Private and public schools dichotomies in the adoption and use of information and communication technology

This study investigated the adoption and use of ICT in private and public secondary schools in Kwara State, Nigeria. It particularly examined the availability of ICT infrastructures, ICT adoption factors and the uses to which ICTs are put in the schools. The study also identified the effects and challenges faced by private and public schools in their use of ICT. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. A purposive sampling technique was adopted for selecting 40 schools (20 public and 20 private) from seven local governments in the 3 senatorial districts in Kwara State. Questionnaire was the main data collection instrument used. Descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage distributions were the analytical tools adopted. Findings revealed that private secondary schools have and use ICT more than their public school counterparts in their operations but computers was the only ICT facility common in the public schools. Also, the use of Computer Aided Instruction software was not widespread in the public schools. Findings equally revealed that private secondary schools increase their ICT use by buying more ICT equipment and permitting free access to them unlike their public school counterparts that rely solely on the government for the supply of ICT equipment. Constraints such as erratic power supply, high cost of ICT facilities, improper training of ICT personnel among others were identified as the factors militating against the adoption and ICT use in the schools. Based on these findings recommendations were made. The Information Technologist Vol. 5 (1) 2008: pp. 52-7

Use Of Indigenous Knowledge By Rural Women In The Development Of Ogun State

This article is based on a study that investigated rural women's use of indigenous knowledge (IK) in the development of Ogun State. Among others, the study aimed at identifying the nature and types of IK being used by the rural women, the extent of use as well as the domains of use. It equally aimed at finding out how the rural women's use of IK has positively affected sustainable development in Ogun State. The survey research design was adopted. The targeted population comprised rural women in Odeda local government area of Ogun State. A purposive sample of 250 respondents was selected. Data was collected with an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire and analyses were carried out using frequencies and percentage distributions. Findings revealed that the majority of the rural women were farmers and illiterates but have vast knowledge of traditional medicine. There was an extensive use of oral IK in various domains: culture transfer and preservation, food security, saving and lending money, population control, childcare, etc but its greatest impact was in the area of food production. Keywords: Rural women, sustainable development, indigenous knowledge.Indilinga Vol. 7 (1) 2008: pp. 47-6

Factors Influencing Indigenous Knowledge Data Elicitation from Herbal Medicinal Practitioners in South-Western Nigeria

Indigenous knowledge (IK) has faced and is still facing threats of extinction owing to lack of or inadequate documentation of its processes and usefulness. Researches in IK have, for many years, suffered a herculean task of data elicitation which in essence has negatively affected its documentation. This study was carried out to establish factors that influence IK data elicitation. Traditional medicinal indigenous knowledge (MIK) formed the scope of the investigation with a limit to herbal medicine practices in South-western Nigeria. Grounded theory research design employing interviewing and direct observation data collection methods was used to collect data from purposive sampled respondents of 20 herbalists across six states of South-western Nigeria. Findings revealed that familiarity and compensation facilitate openness of knowledge holders to share information. Thus, researchers should engage the service of key informants and be willing to compensate knowledge holders for their effort so as to achieve a successful enquiry process.Keywords: South-western Nigeria, Data elicitation, Indigenous Knowledge, Grounded Theory, Traditional Medicinal Indigenous Knowledg

Effects of demographic factors on bank customers' attitudes and intention toward Internet banking adoption in a major developing African country

This study provides an African perspective to the global research and literature on retail customer adoption of Internet banking (IB). It empirically examines the influence of seven demographic variables – age, gender, level of education, marital status, employment status, income level and area of residence – on retail banking customers' behaviours toward IB adoption in a major developing African country – Nigeria. A sample of 500 customers was surveyed, and ANOVA and multiple regression analyses were used in testing the association of the variables with customer attitude and intention toward IB adoption. Although all seven variables were correlated with attitude and intention, only gender, level of education, and employment status showed significant ability to influence Nigerian customers' attitude and intention toward IB adoption. The study therefore concludes that gender, level of education, and employment status are the major demographic affecters of Nigerian banking customers' attitudes to IB adoption

Holistic factors that impact the under-representation of women in ICT : a systematic literature review

An under-representation of women in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry exits. Current research tends to focus on either social aspects (social construction) or physical aspects as cause for this phenomenon. Consequently, there is a lack of a holistic perspective of factors that causes the under-representation of women in ICT. This research provides a holistic perspective of factors that causes the under-representation of women in the ICT industry. This research was performed by conducting a systematic literature review that considered 89 articles to identify factors that cause the under-representation of women in ICT. The identified factors were classified as: organizational, economical and socio-psychobiological. The under-representation of women in ICT can now be better addressed by holistically considering this classification of factors to increase female participation in ICT.http://www.springer.comseries/111562021-10-22hj2021Informatic