ASSESSMENT OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES ADOPTION AMONG ACADEMIC STAFF OF AGRICULTURE IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN KATSINA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined the information and communication technologies adoption among academic staff of agriculture in tertiary institutions in Katsina State, Nigeria. The population of the study consisting of 122 academic staff teaching Agriculture in tertiary institutions in Katsina State and entire population was used for the study. Data were collected using structured questionnaire and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The result reveals that 37.2% of the respondents were within age bracket of 41-50 years with a mean of 51 years. Majority (94.2%) of the lecturers were married and 44.5% of respondents had 1-5 in their household with a mean of 8 persons. More than half (53.2%) of respondents had a Bachelor Degree. The result further revealed that 43.4% of the lecturers had a teaching experience of 16-20 years with a mean of 15 years and 21.3% are assistant lecturers. The results further revealed that, GSM had high adoption level in the study with a mean of  = 3.00, search engines = 2.94, E-mail = 2.84, computer = 2.91 and printer = 2.65. The regression analysis result reveals that age of the lecturers and teaching experience were positive and significant (P≤0.01), Household size and educational level were also positive and significant (P≤0.05). The major constraints that hinder adoption of ICTs in the study area were computer Illiteracy = 3.75, unstable power supply = 3.76, poor economic conditions of the academic staff = 3.56, changes in Government policies = 3.66, limited technical support from institution  = 3.54, Internet and electronic insecurity = 3.64. The study concluded that, socio-economic characteristics of academic staff play a significant role on the adoption of ICT facilities for lecturing, research and records management in Tertiary Institutions in Katsina State. It is recommended that, there should be a policy of continuous training of academic staff on the use of modern ICTs for improved job performance and delivery, relevant government agencies should make effort at ensuring steady power supply to increase the effective use of ICT facilities by the academic staff in the study area.