ATTITUDES OF PRINCIPALS TOWARDS ICT USAGE IN SECONDARY SCHOOL MANAGEMENT IN JOS SOUTH SECONDARY SCHOOLS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover Page
Title Page
Declaration
Approval Page
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Table of Contents
Abstract

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the Study
1.2. Statement of the Problem
1.3. Purpose of the Study
1.4. Research questions
1.5. Hypothesis
1.6. Significance of the Study
1.7. Limitation of the Study
1.8. Delimitation of the Study
1.9. Operational Definition of Terms

CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

CHAPTER THREE
METHOD AND PROCEDURE
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Research Design
3.3. Population
3.4. Sample of the Study
3.5. Instrument for Data Collection
3.6. Validity and Reliability of the Research Instrument
3.7. Procedure for Data Collection
3.8. Method of Data Analysis
3.9. Ethical Consideration

CHAPTER FOUR
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
4.1. Introduction
4.2. Presentation of Results
4.3. Questionnaire Response and Return Rate
4.4. Presentation of Bio-Data
4.5. Presentations of Results in Tables Followed by Discussion of Findings
4.6. Hypothesis Testing
4.7. Discussion of Findings

CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1. Introduction
5.2. Summary of Findings
5.3. Conclusion
5.4. Recommendations
5.5. Suggestions for Further Research
References
Appendices

ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to assess the attitudes of principals towards ICT usage in secondary school management: A case study of Jos South L.G.A. The study comprises of both public and private secondary schools in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State. A survey research design was used for the study. The sample size for the study was made up of principals, deputy principals, and senior teachers, of four selected secondary schools from each of the four destricts of Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State. The sample was made of sixteen principals, sixteen deputy principals, and twenty-eight senior teachers making up sixty (60) samples. The instrument used to gather data for the study was a five point likert scale questionnaire. The study was guided by four research questions and two hypothesis. The research questions were analysed using mean (X)and standard deviation (S2) while chi-squate was used to test the hypothesis at alpha (a) 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study show that there is significant impact of principals’ literacy level on the principals’ attitude towards ICT usage, also there is significant influence of ICT infrastructure or principals attitudes towards ICT usage. It was recommended among others that principals, deputy, principals and senior teachers should encouraged to attend ICT training, ICT seminars and workshops so that they can develop positive attitudes towards the utilization of ICT.

CHAPTER ONE
1.1. Background of the Study
The rapid growth in information communication technology (ICT) has brought notable changes in the 21st Century as well as affecting the demand of modern societies. ICT is becoming increasingly important in our day to day lives as well as in our educational system. As such, there is a growing demand on the educational institutions to students need for the 21st Century. Realizing the effect of ICT on the work place and everyday life, today educational institutions try to restructure their educational administration in order to bridge the existing technological gap in school administration. This restructuring process requires effective integration of technologies into the existing environment in order to enhance professional output as well as the general administration of the school (Buabeng, 2012).
The empirical findings indicated that principals serve as key role in influencing the manner in which things are done in schools and thusly their attitude and knowledge based on regard to ICT is of great importance. When it comes to the integration of ICT into administration functions of schools (Afshari, Bakar, Luan, Samah & Foo, 2010) in the same vein, Afshar, Bakar, Luan and Siraj (2012), after conducting a study on principals, endorsed that the ICT literacy level of principals influenced their decision to integrate ICT in their transformational leadership of administration in the schools. Singh and Mumandi (2012), emphasized that governments have not done enough in funding ICT initiatives in school. Since they found that the lack of ICT infrastructure and inadequate technical support were lacking in Jos South schools that had not yet integrated ICT into their administration function.
According to Danic (2002), ICTs, have become within a very short time one of the basic building block of modern society. Many countries now regard understanding ICT as part of core subjects in education alongside reading, writing and numeracy. However, there appears to be a misconception that ICTs, generally refers to computers and computing related activities. This is fortunately not the case, although, computers and their application play a significant role in modern information management. Other technologies and systems also comprise of the phenomenon that is commonly regarded as ICTs, most schools principals agree that knowing how to use computers is a worthwhile skill and it is not a waste of time, it is very important for them to learn how to use computers, and computers can be a useful instructional materials in almost all school subjects.
School principals are the key determinants for the realization of desired outcomes and success in schools and hence it is viewed as critical issue by all education stakeholders. In Jos, the economic commission for Africa indicated that the ability to access and use information is no longer a luxury but a necessity for development. Gray and Smith (2007), observe that the 21st Century school principals face numerous challenges emanating from ICT management. This arises from the fact that many developing countries (states therefore, Jos South Local Government) in Jos are still slow in ICT management (Aduwa, Ogieghan & Iyamu, 2005).
Attitude issues as well as lack of ICT competences also affect ICT management in schools. Pluen (2004) in his study of ICT management in secondary school, observe that there is a lot of computers in secondary schools of Jos South Local Government Area, but no school principal is committed to ICT management. Jensen & Boschee (2003), realized that the current movement towards putting the latest technology into classrooms is causing school principals to reassess school programmes and policies to examine the impact of ICT management on school administration in educational sector. In her study, she observed that ICT is essential for personal administration, student administration, resources administration, financial administration and general administration. African countries have recently began to show the micro economic stability need for educational development and therefore, the need for ICT in educational administration which is real more than ever before (Nduati & Brown, 2005). According to Zainally (2008), ICT provides facilities and possibilities for the educational administrators to perform their tasks. In this regards, ICT can be important in students’ records to various resource in an educational system. Willey (2993), notes that school principals needs effective and fast communication and accessibility to information which will make his work more effective and efficient. This is because school principals need to correspond through email and internet, create websites for school principals to communicate with the staff and the community at large. Around 1992, when e-mail started to become available to the general public (1999) ICT, covers internet service provision, telecommunication equipment and services, information technology equipment and services, media aid broadcasting, libraries and documentation center, commercial information and providers, network-based information services and other related information and communication activities. The field of education has been affected by ICTs which have undoubtedly affected teaching and learning and research (Yusuf, 2005). A great deal of research has proven benefits to quality of education (Al-Ansari, 2006). The ICT literacy level of principals directly impacts their decisions to utilize ICT in administrative functions. Hennessey (2010), conducted a research study that focused on the internet factors that influenced teachers in secondary schools in the Jos South to use or not to use ICT in the conventional classroom setting and administration task. Through the use of questionnaires that included items on perceptions and beliefs that ICT, pedagogical expertise is pertinent to technology use, as well as technological literacy level, the findings of her survey revealed that the adoption of ICT in pedagogical and administration functions in Jos South region is greatly influenced by ICT literacy level of school administrators, especially principals, as well as their attitude towards the use of ICT.
1.2. Statement of the Problem
The role of ICT in secondary school cannot be overemphasized due to the many advantages associated with it including easy wo4k presentations, easy information access and easy monitoring and evaluation among others. A majority of educational administrators perceive ICT to offer advantages to school management.
Waweru and Kihara (2013), conducted a study on the factors that challenge the adoption and utilization of ICT in secondary schools in Jos South and observed that the lack of ICT infrastructure due to the lack of funds emerges as the main setback of ICT in the adoption of ICT infrastructure in schools. Similarly, Mugo (2014), exposed that the lack of the basic ICT infrastructure and the limited skills and competencies in ICT emerged as the main factors that discourage ICT usage in secondary schools in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, Mwacha (2012), discovered that regardless of the willingness of teachers to learn about the application of ICT, their ICT literacy level is still below par.
Moreover, Mwencha (2012), disclosed that the schools were not well equipped with ICT facilities. Nonetheless, Muniandi (2012), emphasized that government have not done enough funding in schools since the found that lack of ICT infrastructure and inadequate technical support were lacking in the Jos South schools that had not yet integrated ICT into their administration functions. ICT literacy is also a problem which principals encounter and makes them find it difficult in doing their task, and people fail to appreciate the importance of ICT and therefore, do not engage in any form of ICT training. The availability of ICT infrastructure which plays a great role in encouraging secondary school principals to take on ICT in administration roles. Lack of technical support to principal in implementing ICT programmes is also a big problem. Researchers such as Majhanu (2010), posit that ICT technical support is critical in building and maintaining confidence in the principals in regards to the access to ICT hardware, software and other equipments.
And also the misconception of what ICT is to the school principals, they see it as a waste of time, energy and money and lack of efficient electricity hiders or gives the principals reasons to avoid ICT in their school curriculum.
However, other research suggest that a significant minority of teachers do not see considerable learning benefits for students from ICT, regardless of the sophistication of their ICT system. School principals management, school community relationship, provision and maintenance of physical facilities and financial management in which managing such a high number of activities can be quite a challenging task in the absence of ICT resources in schools (Okumbe, 2001). The empirical survey sound that a seventh of Jos South teachers felt that using computers in class did not have significant learning benefit for the students.
1.3. Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is to investigate the factors that influence the attitude of principals in the administration of ICT in Jos South Local Government Area.
i. To analyse or determine the extent to which principals ICT literacy influence ICT in administration of secondary schools in Jos South Local Government Area.
ii. To determine the degree to which availability of ICT infrastructure influences principals’ attitude to ICT administration of secondary schools in Jos South.
iii. To analyse the attitude among principals towards the use of ICT for educational purposes.
iv. To establish the extent to which availability of technical support influences principals integration of ICT in administration of secondary schools in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau.
1.4. Research Questions
i. How does ICT literacy level among principals influence their attitude towards ICT administration of secondary schools in Jos South Local Government?
ii. What effect does principals’ attitude towards ICT usage have on integration of ICT in administration of secondary schools in Jos South Local Government?
iii. To what extent does the availability of technical support influence principals attitude to ICT usage in Jos South Local Government of Plateau State?
iv. What impact does the availability of ICT infrastructure have on principals’ usage of ICT in administration of secondary schools?
1.5. Hypothesis
Ho The4re is no significant impact of principals literacy level on
principals attitude towards ICT usage.
Ho There is no significance influence of ICT infrastructure on principals attitudes towards ICT usage.
1.6. Significance of the Study
The key beneficiary of the study is Jos South educational administrators. They would have a degree of understanding on the factor that motivate principals to adopt ICT in administration of school.
The school principals use ICT to ensure effective job performance by the staff. Computers help them to keep bulky information about all the activities, facilities in their disposal. ICT helps them improve the quality, expand learning opportunities and make it faster and easier to access the system and it also makes it easier for the principals to update school programmes, school routine, solving individuals and groups problems and to develop staff.
ICT is very important to teachers because they get new ideas day in day out on how t enhance their teaching skills and methods of teaching. And also they always update information on their subject matter which will make teaching work more effective. The students also find information and communicate through the use of ICT and they also use it for assignments and research work.
Information communication technology also helps in school administration, school to school relationship, school parent relationship, school community relationship and school business operations.
1.7. Limitations of the Study
In the course of this study, the researcher encountered different problems such as:
i. Inadequate Finance: As a students, financial difficulties limited the researcher from studying the attitudes of principals towards ICT usage and also limit the volume of data collection.
ii. Time Constraint: The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This therefore, will cut down the time devoted for the research work.
iii. Environmental Constraint: The environment in which the research work is done restricted the researcher from going out and so the researcher is faced with the problem of how to reach out the field of research and coordinate activities as planned.
1.8. Delimitation of the Study
The study is confined to Jos South Local Government of Plateau State, and is carried out on the secondary schools only. Furthermore, it was confined to principals, vice principals, and senior teachers only. The implication of the defined scope of the study is that the findings are not generalized in regard to primary schools of Jos South Local Government Area.
1.9. Operational Definition of Terms
– Attitudes: Refers to a setteled way of thinking or feeling about something, such as ICT use, typically one that is reflected in the principals’ behavior and can be either negative or positive.
– Education: This is the process of facilitating learning or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and habits.
– Administration: This refers to the formalized system which is intended to control, supervise, plan and make decisions about various activities across the school on the basis of established authority, which is the ministry of education, science and technology (MOEST), Albert on behalf of the government.
– Information Communication Technology (ICT): Refers to diverse set of information communication and technology tools and resources that are used to transmit, store, create and share information in the context of a school.
– ICT Infrastructure: Refers to all the computers and communications hardware and software that support the flow and process of information.
– ICT Literacy: Refers to the knowledge of ICT and its various applications and this is acquired through participation in an ICT seminar or workshop or undertaking a short course on ICT, such as computer packages course.
– Management: This is the act of directing people towards accomplishing a set of objectives or goals.
– Integration: Refers to the act of combining into an integral whole, such as making ICT an integral part of administration functions.