Tutors’ and students’ utilization of ICT in the colleges of education in the Eastern region, Ghana

Abstract

The study examines tutors’ and students’ utilization of ICT in the colleges of education in the Eastern Region of Ghana. In all, 257 respondents, made up of 176 students and 81 tutors, representing a retrieval rate of 95.2%, responded to the questionnaires with an alpha reliability of (0.759 for tutors and 0.712 for students) and this formed the sample of study. The study which was descriptive in nature employed the use of questionnaires for the collection of data. Frequencies were tallied and their corresponding percentages computed and were presented in tables. Generally, computers were available in all the six colleges of education but were inadequate for students use since the student-computer ratio is approximately 17:1. Again, although majority of 146 (56.8%) respondents had personal computers, they hardly used them. Also, the computer laboratories 86 (33.5%), internet cafés 82 (31.9%) and offices 69 (26.8%) mainly served as the venues for accessing ICT services by the respondents. Further, inadequate computers and peripherals for the students, conflicting teaching-time schedule, and dysfunctional hardware were the main barriers to the successful integration of ICT in the colleges of education. However, the colleges of education could improve access, availability and proficiency through tutors and students development programmes. Provision could also be made by Principals on the teaching-time schedule for students to improve their proficiency levels. Tutors, on the other hand, should be trained adequately by the Ministry of Education to enable them integrate ICT in their teaching and learning process effe