E-Learning in Nigeria Education PDF

**3.8.3. The Concept, Meaning of E-learning** According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (n.d), E-learning (or eLearning) is the use of electronic educational technology in learning and teaching. Conceptually, e-learning is broadly synonymous with instructional technology, information and commun...

**3.8.3. The Concept, Meaning of E-learning** According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (n.d), E-learning (or eLearning) is the use of electronic educational technology in learning and teaching. Conceptually, e-learning is broadly synonymous with instructional technology, information and communication technology (ICT) in education. Ncube. Dube and Nguube (2014) describe e-learning as an electronic delivery of instructional content or learning experiences that embodies a reconstruction of the educational agenda from a closed environment to an open one where there is open remote exchanges and collaboration between learners and peers as well as the educators. Notably, e-learning offers opportunities for asynchronous training, it enhances just-in-time training as is not limited by space, location, time and reduces costs while fostering national and international networks. E-learning has the capacity to enable institutions to deliver a responsive, up-to-date and seamless learning experience. Given that the real value of e---learning lies not in its ability to train just anyone, anytime, anywhere, but in the ability to train the, right people to gain the right skills or knowledge at the right time; it is critical for all stakeholders to understand and embrace e-learning (Govindsamy 2002). Thus e-learning enhances self-directed learning which embodies independence or autonomy in learning where in learners have greater control over learning as they are expected to function on their own global reach, because it can be delivered anywhere in the world as long as the appropriate equipment and infrastructure are provided. It is in this vein that every teacher should embrace the use of e-earning as additional means of supporting teaching in all levels of education today. In conclusion e---learning relies heavily on digital technology or web technologies to enable teaching and learning to happen in a virtual environment, allowing students to work at their own pace from any geographic location (Ncube, Dube & Ngulube. 2014) **3.8.4. Current Bottlenecks and Future Directions for the Nigeria Education** The power of ICT to change the structure and provision of appropriate engineering education through open and distance learning is apparent. What is not SO apparent is how it will impact positively in Nigerian context, successive government, over the years are not sincere with this great idea. Suffice it to say that ICT requires huge investments in terms of human and material resources. One may be tempted to believe that the country is not adequately prepared for this project. A major problem is that of the enabling environment (i.e. policy. legal frame work, etc) and heavily deficient infrastructures such as poor telephone networks, regular power outage, and very low level Internet connectivity. All these will not boost well for the appropriate engineering education that one thirst for. Since engineering education is practical-intensive, another setback to this is how to develop practical skills and competencies. That is how to contextualize learning about open and distance education to Nigeria situation. Considering all these problems, one may think that the country is not ready for it. We believe that it is better late than never. The government can immediately jump---start it by having a development cum rolling plan for education especially engineering education. This can be augmented by having the appropriate national ICT policy. In the year 2001 the government established the national information technology development agency (NITDA) to serve as the IT think---tank for the government. The efforts of this agency can be geared towards engineering education. Thus if the problems raised in this section are addressed by the government, we will have, quality engineering education through ICT that is comparable with that of the Western world **3.8.5. Way forward for Effective Integration of ICT in Nigeria Education** Despite the fact that Nigeria, and in fact most African countries, came late into the ICT world, the adoption of the Nigeria national policy for information technology in 2001 is the right step in ICT application in every Sector of the nation's life and in particular in education. The policy is designed to ensure that Nigeria as a nation recognizes the strategic, importance of ICT for national development. Successful application in every sector can only be assured through adequate coverage of needed areas. Identified gaps can be filled up through the involvement of important stakeholders/actors such as the teachers and the managers of education (Kwache. Yusuf, 2005). Specifically, the following are some of the required urgent steps in addition to the Continuous and periodic training of teachers in computers and ICT skills acquisition, and these are: 1. Development and training of ICT experts specifically for instructional design and development who will Work for partnership with educators and teachers. 2. Restructuring, redevelopment, and reinforcement of the Nigeria policy for integration of ICT in the Nigeria education systems. This is because its potential as a tool for addressing challenges in teaching and learning and as a change agent seems to be neglected' (Yusuf, 2005, p. 319) 3. Funding --- government at all levels should make ICT a matter of priority, provide the funds specifically needed for the training of teachers in computer education who shall in turn be equipped with ICT knowledge and skills to teach pupils/students computer and/or ICT basics. 4. There should be a monitoring, inspection, and evaluation division at all levels of education that will be responsible for ensuring the ICT curricula are adhered to and that the monies allocated for such purposes are not diverted, and also to ascertain that the right equipment is produced and delivered at the appropriate time 5. There is a need for the Nigeria government to address seriously the issues of the erratic electricity power supply, while on the other hand schools wishing to adopt the integration of ICT in their teaching-learning process should as a matter of agency: procure a generator that can supplement power holding company (PHC) for supply of power. 6. Above all there should be an attitudinal re-orientation of expected users of the 1CT related facilities so that society will be in a better position to adopt new ICT innovations such as new pedagogical methods, access to remote resources, collaboration between individuals and groups of people in more widely diverse geographic location, online experts and mentors, virtual learning communities, home/school communities. This is because cultural perceptions seemingly have a significant impact on a teacher's adoption of ICT. In conclusion, it can be observed that, ICT in education is an indispensable tool in the modern teaching---learning process, and so its adoption for teachers will go a long way towards the enhancement of one's teaching style. This is true because issues such as good course organization, effective class management, and content creation, Self-assessment, Self-study collaborative learning, task oriented activities and effective communications between the actors of teaching---learning and research activities will be facilitated and enhanced by the use of the ICT-Based technology. However, in order to achieve maximum impact and influence of ICT, culture and the society to which teachers belong have to be adjusted to meet the challenges of the knowledge economy age. Thus for Nigeria to make effective use of ICT for the enhancement of tertiary education environments and teaching-learning process, the various challenges that have been raised above have to be addressed by having in place an effective legal, regulatory, and policy framework that will enable the implementation of viable---learning strategies and its deployment. **3.9. The Nigeria Distance Education System** Education offered with separation in terms of physical location of instructors and students is called open and/or distance education, it has been used to provide educational opportunities to recipients. Open education though not new in Nigeria has been given much prominence of recent. Many Nigerians benefited through the open education (correspondence). In fact, like the Universal Basic Education (UBE), distance education is one of the major pivots, on which the present administration in Nigeria hopes to improve the quantity and quality of instruction in Nigerian schools. It is also a means of providing access to basic and tertiary education for Nigerians. (Yusuf. M. 2006) **3.9.1. Meaning, Nature and Characteristics of Distance Education** The need to clarify common terms used to describe distance education become necessary in order to give direction to the discussion of its implementation. Several terms are used interchangeably to refer to distance education. These terms include distance learning, Open University, distance teaching, correspondence study education, home study, external study and independent study. The compound concept, distance education subsumes other terms as most of the terms merely address specific aspect of distance education (Keegan, 1996). Distance learning is used as a term to describe the student-centeredness of distance education and it deals with the use of print and electric technologies to present individual lessons to learners at a distance. Holmerg (1990), defined Distance education as: *The various forms of teaching and learning at all levels which are not under the continuous, immediate supervision of tutors present with the students in lecture rooms or in the same premises but which nevertheless benefit from the planning, guidance and tuition (i.e. tutoring, teaching) of the staff of the tutorial organization, its main feature is that, it relies on non ---mediated communication* According to Kaufman, Watkins & Guerra, (2001), distance education means the delivery of useful learning opportunities at convenient place and time for learners irrespective of the institution providing the learning opportunity. In sum, distance education here means the kind of education offered to learners usually outside the traditional face-to-face class room settings irrespective of time, space and location, prominent among these are; 1. The National Open University System of Education 2. The Distant learning system of education 3. The Sandwich system of education Programme ADEA Working Group on Distance Education and Open Learning (2002) identified four major characteristics of distance education, and these are: 1. Institutional accreditation where learning is certified by an institution or agency; 2. Use of variety of media for instructional delivery; provision of two- way communication to ensure tutor-learner, and learner-learner interaction; 3. Possibility of face-to-face meetings for tutorials for learner-learner interactions, 4. Laboratory or practice session or library study. While on the other hand, the revised national policy on education (Federal Republic of Nigeria, FRN 2004), stipulates the goals of distance education in Nigeria, as to: - Provide access to quality education and equity in educational opportunities for those who otherwise would have been denied. - Meet special needs of employers by mounting special certificate courses for their employees at their work place. - Encourage internationalization especially of tertiary education curricula. - Ameliorate the effect of internal and external brain drain in tertiary institutions by utilizing Nigerian experts as teachers regardless of their locations or places of work (p. 45). Thus, distance education not only shares the goals of conventional education, but it also aims at providing access to historically under-served, place bound, and highly motivated population. Distance education is said to be open because of its flexibility in nature and organization. It is flexible and open in terms of its admission requirements, i.e. not as rigid as in conventional institutions, freedom in terms of place of study, time, place, and composition of study programme, content and didactic approach. It is intended to offer useful learning opportunity to recipients at a time and local environment convenient to them: Contacts between the student and institutions are provided through interactive and non- interactive media. It may also be provided through some contact at a study entre. Unlike the conventional face-to-face instruction, the delivery medium plays a crucial role in minimizing the gap between teaching and learning (Keegan, 1996).