TEACHERS, TEACHING & ICTs: UNDERSTANDING THE LINKAGES & SYNERGIES

1. TEACHERS, TEACHING & ICTs: UNDERSTANDING THE LINKAGES & SYNERGIES Prof. U.G. Danbatta Vice President Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), Kano Campus, Nigeria Lecture delivered, under the CITAD Quarterly Lecture Series, at Federal College of Education (Technical) Bichi, Kano State, on Wednesday 17th October 2012

2. PAPER STRUCTURE • Introduction • What are Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs) • Teachers’ Essential Functional Requirements • Justification for integration of ICTs in Teaching • The Need for National ICT Literacy Policy • Universal Access & Service • The National ICT Statistics • ICT Literacy Initiatives

3. PAPER STRUCTURE • The Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) Complex, Abuja • NCC’S ICT Literacy Initiatives (Access Programmes & Institutions) • Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), Abuja • The DBI Make Up • The DBI Mission Statement • Intervention Training Programmes • Innovation Enterprise Programmes • Factors Influencing ICT Adoption • Conclusion

4. INTRODUCTION • Information and communications technologies (ICTs) are present in all sectors of the economy and are recognized as a pillar of modern society. • No sector seems to work efficiently without them. Diverse sectors such as governance, education, health, business, finance and tourism are critically dependent upon ICTs. • All countries, irrespective of economic status, must recognize the trend towards ubiquitous use of ICTs. This is why the term enabler is often used to describe ICTs.

5. WHAT ARE ICTs • Information Technology (IT) is a term that describes the specializations encompassing system analysis, programming, telecommunications and multimedia (audio, video and data) applications. • The merging, therefore, of computing, information communication and technology gave rise to ICTs

6. WHAT ARE ICTs CONTD. • This merger has made Information and Communications Technology (ICT) an important and essential part of every nation’s social infrastructure; • Institutions of Higher Learning are statutorily mandated, through the conduct of Research and Development, (R & D) to provide, improve, maintain and sustain ICTs; • Articulation and Implementation of Institutional ICT Policy & Master Plan which key components are infrastructure, equipment, web-based services and information systems (ARIS, LIBIS..)

7. TEACHERS’ ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS Essential functional requirements of teachers: • Teaching, research & community service • Curriculum development • Access to bibliographic information and remote data bases • Computerization of teaching content • Preparation of laboratory exercises • Examination preparation & marking • Results compilation & presentation

8. JUSTICATION FOR INTEGRATION OF ICTs IN TEACHING ICTs promote excellence in teaching thru: • Enhancing exploratory learning through deployment of infrastructure that will host web-based services (intranet & internet); • Facilitating computation of academic results, security of financial, academic and bibliograhic records using ARIS, HURIS, FINIS & LIBIS; • Preparation and presentation of content using word processing and power point packages.

9. THE NEED FOR NATIONAL ICT LITERACY POLCY In order to facilitate a smooth transition to an information- and knowledge-based economy, the New National ICT Policy considered how to create, support and sustain an ICT Literacy Policy that will: • Promote a commitment to ICT literacy as a basic skill required by all citizens; • Encourage institutional support of ICT literacy strategies in education, workforce preparation and government services;

10. THE NEED FOR ICT LITERACY) CONTD. • Enhance ICT literacy opportunities in research, development and innovation; • Support benchmarking and adoption of emerging technologies and best practices that reflect globally acceptable standards; • Develop timetables and milestones to ensure appropriate accountability for assessing progress and success; and • Provide a means for monitoring and evaluation.

11. UNIVERSAL ACCESS & SERVICE For ICTs to flourish, universal access (UA) and universal service (US) are very important, and can be largely characterized by • Infrastructure (wired, wireless and fiber) • The availability, accessibility and affordability of telephony and • Of the internet, with increasing consideration of the inclusion of broadband and broadcasting services.

12. UNIVERSAL ACCESS & SERVICE CONTD. The concepts of universal service (US) and universal access (UA) vis-à-vis telecommunications and ICT are distinct: • US refers to service at the individual or household level, e.g., typically a telephone in each home. • UA refers to a publicly shared level of service, e.g., through public payphones or Internet telecentres.

13. NATIONAL ICT STATISTICS

14. ICT LITERACY INITIATIVES Literacy initiatives are required in the diversed areas of ICTs, but in particular for Higher Institutions of Learning in: • Introduction to computers; • Computerization of content using word processing software; • Introduction to spreadsheets • Power point presentation • Introduction to the Internet • Intervention by Regulatory Agencies (NCC, NCCE, NITDA, TETFUND, NBTE, NGOs) to provide infrastructure, equipment & support services.

15. ICT LITERACY INITIATIVES • The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is the independent National Regulatory Authority for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria. • The NCC is responsible for creating an enabling environment for competition among operators in the industry as well as ensuring the provision of qualitative and efficient telecommunications services throughout the country.

16. ICT LITERACY INITIATIVES CONTD. • NCC has earned a reputation as the foremost Telecom regulatory agency in Africa • It is hoping to deploy the use of ICT’S for different aspect of national development. • It has initiated the State Accelerated Broadband Initiative (SABI) and Wire Nigeria Project (WIN) to help stimulate demand and accelerate ICT literacy services necessary for enthronement of a knowledge society in Nigeria.

17. NIGERIAN COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (NCC) COMPLEX, ABUJA, NIGERIA

18. NCC’S ICT LITERACY INITIATIVES (ACCESS PROGRAMMES & INSTITUTIONS) • Providing Infrastructure and • Infrastructure support services: (i) Schools Access Programme (ii) Tertiary Institutions Access Programme (iii) E-Libaray Facilities (iv) Narrowband and Broadband Telecommunications Networks (iv) V-Sat Wireless Equipment (v) Electricity supply to complement mains supply in higher institutions and schools (vi) Establishment of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI)

19. DIGITAL BRIDGE INSTITUTE (DBI), ABUJA

20. THE DBI MAKE UP The Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) is an initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Nigerian Communications Commission DBI was established in May 2004

21. DBI MISSION STATEMENT “To contribute to the creation of a knowledge- based information society in Africa, through human resource capacity building in the Information and Communications Technology”

22. INTERVENTION TRAINING PROGRAMMES Advanced Digital Appreciation Programme For Tertiary Institutions (ADAPTI) • Background: Analog/Digital transformation • Year of commencement: 2006 • Target Academic Institutions: (i) Universities (Private & Public) (ii) Polytechnics & Monotechnics (iii) Colleges of Education (iv) Other tertiary institutions

23. INTERVENTION TRAINING PROGRAMMES CONTD. Advanced Digital Appreciation Programme For Tertiary Institutions (ADAPTI) • Target Participants: (i) Vice Chancellors/Rectors/Provosts (ii) Professors (iii) Academic & Non-academic Staff • Total Institutions trained: Over 300 • Total Participants trained: 10,000 approx.

24. INTERVENTION TRAINING PROGRAMMES CONTD. Digital Appreciation Programme (DAP) For Secondary Schools • Target Schools: (i) Federal Secondary Schools/Colleges (ii) State Secondary Schools/Colleges • Target Participants: (i) Teachers (ii) Students

25. INNOVATION ENTERPRISE PROGRAMMES • Meeting Goal 8 of the MDGs, Target 16 • DBI was granted approval as an Innovation Enterprise Institute by the NBTE to run Diploma Programmes in: (i) Networking and System Security (ii) Computer Hardware Engineering (iii) Computer Software Engineering (iv) Digital Multimedia Technology (v) Telecommunication Technology • Target audience: Youth in the age bracket: 15 -24

26. FACTORS INFLUECING ICT ADOPTION Constraining features: • The low percentage of teachers who have ICT skills and the challenge of the massive ICT education drive needed to correct and develop the huge human resources base at national and institutional levels in the faculty and student populations; • The lack of requisite telecommunications infrastructure capable of transporting multimedia messaging .

27. FACTORS INFLUECING ICT ADOPTION CONTD. Constraining features contd. • Uneasy access to computer equipment and other accessories at institutional and personal levels due to locations of cyber cafés in commercially profitable communities to the detriment of semi-urban or rural communities; • The absence of electric power grids in most parts of the country even in cases where there is adequate telecommunications coverage

28. CONCLUSION A national ICT policy in general and for the education sector in particular should aim to address the following bottlenecks that hamper capacity, access and service: • Lack of infrastructure; • Lack of infrastructure support (supporting electricity, narrowband and broadband telecommunications networks); • Poor internet connectivity; • Expensive access; • Lack of skilled and experienced staff for operating ICT systems; and • Poor utilization skills and few appropriate content.

29. CONCLUSION THANK YOU!