Effectiveness of computer usage for academic purposes among management students in Sri-Lankan universities (Western Province- Sri-Jayawardhanapura, Colombo & Kelaniya)

Abstract

Sri-Lankan universities have commenced a number of professional courses to train the university students as needy managers and administrators for the country. Especially these universities have been empowered the process to the management faculties in order to create employment opportunities for their graduates. There has no adequate research been conducted yet to discuss this matter in a more factual manner. So, it was my intention to carryout a comprehensive research study on the topic. Today, modern technology and ICT were introduced at a full force and practiced in our education systems. Also, a major vital role is played in modern education by computer technology. The main objective of this study was to ascertain how students use the computer and ICT-Based systems effectively for their educational purposes. For this study, three major universities in the Western Province were selected namely; University of Sri-Jayawardhanapura, University of Colombo and University of Kelaniya. The data was collected through questionnaires, Interviews & Case studies. For this study, 120 students were engaged randomly from the above mentioned three universities and were requested to fill the printed questionnaires. By the same time, 30 students and 15 selected lecturers from each faculty of Management have participated for the Interviews. The data was gathered through questionnaires and case studies and analyzed by using excel and results were visualized graphically through charts and tables. The conclusions of the study pinpointed that the use of computers can provide a number of benefits to the management education. Study also revealed that when the students use the computers for their educational activities a lot of constrains and difficulties were encountered. Because of their weaknesses in the usage of English language, computers, ICT and various related software etc., it was concluded that an effective workable remedial system is required to be adopted. It was further noticed that some percentage of Management students were capable of using computer technology and ICT very effectively. Finally, some workable suggestions were pinpointed in this research study according to the findings from interviewing those management students and lecturers of the respective Faculties of Management and highlighted for further actions by Academics and the Administrators concerned.