PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION AND THE NECESSITY OF E-LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABLE TEACHER EDUCATION IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Philosophy of Education develops an open attitude in teachers that make them receptive
to new ideas which on basis of better reasoning is preferable to the existing one. E-
learning is one of the new ideas that is necessary for teachers in this technological era.
Teacher education institutions should lead in e-learning process which requires
competence in managing the required e-learning devices. This study examined the
necessity of e-learning in the light of philosophy of education for sustainable teacher
education in Anambra State Nigeria. Three research questions guided the flow of the
study. The population for this study consisted of all the 258 computer science education
lecturers in the four government – owned teacher education institutions in Anambra
State. No sampling was done owing to the manageable size of the population. Data were
collected with researchers – developed questionnaire which was validated by two experts
and yielded a mean reliability coefficient of 0.84 using Cronbach alpha statistics. Mean
ratings were used to answer the research questions. The study found out that computers,
laptops, standby generators, and internet facilities are the topmost e-learning devices
necessary for sustainable teacher education in Anambra State. The study further revealed
that making students better prepared to fit into the current technological changes and
impacting students’ learning with higher order of thinking are the topmost benefit to be
derived from e-learning for sustainable teacher education. Based on the findings, the
study recommended among other things that the federal and state governments should
adopt e-learning in all teacher education institutions through effective policy
implementation and provision of required resources.