The impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on students’ academic performance in selected secondary schools in Mubende Municipality, Mubende District

Abstract

The study investigated the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on students’ academic performance, a case study of Mubende Municipality, Mubende district. It sought to establish the relationship between ICT and students’ academic performance, particularly looking at the availability, accessibility and adequacy of ICT resources in Mubende Municipality, specifically in five schools of, Mubende Army secondary school, Universal college-Mubende, Comprehensive High School-Mubende, Mubende Light secondary school and Christ The King secondary school-Mubende. The study was prompted due to the persistent poor academic performance of the students In Mubende Municipality, Mubende district It was conducted through cross- section survey design; data was collected during the month of August 2017 using questionnaires with close ended and open ended questions, observation check list and interview guides from a sample of ten administrators, ten ICT teachers and sixty students. In verifying the hypothesis the researcher used the Pearson Chi-Square analysis method to find out whether the academic performance of the learners was linearly correlated with ICT. The study established that the availability of ICT resources in secondary schools in Mubende Municipality is still very much wanting and very inadequate for the students to use. Because of limited number of functional computers and computer laboratories, accessibility is timetabled. The researcher concluded that availability, accessibility and adequacy of ICT resources significantly affect students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Mubende Municipality-Mubende district. Based on the above, the researcher recommends that the government and head teachers of secondary schools in Mubende Municipality should invest more in computers and related technology.