CHAPTER II

Review of related literature

This chapter deals with the literature reviewed in connection with the
place of information and communication technology in the teaching and
learning of secretarial skills in the polytechnic. The review of related literature
would be discussed under the following headings
1. Conceptual framework
2. Roles of ICT in the teaching and learning of word processing skills
3. Roles of ICT in the teaching and learning of internet skills
4. Roles of ICT in the teaching and learning of Management information
system (MIS) skills
5. Roles of ICT in the teaching and learning of data processing skills
6. Summary of literature review.

Conceptual Framework
Teaching, according to Overbaugh (2003), is said to be the science and art
of assisting a person to learn. To him, the science in teaching entails the use of
acquired knowledge from natural and behavioural sciences in order to help
appreciate the circumstances and personality of the learner while the art aspect
of teaching involves the use of creative and demonstrative skills in aiding the
delivery of instruction.
Technically, Overbaugh (2003) also views teaching as assisting the
learner to develop insight into a problem or to form as association between a
response and a stimulus. In the words of Overbaugh (2003), Ogwo and Oranu
(2006), they also viewed teaching as a partnership enterprise between the
teacher and the student, which ultimately leads to permanent changes in
behaviour of the student, the nature of teaching act is so complex and interated
that its dimensions, scope ans outcomes
5 need to be planned carefully and
systematically ever before teaching commences.
 According to Ajoma (2009), the central purpose of teaching is to effect
desirable changes in students behaviour (ie promotion of learning), for learning
to be promoted, students must respond to the learning experiences to which they
are exposed to enable the teachers determine whether or not instructional
objectives have been acquired. The teachers on the other hand must be
continuous learners as they cannot promote learning if they are ignorant of what
it takes to learn. They must therefore, know specific subject matter areas such as
shorthand, typing, Accounting, different computer packages among other
relevant requirement.
Learning as posited by Anderson and Block (1987), is a relative
permanent change in behaviour that manifests due to reinforced practices. They
maintained that the phrase “relatively permanent” excludes from the definition
changes in behaviour that result from temporary or transient conditions such as
fatique, influence of drugs or adaptation. They, from the view point of
development, further explain learning as “knowledge and skills accumulated
through out a life time.
Ajoma (2009), observed the fact that what we do today does not depend
only on our natural capabilities and maturational level, but also what we leant in
the past; he further said that learning is interactive and comes through active
interchange with the environment, either in movement and manipulation or in
observation and discrimination. Ogwo and Oranu (2006), describe learning as
“the process by which some activities enable the learner acquire experiences
that tends to influence (change) his/her future behaviour, provided that the
characteristics of the change in behaviour cannot be explained in a native
response tendencies, maturation or temporary state of the learner”. Ajoma
(2009), viewed that it is a common knowledge that for effective learning to take
place, there must be learning resources. These resources are devices, real
objects or representations which teachers use to communicate effectively with
learners. Example include real objects, models, projectors, overhead projectors,
films, radio, slide projectors, textbooks, pictures and charts, video taped
instructions, chalkboard and many more. These resources are very important,
Nwoji (1999), remarked that teaching and learning resources are very vital to
effective teaching and learning and should be employed by teachers in teaching.
In addition to learning resources which makes learning effective,
effective learning follows some learning processes. Learning processes are the
various ways through which learning occurs. Igboke (2005), listed some of
these learning processes as follows;
Trial and error: to achieve competence in a thing, mistakes are often made and
corrections taken until learners attain “perfection”.
Learning by doing: for instance, mathematics and accounts are leant by working
exercises, typewriting by frequent practicing everyday.
Learning by demonstration: here, the teacher conducts the operation or
construction before the class and explains his actions as he proceeds.
Learning by thinking: learners or students learn when their instructions allow
thinking by asking questions and taking part in the discussions.
Learning by installment: new knowledge is best acquired in small doses since
human mind is capable of absorbing only a limited amount of information at a
given time. Progress through a lesson should embrace series of steps, with each
step being understood or mastered before the next step is taken.
Learning by observation: learners acquire information, collect data and obtain
ideas about things and events as they watch the teacher perform, hence, the
learner’s abilities are developed.
Strategies and principles for teaching and learning secretarial education
consist of those laws or consistent pattern of behaviour which follows teaching
and learning. These include those non teaching attributes such as teacher’s
personality, commitments, efficiency in the use of schedule teaching (Eze, 1994
and Ogwo and Oranu, 2006). For example, a teacher may prepare a good lesson
but this is not a guarantee that the lesson will be taught if he is nasty, wicked
and uninterested in the students or work.
For teaching and learning of secretarial education to be effective, the
secretarial teacher should adhere strictly to these general rules (strategies and
principles) of teaching. Teaching as stated by Farrant (1982), Obi (2005), should
start from;
General knowledge to specific knowledge: for instance, the uses or
function/parts of a typewriter as a writing tool should be taught to learners
before teaching the importance of and handling of the cylinder of a typewriter to
them.
Concrete things to abstract things.
Known to unknown: teaching should be done with reference to a related
knowledge to the subject matter the learners already have.
Simple things to complex things: simple things are easier to remember than
complex ones.
Teaching should be learner centered
Eze (1994), gave other teaching strategies to be employed by teachers at a
particular time in order to maximize the teaching and learning outcome. Thus
teachers should;
Ensure the suitability of curriculum content selected for the subject matter in
order to achieve its intended outcome. Thus, teachers should;

Ensure the suitability of curriculum content selected for the subject matter in
order to achieve its intended outcome;

Choose and define appropriate teaching methods,

Choose and define appropriate instructional material for actualization of
learning and best delivery of the subject matter, and
Choose and determine the most appropriate evaluation technique for
achievement of the intended learning outcome at the end of the teaching and
learning process.
Continuing on some general principles of teaching and learning, Ogwo
and Oranu (2006), further pointed out the following;
Law of maturation: learners should wait on maturation as a child cannot learn
until he/she is ready (matured) to learn.
Motivation: this is a prime mover in human behaviour and refers in a classroom
situation to something the teacher does to get students interested or respond in
designated or given ways. These includes word of praise, good grades, smiles
and comment of approval like keep it up, good, excellent, carefully planned and
well delivered lessons also sustain and energize students interest in the planned
material.
Learning experiences should be meaningful to the learners: students are more
likely to learn concepts, attitudes and skills that are meaningful to them.
Secretarial education teachers should therefore relate their lectures to issues and
problems that have immediate and future concerns to learners and the society.

Principles of open and effective communication lectures should be presented in

ways that encourage students to discuss and ask questions.
Teacher’s attitude: secretarial education teachers should be positive and geared
towards motivating learners through showing love and concern, among other.
Duration: there should be a period of recess for fairly long periods of
workshop/laboratory practice for instance 5-6 hours. The secretarial education
teacher should plan the activities in such a way as to provide room for recess
after the first two or three hours of work.
Information refers to messages, facts or details about something or
somebody. According to Afeidia (2006), he defined information as data, which
has been processed in such a way as to be meaningful and useful to the person
who receives it. They refer to data as facts, activities and transactions which
have been recorded as raw materials from which information is produced.
According to Imolorihe (2006), information involves facts that are collected
which can be verbal, or written, through story or observation.
Communication, according to Adebayo (2006), human communication is
a subtle and ingenious set of process. It is always thick and thousands of
ingredients, signals, cold, meaningful no matter how simple the message or the
transaction. It is a varied set of process; it can use any one of a hundred different
means, either words or gesture. Whenever people interact, they communicate.
Ojukwu (2004), defines communication as a means used to transfer a
message from one person to another in the case of automated system. He further
said that communication is a two way process, it is concerned with
understanding and for communication to be successful; the idea convened must
be received without being altered, confused or misunderstood.
Information and communication technology (ICT) therefore is a
communication process in which information (inputs) is recorded, stored and
retrieved, processed for decision making (output) on planning, operation and
controlling (Ajoma, 2009). Thus it guarantees effective and efficient collection
of information for easy transmission to appropriate areas for immediate use in
planning, implementation and evaluation processes in educational programmes.
Ater, Tiough and Nevkar (2006), citing Williams and sawyer (2001), observed
ICT to be; computers, auxiliary equipments, software and firmware (hardware)
and similar procedures, services and related resources. It includes any
equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of acquisition, storage,
manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange,
transmission or reception of data or information.
ICT has globalized the world. Ayeni, (2005), said that ICT has reduced
the world to a global village, turning all parts of world to everybody’s
neighborhood. Thus, events in one part of the world have on people and
societies far away and vice-versa.
The roles of ICT in the teaching and learning of secretarial skills cannot
be over emphasized. Some of these roles include:
Acquisition of new ideas, knowledge, skills and methodology in teaching and
learning secretarial skills: Ajoma (2009), observed that with the help of ICT,
some ideas and skills adopted in developed countries like America and united
kingdom can now be read and learned through internet and satellite and be
applied in Nigeria. Educators and students now update their knowledge and
methodology through ICT.

Information and communication technology encourages teamwork. Employees

in globalize enterprises need to work as a team. It encourages educators and
students to engage in teamwork in order to share ideas, experiences and
knowledge that will help them teach, learn and solve their scientific problems.
Supporting this view, Dede (2006), said that computer supported collaborative
learning (C.S.C,L) is one of the measures brought in by ICT to help people learn
and work in team in global networked visual teams. CSCL also enhances team
performance through communicating each others ideas, creating group dialogue
and decision.

Information and communication technology has changed the methodology of

teaching and learning secretarial skills in schools. Teaching and learning has
been changed from traditional chalkboard to electronic learning requiring ICT
skills for teachers. Nyahute (2006), observes that teachers now can talk less, do
less and achieve more. He also added that teaching and learning have shifted
from teacher centered to material centered, where the teacher only guides
students to use the available material to achieve learning objectives.
In the same vain, it provides teachers with current teaching aids used in teaching
and learning process. Okoro (1993), recommended any equipment used for
instruction and learning secretarial skills must as much as possible, be a
replication of actual equipment used in industry. Such equipment include;
computers, multimedia, internets, video conferencing systems e.t.c
.
Information and communication technology also helps in controlling problems
arising from enrolment of more students in to secretarial education in our
schools and colleges. With the increase in enrolment of more students into
secretarial departments, teachers have problem in teaching these students with
very limited equipments and traditional method of teaching. However, ICT has
orientated teachers to use audio and video equipments to teach a very large
number of students at a time (Ajoma, 2009).

ICT helps in training students in distance areas through the use of internet,
satellite dish, radio, television and many others. ICT is seen here as an
instrument of localization where teachers now teach without real contact with
the learners and learners now learn in their houses or work places. Though ICT,
the menace of space, time and distance has been broken. With this, secretarial
education can be taught and learned through distance learning programmes to
help participants update their educational qualification (Aboho, Andurai and
Aboho, 2006).

ICT increases motivation in both teachers and students and retain student’s
interest to learn, through engaging learners in productive work, increasing their
perception of what they are doing and what they need to do. Learners are
motivated to learn with greater interest when they see the reality of what they
are doing. This is, why Cogburn (2006), postulates that before now, students
had no much interest and motivation in the teaching and learning process, but
now, the use of telecommunications through ICT has aroused and sustain their
interest and motivation to work, while the teacher only guides and assists them
on what to do and what not to do. ICT has now saved teachers time to achieve
learning objectives within a teaching period.

These and other numerous roles of ICT in teaching and learning

secretarial skills show the need for secretarial education teachers to join in the
ICT drive. But the questions are: how much of ITC does the teacher know, and
how much of it can he, use? How ready is the government to support the use of
ICT in education in Nigeria?