A Conceptual Framework for Construction of Teacher-made Computer Educational Software Package for Communicating Chemical Concepts to Secondary School Students

Abstract

The 21^st century society requires special skills and knowledge from individuals to be relevant to the society and participate actively in the economy of nations. To acquire these special skills and knowledge, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) comes to the fore to drive the education system. In Nigeria, the National Policy on Education recognises the importance and place of ICT in ‘advancing knowledge and skills in the modern world’, but serious effort to provide ‘necessary infrastructure and training for the integration of ICT in the school system’ as stated in the policy is yet to be seen. Most public and private primary and secondary schools lack the basic infrastructure, and teachers are yet to be ICT literate. Relevant educational software packages, especially for education in chemistry are scarce. There is need, as part of the chemistry teacher education programme, to include courses in ICT that will enable the chemistry teachers to construct teacher-made educational software packages for teaching specific chemistry concepts. This is necessary in order to fill the gap created by lack of relevant software packages in the school system for teaching and learning of such concepts. This paper proposes a framework for the construction of teacher-made educational software packages for teaching specific chemical concepts.