Search results

The purpose of this study is to investigate WhatsApp application for teaching and learning in higher education institutions (HEIs). The consideration for the use of the WhatsApp is based on its usefulness, ease of use, low cost of data and maintenance practices for the functionality of the mobile device used for the WhatsApp.

This paper applied systematic literature review in conceptualizing how WhatsApp application could be used for enhanced teaching and learning in HEIs. Most of the articles used in carrying out this study were harvested from Google Scholar. This study was carried out within three weeks internal

This study established that WhatsApp has also served as a learning and teaching tool which has made majorities of university students, irrespective of their geographical locations, become tech-savvy, self-expressive and open to new ways of doing things, including the use of social network applications. The exposition of the authors based on the findings from this study indicates that through the use of WhatsApp, activity theory of mobile learning postulated by Vygotsky and theory of connectives by George Siemens gave them the understanding surrounding how humans interact with technology through continuous use of tools.

This research carried out has a lot of implications to global HEI due to innovation and practices of teaching learning and research.

WhatsApp application has become the avenue through which people learn and retain and share information and knowledge among themselves for a better quality live scenarios. It has brought a shift from traditional to virtual platform of user experience (UX) in the use of digital technologies.

WhatsApp application for teaching and learning in HEIs established that the impact of WhatsApp on teaching, learning and retention of collocation of knowledge among school students or learners cannot be undermined. The result revealed from this study indicates that there is a shift from traditional to virtual platform which has brought diverse opportunities of transformation the educational systems, enhance productivity and quality service delivery and challenges, where lecturers would have to learn and unlearn through UX of the use of digital technologies.

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between media reporting and violent extremism to explain the ethical and security issues emanating from it in Nigeria.

This paper draws on security and ethical literature, while a multimethod approach consisting of in-depth and focus group interviews was used. Content analysis was also relied upon from the interviews granted by media experts on terrorism, security and ethics.

Findings revealed that journalists are facing problems in areas of freedom of expression, framing, content selection and personal security. Again, this paper opines that elements of public awareness and issues of relevance also push the media to excessive reporting in which ethics and security must stand to play a restraining role.

The first limitation of this paper is the inability to interview some terrorists and know their reaction to mass media reporting on their activities because nobody is ready to own up that he is a terrorist and to point to an individual as a terrorist is a dangerous phenomenon. Again, not all reporters are ready for interviews because of the fact that they are not prepared for the academic exercise but rather for assignments that can yield fat money such as selling secret information to those who can buy them with huge amounts of money like the politicians.

There is a threat to life on both sides of the government and terrorists. Favoring one side in their report is an offense from another side. There is also a violation of their human rights in freedom of speech as a result of the political situation in Nigeria where the government is faced with insecurity that hinders media from freedom of the press to publish reports. Moreover, where the ethical issue is suppressed, it makes the government unpopular all over the world because of the lack of press freedom.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is novel as being the first of its kind where media experts are involved in research attempts on media reporting and violent extremism in relation to security and ethical issues in Nigeria.

Education is a strong pillar to national development. It is vital to ensure sustainable higher education development (SHED) in a bid to facilitate global development. This study aims to investigate academic libraries, information and communication technology (ICT) use and SHED.

Descriptive survey research design was used for this study. The population of the study was 607 librarians in the 41 public university libraries in Southern Nigeria. Total enumeration and purposive sampling techniques were used for this study. The instrument of data collection was questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was used for the data analysis.

It was found that qualified teachers and promotion of scholarship constitute SHED. The extent of contribution of academic libraries to SHED is high. Academic libraries face a number of challenges in their effort to provide information services for the actualisation of the SHED. The extent of use of ICT in SHED is high. It was therefore recommended that academic libraries and ICT should be adequately used to accomplish SHED in Nigeria.

This study will contribute to the body of literature on how academic libraries and the use of ICT can contribute to SHED.

While SHED is central to global development, the role of academic libraries and the use of ICT should be unanimously embraced by all the stakeholders in education industry.

SHED is inevitable in the contemporary era. This study reveals that academic libraries and ICT use are vital in achieving SHED.

The study aims to investigate the academic libraries' response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic situation in Nigeria.

A survey research design was employed for the study. The population of the study was all the 584 approved academic institutions in Nigeria. A structured questionnaire administered online was designed to collect data with Google Form from heads of library (who are the chief principal officer) in all the academic institutions. The link to the survey was sent to the Nigeria Library Association (NLA) Online Forum, the platform on which Nigerian librarians fete and discuss issues relating to the profession. Social media tools such as WhatsApp and Telegram belonging to groups of academic librarians in Nigeria were also employed. The heads of the library from 108 academic libraries responded to the survey. The data generated were analyzed using a statistical tool and presented in tables.

The finding reveals that nearly all the students are not on campus since they have been directed to vacate their campus as a result of the lockdown. The study reveals some safety measures that were put in place by the libraries in Nigeria to include total closure of the library (59.3%), provision of hand sanitizer (55.6%) and the use of face mask and nose covers by library users (31.9%). The finding further indicates social distancing measures also put in place to include communication done via social media (59.3%), attendance to patrons (51.9%), class/lecture (51.9%), training/conferences (37%) and paper presentations (37%) that are all canceled, respectively. On access to library materials, a majority (87.96%) of the academic libraries in Nigeria provide only online materials to their users, while 9.26% of the academic libraries provide access to both prints and online materials.

The paper will contribute to the body of literature on academic libraries' response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria and beyond.

While the disease is still very much with the world, libraries have to continue providing information resources in support of the research studies and sensitize the world on the measures to take to curtail the pandemic.

The results can help other libraries find ways and means to adjust services, so that they can still meet the needs of users in this pandemic.

Mentorship is crucial to the success and accomplishment of librarianship in the contemporary era. This paper aims to investigate the need for mentorship and challenges besetting mentorship in librarianship with specific focus on academic libraries.

Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The population of the study was 1,214 librarians in 102 academic libraries in Southern Nigeria. Total enumeration sampling technique was adopted for the study.

It was reflected that mentorship, though beset by a number of challenges, is a necessity in librarianship. The hypotheses tested revealed that there is significant relationship between the need for mentorship and the types of mentorship adopted in academic libraries, and that there is no significant difference between the need for mentorship by male and female librarians.

This study affirmed that it is through mentorship that librarians can meet their job demands. Mentorship should therefore be stimulated to bolster the professional and intellectual development of the librarians. The mentees should be carried along in mentorship partnership selection process, and training should be organized for mentors and mentees on mentorship.

The interaction of librarians in the course of mentoring can facilitate work cohesion and enhanced job performance.

The needs for and challenges besetting mentorship in librarianship have been explored by collecting data directly from the librarians. The cloistered nature of librarianship, given the changing nature of the profession owing to massive deployment of Information and Communication Technology in the performance of library operations, means that mentorship should be encouraged in the profession.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the social media application and the spread of COVID-19 infodemic in Nigeria.

A descriptive survey research design was used for this study. A total of 1,200 social media users, regardless of their professions, were randomly selected for the study betweenmid-June and July 2020. Stratified and purposive sampling techniques were used for this study. The questionnaire was designed using Google form and administered using WhatsApp and Telegram to social media users above 18 years old in Nigeria. The data generated was analyzed using descriptive (frequency count) and inferential (mean) statistics, and was presented in tables.

It was found that people make use of social media during COVID-19 pandemic for diverse reasons such as listening to announcement to be informed, knowing the necessary measures to take by those infected and spreading up-to-date information on the pandemic. Social media tools were highly used during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially WhatsApp and Zoom. Findings reflected that misinformation was spread on social media. This study also showed that the infodemic associated with COVID-19 is managed by confirming the source of the information before sharing it and trusting information from reliable sources.

The result of this research will contribute to the body of knowledge on social media application, fake news and the spread of COVID-19 infodemic in Nigeria and beyond.

Infodemic is a disaster in the health sector. The spread of infodemic is capable of misleading people, losing trust in government, health providers and health regulatory authorities. This study will help social media users to know how to properly manage social media infodemic during a pandemic or any health-related situations.

This study is novel as it approaches fake news from a COVID-19 perspective. Very few articles emanate from the developing countries in this area. This was because most of the narrative around fake news previously centered around the Western occurrences such as the Iraqi invasion by the USA, the US presidential elections and BREXIT. COVID-19 has demonstrated that the developing world is not immune from fake news as well. This study, therefore, assessed the management of infodemic associated with COVID-19 in Nigeria.

The study aims to investigate the use of cybercafé for internet access by students of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Nigeria.

Using descriptive design, 382 copies of a structured questionnaire were administered to students of the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, who were using the institution cybercafé as at the time of the study.

The findings revealed that 75 percent of the male students make use of the cybercafé compared with their female colleagues, while the majority strongly agreed that they use it for research purposes. Google and Yahoo were the leading search engines used to explore resources, while the students acquired internet search knowledge and skills through teaching themselves followed by computer training programmes. It was also discovered that irregular electricity supply was the leading problem faced while using the cybercafé by the students, among others.

The paper contains an extensive study on the use of cybercafé in an academic environment in Nigeria, which will help in improving the internet access of students of tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

This study aims to look at the use of mobile devices by science students with emphasis only on privately owned universities in Nigeria.

A descriptive research design was used, as the study was a survey research. Eighty copies of structured questionnaire were distributed to collect data from science students in advanced levels of their undergraduate programmes in Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) and Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU) Ikeji-Arakeji, in their lecture halls and laboratories with the permission and assistance of their lecturers. The data were collected within a period of five weeks. All the administered questionnaire were correctly filled and returned, yielding a 100 per cent return rate. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics which includes frequency and percentage presented in tables and charts.

The study found that science students in the selected private universities mostly (83.7 per cent) use smartphones than other mobile devices. Also, the students own mobile devices for the purpose of using educational applications (77.50 per cent) and to chat with people (72.50 per cent). The students use the Internet on their devices very often. The Internet facilities mostly used by the students are e-mails (71.25 per cent), social media (68.75 per cent) and search engines (60.50 per cent). The challenges mostly faced by the students using mobile devices for academic practices are poor Internet connectivity (81.25 per cent) and high cost of data subscription (53.75 per cent).

Given the knowledge gained from this study, it is desired that universities across Nigeria would encourage the integration of the use of mobile devices into core educational programmes. Also, mobile data service providers need to reduce the cost of data subscription, especially on campuses for students. Moreover, owners of private universities should ensure the provision of good Internet connectivity for mobile devices campus-wide. Free and accessible Wi-Fi hot spots should be created for students.

Policy makers in the country should encourage mobile data service providers to reduce cost of data subscription on university campuses so as to enable students enjoy to the fullest the numerous features of mobile devices for academic practices.

Research on the use of mobile devices for academic practices by students is somewhat new in Nigeria more so that privately owned universities are in focus. The study has therefore opened the floor for more in-depth studies on the subject now that mobile devices should be seen as tools rather than fanciful gadgets.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of social media for academic practices by science students of public universities in Southwest Nigeria.

Descriptive design was used for the study. Research instrument used was questionnaire where 140 copies were administered to science students, using purposive sampling technique. Three institutions in southwest of Nigeria were selected for the study. Copies of the questionnaire were distributed to students in their lecture rooms and laboratories during practical classes with the permission and assistance of their lecturers. The data collected were analysed using frequency and simple percentage.

The results reveal that among the various social media networks available, Facebook (93.48 per cent) is the most recognized and most famous, followed by Google+ (63.77 per cent) and Twitter (47.83 per cent). Two-third of the students make use of social media daily to remain up-to-date with trending events/news and to occupy free time when they are bored, among other reasons. The findings show that Google+ (52.17 per cent) is the most beneficial social media network followed by Facebook (29.7 per cent) and Wikia (23.91 per cent). Most of the science students are knowledgeable in the usage and application of social media, while majority of them considered poor Internet connectivity, receiving of unwanted messages/pictures and electricity failure as the leading problems encountered while using social media.

The study was necessary to identify the use and application of social media by science students in public universities in Southwest Nigeria.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the materials used in Masters' theses of the Agricultural Economics and Extension Department (AEE), FUTA during the period of 2005‐2009 with the aim of improving the existing collection development available for the students.

The study employed descriptive research design. Theses submitted for the award of M.Tech degree between 2005 and 2009 at the department of AEE, FUTA were examined. This was checked against the record of AEE (M.Tech) graduands obtained from the School of Postgraduate Studies. The population of the study was all the theses submitted during the periods under study. Data were extracted from title pages and reference lists. Extracted data were analysed using descriptive statistics.

It was found that journals were more consulted compared to other sources of information materials. AEE M.Tech students do not take much advantage of resources available on the web and internet. It was also revealed that highest citation was recorded in 2006, while 30.52 per cent of materials cited were 20 years old and above. In addition, more than half of the cited materials were contributed by single authors and foreign journals were more cited with 72 per cent than local journals with 28 per cent. Moreover, Journal of Agriculture Economics was found to be the most cited journal followed by Journal of Econometrics.

The paper highlights the information materials available and used by Master students of the Agricultural Economics and Extension Department for their research work and those which need to be added for a healthy collection.