EFFECTS OF BLENDED LEARNING ON OFFICE TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT STUDENTS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND INTEREST IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN SOUTH WEST NIGERIA

Background to the Study

Office technology and management (OTM) programme is a fundamental part of vocational education in the Department of Business Education in Colleges of Education. This programme offered knowledge, skills, in-depth administrative office preparation to meet the demands and challenges in the business environment (Okagbare & Fredrick, 2009). Office Technology and Management, according to Yakubu (2009), is a programme from which students can obtain office administrative skills applicable to various careers, industries as well as cognitive skills transferable to other employment situations and life experience. Some of the objectives of teaching OTM, according to  the National Commission for Colleges of Education (2012), include equipping graduates with the right skills that will enable them engage in a life of work in the office as well as for self-employment and to produce Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) business teachers who will be involved in the much desired revolution of vocational development right from the primary to tertiary institutions. The knowledge and skills offered by the programme had advanced OTM profession.

Office technology and management profession had reached an advanced stage that the responsibilities of a secretary now extend to wider boundaries far beyond that of a mere typist. Thus a secretary can be regarded as a worker or office technologist who can be delegated with greater and more complex responsibilities which include decision making on simple and complicated issues, representing the boss in board meetings, and overseeing complex office duties in compliance to standard (Ugwu, 2009). The advancement had caused a revolution for use of computer.

There is a growing revolution throughout the educational sector for use of computer technology in the teaching and learning process. New and continuing advances in technology have contributed to the possibility of creating teaching materials in more accessible,

interactive and highly visual style. Online and real-time interaction is a powerful combination that makes teaching and learning interesting and participatory for both student and instructor (Piontek, 2013). Piontek further stressed that transmission of knowledge and information which used to be done through the lecture teaching method at the colleges of education level is globally being done electronically. The conventional mode of teaching office technology education courses in Colleges of Education in Nigeria is the lecture method.

The students in 21st century and ICT age are bored of long lectures and dictations, rote memorization and interaction in the classroom because technology is making learning better, more fun and interactive (Piontek, 2013). Students today have become digital natives and are very comfortable with technology long before they enroll in higher education. Technology has transformed how they live, communicate, interact and learn within and outside classes. They are much familiar with electronic learning brought by the advent of technology unlike the lecture teaching method which requires the physical presence of both students and the teacher in the four walls of a classroom setting.

Hadzimehmedagic and Akbarov (2013) stressed that in lecture teaching method the teacher plays the primary role in informing the learners through explicit instructions supplemented by textbooks and demonstrations. The teacher disseminates instructions to a set of students convening in a classroom. Lecture teaching method emphasizes learning through the teacher‟s guidance at all times while students are expected to listen and learn from the lectures. In order to ascertain students‟ achievement or educational outcomes from the series of instructions on topics taught in a subject of study, the teacher at interval administers tests in the class to measure the individual student‟s knowledge and the individual student‟s academic achievement in the subjects of study. Most of the tests are conducted in form of an essay, objective and practical. Lecture teaching method has its merits and demerits to both the teacher and the students. Akpoghol, Samba and Asemave (2013) posited that lecture method is one of the conventional methods of teaching that involves oral presentation of ideas.

Instruction in the classroom is often carried out on a one-to-many basis, with the teacher, before an audience of dozens of students, playing a traditional role which over the years had yielded positive impact.

The positive impact of lecture teaching method to the teachers and students according to Hadzimehmedagic and Akbarov (2013) include the fact that the students receive formal education and learn to focus on the study at hand. The teacher has full control of the direction of the lesson and the quality of the overall teaching and learning process. The method also allows the instructor to determine the aims, content, organization, pace and direction of a presentation. Since the conventional teaching method requires the physical presence of students and the teacher, the teacher monitors the students‟ learning progress and deals with unanticipated students‟ ideas, questions and comments. The advent of ICT had created a vacuum which lecture method could not fill, which have constituted its demerits.

Demerits of lecture teaching method apply to both teachers and students. This teaching method is teacher-centered where the teacher often presents information to students instead of encouraging them to interact, ask questions or make them understand the lesson thoroughly (Hadzimedagic & Akbarov, 2013). Most classes involve rote learning, where students depend on memorization without having a complete understanding of the subject. Long lectures and dictations, rote memorization and little interaction in the classroom often leave students‟ less attentive and less involved. They are prone to skipping classes and missing lesson altogether. Moreover, students in a conventional teaching method class have little opportunity to interact with their classmates or their teacher. To achieve the objective of teaching and learning process, Mbah and Onwuzo (2010), stated that teachers must adopt modern teaching strategies or techniques that will foster effective communication and interaction with students. Students benefit from interactive exercises and they can redo the exercises as many times as they like until they are satisfied with the results. As learners become used to evaluating and selecting materials, they are able to plan out their own use of web-based materials in their own time.

This helps them to become independent learners. Moreover, the use of technology can be time-saving. Creating course materials online for students to access can save the teacher the time and expense of photocopying. According to Rodriguez (2011), the use of social media technology in teaching and learning process has moved discussions and interactions that were once private and situated in the classroom to a more open space where others can contribute. The use of blended learning is the product of the transition of ICT from discussions and interactions that were once private and situated in the classroom.

Ukamaka (2014) in her study defined blended learning as a computer-mediated instructional strategy that leverages technology and focuses on the student-teacher relationship to enhance independence, engagement and achievement. Moreover, in blended learning; blending not only includes technology but real life experiences too. As the word indicates it is a blend of Teacher-Led Instructions by face to face interactive session, Web- Based Assessments through feedback, reflection, outcomes. Computer-Mediated Instruction includes digital, visual, e-learning and printed instructions using traditional study material. It involves a combination of lecture (face-to-face) and online technology-based learning (Wang, 2011). Aslam (2015) illustrated blended learning as the traditional classroom environment on one end of the spectrum and on the other end of the spectrum is the student learning at a computer at home. Poon (2013) was of the opinion that blended learning motivates students to learn on their own at their own pace and in their own time.

Blended learning, in the context of this study, involve combining blog and Google classroom (online) with face-to-face physical co-presence of teacher and students (lecture teaching method) (See Appendix XVII, p. 149). The universal nature and the special features of the blog as a platform for publishing the document online have made blog potential resources to foster an effective environment to support teaching and learning (Quan-Haase, 2008). The blog has over the years constituted one category of online sites that are growing in prominence in the world (Smith, 2013). The blog is an online or web publication of materials

or documents. A blogged material becomes automatically an online hosted material or document. The use of the blog had been diversified beyond just being used for marketing purposes, such as advertising and sales, to an instrument for teaching and learning. The platform provides room for interactions and can be accessed at any time possible by the users. It enhances privacy and information security that limits outsider access to the blog site. Most importantly, the blog has features that could support interactive style or communication and collaboration required for effective teaching and learning process (Smith, 2013). In agreement with the above fact, Reinder (2010) posited that learner autonomy has a significant role in successful learning since learning becomes more interesting, meaningful and continuous if learners take responsibility for their own learning as they learn what they are ready to learn. It can also serve as one of the alternative means for shy students to be able to voice their thoughts in and outside the classroom and to also collect their thoughts and articulate them in writing. Therefore, the use of a blog and Google classroom to support lecture method may be a good solution to improving interactive learning, social presence among students, academic achievement and interest.

Academic achievement is a multifaceted construct that comprises different domains of learning and covers a broad variety of educational outcomes. Its definition depends on the indicators used to measure it (Steinmayr, Meibner, Weidinger & Wirthwein, 2015). Academic achievement according to Adeyemi (2008) is the scholastic standing of a student at a given moment. It has to do with the successful accomplishment of goal(s). The purpose of testing an achievement is to help the teacher and the students evaluate and estimate the degree of success attained in learning a given concept. Adeyemi stressed further that it is also useful in testing the retention of information and skill. It is equally appropriate in determining the efficiency of instruction. One of the issues at stake in education today is students‟ achievement measure in relation to teaching and the overall success of learning outcome. Academic achievement represents performance outcomes of the extent to which a student, teacher or institution ha

achieved their educational goals. Academic achievement is commonly measured by examination or continuous assessment, but there is no general agreement on how it is best ascertained. Students‟ interest is a strong mechanism that could influence their academic achievement in a subject.

Interest drives one towards action, especially when such action benefits one thereby forming a relationship between a person and an object (Isukpa, 2014). Okoro (2011) stated that one of the strongest factors affecting students‟ interest in sciences (basic science) is the method of instruction adopted by the teacher which highly correlates with their perception of the subject relevant to their future career. It encompasses the positive, pleasant feelings an individual has when trying to study a subject-matter (Magnus, 2008). Interest governs one‟s feeling and attitude towards a particular thing or activity. It implies, therefore, that the degree of interest one has in a subject or activity is determined by the level of value placed on the expected something derivable from the object or activity. If a student shows a higher interest in a course, this would help them to put in more time, effort and energy in learning which will, in turn, lead to higher or better achievement. Ukamaka, (2014) opined that direct interest increases the strength of ego-involvement of the learner and does not allow learners to be distracted by trivial extraneous events in the perceptual environment. Interest in this study simply referred to the mental state of students in relation to teaching and learning of office technology and management education. It is, therefore, necessary that teachers should use teaching methods that ensured active involvement, provide a suitable learning environment in teaching and learning process to improve academic achievement and stimulate the interest of the male and female students.

Gender is one of the variables that have been related to differences found in interest and academic achievement. In Nigeria, the circumstances of gender have strongly interested with culture to produce sex role-stereotypes, which is the socio-cultural classifications of human activities by sex in line with what the society considers as appropriate for one sex or

the other (Nzewi, 2010). Ukwueze (2010) is of the opinion that the instructional method used in the classroom has a way of either positively or negatively influencing students‟ gender and their academic achievements. Okoro (2011) noted that co-operative learning strategy favours females more than males while competitive learning favours males more than females. Gender is a very important variable in this study because personal orientation and thinking style of male and female students may play a crucial role in students‟ academic achievement and interest. Bertea (2009) opined that e-learning embraces the active participation of male and female students. Askar, AltunandIlgaz (2008) and Adas and Abu-Samais (2011) found a significant difference between male and female students exposed to blended learning in their study. Similarly, Mahmoud, Ahmed and Mirna (2012) reported that there is a significant difference between male and female students‟ who experience blended learning courses. With the contradictions and lack of a clear trend in gender influence on students‟ academic achievement and interest, more records of investigations have become necessary to establish a base for this study. Nwalado and Oru (2016) reveals that there is a continuous poor academic achievement of business education students in Nigeria Colleges of Education in recent years.

Information obtained from Colleges of Education reveals a poor performance of students of business education, in which office technology students‟ are inclusive. Osun State College of Education, Ilesha, Osun State, Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo, Oyo State and Adeyemi College of Education reveals that those who obtained credit grade and above were below 40 percent while those below merit were above 60 percent (Departmental record, FCE (Special), Oyo, 2018; Departmental record, Osun State College of Education, Ilesha, 2018) (See Appendix XVIII, Pp.150-153), thereby producing graduate that are below the standard of employers.

The high rate of unemployment among school leavers in Nigeria is an indicator that school leavers OTM graduates inclusive are deficient in requisite learning outcomes needed for employment; and moreover, those who eventually are employed are employed for a low

paid job without job security (See Appendix XIX, p. 154). The traditional method of teaching has been criticized by many educational theorists and researchers for its inability to facilitate active learning, thereby, retarding learners‟ interest, engagement and creativity (Reinder, 2010). In order to determined whether blended learning method will yield better academic achievement in office technology and management education and to ascertain gender effects on academic achievement and interest of students necessitated the present study.