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European Journal of Education Studies ISSN: 2501 - 1111 ISSN-L: 2501 - 1111 Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu Volume 3 │Issue 11│2017 doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1066289 EXTENT OF AVAILABILITY OF ICT RESOURCES FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE OF BUSINESS EDUCATION IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA Soneye Gbolade Michaeli PhD, Department of Business Education, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Nigeria Abstract: This study aimed at assessing the extent of availability of ICT resources for quality assurance of Business Education in South-West Nigeria. One research question and three null hypotheses were drawn to guide the study. Related literatures were reviewed after the conceptual framework based on the major variables of the study. A Descriptive research design was adopted to conduct the study. The population of the study comprises 550 (52 lecturers and 498 final year students) of Business Education from universities that offer Business Education in South-West Nigeria. A sample size of three hundred and one (301) 52 lecturers and 249 students was used for the study; using stratified random sampling techniques. A modified questionnaire was used for data collection. The reliability of the instrument was established through the use of Cronbach s Alpha Reliability Coefficient and reliability coefficients of 0. . Arithmetic mean and standard Deviation were used to analyze data and answer research questions. While z-test was used to test hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of this study revealed that ICT resources are available at a low extent for quality assurance of business education in universities in South-West Nigeria. This study recommends, among others, that the Government and managements of programme should join hands together and ensure that ICT resources are available to enhance qualitative teaching and learning of 21 st century that afford the students job opportunities in the global labour market. Keywords: availability, ICT resources, quality assurance, business education Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. © 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group 434 Soneye Gbolade Michael EXTENT OF AVAILABILITY OF ICT RESOURCES FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE OF BUSINESS EDUCATION IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA 1. Introduction The world has turned to be a global village now as a result of Information Communication Technology (ICT). Simply put, we are in the era of information age. These technologies have brought profound changes to all human endeavours. The ease of data collection, processing, transmission, and interpretation provided these technologies have engendered the flow of information across boards and between individuals, cultures, nationalities, corporate bodies and organization as never before, causing great technological, economic and social changes and binding the world ever more closely together. This has made it one of the basic building blocks of modern society. The technological change process has accelerated in tandem to create a new world power based ICT. Hardly could we not talk of involvement of ICT in all sectors of life; be in medicine, business, banking, politics, military, economics, insurance. If all sectors are reformed in terms of ICT, education too should not be left out. It is widely believed that education should now be ICT challenged and biased. Although ICT resources have been looked upon as tools for the upliftment of the standard of education in any nation, the level of compliance in implementing the ICT resources in instructional development process leaves much to be desired in Nigerian higher education system. Recent developments in ICT have drastically affected educational procedure for improved quality of education offered to students. ICT resources in instructional delivery in schools will serve a dual purpose and more efficient classroom instruction (Nzewi, 2009; Umoren, 2006). It is in the pursuance of the need to access international best practices that the Federal government reviewed the National Policy on Education (1998) to the current one (NPE, 2004) to accommodate the introduction of ICT into the school system in keeping with the dynamics of social change and its demand on education. University education prepares teachers that feed the primary and secondary school levels of education in Nigeria with manpower demands. It is at this level that they should have their first encounter with technology in the classroom, this they will put to use when eventually they leave school and are gainfully employed to teachers in the primary and secondary schools. It is in this light that the training of student teachers, who are expected to drive the new ICT advanced education system, is brought afore. The advancement in which ICT resources offer in higher education, can be evident through accessibility to available quality ICT resources. This can only be attained when it is drastically integrated into the instructional process in the teacher education system. Productive instructional delivery enhances learners creative and European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 11│ 2017 435 Soneye Gbolade Michael EXTENT OF AVAILABILITY OF ICT RESOURCES FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE OF BUSINESS EDUCATION IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA intellectual development through the use of ICT resources, for instance, in the use of multimedia images, graphics, audio, text and motion for high quality learning. Business education as an integral part of vocational and technical education is a form of vocational education according to Idialu (2007) that is directed towards developing the learner to become productive in teaching, paid employment and selfemployment. Amoor and Udoh (2008) noted that business education plays a significant role in the economic development by providing knowledge and skills to the learners thereby enabling them to adequately impart knowledge into others, and handle sophisticated office technologies and information systems. The goal of business education is primarily to produce competent, skilful and dynamic business teachers, office administrators and businessmen and women that will effectively compete in the world of work. The emergence of Vocational education in the global scene is necessitated by the need to provide the society with a form of education that promotes lifelong learning, needs of the community, innovation, employability and self-reliance (Okorie, 2004). Business education is rooted in Vocational education with specific mandate of providing skills, attitude and knowledge needed for employment or running a business. According to Anao in Oliver (2011), business education is the sum total of the knowledge, skills and attitude that are required for successfully promoting and administering business enterprises. The need for business education as a form of education is crucial especially in this era of globalization and information and communication technology (ICT) in which work processes and organizations are getting increasingly flexible, multi-tasking and performance-base. Murray (2003), posited that economic forecasts and business analysts predict that the 21st century jobs will require information processing skills. Development of information literacy, therefore, becomes inevitable for workers of the future. For viewing / downloading the full article, please access the following link: https://oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejes/article/view/1221 European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 11│ 2017 436