THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF HOME ECONOMICS IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN JOS SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF PLATEAU STATE NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on the teaching and learning of Home Economics in secondary schools in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State. The population for the study comprised all junior secondary two (JSS 2) students totaling 2,950. the sample was 40 JSS 2 Home Economics students drawn from one of the junior secondary schools within the study area. The study employed the quasi experimental design. The Home Economics achievement test scores of the students used in the study were collected from the pre-test and post-test of experimental and control groups. The study was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses. The research questions were answered using frequency counts mean and standard deviation. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 alpha level of significance using the t-test statistics. Finding of the study showed that ICT instructional strategy of Home Economics in junior secondary schools has a significant difference from the conventional method in terms of improvement in student’s achievement. Finding also showed that the use of ICT and other multimedia to teach Home Economics has positive effects on students’ learning outcomes while the conventional strategy of teaching does not have an improvement on students learning outcomes. Many secondary schools do not apply ICT in their teaching and learning. This could be because of the high cost of acquiring ICT gadgets, setting up and maintaining computer labs, and lack of support from the government and other stakeholders.  Also, many teachers are not computer literate which makes the implementation of ICT instructional strategy difficult. Since students exposed to ICT performed significantly higher than those not exposed to it, it is therefore recommended that Home Economics teachers should employ the use of ICT for the effective teaching and learning of Home Economics. Also, a functional computer laboratory should be put in place to enable staff and students get acquainted with ICT gadgets especially for surfing the internet and updating their knowledge.