Information and communication technology (ICT) is a force that has changed many aspects of human endeavours. The impact of ICT on various fields of human endeavour such as medicine, tourism, business, law, banking, engineering and architecture over two or
three decades has been enormous. But when one looks at the field of education, there seems to have been an uncanny lack of influence of ICT and far less change than
other fields have experienced. A number of scholars such as Soloway and Prior, 1996 have attempted to explore this lack of activity and influence of ICT on education and
many others. In other words, though ICT has begun to have presence in education, its impact has not been as extensive as in other fields (Collis, 2002). Education is a
very socially oriented activity and quality education has traditionally been associated with strong teachers having high degrees of personal contact with learners. With the world moving rapidly into digital media and information, the role of ICT in education is becoming more and more important.
It has been suggested that information and ommunication technologies (ICTs) can and play a number of roles in education such as developing the kind of graduates and citizens required in an information society; improving educational outcomes and enhancing
and improving the quality of teaching and learning (Wagner, 2001; McCormick and Scrimshaw, 2001; Flecknoe, 2002). Garrison and Anderson (2003) argue that the application of ICTs in the teaching-learning process can enhance the quality of education in several ways such as increasing learner motivation and engagement, facilitating the acquisition of basic skills, and enhancing teacher training. Since History is one of the major subjects being offered at both secondary and tertiary levels, its relevance and sustenance in the 21st century requires the adequate application of ICTs like video tapes, television and multimedia computer software that combine text, sound and colorful moving images which can be used to provide challenging and authentic content that will not only engage the student in the learning process but as well make learning concrete. It is against this backdrop that this paper is divided into five sections. The first section deals with introduction; second section focuses on the concept and relevance of History in the school curriculum; third section discusses the concept and challenges of ICT in Nigeria; the fourth section examines critically the role of ICT in the teaching and learning of History in the Nigerian schools while the last section is the conclusion.
The Concept and Relevance of History in the School Curriculum
Though there are many definitions of History as provided by many historians, for the purpose of this discourse, we will restrict ourselves to some few ones. E.H Carr (1954)
sees history as the continuous interaction between the historian and his facts and an unending dialogue between the present and the past. Coolingwood (1973) asserts
that history is the interpretation of traces or relics of the past in the light of the imaginary idea of the historian which is self-depending, self-determining and selfjustifying
form of thought. This means that historians have access to the traces of the past in terms of relics, monuments and documents, but each historian interprets such materials according to his understanding and imagination (Osokoya, 1997). What can therefore be deduced from the above definitions of History as viewed from different perspectives is that history though deals with human past, requires analysis and interpretation of the past based on evidences (historical sources) at the disposal of a historian.
Despite the encouragement of science subjects at the expense of arts subjects by the Federal Government of Nigeria in particular, the fact remains that the relevance
of History in nation building cannot be overemphasized. The study of History does not only serve as bedrock for other disciplines but also furnishes man with the understanding of the process of change and continuity in human affairs. In fact, there is no discipline without
history. The relevance of History in the school curriculum is enormous. These include :
- It helps the students to know more about themselves by promoting their understanding of their past, in terms of both internal and external relationships.
- It satisfies man’s instinct of curiosity about past developments in all aspects of life.
- It promotes the habit of serious and critical examination of situations and ultimately offers opportunity for a special intellectual experience which sharpens the imagination and deepens one’s knowledge about the developments of the society.
- It enables people to orientate themselves amidst the bewildering currents of human diversity.
- It inculcates in the people the habit of not accepting explanations on their face value but to identify the roots of happenings thereby promoting better understanding.
The Role of ICT in the Teaching and Learning of History in the 21st century
The teaching and learning of History in the Nigerian institutions most importantly in the 21st century have developed within the framework of theory and practice. In this technological age, the effective means of communication in the classroom instruction requires the use of communication technologies.Haddad and Jurich, (2002) argued that there are four basic issues in the use of ICTs in education in the 21st century. They are effectiveness, cost, equality and sustainability. They pointed out that, in recent years, there has been an upsurge of interest in how ICTs most importantly computers and the internet can best be harnessed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of education at all levels and in both formal and non-formal settings (Haddad and Jurich, 2002).
The role of ICT in the teaching and learning of History in the 21st century can be seen in four major angles, namely, the impact on teacher, learner and the image of history as a discipline. Conventional teaching which is still common today in our schools emphasises content. For many, teachers of history in particular have taught through lectures and presentations interspersed with tutorials and learning activities designed to consolidate and rehearse the content (Kamal and Banu, 2010). Meanwhile, contemporary settings are now favouring curricula that promote competency and performance. In the developed countries, curricula are starting to emphasise capabilities and to be concerned more with how the information will be used than with what the information is. The moves to competency and performance-based curricula are well supported and encouraged by emerging instructional technologies (Stephenson, 2001). Such curricula tend to require: access to a variety of information sources; access to a variety of information forms and types; student-centred learning settings based on information access and inquiry; learning environments centred on problem-centred and inquiry-based activities; authentic settings and examples; and teachers as coaches and mentors rather than content experts.
Supporting how students learn will continue to increase.
More importantly, the emergence of ICTs as learning technologies has coincided with a growing awareness and recognition of alternative theories for learning. The various theories of learning during the classical period pre-date the introduction of ICT into the school curriculum. The current theories of learning that hold the greatest sway today are those based on constructivist principles (Duffy and Cunningham, 1996). These principles posit that learning is achieved by the active construction of knowledge supported by various perspectives within meaningful contexts. In constructivist theories, social interactions are seen to play a critical role in the processes of learning and cognition (Vygotsky, 1978). In the past, the conventional process of teaching has revolved around teachers planning and leading students through a series of instructional sequences to achieve a desired learning outcome. Typically these forms of teaching have revolved around the planned transmission of a body of knowledge followed by some forms of interaction with the content as a means to consolidate the knowledge acquisition. Contemporary learning theory is based on the notion that learning is an active process of constructing knowledge rather than acquiring knowledge and that instruction is the process by which this knowledge construction is supported rather than a process of knowledge transmission (Duffy and Cunningham, 1996). The strengths of constructivism lie in its emphasis on learning as a process of personal understanding and the development of meaning in ways which are active and interpretative. In this domain
Learning is viewed as the construction of meaning rather than as the memorisation of facts (Lebow, 1993; Jonassen and Reeves, 1996).
The sustenance and relevance of History in the 21st century in our educational institutions today require the application of modern technologies like video tape, television, internet, CD tape and other multimedia. The study of History has gone beyond story telling of the classical period. History as a discipline is both broad in its coverage and complex in study. In fact, it has embraced the whole spectrum of human endeavours as seen in its various branches like political history, military history, economic history, social history, diplomatic studies, cultural history, development studies among others (Adesote and Omojeje, 2011). This is why some scholars have argued that history is Art, a Science and as well a Social Science. Thus, appropriate use of ICTs in the teaching and learning of History in the classroom instruction help in making learning concrete and thus makes History a living subject/discipline rather than the study of dead issues.
Supporting how students learn will continue to increase.
More importantly, the emergence of ICTs as learning technologies has coincided with a growing awareness and recognition of alternative theories for learning. The various theories of learning during the classical period pre-date the introduction of ICT into the school curriculum. The current theories of learning that hold the greatest sway today are those based on constructivist principles (Duffy and Cunningham, 1996). These principles posit that learning is achieved by the active construction of knowledge supported by various perspectives within meaningful contexts. In constructivist theories, social interactions are seen to play a critical role in the processes of learning and cognition (Vygotsky, 1978). In the past, the conventional process of teaching has revolved around teachers planning and leading students through a series of instructional sequences to achieve a desired learning outcome. Typically these forms of teaching have revolved around the planned transmission of a body of knowledge followed by some forms of interaction with the content as a means to consolidate the knowledge acquisition. Contemporary learning theory is based on the notion that learning is an active process of constructing knowledge rather than acquiring knowledge and that instruction is the process by which this knowledge construction is supported rather than a process of knowledge transmission (Duffy and Cunningham, 1996). The strengths of constructivism lie in its emphasis on learning as a process of personal understanding and the development of meaning in ways which are active and interpretative. In this domain
Learning is viewed as the construction of meaning rather than as the memorisation of facts (Lebow, 1993; Jonassen and Reeves, 1996).
The sustenance and relevance of History in the 21st century in our educational institutions today require the application of modern technologies like video tape, television, internet, CD tape and other multimedia. The study of History has gone beyond story telling of the classical period. History as a discipline is both broad in its coverage and complex in study. In fact, it has embraced the whole spectrum of human endeavours as seen in its various branches like political history, military history, economic history, social history, diplomatic studies, cultural history, development studies among others (Adesote and Omojeje, 2011). This is why some scholars have argued that history is Art, a Science and as well a Social Science. Thus, appropriate use of ICTs in the teaching and learning of History in the classroom instruction help in making learning concrete and thus makes History a living subject/discipline rather than the study of dead issues.
CONCLUSION
The place of information and communication technology in education and training cannot be overemphasized. Its full integration in education helps to ensure quality education in various levels of education such as primary, secondary and tertiary. Despite the fact that some educators do not support the introduction and adoption of ICT into the school curriculum, majority of educators strongly feel that ICT is the most valuable tool to overcome the problem being faced in the teaching-learning process. ICT has become a major key tool in acquiring, processing and disseminating adequate knowledge especially in the 21st century. In fact, its effective use has become an imperative tool for measuring development of a nation in the 21st century (Adedoyin et al., 2010). Today, the academics are now being challenged by the rapidly growing new information technologies of multimedia, internet, WWW and other virtual computer technologies, which demand changes in the styles, attitudes and skill towards information handling and dissemination. Therefore, as we move on in the 21st century, many factors are bringing strong forces to bear on the adoption of ICTs in the classroom instruction. As argued above, conventional teaching of History has emphasized content. Thus, contemporary settings are now favouring curricula that promote competency and performance which require appropriate use of ICTs. This is because ICT acts as a powerful agent that can change many of the educational practices.
