E-Learning Tools for Teaching and Learning as Perceived by Nigerian Colleges of Education Pre...

It is imperative for the teachers to be effective in teaching and learning

The emergence of e-learning technologies is a fast-growing tools for making teaching and learning effective and transforming educational system. The use of e-learning tools to support teaching and learning has become a very common phenomenon in recent years.

Teacher Education refers to professional education of teachers towards attainment of attitudes, skills and knowledge considered desirable so as to make them efficient and effective in their work in accordance with the need of a society at any point in time (Ibidapo – Obe, 2007). Teacher education was part of Western education which was introduced in the 1840s. The development of teacher training colleges in Nigeria started in the second half of the 19th century, particularly as from the 1850s. Taiwo (2000) notes that the first teacher training college, known as “The Training Institution” was established by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in Abeokuta in 1853,

The National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) established in 1989 to perform this responsibilities: i. co-ordinate all sub-degree teacher education programme; ii. Maintain minimum standard for teacher education programme and ensure accreditation of academic courses and award of certificates; iii. Seek to the approval of the setting up of all Colleges of Education in Nigeria; iv. Set standards to be attained and review continually such standards (Decree 1 of 1989).

Most countries and schools have policies for strengthening the use of E-learning in teaching and learning for the improvement on education. However, the effectiveness of the e-learning tools to aid teaching and learning especially in colleges of education is still undergoing developmental stages. Hence, the study sought to underscore the effectiveness of e-learning in teaching and learning as perceived by Pre-service teachers in colleges of education.

The following research questions guided the study:

1. What are the pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the use of e-learning in teaching and learning in colleges of education?
2. What are the most frequent types of e-learning tools used in teaching and learning?
3. How has the training of pre-service teachers on e-learning usage influenced their skills in teaching and learning?

The present study was interested in the effectiveness of the E-Learning tools for teaching and learning as perceived by Nigerian Colleges of Education Pre-service Teachers. The study was therefore restricted to final year students of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo, Nigeria who are preparing to become a teacher.

According to Nieuwenhuis (2008), semi-structured interviews allow for in-depth probing and extended responses; hence, the researchers have a set of predetermined questions on an interview schedule that guided the interview. An audiotape was used to record the interviews with permission from the participants. An interview is a method for producing research data through a structured dialogue between the researcher (interviewer) and the participants (interviewees).

From Table 1, it is evident that all the pre-service teachers interviewed were students undergoing various courses at the college of education, the ages of respondents’ ranges from 18 to 24 while the gender was equal across schools. All the selected pre-service teachers were final year students and were briefed about the purpose of the interview with the assurance of high confidentiality and this enables the researcher to gather professional responses useful for the study. The result was thematically analysed under three theme based on the research questions raised.

Finding from table 2 indicated that e-learning tools were not adequately accessible for pre-service teachers. The results revealed television have 100% accessibility, some of the interviewers said that they have it at home and watch some educative programme sometimes. Another e-learning tool next to television as revealed was a computer with 70% of the respondents having access to it. Multimedia Projector and Ebook were analysed to have 40% accessibility. Moreover, interactive whiteboard and wireless lecture hall were not visible with the indication of 0%. Finally, this results show that internet was available at some designated places in the college for certain purpose and for the individual that can afford on their own, therefore only 20% have access to the internet. The additional information gathered revealed that the college provided the internet for the purpose students’ registration and to divulge important information about the college and not particularly on teaching and learning. This agreed with the findings of Kamba (2009), he stated that institutions are in the trend of creating web pages which are meant for advertisement of the institutionalized programmes and not for e-learning activities. Pirani (2004) stated that for an institution to be effective in the use of e-learning for teaching, that institution must make provision for adequate and reliable infrastructures.