ANALYSIS OF THE FACTORS AND ATTITUDES THAT INFLUENCE LECTURERS READINESS TO ADOPT DISTANCE EDUCATION AND THE USE OF ICT IN TEACHING: THE CASE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI BY A THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI. 0430047 1 DEPARTMENT OF EXTRA-MURAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI JUNE 2006 DECLARATION This thesis is my original work and has never been presented for a degree in any other university. This thesis has been presented for examination with our approval as university supervisors. Signed:_ Prof. Arno Faculty of Education Free University of Brussels School of Informatics and Computer Science University' of Nairobi Signed: _________D_ Date: -±l Dr. Robert Ayot, Faculty of External Studies University of Nairobi It COPYRIGHT This thesis may not be reproduced by any means, in full or in part, without written permission of the author, except for short extracts in fair dealiim. for research, or private study, critical scholarly review or discourse with acknow ledgement Christopher M. Gakuu, 2006 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this thesis is a result of the exceptional support and sacrifice made by a number of organizations and individuals. First, I would like to express m\ invaluable gratitude to Kenya -Belgium Co-operation Programme (VUR) for sponsoring my Ph.D studies. Second. I am indebted to all the people who. in one way or the other, facilitated my research work. I am particularly indebted to my supervisors. Professor Arno Libotton of Free University of Brussels (VLB). Dr. Elijah Omwenga and Dr. Robert Ayot both of University of Nairobi who consistently and patiently dedicated their intellectual contributions which greath shaped this study. Though the ideas were purely mine and all residual errors or omissions are solely my responsibility, the supervisors are and will remain my mentors in matters concerning research. I would like to specially express my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Libotton in person for introducing me to other professors in Europe (in particular Professor Despontin with whom we discussed the relevant statistical tools for this research study). In addition to my supervisors. I am indebted to professors Georges Eisendrath. Kenneth Mavuti. Henry Mutoro. Timothy Waema and all other scholars for their support, guidance and cooperation. Third. I am indebted to my fellow' Ph.D students at the University of Nairobi. Mrs. Harriet Kidombo. Mr. Oir.ondi Bowa, Mr. Robert Oboko, Patricia Muchiri( also for the editorial work) and Andrew Mungai for their invaluable support, cooperation and help. I am greatly indebted to my father Joseph Gakuu and my brothers Francis Muriuki Gakuu. Charles Maina Gakuu. my sisters Jane Wandia and Esther Gathigia for the support they gave my family when I was in Belgium pursuing my studies. In particular. I am indebted to Joe Watson Gakuu who worked with me as a research assistant. I cannot forget the much moral support I got from the families of James Kamunge Ngoima. Peter Mucheru Mwaura and Moses Muriithi. Last but certainly not least. I acknowledge with deepest gratitude the moral and spiritual support I got from my dear and loving wife Ruth Wanjiru Njora. my daughter i\ I lorence Wambui. my sons, Joseph Gakuu and Livingstone Njora who all missed my fatherly love when I was occasionally away in Belgium. \ DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my wife and children Wanjiru. Wainbui. Gakuu and Njora with love. VI ABSTRACT There has been a very low rate to adopt distance education and the use of information communication technology (ICT) based instructional delivery modes in the University of Nairobi by lecturers. This situation has hampered the expansion of distance education to all disciplines in the university. The aim of this research was to analyze the factors that influence the University of Nairobi lecturers' readiness to adopt distance education and the use of ICT based instructional delivery modes, and how lecturers' attitudes influence their readiness to adopt distance education and the use of ICT in teaching. Several studies conducted in both the developed and developing countries have generally agreed on the factors that deter lecturers from adopting ICT in delivering instruction in distance education (DE). The main factors cited by such studies are: increased time commitment (workload) for academic staff; lack of extrinsic incentives or rewards; lack of technical and pedagogical support: philosophical, epistemological and social objection. This study examined the factors that are critical in influencing the University of Nairobi lecturers' attitudes owards DE and their readiness to adopt distance education and the use of ICT in teaching. A structured questionnaire designed to elicit information on the factors and how their attitudes may influence their readiness to adopt ICT in distance education, was administered to a stratified sample of lecturers in all the six colleges of the University, factor analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA). and Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were the main tools used to analyze the data. The results indicate that the factors that influence lecturers' participation in distance education in other institutions in the world are basically the same and also important to the University of Nairobi lecturers. It is also apparent that lecturers' attitudes towards the adoption of DE are not negative as hypothesized. There is no significant difference of attitude towards the adoption of DE between the various university colleges. Level of readiness for adoption varies according to the college. There was vii /• significant difference in readiness to adopt DE between the colleges. Results indicate that there is a linear relationship between readiness to adopt DE(dependent variable) and the independent variables. It is evident that there is significant positive relationship between readiness to adopt DE and training in DE; formulation of an open and distance learning (ODL) policy: support from the University administrators; incentives provided to lecturers while participating in DE activities. However, there was a negative relationship between readiness to adopt DE and the efforts the lecturers are expected to put in translating course materials into DE formats; the time commitment the lecturers must sacrifice in DE activities and formulation of an intellectual property rights policy. The result also indicates that the University of Nairobi lecturers support the use of E-learning in teaching. The results aiso indicate that lecturers from “hard" science disciplines, (College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences (CAVS). College of Physical Sciences and Biological (CPBS), College of Health Sciences (CHS) and College of Architecture and Engineering (CAE) differ from social science (CEES and CHSS) lecturers in terms of the importance they attach to the factors that influence their readiness to adopt the use of ICT in teaching. viii Operational definition of terms I Adoption: A lecturer's/instructor's acceptance or rejection to participate in distance education activities. 2. Attitude: A lecturer's/instructor's feelings or perception towards the adoption of Distance Education in the University of Nairobi. 3. E-learning( Electronic learning;. Learning using any of the computer based methods. 4 Lecturer/faculty/instructor/ teacher: An individual who has been hired full-time or on part-time basis to give instruction to registered University of Nairobi students. 5. Readiness: A lecturer's/instructor's state of mental readiness to participate in distance education activities. 6. Regular course: A course that is taught face-to-face. The teacher and the student are at the same place at the same time. It is alternatively called the synchronous teaching. i\ Abbreviations and Acronyms /. AERA: American Educational Research Association. 2. APA: American Psychological Association. 3. ALN: Asynchronous Learning Networks. 4. ALNS: Asynchronous Learning Networks Systems 5. ANOVA: Analysis of Variance 6. CA E : College of Architecture and Engineering 7. CAVS: College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences 8. CBAM: Concern Based Adoption Mode 9. CBPS: College of Biological and Physical Sciences 10. CEES: College of Education and External Studies 11. CHS: College of Health Sciences 12. CHSS: College of Humanities and Social Sciences 13. CODL: Center for Open and Distance Learning 14. C.R.I: Course Redesign Initiative 15. DE: Distance Education 16. DL: Distance Learning 17. DT: Distance Teaching 18. ECER: Exceptional Child Education Resources. 19. ERIC: Educational Resources Information Center. 20. F.S.U: Florida State University 21. ICT: Information Communication Technology. 22. N.E.A: National Education Association 23. ODL: Open and Distance Learning. 24. OLE: On-line Education. 25. WWW: World Wide Web. x TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS....................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER ONE.................................................................................................................... 7 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................7 1. I BACKGROUND INFORMATION.......................................................................... 7 An Overview..................................................................................................................7 A Brief Historical