Potentials for IT Adoption in Distance Education: The Case of Ethiopian National Defense Distance Education
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Date
2016-07
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A.A.U
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the potentials for IT adoption in Distance Education particularly in the Ethiopian National Defense Distance Education system. The populations of this study included Administrators and Coordinators, tutors and students. A total of 196 respondents have participated in this study.
For a better understanding of the situation a mixed (Quantitative and Qualitative) research approach was employed. Questionnaire, Interview, Focus Group Discussion and Observation were used as means of data collection. Frequency and Percentiles were used for analyzing the quantitative data while the qualitative data were thematically organized, categorized and examined to understand the emerging patterns of responses.
The findings of the study reveal that, in the current practice of the army Distance Education system, there are limitations on the distribution method, delivery media, completeness and quality of learning materials. The survey responses from students showed that the availability of library service is very poor. Furthermore, even though the learners’ access level for information technology is limited to some technology types, their level of skill on using IT is encouraging. The findings also revealed that administrators and tutors have positive attitude towards IT use in education specially, in their distance education activities and they have good level of IT skill. In addition, the study has identified that there are already established different Information Technology infrastructures around the army locations and they are developed for educational purposes. Finally, based on the findings, recommendations are forwarded.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Addis Ababa University in Partial Fulfillment of
The Requirements for the Degree of Master
Of Science in Information Science
Keywords
Distance Education, IT Adoption, Ethiopia