ICT Proficiency Needs of Agricultural Education Lecturers for Instructional Purposes in Tertiary Institutions in South Western Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed the information and communication technology (ICT) proficiency requirements of lecturers in agricultural education for instructional purposes in tertiary institutions in Southwest Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was used. The study population consisted of 297 agricultural education lecturers and technologists in the six states in Southwest Nigeria. The method of sample selection involved multistage sampling technique where three out of the six states in the region – Lagos, Ondo and Oyo states were randomly selected. From each of the sampled states, the census/total population sampling technique was used to select 157 respondents which comprises of 92 lecturers and 65 technologists. The instrument used was a structured questionnaire (PSNBAEDQ), whose internal reliability yielded a Cronbach Alpha of 0.99. Percentage and Improvement Need Gap (ING) index were used for data analysis. Findings showed that 27 of the 30 listed ICT facilities and tools were considered needed. The overall ING value of 1.44 indicated that proficiency training was required in 89 of the 93 skill items examined across general ICT knowledge, word-processing and spreadsheet applications. It is recommended that tertiary institutions organise sustained in-service training on ICT integration, that governments and partners invest in relevant infrastructure, and that the agricultural education curriculum be reviewed to embed digital pedagogies systematically.