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It is presumed that Nigerian students and teachers have been unable to find effective ways to use technology in the classroom and other aspects of their teaching and learning. Yet, considerable debate remains over the most efficient techniques and procedures to measure students and faculties information technology and information systems (IT/IS) use. In most developing countries, the challenges associated with carrying out IT/IS measurements are different from those in developed countries, as are the methods for selecting appropriate IT/IS content. This study gathered data using a five item demographic variable and a fifty item questionnaire to measure student and faculty academic IT/IS use in one private and one public university in Nigeria. This study is based on the 191 responses received to the questionnaire. The results reveal significant differences between the academic use of IT/IS by students and faculty. This groundbreaking study recommends that universities become valuable and proactive actors in the provision of technology based learning, teaching and research for students and academic staff to foster an effective academic environment aimed at meeting millennium development goals (MDG) for education. This scholarly discourse has implication for researchers, education practitioners, planners, policy makers and government.

This study dwells upon communicative approach as a tool for relating reading and writing skills in early childhood education in a developing economy. The quantitative data was gathered through the use of structured questionnaires and was analysed using SPSS version 17. This study confirms that teachers in the selected early childhood education centres (ECEC) have no professional early childhood education qualifications and, as a result, are not qualified to effectively carry out their teaching responsibilities. It is hoped that this study can contribute to a deeper understanding of how early childhood education teachers perceive language teaching and consequently assist in the development of teacher education programmes and activities. Teacher training and education courses must play a more active role in informing trainee teachers of the instructional value of communicative approach in the teaching and learning of the English language. This study provides parents, teachers, researchers, the public and those who manage education systems with new data that will help them to answer questions about the failing state of education in Nigeria.

Abstract:The study is a follow up to a study that was previously conducted by the authors (Briggs, Ololube, & Kpolovie, 2014) on "Managing Children Learning: Support Based Screening Procedure for Motor, Cognition and Language Communication in Early Childhood Education". Limited data are available that describe the relative impact of diligence and intelligence in children's reading and writing skills in sub-Saharan Africa. In today's world, young children look for attention and engage in positive or negative behavior to attain it. It is important that teachers recognize the diligence and intelligence worth of their students on a consistent basis, as research literature in education is devoting increasing attention to the role of children's effort in academic performance. This study posits two constructs: diligence and intelligence, which express or reflect individual children's efforts toward achieving reading and writing success. A Diligence and Intelligence Inventory was developed with assistance from experts to elicit data from 6, 7, and 8-year-old children's teachers on their pupils' achievements in reading and writing. Using Cronback analysis and construct validation procedures, the instrument was certified to have internal consistency. The results from 321 schoolchildren revealed a significant statistical difference between diligence and intelligence. The academic and practical implications of this study to educational practice include a greater need to complement the efforts of young children in their pursuit for balanced educational development.