UTILIZATION OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR TEACHING IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN IMO STATE: IMPLICATIONS FOR CHEMISTRY TEACHERS

The study was designed to find out the utilization of digital technologies for teaching in secondary schools in Imo State. Three research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey design with a population of 86 respondents comprising 32 chemistry teachers and 54 class prefects in Public Secondary Schools in Ahiazu-Mbaise L.G.A. of Imo State. There was no sampling; all the population was used because of its small number. The instrument used was a 33-item questionnaire, titled “Utilization of Digital Technology in Teaching Chemistry” (UDTTC). Reliability coefficients of 0.85, 0.76 and 0.78 were obtained for Clusters A, B, and C respectively. The reliability coefficients were obtained using Kuder-Richardson and Cronbach alpha methods. Data collected were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations for research questions, while Chi-square and t-test statistics were used to test the two hypotheses at 0.50 level of significance. The study identified that digital technologies such as projectors, smart board, smart tables, digital textbooks, camera, audio enhancer, scratch, prezi, animoto, discussion rooms, and intelligent tutor are not being used in teaching chemistry to secondary school students due to the dearth of digital technology equipment, irregular power supply, limited access to internet among others. It was recommended among others that schools should be provided with digital technologies and regular power for the smooth usage of digital technologies in teaching chemistry among teachers.