Effectiveness of using information technology in higher education (based on Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo)

Abstract

Information technology refers to personal electronic devices such as laptops, handheld computers, smart phones and the institution computers and associate devices. Researchers, business Leaders, professional educators as well as academic Organizations have made rigorous initiatives and efforts to strengthen IT Integration in education. This paper describes and analyzes trends in the information technologies and the impact of ICTon the educational sector as a whole, and higher educational sector in particular. The study was conducted in the University of Colombo, Faculty of arts in department of sociology. A questionnaire was distributed among 100 students who were attending the different courses between different areas, data collected was processed and analyzed through SPSS. Results indicated that only 61.5% students use an electronic device for course activity whereas 65.8% used it for blogging and 14.49% of the students were using electronic device for computer games, music and video, and many other entertainment purpose. Interestingly 72% of students are often doing online shopping and 88.6% students use it to often read, send e-mail and the instant messages for the issues arising and increasing from IT in educational system. Although many issues arise from using ICT tools the study focused on the impact of ICT, its usefulness, efficiency and efficacy in higher education system.