by CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Education plays an important role in the well-being of any nation that wants to sustain its prominence in the global scene. It is broadly viewed as a lifelong process spanning the years from infancy to adulthood. According to Balogun (2019) education not only liberates, it is a vital tool for empowerment that allows meaningful contributions to society. As a result, each nation has a policy on education which provides guidance on the type and quality of education that citizens should acquire. The bedrock of education is the pre-primary and primary levels. These stages of development are crucial for the development of future adult citizens and workers. Just as a child cannot stand up and walk from birth, so one cannot develop without primary education. It is the foundation upon which the rest of educational system is built. Durosaru (2020) remarked that there is no gainsaying the fact that education is very vital to the pace of social, political and economic development of any nation. This is why most nations of the world strive to devote a sizeable proportion of their Gross National Income to develop the educational sector.
The policy document addresses the issues of imbalance in the provision of education in different parts of the country with regards to access, quality of resources and girls‟ education. Mojo (2020) stated that the education in Nigeria is organized into 6 years of Primary education, 3 years of junior secondary school, 3 years of senior secondary school education and 4 years of university/polytechnic/college of education. Similarly, according to the FRN (2014) document, the educational system in Nigeria has been delineated into different levels mainly pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary levels. The increasing development of educational system at all levels brings greater demands on educational practitioners such as curriculum planners, evaluators and teachers in their bid to move along with the information technology of this 21st century. The Federal Government of Nigeria on September 30, 1999 launched the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme, which is aimed at promoting literacy in Nigeria.
Durosaru (2020) observed that the blueprint for UBE defines it as the foundation for sustainable lifelong learning that provides reading, writing, and numeracy skills. It makes provision for a wide variety of formal and informal activities and programmes designed to enable learners to acquire functional literacy. Moreover, it is meant to prepare the children for the future, with the ability to think rationally and to solve problems creatively, to manage and retrieve information, in addition to communicating effectively. He further opined that it is also designed to instill lifelong learning as a habit, since lifelong learning is the organizing principle for education. The mission of education for children and youth is the development of skills for self-directed enquiry rather than the mere inculcation of subject matter. Information is a critical resource in the operation and management of organizations. Timely availability of relevant information is vital for effective performance of managerial functions such as planning, organizing, leading, and control.
Digital technologies are electronic tools, systems, devices and resources that generate, store or process data. Well known examples include social media, online games, multimedia and mobile phones.Digital learning is any type of learning that uses technology. It can happen across all curriculum learning areas. Any information used on a computer or disseminated on a computer is known as digital technology. Digital technology can enhance the level of creativity and distribution of information. Some examples of digital technology are “computer programs and software; web pages and websites, including social media; data and databases; digital audio.
According to Lucey (2015) the concept of information in an organizational sense is more complex and difficult than the frequent use of this common word would suggest. Information is facts that have been processed into meaningful and useful context for a specific purpose to meet the information needs of any given establishment. The pool of data available to an organization, from external 16 and internal sources is limitless; thereby making organizations to be selective in what is relevant. Hence the need for adequate information management
Statement of the Problem
Some years ago, the need for digital technologies did not arise. This is because schools functions could be performed using manual typewriters, electric typewriters, manually operated photocopiers and other equipment operated manually to carry out the school functions. Developments and innovations have brought about tremendous changes in today’s schools and have enlarged the scope of teachers beyond just manual teaching. These innovations demand greater responsibilities and improved performance on the part of teachers in view of their vital roles in teaching process. Agboola (2006) observed that despite the significance roles played by government and schools in implementing the use of digital technologies in school, a number of primary school teachers have not given much attention to it. This might due to lack of expertise in the use of this technologies, monotony and fair that computer applications might lead to loss of job, unemployment, redundant at lower cadre or even being replaced with computer operators. Okoli (2010) affirmed that it could make preschool teachers narrow minded, rigid, unprofessional, academically inadequate, unorganized, slow, incompetent, and old fashioned workers.
