THE INFLUENCE OF ICT ON LEARNERS IN ADULT LITERACY CENTERS IN OREDO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF EDO STATE

ABSTRACT

This study examined the influence of information and communication technology (ICT) on learners in adult literacy centres in Oredo local government area of Edo state. Four research questions were formulated for the study which assessed; the ICTs available that can be adopted by adult learners in literacy centers to access information relevant to meet their various learning needs, the place of skillfulness of adult learners in ICT beyond basic literacy skills in the age of technology, the adaptability of adults to working conditions through the use of ICT in a knowledge
driven economy, the sustainable development of adult learners and its society through the use of ICT.
The study used the descriptive survey research design in carrying out the research. The population of the study comprised of adult learners in seven literacy centres from which a sample of 100 respondents were randomly selected. Data was collected through the use of a self designed questionnaire. Frequency count and simple percentage were used in analysing the data.
The findings from the study indicated that ICT devices such as the television and the radio set were available to improve adult learning whereas, more sophisticated gadgets like smart phones and internet subscription were not adequately used. On the aspect of the skillfulness of the adults in ICT uses, it was discovered that majority of the learners cannot effectively operate the computer, fully comprehend what the internet is and cannot efficiently browse the internet using smart phones and more so, could not use the ATM machine. Regarding the adults adaptability to working conditions requiring the use of ICTs, most of the adults were found to exhibit low capability in terms of working with ICTs. Furthermore, the development of the learners and its society were discovered to be hampered due to reasons that they could not carry out internet /mobile banking transactions, has not enrolled for an online learning programme, do not use news applications on their phones nor frequently subscribe to the internet and do not use social media to meet their learning needs.