Use of computers in education: for kids or adults learning?

Abstract

Development has greatly been associated with the level of technology. Countries that have succeeded in harnessing the potential of ICT have been said to have taken a positive step towards a greatly expanded economic gr owth, improved human welfare and stronger forms of democratic governance. There are however a lot of imbalances between countries that have access to ICT hence the notion of digital divide. In developing countries, this divide can be found in the prelimina ries of being able to reap the advantages of ICT. In Kenya, there are not just discrepancies in the availability of resources but also in the ability to use the few available resources. This digital divide is even wider in that investment of ICT seems to b e more biased towards the formal sector than other sectors of education. Although there is a lot of effort made like digitization of educational materials for the formal sector, it is important to find out how this is realized in adult literacy classes. Th e purpose of this study was to explore the use of computers by the ECD student teachers and adult education learners. The study further explored the integration of ICT in teaching and learning in the two categories of learners. Two researcher developed que stionnaires were used to gather the required information : o ne for the ECD teachers who were in their training sessions and the other for adult learners in session in all parts of country. The paper stresses the indisputable need for use of computers to pr omote education whether in formal or non - formal sector. The sample consisted of 395 pre - school teacher trainees and 200 adult learners. The findings indicated that only (39.17%) ECD teacher trainers and (90%) of adult learners had not acquired any computer skills. All the learners in ECD training and 88% of the respondents felt that computer skills would greatly improve their learning and help them to engage better with their environment which is full of ICT related gadgets. B ased on these findings, it was recommended that there is need for the government to invest more in computers which should be made available in all centres in Kenya