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EXTENT OF COMPUTER LITERACY POSSESSED BY JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHERS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

This century has witnessed the transformation of the human society from the industrial age to information age. The volume of information that circulates in an economy is now a measure of the level of advancement of any economy. Industries enjoy relative advantage over their competitors if they have monopoly of some classes of business information. Nation is stronger than others because they have more information. It is therefore, not surprising that government and private business organizations invest significant proportion of their budget in information technology. The computer plays a central role in the acquisition, processing, storage, dissemination, and use of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information. The use of computer has revolutionized the way we do business, study, work, and social activities and so on, as well as continue to touch and change our daily lives in a profound way. So significant is the impact of computer that it is regarded as an enabling technology, the facilitator of change and the creator of hitherto unimaginable possibilities.

According to Okolo (2007), the critical analysis of the definition of computer, performs three devises that qualify it as a computer;

i.  Receiving input as data.

ii.  Processing the received data.

iii.  Providing the processed data as information.

Therefore, a person’s skills in using computer system will largely determine his or her values in workforce in coming decades. Computer literacy is already beginning to create a great impact on career opportunities as ordinary literacy did in the past.

Okolo defined computer literacy as a way of being able to tell a computer to do what one wants it to do through operation. For one to tell a computer what to do for him or her, the person must understand exactly what he or she wants. Then for the computer to perform the operational task given to it effectively, the operator has to go through the information before he or she could confirm it. Therefore, for one to be able to instruct the computer to do certain work for him or her, he or she must know and understand computer language such as; programming languages. No one can use computer without giving it instruction, which is programming it. We should understand that programming skills work together with computer operation from the backbone of computer literacy.

Okolo (2007), defined computer as an electronic gadget or device that accepts data as an input and processed the data electronically to produce the desired output or information with the aid of a set of instructions. A computer machine requires some means of accepting data called input port. Somewhere to store the data called memory, somewhere to keep the sequence of operations to be manipulating the data or performing the circulation called the Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU) and finally, a method of telling the result of the calculation. These facilities are common to all computing machine regardless of the task the machine is used for.

Edafiogho (2007) outlined the different ways information and communication technology (ICT) can be applied to education to include learning, on-line learning, digital literacy, assessment, information literacy and digital virtual library. ICT can be used in education for tele-processing, telephone, database, electronic bulletin board and so on. In teaching and learning especially in secondary schools ICT have been very useful in a variety of ways.

A breakdown of the application shows that ICT is needed in the following areas;

i.  Provision of instructional materials that are used in teaching and learning of cumbersome and uninteresting topics.

ii.  It also provides opportunity for teachers to have an access to teaching aids used in other parts of the world to understand a concept.

iii.  Provision of ICT in secondary schools helps in improving access to learning opportunities, redress in equalities, improves the quality of learning and delivers long-life learning opportunities.

iv.  It helps the teachers and students to access information in their class work and assignment.

v.  It enables teachers to choose from variety teaching and learning experience which the teacher can use to permit instruction in the learners.

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Education is a field in which data processing using computer as an aid of teaching and learning in a classroom, communication that is the use of internet for wide research across the globe and for effective communication to the whole world is necessary. It is quite essential for both the teachers and students to become computer literate in other to enable them cope with the continuous development in the society. We then, find out that in our educational institution today, both the teachers and students are still ignorant in information technology. For this ignorance, Enugu Education Zone is not left out. They still have second hand information of what is going on in society. There is every reason to ask therefore, what is the extent of computer literacy among teachers, precisely science teachers in Enugu Zone?

1.3   PURPOSE OF STUDY

The purpose of this project aims at ascertaining the extent of computer literacy possessed by junior secondary school science teachers in Enugu Zone.Specifically, the purpose of this project is to find out;

a.  To what extent are the schools computerized?

b.  To what extent has the teachers known how to use computers to communicate?

c.  Can the teachers teach computer operation very well to the students?

d.  To what extent has the teachers reached, in knowing the general overview of computer?

e.  To what extent can the teachers make use of Microsoft office package?

1.4   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

When this research has been carried out, the extent of computer literacy possessed by junior secondary science teacher in Enugu state, precisely Enugu zone, will be known we will contribute great ideas that will be used to carry everybody along in terms of becoming computer literate.

We have to say the importance of computer in data processing, teaching and learning in the classroom and also for communication. Having talked about this, it will help the government and Parents Teachers Association (P.T.A) tot put things in order and as supposed. Therefore, in this project work we meant the way forward to all the teachers and also schools to buy the idea if it would be necessary for them. We should move higher to acquire knowledge, more especially on computer to enable us cope with that of global age.

1.5   SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study only covers the extent of computer literacy possessed by junior secondary schools science teachers in Enugu education of Enugu state only.

1.6   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions were formulated to guide the study;

i.  To what extent has the teachers known how to use computer to communicate?

ii.  To what extent has the schools been computerized?

iii.  To what extent has the teachers reached in knowing how to teach computer very well?

iv.  To what extent has the teachers known general overview of computer?

v.  To what extent can the teachers make use of Microsoft office package?

1.7   DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

Computer: This is an electronic machine that accepts data as input, processes the data, generates output (result) in form of information and also, stores both the input/data and output information for further usage.

Computer Literacy: This can be defined as a means whereby someone knows how to operate or make use of computer effectively.

Hardware: This is a collective terms that refer to all physical component of computer that can be seen and touched.

Software: This is collective programs that direct the hardware on what to do and how to accomplish such operation.

Data Processing: This is the manipulation which a computer does in data in order to transform it into information.

Information Technology: This is referred to as the study of electronic equipment, especially computers, for storing, processing, analyzing and sending out of information.

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