CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

• Background of the Study

The breath-taking pace that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has pervaded and captured today’s world is tremendous. The world in the last two decades has experienced a significant change in all aspects of life due to use of ICT (Thioune, 2003). From the individual, institutions, organisations through to government, ICT usage has affected the way people communicate, work and enjoy life as individuals, and in organisations. The constant usage in social media platform like WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter for entertainment or business transactions is trending. People now indulge in such communications than have physical conversation with each other. Electronic mails (e-mails), short message service (SMS), texting and video chats (Skype) have also ensured fast, easy and convenient means of communicating information across.

Recognising the impact of ICT in society have caused educational stakeholders in Africa to restructure programs and classroom facilities to bridge the gap between the advanced and less advanced societies. “With the possibilities and opportunities that it offers, ICT has become a critical part of educational reform efforts and is seen as an integral component of school curriculum” (Tezci, 2011). These restructuring efforts require effective action for using technologies that will offer students understanding in their programs and stimulate meaningful learning (Tomei, 2005 cited by Malcolm and Godwyll, (2008). Likewise, the profession “teaching” has become most challenging because it necessitates new preparation and high-tech adaptation to cope with the current educational systems. Teachers are implementers and therefore

need to learn and apply new technologies into their classroom instructions (Tedla, 2012). A report by the United Nation, Educational, Science and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO, (2015) stated that “Information and communication technologies (ICTs) must be harnessed to strengthen education systems, knowledge dissemination, information access, quality and effective learning, and more effective service provision”.  

Information and Communication Technology thus “relates to those technologies that are used for accessing, gathering, manipulating and presenting or communicating information. The technologies could include hardware (e.g. computers and other devices), and software applications and connectivity (e.g. access to the Internet, local networking infrastructure, and video conferencing)” (Tommey, 2001). The hardware equipment like mobile phones, computers, laptops, television and projectors are mostly used in educational environment to process, send and retrieve information for academic purposes.

These equipment have aided in changing the traditional practice of teaching and learning into technology inclusive method. The change has affected all stages of education, including theological education. Lecturers (including those in the seminaries) are now placing instructional technology in their classroom work with audio and visual devices used as a medium for communicating with students (Mayo, Kajs and Tanguma, 2005). That is, students are taught with projectors to enable education become more illustrative and better understood. The method of teaching has also been a blend of on-line materials such as stored data files, movie clips, sound files, as well as manual teaching.

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