19 Use Of Ict Applications For Secondary Schools Administration

Abstract

Education is widely regarded as a channel of economic prosperity. It is the key to scientific  and technology advancement; a means to combating unemployment as well as the foundation of social equity. It enhances the spread of political, socialization and cultural vitality. Information communication technology (ICT) plays a vital role in enhancing the quality of Education. Administration application of ICT are currently becoming popular in secondary schools due to it’s capabilities in facilitating administration activities, from data storage to knowledge management and decision  making. This paper takes a cursory look at the different literature regarding the meaning of ICT, types of application and their uses for effective administrative activities in schools. The study reveal the tendency for administrator to improvise and increase the utilization of ICT in their daily administrative task, to make their task more efficient and effective. It was recommended that school administrators should develop the knowledge and practice of ICT by ensuring that their subordinate under go in- service training from time to time, so as to enhance their performances.

Keywords: ICT; Application; Administrations; School .

Introduction

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) refers  to a “diverse set of technological tools and resources used to communicate, aid to create, disseminate, store, and manage information’’. ICT is also a term that covers all forms of computer and communication equipment and software used to create, store, transmit, interpret, and manipulate information in its various formats (UQ,2002).In the current information age, educational institutions are expected to play a crucial role as the engine for knowledge generation and learning environment. Thus, information communication becomes the vital means of facilitating this task. ICT has becomes an essential part of our everyday life and cannot be avoided. This is due to the fact that using ICT in education has become the most effective factors in school improvement. (Tosun & Baris 2011 cited by Simin Ghavifekr; Mojgan Afshari; Saedah Siraj & Kalaivani seger, 2013). This is not only for the purpose of teaching and learning, but also for administrative use.

ICT applications in education can be considered as an effective enabler to create access, store, transmit and manipulate different information in audio and visual form due to the capacity of ICT in providing proactive environment (Kawado & Kukaru 2012 quoted by Simin et al, 2013).

ICT applications in education may be used for effective teaching and learning processes, to achieve quality education and overall development of students or for administrative process by teachers, staff and management team. The designed of educational programmes had under gone many changes through the years, “shifting from a talking head” approach to more  interactive and dynamic programme that link(s) students to the programme around teaching method which make them to be proactive. However, education policy makers and planners (administrators) must first be cleared of what educational outcomes (goals and objectives) are to be targeted. These broad goals should guide the choice of technologies to be used and their modalities of use. The potentials of each technology varies according to how it is used and what is to be used for. Haddad and Draxler (n.d.) identified at least five (5) levels of technology use in education: Presentation demonstration drill and practice, interaction and collaboration.

Administration refers to the process of running an organisation, (like school), office, or business. These include creating rules and regulation, making decisions, management of operations, creation of organization of staff/employees/people to direct activities towards achieving a common goal or objectives. While educational Administration is a discipline within the study of education that examines the administrative theory and practice of education in general and educational institutions and educators in particular (Wikipedia, 2012). However, many countries including Nigeria has formulated ICT strategies and policies for their educational system with administration and management. This is why Federal Government has disclosed her plans to formulated a new national policy on information communication and technology (ICT).The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigeria  Commission (NCC), Umar Danbatta, disclosed this in Abuja at the Africa- Co-operation Information Technology for Digital Economy (Guardian 2nd July, 2018).

Thus, the objectives of National Information Communication Technology (NICT) Policy (FRN) (2012) focused specifically among(st) others:

1. To ensure that the reality of convergence is reflected in the ICT sectors, notably in the areas of regulation, operation and service delivery;
2. To unify all policy Administrators under a single ministry;
3. To promote cyber, digital, ICT infrastructure and national security.
4. To develop the framework for the implementation of community broadcasting in Nigeria.
5. To utilize ICT in energizing and supporting the various programs and sectors that contribute to the Nigerian socioeconomic development including Agriculture, Education. Finance, Health, Justice Administration, oil and Gas, power, Small and Medium Sized…

To achieve the above goals and objectives, the Ministry of Communication Technology specific that:

“Government shall therefore define, develop and deploy National

Information infrastructure for national transformation with a

view amongst others, to attaining vision 20:2020’’.

The Federal Government of Nigeria, in the National Policy on Education (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004), recognizes the prominent role of ICTs in the modern world, and has integrated ICTs into education in Nigeria. To actualize this goal, the document states that government will provide basic infrastructure and training at the primary school. At the junior secondary school, computer education has been made a pre-vocational elective, and is a vocational elective at the senior secondary school. It is also the intention of government to provide necessary infrastructure and training for the integration of ICTs in the Secondary School system.

It is pertinent to note the various factors that influences the choices made by the school administrators as well as the rationale why certain ICT usage are adopted and why some are abandoned (Singh & Muniandi, 2012). Moreover, the technological revolution is a major challenge for school administrators in Nigeria Secondary Schools. One of the challenges faced by schools is lack of ICT applications usage among teachers because of their low level of literacy in ICT knowledge and capability (Ukpoma, i. p.). The purpose of this paper is to understand the ICT applications usage in Secondary School administration and management. More specifically this review set out to address the following objectives:

• To highlight ICT applications for school’s administration .

• To identify ICT application tools which are being used by school administrators and managers.

• To understand the effectiveness of ICT applications for School’s administrative activities.

• To find out the challenges and provide solution to ICT usage in schools administration.

ICT Applications in Education Administration      

In recent years there has been a groundswell of interest in how ICT applications can be best harnessed to improved the efficiency and effectiveness of education at all levels and in both formal and non-formal settings. A software based tools and applications are a piece of computer programme which execute useful tasks for education, such as word processing, desktop publishing, running a database, creating a presentation or email/program (Higgins & Packard, 2004). According to Simin et al.(2013) There are three main administration groups that are applying ICT in their various activities and actions in their daily administration and management job at schools which includes; Administration head, Administration teacher, and Administration staff.

Administration Head

According to Afshari et al.(2012) as an administration head, school principals should have basic skills of using ICT in school daily administrative and management job. Principals function as a role model when computer technology is applied to administrative and managerial task. As an instructional leader, principals’ facilitate teacher’s integration of computers in teaching and learning (Singh & Muniandi 2012), as a transformational leaders they encourage creativity, open-mindedness and facilitate conditions and events that create a positive environment for technology adoption (Afsheri et al., 2012). As a superior, principal work has been affected through the use of information and communication Technology ICT: Management information system has regularized, enforced and revealed that consistencies that need to be addressed; email has increased and intensified interactions and expectations within the school and with central administration.

Similarly, the principals’ work is more visible to central administrators. As principals and teachers become more comfortable and competent in using ICT it is likely they will develop school wide instructional as well as administrative response to ICT. While administrators usually apply Power point presentation to give an instruction and giving in-service training in a more interesting way, teachers have a more favorite attitude toward the instruction in this way (Chen, 2012). ICT have given teachers more information about students, but they have also made teaching more transparent and accessible. (Kazi, Ahmed & Musa, 2012). Mwalongo (2011) has found that administration use ICT applications, to prepare school announcements, reports letters for meeting with parents, students registration, and teachers and staff employment. Besides, ICT applications are also used effectively by administrator in decision making process, store information as well as online application (Selwood, 2004, Afzaal, 2011).

Administration Teachers

The administration teachers are the teachers who besides their   teaching activities also have administration responsibilities. The principal is usually assisted by a deputy-the vice principal who is usually in charge of administrative/academic matters, he his appointed from among the teachers. In Nigeria context, next in line of authority in the admin of a school is the teachers who teach the students. The functional duties of the principal, the vice and the teachers are interlinked and aimed at the pursuance of a common goal (Odumosu,2013). However, the most commonly used of ICT for teaching is preparation for notes, teaching-learning resources and examination (Mwalongo,2011).

The results of previous studies by Mwalongo, 2011; Selwood, 2004 indicate that ICT applications is used to prepare timetable , teaching plan ,schemes of work and school reports by all the three administration teachers for various purposed. Administration teachers can set up tests and online assignments that can be automatically graded, which saves a lot of time for the marking and correction process. They also can generate the results by using ICT applications. At the same time, they use ICT applications to set up websites and online portals for students to access the assignments (Kawade, 2012)

Administrative Staff

Next in administrative set up of a model post primary institutions are the non teaching staff members. They includes the typist(s) clerks, driver(s), security guards, janitors and so on. They are important members of the admin as they make administration easier (Odumosu, 2013). Administration Staff are the supportive staff in educational setting especially at the secondary school, they includes bursar/account officer, Hall warden, house master, clerk, typist. ICT applications also can be used by administrative staff for doing their daily responsibilities faster and more accurate. They use different type of tools to handle financial work (POS), maintain communication, keep records, process documents and collect data, by using ICT applications they can handle these responsibilities more effectively and efficiently. Besides, using ITC applications would help them, recovering school financial documents such as balance sheet, pay slip, audit reports, non-salary grants and stocks keeping as well as students evaluation report and overall student records for future references (Kewade, 2012, Kazi, 2012; reported by Simin et al, 2013).

Use of ICT Application Tools in Educational Administration

There are a lots of ICT application tools that have been vastly used in education and management. Available ICT applications for education administrative purposes are computers, the internet, broadcasting technologies (radio & television), and telephony. But ICTs are more than just these technologies, older technologies such as the telephone, radio and television, although now given less attention, have a longer and richer history as instructional tools. For instance, radio and television have for over forty (40) years been used  for open and distance learning, although print remains the cheapest, most accessible and therefore most dominant delivery mechanism in both developed and developing countries The detail information ICT tools that been widely used in education administration and management are as follows:

Computers and Internet

The list of ICT component is in exhaustive and it continues to grow. some component, such as computers and telephones, have existed for decades others such as smart phone, digital TVs and robots, are more recent entries. Organizations are finding it very necessary to train and retain their employees to establish or increase their knowledge of computers and other ICT facilities (Adomi and Aine 2006: Tyler, 1998).This calls for early acquisition of ICT skills by student. ‘’Application ICTs in Nigeria secondary schools’’ Dr. Esharenana   E. Adomi. Dr. Emperor Kpamgban. Library philosophy and practice 2010 (March) 2. The ability to use computer effectively, has become an essential tools. Students can now typeset their assignment, report , projects and use internet to search for their study materials. The ability to use computers effectively has become an essential part of everyone’s education, skills such as book keeping clerical and administrative work, stocktaking, and so forth, now constitute a set of computerized practices that form the core IT skills package: spread sheet, word processors and databases (Reffell and Whitwort, 2012 ).

Today it is a norm to use a range of personal data tools that specifically suit our needs. Tablet computers such as the iPad are popular for publications such as newspapers or books and magazines developed digitally. Along with laptops and MPs players they offer us portability anytime anywhere access. The demand for computer/ICT literacy is increasing in Nigeria Secondary Schools because staff realize that computers and other ICT facilities can enhance efficiency. On the other hand, employees/administrators have also realised that computers can be a threat to their jobs, and the only way to enhance job security is to become computer literate.

In the last two decades, the internet and ICT  application tools have been expanded into the field of education all over the world. This is done to capability of internet to provide opportunities for introductory advanced teaching–learning method. The advanced and modern methods of learning are able to prepare students as skilled work force for the future. (Simin et al., 2013). It should be noted that 2004 was not the first attempt the Nigerian government made effort to introduce computer education in schools. In 1988, the Nigerian government enacted a policy on computer education. The plan was to establish pilot schools and diffuse computer education innovation first to all secondary schools, and then to primary schools. Unfortunately, the project did not really take off beyond the distribution and installation of personal computers (Okebukola, 1997; cited by Aduwa-Ogiegbaen and Iyamu, 2005). Okebukola (1997), cited by Aduwa-Ogiegbaen and Iyamu (2005), concluded that the computer is not part of classroom technology in more than 90 percent of Nigerian public schools. This implies that the chalkboard and textbook continue to dominate classroom activities in most Nigerian Secondary Schools.

The Federal Ministry of Education has launched an ICT-driven project known as School Net (www.snng.org) (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2006; Adomi 2005; Okebukola, 2004), which was intended to equip all schools in Nigeria with computers and communications technologies. In June 2003, at the African Summit of the World Economic Forum held in Durban, South Africa, the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) launched the e-Schools Initiative, intended to equip all African high schools with ICT equipment including computers, radio and television sets, phones and fax machines, communication equipment, scanners, digital cameras, and copiers, among other things. It is also meant to connect African students to the Internet. The NEPAD capacity-building initiative will be executed over a ten-year period, with the high school component being completed in the first five years. Three phases are envisaged, with fifteen to twenty countries in each phase. The phases are to be staggered, and an estimated 600,100 schools are expected to benefit. The aim of the initiative is to impart ICT skills to young Africans in Primary and Secondary Schools, and to harness ICT to improve, enrich, and expand education in African countries (Aginam, 2006).

The Nigerian Federal Government has commissioned a mobile Internet unit (MIU) operated by the Nigerian National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). The MIU is a locally-made bus that has been converted into a mobile training and cyber centre. Its interior has ten workstations, all networked and connected to the Internet. The MIU is also equipped with printers, photocopiers, and a number of multimedia facilities. Internet is provided via VSAT with a 1.2m dish mounted on the roof of the bus. It is also equipped with a small electric generator to ensure regular power supply. The MIU takes the Internet to places areas and various Primary and High Schools (Ajayi, 2003). The number of buses is so small, however, that most rural areas and schools have not yet been covered.

Although efforts have been made to ensure that ICTs are available and used in Nigerian secondary schools, the level of uptake is still low. It has been observed by Goshit (2006) that most schools, both private and government, do not offer ICT training programmes.The use of computers and the internet is still in its infancy in developing countries, if these are used at all, due to limited infrastructure to the attached high costs of access.

Radio and television broadcasting by educational administrators

Radio and television have been used widely as educational tools since the 1920s and the 1950s respectively. There are three general approaches to the use of radio and TV broadcasting in education:

1. Direct class teaching, where broadcast programming substitutes for teachers on a temporary basis (IRI).
2.  School broadcasting, where broadcast programming provides complementary teaching and learning resources not otherwise available .
3. General educational programming over community, national and international stations which provide general and informal educational opportunities.Telephony

Telephone is the technology associated with the electronic transmission of voice fax or other information between distance parties .The history of telephony is intimately linked to the invention and development of the telephone .Messages can be communicated through e-mail , telex or telephones particularly the mobiles ones (Ajayi,2009).The author posited that ICT is an indispensable part of educational administration as its application makes institutions more efficient and reproductive… (Yusuf, 2005 cited by Ajayi 2009).

Effectiveness and Challenges of ICT Applications in Education Administration .

According to Lin, Xie, Jeng,and Wang (2011) “school effectiveness is a goal set by administrative leaders through their leadership strategies to help schools reach certain achievements across the board. Using of ICT applications by educational administrators will help them to achieve their goals easily. Evidence shows that teacher response positively in job  satisfaction with using ICT applications such as hardware and software’s to support their administration and management responsibilities.(Selwoord , 2004).

Good financial management is an essential ingredient of ICT applications’ effectiveness. Therefore ,there is a need for supporting financial operations of ICT applications by administration and management in the educational organization Esharenana et al (2013) in their works ‘highlighted the low rate of ICT adoption and applications in Nigerian Secondary Schools is attributed to several factors and one of such is limited school budget’.

Apart from sufficient financial support ,data management is also effective part of school headship . It is important that the school maintains accuracy with updated information on all its levels and aspects. In this regard, ICT application helps a lot to keep the records of all levels and aspects of school including students, teachers, staff, details of meetings’ minutes, school publicity, curriculum development materials and entire management information. Moreover, by using ICT application transaction between schools and educational departments will be more direct and efficient, alleviating the manual collection and checking of necessary data and minimizing the duplication of data on school teachers and students (Kawade,2012).

Nevertheless, document storage in computer  saves a lot of space as physical files are replaced with electronic files. The saved space can  be used for other purposes(Mawalongo,2011). In addition, ICT applications also save time and manpower, make students active, simplify teachers works, reduce office cost and increase  reusability (Kawade,2012) :Mwalongo,2011).

Despite the amount of benefits from ICT there are some challenges facing the adoption in Nigeria Secondary Schools. These are irregular power supply ,lack of computer system, inadequate ICT manpower, lack of fund, inadequate facilities, fear of exposing too much information of the school to the public (Ajayi,2009).

Conclusion and Recommendation

The adoption and use of ICTs in schools have a positive impact on teaching, learning and research. Despite its effectiveness  however, it is interesting to note that even in developed countries, not all teachers are competent and willing to use it in the classroom. Secondary schools in Nigeria have yet to extensively adopt them for teaching and learning. Efforts geared towards integration of ICTs into the Secondary schools system , have not had much impact. Problems such as poor policy and project implementation strategies and limited or poor information infrastructure militate against these efforts.

Where new  instructional techniques that use ICTs provide a different modality of instruments. For students, ICT use allows for increased individualization of learning. In schools where new technologies are used , students have access to tools that adjust to their attention span and provide valuable and immediate feedback for literacy enhancement , which is not fully implemented in Nigerian School system (Emuku and Emuku,1999 & 2000).

Based on qualitative reviewed and analysis of the related literature it is recommended that administrators should increase the utilization of ICT in their daily administrative tasks, to make their task more efficient and effective by providing proper technical infrastructure, equipment, and support to secure the success of the use of ICT applications in Education System and to grow the knowledge and practice of ICT by sponsoring workshops and seminars for their subordinates.

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Correspondence can be directed to:

UKPOMA ESTHER

GENERAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, IGUEBEN

EDO STATE, NIGERIA

08051522420, 08037177300

Ukpomaesther@gmail.com