching strategies by business educators in tertiary institutions have not been achieved due to a slow pace of acceptance and use (Manir, 2009; Bassey, Uworen, Akuegwu, Udida & Ntukidem, 2005). Little knowledge of ICT (elearning) usage was observed among business educators as their students’ proved naive of e-Learning practices in their trainings (Ngurukwem, 2005). However, Agboeze, Ugwoke, and Onu, (2012) lamented that the pace of development and utilization of e-Learning tools and application for educational purposes, including the teaching and learning of business education courses in developing countries like Nigeria, is still very low. Agboeze, Ugwoke, and Onu, (2012) observed that it appears some of these e-Learning tools are not sufficiently provided for teaching and learning processes in the tertiary institutions. This might account for why business educators are not utilizing them in their teaching. This has been attributed to such factors as inadequate fund available to schools for training of their teachers in ICT skills, lack of equipment and electronic devices and constant electric power failure (Aduwa-Agiegbean & Iyamu, 2005; Ohakwe & Njoku, 2010). 7 Gender can be an influencing factor to the utilization of e-Learning tools for teaching strategies by business educators in tertiary institutions. Murphy and Greenwood in Sharda (2010) reported that age and gender effects could be factors in determining the extent of the low teacher utilization of e-Learning for instructional delivery. In the same vein, Paula (2010) suggested that male business educators experience less anxiety about e-Learning and make more frequent use of it. However, female business educators are assumed to show lower confidence or knowledge ability then male about e-Learning usage (Volman & Van Eck, in Vencatachellum & Munusami, 2006). Similarly, type of institutions and institutions ownership could influence the utilization of e-Learning tools for teaching strategies in business education. Okiki (2011) pointed out that the utilization of eLearning tools is influenced by the stakeholders. As noted by Volman and Van Eck in Vencatachellum and Munusami (2006), one of the stakeholders is the educational institutions. Others include the students, the instructors, content providers, technology providers, accreditation bodies and employees. They also noted that budgeting factors in a country could make the procurement of e-Learning tools for teaching strategies by institutions difficult or easy, as the case may be. Okiki (2011) revealed that schools type’s assessment show that awareness, culture, technology, pedagogy and content needed to be considered in e-Learning has more improvement in the 8 public owned than in private owned tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Okebukola in Okoro (2008) stressed that e-Learning tools are not part of classroom technology in over 90 percent of tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Thus, the chalkboard and textbooks continue to dominate classroom activities. Business educators themselves need training in areas of e-learning competences to be able to integrate e-Learning tools efficiently and effectively in their teaching tasks. The utilization of e-Learning tools in colleges of education and universities might differ and as such the utilization in various institutions type may also differ. It is possible that the management of tertiary institutions can view the use of e-Learning from different perspectives. The government owned and privately owned tertiary institutions may differ in the e-Learning tools provided to them (Leem & Lim, 2007). Manir (2009) also noted that the utilization of e-learning has begun in government tertiary institutions. Business education as a component of vocational technical education programme, prepares individuals for careers in business and to be an intelligent consumers of economic goods and services. It provides students with the needed competencies, skills, knowledge, understanding and attitudes to perform as workers in industries, civil service and also as proprietors of business. Business education is work-focused, skills-based, result-oriented, and technology-based (Ugwoke, 2011). Therefore, for 9 business education programmes to sustain its relevance in providing the needs of individuals and that of the society, it must embrace current trends of e-learning in the academic and economic demands of the society by encouraging the utilization of e-learning tools in today’s business education training programme. Business educators should therefore be trained and retrained to be competent, knowledgeable, and skilful in the use of elearning for instructional process. This is not the case in some tertiary institutions. Thus, the drive to determine the extent of utilization of eLearning tools for teaching strategies by business educators in tertiary institutions in south east Nigeria and how they are used necessitated this research.
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