Exploring the Trend of ICT Adoption in Tertiary Institutions in Ghana: A Case Study at Kwame Nkrumah University Of Science And Technology (KNUST)

The integration of ICT in tertiary institutions is critically important, if Ghana is to produce graduates equipped to for knowledge and technological based economy and also to bridge the gaps between itself and the rest of the world. This research examines the trend and use of ICT adoption in Ghana, and its effect on teaching, research and learning in tertiary institutions in Ghana. Mixed data collection method was used. Data was collected on the trend of ICT infrastructure within the past 10 years. There are many technology infrastructures available but it is not fully integrated in teaching, research and learning. While the practice of equipping institutions with ICT infrastructure and using them to teach computer literacy to augment teaching, research and learning is useful, the goal of fully integrating ICT in educational, research, and administrative processes seems very slow. Another issue is lack of affordable and dependable connectivity with sufficient bandwidth. The unwillingness to use ICT coupled with unreliable electric supply complicates the matter. To make these methods ready for practical, industrial use, they need further work, especially the creation of supports and investment in infrastructure. The full potential of technology will only be unlocked by effective approaches to other essential IT challenges to Ghanaian education. Keywords: ICT, Infrastructure, Tertiary Institutions, and Ghana

Factors Affecting ICT Adoption in Tertiary Institutions in Ghana: A Case of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Ghana as a country has made ICT its cornerstone for development, this is evident from its ICT policy of ICT4D; part of this policy is to promote ICT in schools in other to turn the country into an information society. This study is to help understand the factors affecting ICT adoption and use in tertiary institutions in Ghana. This is an imperial study utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. The study showed that perceive usefulness and ease of use is a primary factor driving ICT adoption. The study also revealed that ICT is not fully integrated in teaching, research and learning at KNUST. A major obstacle is that though most users are aware of the potential benefits they are not ready or unwilling to fully embrace ICT. Several factors were also identified including inadequate infrastructure and skills to use ICT. The study recommended that management of Tertiary Institutions in Ghana must have a clear model of integration that will help to increase the adoption and use of ICT in their institutions. In fact, the integration of ICT is associated with several factors that encourage and discourage the use of ICT which the researcher termed as enabling forces and restraining forces. Therefore, to increase the rate of ICT adoption, Tertiary Institutions need to improve the encouraging factors and reduce the discourage factors to a minimal. Keywords:ICT Adoption, Tertiary Institutions, Ghana, Model of Integration, ICT4D