An Evaluation Of The Extent To Which Icts Have Been Integrated Into The Teaching And Learning Process At Cavendish University Zambia

Abstract

ICTs are used to gather, analyse, modify and exchange information. In the Zambian context, where ICTs applications used to have so little to do with core business of teachers or educators, trends in modern society demands for ICTs integration into the teaching process among colleges. However, the extent to which ICTs have been integrated in the teaching process at Cavendish University Zambia is not precisely known. The lack of not knowing precisely the extent to which ICTs have been integrated into the teaching and learning process at Cavendish University Zambia has been identified to be the problem and has therefore attracted our attention to conduct this study. The aim of the study is to evaluate the extent to which ICTs have been integrated into the teaching and learning process at Cavendish University Zambia. This study was carried out using a mixed method design which uses both the qualitative and quantitative study designs. The total population in this study was 5000 participants which was total from Cavendish University Zambia which was our study site. The study was conducted on 100 participants both male and female between the ages of 18 and 75 years old who were either students or lecturers from the learning institutions. The participants were selected using two different sampling methods. A purposive sampling method was used for lectures and a random sampling method for students. The study used one type of data collection tools. It used a questionnaire which was administered by the researchers to the respondents. Different methods were used to analyze the data based on the type of data collected. For quantitative data, SPSS (statistical package for social sciences) was used to analyse the numerical data obtained and content analysis was carried out for qualitative data. The findings revealed that the most commonly used ICT equipment in the teaching and learning process at Cavendish University are laptops, projectors and smartphones. The study further revealed that ICTs played a pivotal role for lecturers in teaching ICT skills, finding and accessing educational information, making presentations, communicating with students, preparing lessons, and monitoring and evaluating students. The research findings also revealed that most of the respondents faced challenges with network connectivity as the network was too slow for timely work completion. It is conclusive therefore, that ICT have been integrated in the teaching and learning process at Cavendish University at a large extent.