IMPACT OF INCORPORATING DIGITAL TOOLS IN TEACHING BIOLOGY: CASE STUDY OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AWKA EDUCATION ZONE OF ANAMBRA STATE NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was carried out to determine the impact of incorporating digital tools in teaching biology in secondary schools in Awka Education Zone of Anambra State Nigeria. The specific purpose of the study was to assess the role of digital tools in enhancing collaborative learning and teamwork in biology class, determine the challenges and limitations of incorporating digital tools in teaching biology classes at secondary level and to identify the most effective and accessible digital tools for teaching biology in secondary schools. The study adopted survey research design. The population of the study was made up of all the 61 public and mission secondary schools in Awka education zone, simple random sampling technique was used to select 108 biology students out of 10,829 biology students in the 61 public and mission secondary schools in the area of study. While 65 biology teachers were selected out of the 77 biology teachers in the area of study making a total sample size of 173 respondents. The instrument for data collection was a 21-item structured questionnaire titled “Impact of Incorporating Digital Tools in Teaching and Learning of Biology in Secondary School” (IMIDTTLBISS). The questionnaire had a 4point response options of strongly agreed (SA), Agreed (A), Disagreed (D) and Strongly Disagreed (SD) with corresponding values of 4,3,2and1 respectively. Three experts validated the instrument and reliability coefficient of 89 was obtained using t-test method. The items with mean weight above 2.50 were accepted as impact of incorporating digital tools in teaching biology in secondary school while items with mean weight less than 2.50 were rejected. Findings from the study revealed that incorporation digital tools in teaching and learning of biology enhance collaborative learning and teamwork among students among others. Based on the findings of the study the researcher concludes that digital tools should be incorporated in teaching and learning of biology in secondary schools.