THE PERCEPTION OF STUDENTS TOWARDS THE INTRODUCTION OF WEB PAGE DESIGN INTO THE OTM CURRICULUM USING FEDREAL POLYTECHNIC NEKEDE, OWERRI AS A CASE STUDY
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY: The global economy has evolved from its traditional structure into one that is driven by technology economy. This continual development has resulted in a major change in occupations and skills, and as a result, it has encouraged the incorporation of information and communication technology (ICT) into most sectors of life (CISCO, 2008; Partners in Education Transformation, 2010). As a consequence of this, the majority of jobs today demand candidates who are able to utilize the Internet to access e-business services, communicate via email, Instant Messaging (IM), and other modern communication tools, utilizing network computer technologies or other smart mobile devices (Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative, 2013).
According to Meeker (2012)'s research, around 28 percent of the population in Nigeria makes use of the Internet's resources, making them the country with the highest percentage of Internet users in all of Africa. Adewoye and Oni (2011) further traced the growth of Internet users from the year 2000, pointing out that the number of Internet users in the year 2000 was approximately 0.1% of the population of approximately 142, 895, 600, and by the year 2011, the population had risen to approximately 26.5%, describing the growth as sporadic. Adewoye and Oni (2011) also pointed out that the number of Internet users in the year 2000 was approximately 0.1% of the population of approximately 142 This increase in Internet use suggests a favorable environment for digital marketing and is a forerunner for the expansion of electronic commerce, or e-commerce, in Nigeria (Oborah, 2014). The unpredictable expansion of the internet is having a profound effect on the needs of many jobs. Workers in the workplace of the 21st century need to be able to continually improve and reinvent themselves in order to stay up with the rapid pace of global change (Dede, 2007; Kotelnikov, 2009). Since more and more mundane jobs may be mechanized, computers and other technological devices are gradually replacing humans in their performance of such duties. Because of advances in information and communications technology (ICT), cognition—both thinking and action—is now dispersed throughout the brains and hands of humans, which has significant consequences for both the subject matter that individuals learn and the method by which they acquire it.
The creation and implementation of an educational program's curriculum has a significant impact on the institution's ability to achieve its goals, whether those goals are met or not. In the same way that a floor plan is drawn out for a home, a curriculum is an organized set of guidelines or instructions that are meant to be followed during the process of teaching and learning in an official educational setting. There are many in the field of curriculum who maintain that the content of a country's educational system is directly correlated to that country's level of prosperity or poverty. This is due to the fact that the curriculum is where, first, the values, hopes, and aspirations of a country are understood. Therefore, the curriculum is comprised of a well plotted out programme that details what should be taught, how it should be taught, when it should be taught, and how it should be evaluated.
Because of the dynamic character of the curriculum, it may be described in a number of different ways. The changes in conceptions are the result of shifts in how we think about knowledge, learners, and the roles that learners play. To accommodate the exponential growth of knowledge in society, the conceptions undergo shifts. In light of the aforementioned, Ferdinand (2007) defined the term "curriculum" as the sum total of all the experiences that are made available to a student under the aegis of the educational school. The curriculum is comprised of all of the activities that take place in the school and are intended to foster the cognitive, emotional, and psychomotor development of the students. It is a formal document that is utilized in the school or any other environment that is considered to be formal that is written for a student and acts as a guideline for a facilitator of learning.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
A worthwhile curriculum never settles into one set path. It is possible that it will be altered. It is very necessary to adapt the curriculum of the polytechnic institution to reflect the changing demands of society. This results in the study of office technology and management taking the place of secretarial studies in order to keep up with the changes in society and the increasing need for information and communication technology (ICT) jobs like web design. There was a significant shift in the course offerings at the polytechnic institute as a result of the emphasis placed on information and communications technology (ICT), with ICT holding the highest unit. This is in accordance with the first goal and objective for the acquisition of secretarial skills, which states that graduates of the Office Technology and Management (ND and HND) programmes should be able to fit properly into the office of any computerized organization and perform the functions of a secretary in a professional manner. This is in line with the first goal and objective for the acquisition of secretarial skills (Iredia, 2006).
Human and material resources are very important in realizing the mission and vision statements of OTM in higher institutions, which were aimed at meeting the skill and competency needs of the industry and society in general, in this age of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and how to use it to its maximum potential. It will be easier to fully execute the Office Technology and Management curriculum at higher education institutions if the resources are readily available and are of an adequate quality.
It has been noted that the majority of OTM graduates are unable to successfully use ICT devices such as smart phones, camcorders, laptops, Ipods, Iphones, improved versions of VCDS, PCS, Computer notebooks, pedometers, and so on, to say nothing of developing a website.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main aim of this study is to examine the perception of students towards the introduction of web page design into the OTM curriculum. Specifically, other aims of this study are to:
- Determine whether web page design has been introduced into the OTM curriculum.
- Determine whether students are perceive the introduction of web page design into the OTM curriculum to be significant.
- Determine whether students perceive the introduction of web page design as relevant to OTM undergraduates.
- Ascertain the perception of students on whether the introduction of web page design into the OTM curriculum will positively influences OTM undergraduates employability.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following research questions will be answered in this study:
- Has web page design been introduced into the OTM curriculum?
- Does students perceive the introduction of web page design into the OTM curriculum to be significant?
- Does students perceive the introduction of web page design as relevant to OTM undergraduates.
- Will the introduction of web page design into the OTM curriculum positively influence OTM undergraduates employability?
RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
The following null hypotheses will validate this study:
H0: Students does not perceive the introduction of web page design to be relevant to OTM undergraduates.
Ha: Students perceive the introduction of web page design to be relevant to OTM undergraduates
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The findings of this study would be of immense benefits to the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) which is the supervising body of all the polytechnics in Nigeria, polytechnic administrators, OTM academic staff and students, authors and publishers as well as researchers.
National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) will benefit a lot from the result of this study as it concerns the OTM curriculum. This is because the inadequacies detected in this report would become resource\reference materials on which curriculum reform can be carried out for better outcome. It is believed that a good curriculum reform will, to a great extent, meet up with the societal needs and individual’s efficiency and effectiveness in their community.
To the polytechnic administrators, the findings will enable them to establish effective methods of recruiting competent lecturers, who must have specialized in Office Technology and Management. It will also help the administrators to draw up proper monitoring and assessment programmes of Office Technology and Management courses at the various level of studies and also help them make the necessary adjustment, or changes which will definitely improve on the implementation of the Office Technology and Management curriculum, and it will also act as an elixir for the realization of set goals of Office Technology and Management programmes.
The OTM academic staff would benefit from the knowledge gained from this study since it will be an eye-opener, having assessed the implementation of office technology and management programmes in making constructive suggestions in areas of the programme that need modification and as well understand the importance of utilizing available equipment/facilities and instructional materials in teaching. The utilization will help to improve students’ mastery and performance
The revelation of the findings of this study will also enable the OTM students to have a better understanding of the course content, be well prepared and have confidence in themselves with a view to meeting and proffering solutions to challenges in their work places.
More importantly, researchers, authors, will use the findings of this research as a guide in developing relevant textbook and other instructional materials in relation to the current OTM curriculum, as well as updating the relevant materials to meet up with the technological changes in our modern offices. The information and data from this study will also help researchers who may wish to carry out related studies in the future.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study focuses on the perception of students towards the introduction of web page design into the OTM curriculum. Specifically, this study focuses on determining whether OTM students are aware of web page design, determining whether web page design has been introduced into the OTM curriculum, determining whether adequate preparation has been made for the introduction of web page design into the OTM curriculum and determining whether adequate preparation has been made for the introduction of web page design into the OTM curriculum. The study will be carried out in Fedreal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri.
1.8 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
In the course of carrying out this study, the researcher experienced some constraints, which included time constraints, financial constraints, language barriers, and the attitude of the respondents. However, the researcher were able to manage these just to ensure the success of this study.
Moreover, the case study method utilized in the study posed some challenges to the investigator including the possibility of biases and poor judgment of issues. However, the investigator relied on respect for the general principles of procedures, justice, fairness, objectivity in observation and recording, and weighing of evidence to overcome the challenges.
1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Web page design: Web design encompasses many different skills and disciplines in the production and maintenance of websites. The different areas of web design include web graphic design; user interface design; authoring, including standardised code and proprietary software; user experience design; and search engine optimization.
1.10 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDIES
The study is categorized into five chapters. The first chapter presents the background of the study, statement of the problem, objective of the study, research questions and hypothesis, the significance of the study, scope/limitations of the study, and definition of terms. The chapter two covers the review of literature with emphasis on conceptual framework, theoretical framework, and empirical review. Likewise, the chapter three which is the research methodology, specifically covers the research design, population of the study, sample size determination, sample size, and selection technique and procedure, research instrument and administration, method of data collection, method of data analysis, validity and reliability of the study, and ethical consideration. The second to last chapter being the chapter four presents the data presentation and analysis, while the last chapter(chapter five) contains the summary, conclusion and recommendation.