UTILIZATION OF INTERNET RESOURCES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING OF BIOLOGY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ENUGU EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the utilization of internet resources in teaching and learning of biology in senior secondary schools. The study was guided by three research questions, two hypotheses and it adopted the descriptive survey design. The population of the study consisted of 100 senior secondary students of Umuchigbo High school, Iji-Nike (henceforth referred to as UHSI) in Enugu East Local government Area of Enugu state. Purposive sampling technique was adopted to obtain the sample for the study. The instrument used for the study was questionnaire designed by the researcher which was validated by experts. Arithmetic mean was used as tool for analysis while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at .05 level of significance. Findings revealed that utilization of internet resources maximized students’ engagement and enhanced their knowledge about biology. However, usage could be affected by students’ lack of ICT skills and ICT resources being sources of distraction. Teachers’ factors including lack of ICT skills, lack of adequately-trained biology teachers, high cost of data and limited support from the management as well as ignorance among biology teachers on the benefits of the use of Internet resources were limiting factors to utilization of internet resources. Findings also revealed that facility factors influenced utilization of internet resources among senior secondary school students. Such facilities include well-equipped ICT laboratory, computers and other devices as well as internet connectivity. Findings also showed that there was no significant difference between the mean response scores of students and teaches on students’ factors that limit the utilization of internet resources in teaching and learning of biology in senior secondary schools in UHSI; and there was no significant difference between the mean response scores of students and teaches on teachers’ factors that limit the utilization of internet resources in teaching and learning of biology in senior secondary schools in UHSI. Some recommendations were made: including government and school management board should provide computers and other internet resources to secondary schools; schools should organize trainings on digital skills acquisition for both teachers and students; schools should find a way to balance student freedom with administrative oversight over what students can and cannot access over the internet to avoid misuse.