ASSESSMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS’ ATTITUDE AND UTILIZATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA: Implication in COVID-19 Era

Abstract

This study assessed the attitude and utilization of information and communication technology by early childhood educators in Rivers State. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design.  The population of the study consist of 42,417 early childhood educators in private schools in Rivers State.  Taro Yamane formula was used to draw a sample of 396 early childhood educators from the population.  Three research questions were used to guide the study. Data for the study was collected using an 18-item inventory developed by the researchers. The instrument was validated by experts in early childhood education. To establish the reliability of the instrument, the test-retest method was used and a reliability coefficient of 0.73 was obtained. Mean and standard deviation were used for data analysis. Results revealed that educators had a positive attitude, while there was a low extent of utilization of ICT facilities. Furthermore, the result showed that some factors militating against the utilization of ICT in early childhood education include inadequate training and the high cost of ICT tools. Based on the result, it was recommended among others that pre-service and in-service teachers should be given target training on the effective utilization of ICT tools in early childhood education contexts.