Internet Use In Second Cycle Institutions In Ghana: A Study Of Achimota School

ABSTRACT 

Internet use in educational institutes has benefits for both the professional developments of teachers and the educational work of students. In Ghana, there have been several initiatives such as the World of Learning Project (WorLD Links), a World Bank sponsored programme, coupled with assistance from corporate bodies like Ghana Telecom, Network Computer Systems (NCS), Africa Online and Standard Chartered Bank Limited, for promoting the use of the Internet for educational purposes. The work studied the use of the Internet in educational institutions focusing on second cycle institutions in general. Achimota School was used as a case study. The school was selected because it was one of the first second cycle institutions to have started teaching computer skills and Internet use in the country. The study involved interviewing the headmistress, the computer laboratory master and forms 2 and 3 students using structured interviews in 2001. The study showed, among other things, that many of the teachers and students learnt about the Internet in 1997 and 1999 respectively. In the case of the teachers, the major means through which this was done was through their colleagues but amongst the students, television was the leading me^kjm through which they learnt about the Internet. The use of posters was the least of the means through which both teachers and students have learnt about the Internet. The study also showed that many of the teachers and students were taught the use of the facility in the school even though the number of personal computers is inadequate. iv There is restriction on teachers and students in terms of access to the Internet. Both teachers and students expressed the desire for more time with the facility for independent use. The study showed that there was the likelihood of a minor problem with a machine which are normally fixed by the computer laboratory master. There is however no specific agency to handle major problems as and when they come up. It is suggested that employing the services of a specific company might help reduce the spate of breakdown of the machines since the company might become familiar with their computers and get to know how to fix these problems on a more permanent basis. Some of the recommendations put forward are that the school should consider connecting other centres of learning in the school such as the library to the Internet. In so doing, the computer laboratory could be used purposely for training cyber cafes should also be allowed to operate on pilot basis on the campus. The idea of a feedback mechanism could assist the school to know the kind of emphasis that would be necessary in teaching of skills acquisition in computer and Internet use.