Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln

 

Date of this Version

12-2011

Abstract

ICT is often perceived as a catalyst for change, change in teaching styles, change in learning approaches and in access to information (Watson, 2005). It refers to technologies that provide access to information through telecommunications. Use of ICT has changed our conventional ways of learning and proposes the need to rethink education in terms of a more current context (White, 2010). ICT capability is fundamental to participation and engagement in modern information society. ICT can be used to find, develop, analyze and present information, as well as to model situations and solve problems. ICT enables rapid access to ideas and experiences from a wide range of people, communities and cultures, and allows pupils to collaborate and exchange information on a wide scale (Crown, 2010). Education is the first and best key area for ICT applications. ICTs can help by providing alternative possibilities for education (Casal, 2007). The purpose of ICT in education is generally to familiarize students with the use and workings of computers, and related social and ethical issues. ICT has also enabled learning through multiple intelligence as ICT has introduced learning through simulation games; this enables active learning through all senses (Gateway 2010). Use of different information communication technologies has become inevitable for students in learning. By using modern information communication technologies, students can retrieve their required information within a short time. They can access and disseminate electronic information like e-books, e-journals and can improve their learning by using different modern ICTs in form of wireless networks, internet, search engines, databases, websites and web 2.0 technologies.

Aims of the Study

The main objectives of the study were to analyze the pattern of ICT usage by students, its availability, use of ICT by their teachers during lecture, student’s knowledge of different computer applications and their opinion about ICT use in learning. Besides this, an attempt was made to investigate the:

  • purpose of internet use by respondents
  • impact of ICT on their study
  • level of their information retrieval skills
  • widely used search engines by respondents
  • databases used by them
  • time spent by the respondents in online information searching activities
  • problems faced by the respondents in accessing e-resources and online searching

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