Teachers and pupils’ preparedness in the era of technology: how ready are they in the rural and urban primary schools?

The study investigated teachers and pupils’ preparedness in the era of technology: how ready are they in the rural and urban primary schools. A descriptive survey research design was employed. The population consisted all primary education schools’ pupils and teachers in Ogbia and Yenagoa Local Government Areas, Bayelsa State. A sample size of 48 primary teachers from Ogbia Local Government Area and 52 primary school teachers from Yenagoa Local Government Area drawn from 21 primary schools. Two research questions guided the study. A researcher made 28 item Questionnaire titled, ‘‘teachers and pupils’ preparedness in the era of technology in Ogbia and Yenagoa LGAs’’ was used as instrument for data collection for the study. Two research questions guided the study and cronbach alpha computation was used to get a reliability index of 0.9 which is high and reliable for use. Data collected were analyzed using tables, mean, variance and standard deviation. Results revealed that both teachers and pupils of rural and urban schools are facing same issues and unprepared for technology integration in primary schools. Also, unavailability of infrastructure needed for integrating technology in preparation for the digital native education is a major barrier. This implied that much lies on the government for realization of the twenty-first century education. Recommendations made include that government should be committed to putting strategic measures in place to tackle economic crisis in the nation, overhaul present curriculum to accommodate skills and attitude acquisition, increase funding of education and capacity building of teachers for quality delivery.