Provision and usage of computer and internet facilities at the college of education of the university of Rwanda

Abstract

The gist of this paper is to assess the provision and usage of computer and internet facilities at the college of education of the University of Rwanda. The study had three fold objectives: i) determine the level of provision of computer and internet facilities, ii) determine the level of satisfaction in the usage of computer and internet facilities by students and lecturers, iii) highlight the challenges in the use of computer and internet and devise remedial measures. The study was based on a resource based approach theory. The study employed a descriptive survey research design. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select 134 respondents constituting 95 students and 33 academic members of staff. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used to collect and analyze data. The findings revealed on one handthat the investigated Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities -computer and access to internet connectivity-were not yet satisfactory and even not deeply integrated into teaching and learning. The major challenges observed are notably improper maintenance and poor service delivery reported against ICT technical staff, lack of advanced ICT literacy and zeal to change the old practices for some lecturers and the large use of the internet connectivity for non-academic purposes. It is recommended that the Government of Rwanda, through the relevant line ministries, should put in place and strictly enforce an ICT policy that removes all constraints to access to the technology literacy and application in order to enable lecturers, students and wider Rwandese community cope with the currently highly digitalized world