Integration of Technologies (ICTs) in Teaching : Case of Buea University, Cameroom

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study investigates barriers to the integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in teaching with special focus on the Faculties of Education and Health Sciences at the University of Buea. It also looks at the views and actual use of ICTs by faculty members of the aforementioned Faculties. The study adopted a qualitative approach. A face-to-face interview was conducted with fourteen faculty members of these two faculties, together with other university officials. Documentaries, policy documents and Internet sources were also consulted for existing literature. Data analysis revealed that faculty members of these Faculties perceive there is a comparative advantage over the traditional teacher-led method and are willing to integrate them into their lessons, but fall short of financial, technical, material, and human resources. It revealed a number of obstacles that lie at the level of faculty members; the institution and the state which perturb the integration of ICTs in teaching in these Faculties. It was also realised that the most critical barriers lie at the level of the state, which until now has no detailed well-defined ICT policy document for higher education institutions, and as a consequence, universities have not made ICTs in education a priority. The study is important because it unveiled the barriers to the integration of ICTs in university to teaching, and the levels at which they are rooted. The Faculties of Education and Health Sciences and the entire University can use these barriers to seek ways to overcome them and engage in ICTs use in education. The study concludes that, the long time reluctance of societies to accept and embrace science is affecting its methods of research especially in developing countries. Equally, the late penetration of ICTs in developing countries is affecting their institutions. Also, that so long as the quest for more knowledge continue to grow, more new and sophisticate methods will be deployed to go about this, and it is the responsibility of all societies to endeavour to keep to the pace in order not to be left behind. However, this integration will hardly come easily because the faculty members have mixed feelings about ICTs credibility in teaching as compared to the traditional methods. We recommended in this study that, faculty members as well as higher education institutions should be motivated in the various ways so that the importance and benefits of ICTs in education, in daily life and in the entire society be felt in Cameroon as it aims to become an emerging nation in the year 2035.