Type of Information Communication and Technology tools used in Medical training Colleges within Kakamega County, Kenya

Abstract

Despite modern technology and innovations in Information Communication and technology (ICT), use of it to enhance teaching and learning is facing a number of problems. The objective of the study was to determine ICT types of tools available for teaching & learning in Medical Colleges within Kakamega County, Kenya. The study site was medical training colleges within Kakamega County, Kenya. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. Questionnaires, both open and closed, were used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. The target population of the study consisted of 1,296 students and 46 tutors in medical training colleges in Kakamega County, Kenya. The sample size was 49 for tutors and 384 for students adopted by Yamane’s method and Fisher’s et al respectively. A pilot study was carried out in Bungoma medical training colleges to test validity and reliability of research instruments. Approval to collect data was sought from Institutional Research & Ethics Committee’s (IREC’s) chapter of Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology and National Commission for Science Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI). Permission to collect data from the institutions was sought from respective administrations and consent from participants was also sought. Ethical issues were addressed. Data was analyzed using SPSS software ver. 20. Research findings were presented in the form tables, graphs and charts. The study findings revealed that skill rate of ICT is still low (36.7%) among tutors and students. Desktop computer (80.2%) and laptop (89.0%) remained the most commonly used ICT tool compared to others such as the projector. There was evidence of use of ICT in teaching and learning, hence showing great (65%) impact in various educational contexts. The main factors that influenced use of ICT included inadequate computers as indicated by all (100.0%) of the tutors and lack of administrative support (89.8%). The study recommends continuous investment in ICT infrastructure, capacity building of existing human resource and training of ICT and formulating intervention measures on ICT adoption and use. The study will be important source of information for