CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Information and communication technology (ICT) is a programme that has changed

many aspect of the way people manage information and communication. If ICT is to be

compared with such fields as medicine, tourism, business, law, banking and architecture during

the past two or three decades, its note has been enormous. The way these fields operate before is

different from the ways they operate at present. As pointed out by Kennedy and MC Naught

(2000) when one looks at education there seems to have been less influence and change than

other fields have experienced. A number of people have attempted to explore this lack of activity

and influence, these include Soloway and Prior (2001) and Collins (2020)

Oliver and short (2019) stated that in recent times, factors have emerged which have

strengthened and encourage moves to adopt ICT in classrooms and learning settings. These have

included a growing need to explore efficiencies in terms of program delivery, the opportunities

for flexible delivery provided by information and communication technology system and the

growing use of internet and www as tools for information access and communication have

witnessed growth in recent time (Oliver and Towers, 2015)

ICT is a generic term that refers to technologies which are being used for collecting,

storing, editing and passing on information in various forms. A personal computer is the best

known example of the use of ICT in education, but the term multimedia is also frequently used.

Multimedia can be interpreted as a combination of data carriers, for example video, CD-ROM,

floppy disc and Internet and software in which the possibility for an interactive approach is

offered (Smeets, 1996).

 Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become key tools and had a

revolutionary impact of how we see the world and how we live in it. This phenomenon has given

origin to the contemporary and advances in our ways of life. ICT is having a revolutionary

impact on educational methodology globally.

Although ICT recognized resources will differ from school to school, opportunities to

create effective learning and teaching environments makes it necessary for tutors to not only talk

about ICT in the classroom but also to model best practice by demonstrating different ways in

which technology can enhance the delivery of ICT. ICT within the context of ICT teaching

should be used to create stimulating and motivating learning environments and provide a breadth

of experiences to trainee teachers. Tutors should therefore provide experiences that clearly

demonstrate to trainees how they too can use ICT in the delivery of ICT to the pupils they teach.

The world has turned to be a global village now as a result of Information

Communication Technology (ICT). Simply put, we are in the era of information age. These

technologies have brought profound changes to all human endeavours. The ease of data

collection, processing, transmission, and interpretation provided by these technologies have

engendered the flow of information across boards and between individuals, cultures,

nationalities, corporate bodies and organization as never before, causing great technological,

economic and social changes and binding the world ever more closely together. The call for the

21st century literacy in ICT simply reflects the fact that the call for an educated citizenry and

work force continues to rise to reflect changes in the society: Hardly could we not talk of

involvement of ICT in all sectors of life; be it in medicine, business, banking, politics, military,

economics, insurance, and even education. For teachers and their students, the availability of

modern computers, peripherals, networking and resources within an increasingly diverse range
of technologies is an essential part of learning and teaching in the 21st century. ICT constitutes

an input in the student learning process and this should help to produce better learning output.

The availability of ICT resources can enhance learning by making education less dependent on

differing teacher quality and by making education available at home throughout the day

(Mbwesa, 2020. Bonnet (2018) argues that the use of ICT can positively transmit knowledge to

students. Furthermore, the availability and use of ICT can help students exploit enormous

possibilities for acquiring information for schooling purposes and can increase learning through

communication (Riel, 2008).

Digital skills is the ability to use computers, operating systems or browsers to navigate the web;

second, a content-related dimension, that is the skills necessary to select, evaluate and re-use

digital information (van Deursen & van Dijk, 2021)

Access to digital contents plays a key role in student learning. Digital information literacy can

favor a more critical use of the information available on the internet, by reducing the likelihood

of using unreliable sources. Moreover, learning through digital contents can activate specific

cognitive processes, such as "trial and error" and simulations. More generally, digital literacy

can be expected to enhance the ability to use computers in educationally productive ways. As a

consequence, disparities in digital literacy may result in educational inequality and, in turn,

amplify inequalities in the labour market. Indeed, the available evidence indicates substantial

differences in digital literacy among different demographic and socio-economic groups (van

Deursen & van Dijk, 2019).

Academic performance is measured with the scores obtained by students in a standardised test

for either reading or leaming. The integration of technological awareness and leaming in senior
secondary schools today makes a significant strides towards the use of more interactive e-

learning strategies to effectively enhance overall performance of students and their trained

personnel. In many developed economies, several academic institutions make use of extremely

interactive e-learning that directly enhances students academic performance (Yakub, 2021)

Heeger (2010) report shows that secondary school students who generally participate in online

or e-leaming achieve far better amounts compared to secondary school students who

examined traditional methods. Due to emergence of advancements in educational technology,

c- learning is currently gaining substantial attention in education and for this reason; several

educational institutions are now pursuing application of electronic learning programmes. As

such, e-learning is continuously becoming well-established in a number of both private and

public secondary schools. Most of these secondary schools have become aware of the impacts

of e-learning on students' academic performance.

A broad range of learning approaches exists already, for example, e-learning, blended learning,

and distance leaming which utilize information and communication technology (ICT). The use of

ICT can benefit, for example, students in rural areas by having them attend classes as distance

learners and motivating them to learn. Regarding this, the potential of e-learning seems very

assuring, but because of gaps between developed and developing countries, knowledge

transfer is not only difficult but also costly. There is little systematic research into the overall

effectiveness of e-learning as a learning medium despite the great interest in it, while there is

much more work to be done, a variety of e-learning courses aimed at making sustainable

development a reality have been developed and demonstrate how e- learning can reach
thousands if not millions of minds and potentially plant the seeds of change.

There are already a number of c-learning programmes offered in developing countries. These

programmes are developed by various national and international initiatives. The growth of c-

learning programmes according to Lockwood and Gooley (2002) is driven by the need for and

potential of providing education in less expensive ways, increased access to information,

effective learning and greater flexibility.

It is imperative in this study to examine the effect of digital skills acquisition on the academic

performance of accounting education students in Lagos State Tertiary institution.

1.2 Statement of Problem

This study was necessitated by the deplorable state of educational system in Nigeria due to the

inadequate modern teaching-learning facilities and infrastructure. Most libraries in Nigerian

secondary schools do not possess required audio-visual learning materials and the ones that

have are hardly utilised as a result of incessant power outages and sometimes lack of

awareness on the part of the students. Formerly, schools depended on the face-to-face

classroom teaching and learning experience but the advent of the technology age has brought

about gadget that can improve such experiences. One of them has been the online instruction,

which has the potential to provide opportunities for reflective and integrating learning

outcomes. This approach when utilized provides the students with adaptive personalized digital

skills experiences because it is a practical approach which can be replicated by the students to

improve learning outcomes. It involves the use of mobile technologies such as personal digital

assistants and MP3/MP4 player and includes the use of web-based teaching materials,
computer rooms or websites, webinars, collaborative software and other technologies which

can enable the students attend lectures without been physically present. Mavins Beacon

application for students, e-mail, blogs, wikis, text chart, computer aided assistant, educational

animation, simulation, games, learning management software etcetera are other collaborative

packages available

On the basis, the statement of the problem is to evaluate the effect of digital skills acquisition

on the academic performance of accounting education students in Lagos State Tertiary

institution.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to examine the effect of digital skills acquisition on the

academic performance of accounting education students in Lagos State

Tertiary institution, while the specific objectives of the study are to:

I. examine the influence of digital skills acquisition on the academic performance of

accounting education students in Lagos State Tertiary institution.

II. ascertain the problems that is usually encountered in the use of information and

communication technology and academic performance of accounting education students

in Lagos State Tertiary institution

III. determine the availability of ICT gadgets in the teaching of accounting to students in

Lagos State Tertiary institution

IV. examine the impact of ICT tools on the teaching and learning of accounting to students
 in Lagos State Tertiary institution

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions were raised for the study:

I. What influence does digital skills acquisition on the academic performance of

accounting education students in Lagos State Tertiary institution?

II. What are the problems that are usually encountered in the use of information and

communication technology and academic performance of accounting education students

in Lagos State Tertiary institution?

III. How available are the ICT gadgets in the process of teaching accounting students in

Lagos State Tertiary institution?

IV. What are the impact of ICT tools on the teaching and learning of accounting education

students in Lagos State Tertiary institution?

1.5 Research Hypothesis

H01: There is no significant relationship between digital skills acquisition and

academic performance of accounting education students in Lagos State Tertiary institution.

H02: There is no significant relationship between problems that are usually

encountered in the use of information and communication technology and academic

performance of accounting education students in Lagos State Tertiary institution.

 H03: There is no significant relationship between availability of the ICT gadgets in the

process of teaching accounting students in Lagos State Tertiary institution.

H04: There is no significant relationship between the impact of ICT tools on the

teaching and learning of accounting education students in Lagos State Tertiary institution.

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study discusses the effect of digital skills acquisition on the academic performance

of accounting education students Lagos State. The availability and the effective use of

information and communication technology will provide support for modified educational

programme to meet the needs of individual learners. Effectiveness of information and

communication technology will develop ability to reason well, solve problems, communicate

effectively, negotiate outcome, manage time, project management and collaboration and team

work. Students, teachers and schools or institutions will find the outcome of this study useful in

their planning and other school activities. Moreover, the outcome of this study will in no small

measure increase the speed and accuracy of students in their day to day learning and also to

realize the importance of ICT in teaching and learning process.

This study is also a contribution to the field of knowledge that researchers in the area of

information and communication technology will find out in their research.

1.7 Scope of the study

 This study was limited to tertiary institutions in Lagos State, in investigating the effect of

digital skills acquisition on the academic performance of accounting education students.

1.9 Definition of terms

Digital Skills Acquisition: This is the range of abilities to use digital devices,

communication applications, and network to access and manage information.

Information and communication technology: The scientific method of storing and

processing information and corresponding, sharing, exchanging and sending such information

from one place to another.

Gadgets: A device or control that is very useful for a particular job.

Information: Facts or knowledge provided or learned.

Communication: The means of sending information.

Technology: The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.

CD-ROM: A compact disk that is used with a computer (rather than with an audio system); a

large amount of digital information can be stored and accessed but it cannot be altered by the

user.