Use of information and communication technologies for administration and management of schools in Nigeria
| Date | 14 August 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JSIT-06-2017-0045 |
| Published date | 14 August 2017 |
| Pages | 183-201 |
| Author | Funmilola Olubunmi Omotayo,Michael Chinweike Chigbundu |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information systems,Information & communications technology |
Use of information and
communication technologies for
administration and management
of schools in Nigeria
Funmilola Olubunmi Omotayo and Michael Chinweike Chigbundu
Africa Regional Centre for Information Science, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to investigate the adoption and use of information and
communicationtechnologies (ICTs) by school administrators in the managementof schools, as well as factors
that influenceuse of ICTs by the administrators.
Design/methodology/approach –Survey research design was adopted. A two-stage sampling
procedure (random and purposive) was used to select the respondents, while quantitative and qualitative
methodswere used for data collection.
Findings –Findings revealthat the school administrators use various ICTs to carry out administrativeand
management duties. Task characteristics, task-technology fit, attitude and perceived ease of use have
significantrelationships with use of ICTs by the administrators.
Research limitations/implications –The findings and conclusion from this paper cannot be
generalisedto all schools in Nigeria because the population was limited to only privatesecondary schools.
Practical implications –The study contributesto an existing knowledge on adoption and useof ICTs in
schools,and provides information to policymakers on factors that shouldbe given consideration when there is
a need to implementICTs in schools.
Social implications –This paper could assist school administratorsthat are yet to adopt and implement
ICTs in their schools of the need to do so in order to enjoy the benefits associated with ICTs use in the
workplace.
Originality/value –This paper is one of the first pieces of empirical research that has adopted the
integrated technologyacceptance and task-technology fit models to investigateuse of ICTs by administrators
of schoolsin Nigeria.
Keywords Ibadan, Administration and management of school, Private secondary school,
Use of information and communication technologies
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The world is going through a period of revolutionary change (technological revolution)
induced by information and communication technologies (ICTs), which cut across all
sectors. As the advent of ICTs is changing the workplaces,the education sector is also being
revolutionised by ICTs, which is undoubtedly affecting teaching, learning, research,
management and administration. Secondary educational schools are expanding at an
unprecedented rate in Nigeria; however, this expansion is associated with challenges of
planning, organisationand coordination of the schools by school administrators. The school
system in Nigeria comprises public and private schools.The public schools are owned and
founded by the federal or stategovernment, and are largely tuition free. The private schools
are mainly profit oriented, oftenowned by an individual, cooperating individuals, voluntary
Management
of schools in
Nigeria
183
Received16 June 2017
Revised28 October 2017
Accepted28 October 2017
Journalof Systems and
InformationTechnology
Vol.19 No. 3/4, 2017
pp. 183-201
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1328-7265
DOI 10.1108/JSIT-06-2017-0045
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1328-7265.htm
agencies or faith-based organisations (Agi, 2013). According to Harma (2011), private
schools can be categorised accordingto fee regimes: low fee paying and high fee paying. The
fees are directly determined by owner’sdefined standards and characteristics, and not
subjected to government regulation; and the category of fee determines access and
sometimes qualityof programmes available at the school.
Schools, regardless of whether they are public or private, usually have three
administration groups, namely, administration head, administration teachers and
administration staff. The administration head (headmaster/principal) is the chief executive
officer of the school. They are employed by the government, except in cases of private
schools where they are employed by the owners/proprietors of the schools. In some
instances, the owner/proprietor functions as the school head. It has been found that
leadership behaviour of senior management plays an important role in determining the
success or failure of an ICT implementation in organisations; thus, there is the need for
strong leadership in ICT implementations. Invariably, successful ICT implementation in
schools depends on effective leadership, which makes school heads, also referred to as ICT
champion (Stuart et al., 2009), to have great roles to play in championing ICT use in their
schools. School heads function as role models when ICTs are applied to administrative and
management tasks and facilitate teachers’integration of ICTs in teaching and learning.
They also ensure that governmentregulations are adhered to and, at the same time, manage
both human and material resources of their schools. As such, the roles of the school heads
involve performing administrative and managerial activities, among other duties and
responsibilities. Administration teachers are teachers, who beside their teaching
responsibilities also have administrative duties, e.g. vice principal/assistant head, head of
units/departments and computer teachers. The administration staff are supporting staff,
such as secretaries, bursar, data entry officer, librarians and administration officers. This
category of people uses ICTs to handle financialduties, communication, data capture, record
keeping and some other managerialactivities.
Educational management and educational administration, used synonymously, refer to
what school heads and principals of schools do in their dailyroutine at schools (Samkange,
2013). Effective management or administration of schools then refers to the extentto which
both human and material resources in the school are effectively coordinated for the
attainment of the goals of the schools. One important tool that can be used to ensure
effective management in schools is ICT, which has become an indispensable or inevitable
tool used in the management and improvement of schools (Tosun and Baris, 2011). By
realising the effect and benefits of ICTs on the workplace, schools have tried to restructure
their administration with regards to adoption and use of ICTs. There is then a growing
demand on schools to integrateICTs in teaching, as well as administration of schools.
Use of ICTs in the education sector helps in the improvement of the school standards in
terms of academics, financial status, co-curricular activities and human resources
management. Administration and management applications of ICTs are currently popular
in schools due to its capabilitiesin facilitating administration activities fromdata storage to
knowledge management and decision-making (Ghavifekr et al., 2013;Mwalongo,2011). The
introduction of innovative technological applications in schools is connected with changes,
not only at the level of teaching and learning but also in carrying out administrativetasks in
schools (Oyedemi, 2015).Therefore, ICT is a vital enabling tool that can no longer be ignored
in the administration of schools. ICTs have the potential to support the management of
complex, standards-related instructional processes. They also can promote communication
among staff, students,parents and other stakeholders.
JSIT
19,3/4
184
To continue reading
Request your trial