A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF COMPACT AND LONG DISTANCE STUDY MODELS
Being A Dissertation Proposal Presented To The
Department Of Marketing,
Faculty Of Management Sciences
Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki.
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Award of Masters of Science (M.Sc.) Degree in Marketing
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background
of the study:
Higher education is approaching the point at which
Science and Technology particularly, Information and Communication
Technology (ICT), plays a vital role in nearly all phases of the
educational process. The Internet has emerged as a major driving force
of this dynamic development of Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) which has also impacted positively in virtually every
sector of the Nigerian economy. Information and
communication technology (ICT) is defined,
as a “diverse set of technological tools and resources used to communicate, and
to create, disseminate, store, and manage information”(Blurton:1999). ICT
comprises technologies or electronics as radio, television, videos, computers,
sensors, interface boxes, e-mail, internet, satellites connections etc.
Educational services are commonly defined by reference to four
categories: Primary Education Services; Secondary Education Services; Higher
(Tertiary) Education Services; and Adult Education. While these categories are based on the traditional
structure of the sector, rapid changes taking place in the area of Higher
Education - which normally refers to post-secondary education at sub-degree and
university degree levels - may be significantly affecting the scope and concept
of education. This is reflected, for instance, in recent revisions of the
International Standard Classification of Education 1997 (ISCED), which modified
the categories related to higher/tertiary education to better reflect
"non-university types" of studies (ISCED 1997). Educational services are usually delivered by teachers or instructors
that explain, tell, demonstrate, supervise, and direct learning. Such services include library and
information services, teaching delivery, e-learning portals, assessment
delivery, learning outcome, consultancy services, to mention but a few. They are imparted in diverse settings, such
as educational institutions, the workplace, or the home through correspondence,
television, or other means.
Education
is provided through formal and informal model. In formal model, it is the
conventional (face-to-face) instruction which may be described as the compact
model of study as practiced by Ebonyi State University Abakaliki while the informal is used to describe the long
distance model of education (offered with separation in terms of physical
location of instructors and students) as practiced by the National Open
University, Enugu.
Prior to the establishment of the National Open
University, the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) was the first institution
specifically established by the Federal Government to provide distance
education courses designed to upgrade under-qualified and unqualified teachers.
NTI also introduced the Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) by distance learning
in 1990 (COL International, 2001). The National Open University of Nigeria,
satellite-based video and audio conferencing supplemented by print-materials
and recorded video was founded by the then Nigerian President, Olusegun
Obasanjo, to train teachers and others who have not obtained the requisite
degree for their current job placement from any geographical distance. In 2003,
the Enugu Centre of the National Open University of Nigeria took off with their
administrative office located at the Old Party House, Trans Ekulu, by Nike lake
road Enugu in Enugu State. The course delivery at the Open University is
through a combination of web-based modules, textual materials, audio and video
tapes as well as CD ROMs.
The long distance study model of education employs the
use of ICT resources which make it have the following advantages over
the compact mode of study, viz: quick Access to Information, Provision of
Support Materials and Management of Learning Experiences, speed and volume of material
for processing, Investigating Reality
and Building Knowledge, Active Learning and Authentic Assessment, Engages
students by Motivation and Challenge, Provide Tools to Increase Student
Productivity, Provide Scaffolding to Support Higher Level Thinking, Increasing
Learner Independence, Collaborative and Cooperative Learning, Tailoring
Learning to the Learner, and Overcome Physical Disabilities etc.
Thus, the impact of ICT driven educational services
involves acquisition of, display and use of necessary skills with the help of
ICT to reach the target audience. This helps individuals who need educational
services to obtain it wherever they are irrespective of time and distance. The
use of ICT is relevant and important in the marketing of educational services,
hence the need for academic staff to be trained and/or retrained to be able to
market educational services properly in our universities for the purpose of
meeting the changing demand of the consumers of these services.
1.2 Statement
of the problem
Despite the keenness by institutions of
higher learning to establish distance education programs, they are confronted
with enormous problems that may have impeded its proper implementation. Some of
these problems are: inadequate basic ICT infrastructures (such as electricity
to power the ICT materials, poor telecommunication facilities, and poor postal
system).
Poor economic situations and
its effects on middle level manpower stands as the major obstacle towards the
implementation of ICT in distance education. Even an average middle income earner
cannot afford basic technological and communication gadgets. Thus, computer
related telecommunication facilities might not be useful for most Nigerians, as
computer is still a luxury in institutions, offices and homes. This has made
the integration of necessary on-line resources (e-mail, newsgroups,
worldwide-web, etc.) into distance education in Nigeria most difficult.
The formal conventional/traditional
face-to-face study model otherwise known as compact study model lacks the promising
tool for expanding and widening access
to tertiary education as it does not allow new people to participate in
tertiary education. That is, its not as flexible as the informal (long distance
study model) which allows people to participate in tertiary education without
necessarily the presence of face-to-face meeting of the teacher and the
students. More so, the libraries lacks the promising tool for issues relating to speed, mass storage of
material and volume processor, report generation and achieving long distance
information as part of the inherent problems associated with the compact study
model when compared with the instant access to data and information in a
digital form that allows manipulations that are sometimes not otherwise
possible.
The 21st century marketing environment is
characterized by e-encounter. This phenomenon has tremendous implication for
the educational sector which is now more competitive than ever. It is important
that academic and non academic staff of our universities should acquire
relevant skills like the use of computer-based multi-media and interface
network connections. This requires training and re-training in order to excel
in all e-permeated market environment more especially when it has to do with
information management.
1.3 Objectives
of the study:
The general objective of this study will be to find out the Impact of
ICT driven educational services in Nigerian Universities: a comparative study
of compact and long distance study model. Specifically, this study intends
to:
1.
Determine the extent to which inadequate basic ICT infrastructures (such as Electricity, poor telecommunication
facilities, and poor postal system), have affected the usage
and adoption of ICT driven educational services in Nigerian Universities.
2. Determine the
extent to which ICT driven educational services have bridged the barrier of
time and distance in teaching delivery in Nigerian Universities.
3. Determine the extent to which ICT
has become a promising tool for issues
relating
Library services in Nigerian
Universities.
1.4
Research questions
To achieve the objectives of this study, the following
research questions are developed and their answers will be sought in the course
of the study.
1.
To what extent do inadequate basic ICT
infrastructures such as; electricity,
Poor telecommunication facilities, and poor postal system affected the usage
and adoption of ICT driven educational
services in Nigerian
Universities?
2.
To what extent has ICT driven educational services bridged the barrier of time and
distance
in teaching delivery in Nigerian Universities?
3. To what extent has ICT become a promising tool for issues relating Library services
in Nigerian Universities.
1.5 Statement
of the hypotheses:
1. H0:
lack of basic
ICT infrastructures such as Electricity, Poor
Telecommunication facilities
and poor postal system do affect
the usage and adoption of ICT driven educational
services for both model of study.
2. H0: ICT driven educational services in Nigerian Universities do not bridge the
barrier of time and distance in teaching
delivery for both model of study.
3.
H0: ICT has not become a promising tool for issues relating Library services in
Nigerian
Universities for both model of
study.
1.6
Significance of the study:
The research findings and recommendations will be of a
great benefit to numerous groups: Federal Ministry of Education, State
Ministries of Education, Local Education Authorities and other private school
proprietors as it will serve as a working document for policy formulation in
education sector. Also, the grey areas which offer more opportunities
for ICT driven educational services will be unveiled. Finally, the study will
provide a basis for further studies or research by students or other
researchers.
1.7 Scope of
the study:
This study intends to cover three aspects of ICT
driven Educational services provided by National Open University Enugu Study
Centre in comparative with similar educational services provided by the Ebonyi
State University, Abakaliki. Such as, teaching delivery, providing tools for
expanding/widening access to tertiary education and access to materials and
information.
Limitations
of the study:
Non availability of materials in the area of study as
well as constraints in accessing documents due to their sensitive nature may
pose a barrier to doing a more comprehensive work. But effort will be made to
ensure that the authentic and reliable data will be used and that other
limitations will not affect the accuracy of the work.
CHAPTER
TWO
REVIEW
OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter will present a critical review of
available literature on the impact of Information Communication and Technology
(ICT) on University Departments, Marketing Educational Services. Related
literature will be reviewed and organised under the following headings:
i Academic
review.
ii Theoretical
framework.
2.1 Academic
review:
Achimugu, Oluwagbemi and Oluwaranti, (2010) conducted a study on Evaluation of Impact of
ICT Diffusion in Nigeria’s Higher Educational Institutions. This study focuses
on how ICT diffusion has impacted the higher educational sector positively in
Nigeria. The research also exposes the effect of ICT diffusion on undergraduate
and postgraduate students of Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. A combination
of observation, interview and document materials (textbooks, articles and
reports) which they believe are valuable sources of data about educational
research for data gathering was employed as methodology for carrying out this
research. The findings of the research suggest that inadequate infrastructure, unskilled
manpower, resistance to change and inadequate funding are the major challenges
facing ICT utilization or diffusion in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions. It also,
recognized the fact that ICT is becoming a driving force for educational
reforms and that ICT have become an integrative part of national education
policies and plans in Nigerian tertiary institutions. They concluded by
recommending that: Nigerian tertiary education need to fully utilize ICT
resources to make education widely available and accessible at reduced cost,
hence this study. Obijiofor, Inayatullah and Stevenson (1999)
carried out a pilot study on the impact of new information and communication
technologies (ICT) on socioeconomic and educational development of Africa and
the Asia-pacific: The countries in which this study was conducted are Cote d'Ivoire,
Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda (Africa), Fiji and the Philippines (Asia-Pacific). The Research Methodology adopted for
this study was an interpretive research strategy which allows a researcher to
interact with a social group being studied as well as enable the researcher to
observe and record the processes of decision‑making and social practices. The
methods used in collecting data consisted of semi‑structured personal
interviews, focused group interviews, examination of historical documents and
personal observation. Findings:
There was a general opinion that the ICTs are in existence and that a majority
of the people are aware, although access remains a problem. They tried to find
out whether the respondents considered the use of these technologies as
appropriate to their environment.
There was a clear unanimity of opinion on this issue. However, they recommended the following:
·
Implementation must be linked to
local problems, specifically to poverty alleviation. This linkage must be direct, showing
stakeholders the benefits of using ICT for economic growth.
·
Implementation must also show how ICT can
transform education, making it far more interactive and empowering for students
and professors/teachers.
·
Implementation must occur within
a policy context guided by participatory action research, where all
stakeholders in an iterative manner define their needs, goals and concerns.
Swarts and Wachira (2010) conducted a study on ‘ICT in Education:
Situational Analysis in Tanzania’. The methodology used by the authors include:
(i) a desk study of relevant government and other related documents; (ii) a
country visit, which took place between 15th -19th June 2009, during which
interviews, meetings and focus group discussions were held with key
stakeholders (Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) and its
agencies, other government agencies in charge of ICT, educational institutions
and development partners) involved in ICT in education initiatives, and (iii) a
Round Table meeting of stakeholders on 19 June 2009 during which the
preliminary findings of the country visit were presented, discussed and
validated. The findings of this situational analysis
Reveals that:
(a) The government and the MoEVT recognize the potential of ICT to act
as a tool for improving education delivery, outcomes and impact, as evidenced
through the national plans, policies and strategies. (b) A number of
initiatives were currently being implemented to train teachers and
administrators (e.g. Education for Empowerment, Rotary Club/UK, Bright
Education Trust Fund), to provide refurbished or new computers to schools (e.g.
Rotary Club, Barclays Bank) (c) While no
official estimates exist, there appears to be a very small number of primary
and secondary schools with ICT and there was no government initiative to
provide ICT for schools. Those with ICT have either benefited from parent
contributions or donations from non-governmental organizations and some private
sector companies. (d) ICT, if appropriately used, can assist in addressing the
key educational challenges, e.g. e-learning and m-learning technologies and
alternative delivery systems for access; rich and interactive digital content
to improve quality; assistive technologies to contribute to equity; and the
inclusion of ICT skills in the curriculum and the use of ICT to support 21st
century learning can increase relevance. (e) Although government commitment is
high as evidenced by the policies and strategies, organizational structures and
culture, lack of skills in critical areas, lack of strategic vision and
planning, insufficient financial resources and inadequate infrastructure hamper
the ability of the sector to integrate and use ICT effectively. They finally
recommended that due to widespread lack of coordination of activities and
initiatives related to ICT in education, lack of structure at the Ministry
level to champion and own ICT integration in education, lack of explicit
budgetary allocation for ICT integration, lack of baseline data on the state of
ICT in education institutions, lack of definitive and deliberate steps to use
ICT in teaching and learning, provides a clear avenue for GeSCI (Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative) to
offer its strategic advice in helping the government translate its policy,
plans and goodwill into implementable plans and activities. This would require
a country programme for these issues to be addressed holistically,
systematically and systemically.
2.2
Theoretical framework:
Diffusion of innovation theory was first
discussed historically in 1903 by the French sociologist Gabriel Tarde (Toews
2003) who plotted the original s-shaped diffusion curve, followed by Ryan and
Gross(1943), who introduced the adoption categories that were later used in the
current theories popularized by Everett Rogers. Katz (1957) is also credited
for first introducing the notion of opinion leaders, opinion followers and how
the media interacts to influence these two groups. The diffusion theory is
often regarded as a valuable change model for guiding technological innovation
where the innovation itself is modified and needs across all levels of
adopters. It also stresses the importance of communication and peer networking
within the adoption process.
In simple terms, the diffusion of
innovation refers to the process that occurs as people adopt a new idea,
product, practice, and so on. Rogers(2003) mapped out this process, stressing
that in most cases, an initial few of these early innovators spread the word,
more people become open to it which leads to the development of a critical mass
over time, the innovative idea or product becomes diffused amongst the
population until a saturation point is achieved.
Rogers distinguished five categories of
adopters of an innovation: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late
majority, and laggards. Sometimes a sixth group is added; non-adopters.
The original five categories are
illustrated in the bell-shaped curve bellow;
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
Basically, the study will involve the generation of
data related to the Impact of ICT driven Educational Services on Nigerian
University: a comparative study of the National Open University of Nigeria
(NOUN) Enugu study centre and the Ebonyi State University Abakaliki. The
various methods and procedures that will be employed with the aim of achieving
the set objectives of the study will be outlined in this chapter.
3.1 Research design:
The Research Design adopted for this study is the
survey design. This is because the study involves the use of a representative
sample from a population and drawing conclusion based on the analysis of
available data. A survey research according to Nworgu (1991, p. 55) is one
which a group of people or items is studied by collecting and analyzing data
from only a few people or items considered to be representative of the entire
group.
3.2 Area of study
The area of study will be on the impact of
ICT driven educational services on Nigerian universities in relation to teaching
delivery, providing tools for expanding/widening access to tertiary education
and access to materials and information (library services) at the National Open
University of Nigeria (NOUN) Enugu and Ebonyi State University (EBSU) Abakaliki.
3.3 Population of the study:
The population of this study will constitute the
students, the academic and non academic staff of the National Open University
of Nigeria (NOUN) Enugu Study Centre and Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki.
The figure will be collected from the personnel and registry department of both
institutions.
3.4 Sampling
technique:
Simple Random sampling technique will be used for this
study. This is because every member of a population will have equal chance of
being selected as a sample. The sampling frame will be the list of all the
students and academic staff of NOUN Enugu study centre and Ebonyi State
University, Abakaliki (EBSU).
3.5
Determination
of sample size:
The formula which will be used to determine the sample
size is that proposed by Taro Yamani viz:
n =
N
1 + N (e) 2
where: n = sample size
N =
total population
e = tolerable
error
3.6 Research instrument:
The instrument that will be used in this
research project is structured questionnaires which were developed from the
objectives and the hypotheses of this work. It is divided into sections A, and
B. Section A contains personal data, while Section B contains a set of
structured questions relating to the objectives of this research project to
which the respondents will be required to answer by ticking their responses.
Finally, test of hypotheses contains a 5 point liket scale with structured
statements and options against which the respondents are required to tick in
their responses. In addition, frequency
tables will be used for questions that are not developed from the objectives
and hypotheses.
3.7 Sources and types of data: The source of data for this
research will come from the students, the academic and non academic staff
within the scope of this study. Questionnaire will be used to generate the
desired data.
3.8 Validity of instrument
The questionnaire will be subjected to validity tests
as it will be shown to and discussed with the supervisor for face and content
validation. Also, it will be subjected to the faculty postgraduate examination
panel for necessary corrections and modifications before administering it to
the sample population.
3.9 Reliability of instrument:
Test-retest method will be used to determine the
reliability of the instruments used. It will involve the administration of the
questionnaire to the same persons on two different occasions.
3.10 Analytical technique:
The analytical technique that will be used for this
study is Z score (test), tables and percentages to test the hypotheses
formulated.
3.11 Procedures for achieving objectives:
Objective I: The first objective will be attained by the analysis
of the data collected from the respondents through the questionnaire that will
be administered using tables, percentages and Z-score test.
Objective II: The second objective will be accomplished by the
analysis of the data collected from the respondents through the questionnaire
that will be administered using tables, percentages and Z-score test.
Objective III: This third objective will also be achieved by the
analysis of relevant data collected from the respondents through the
questionnaire that will be administered using tables, percentages and Z-score
test.
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