REPOSITIONING OFFICE TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT LECTURERS FOR EFFECTIVE DELIVERY IN A DIGITAL ERA

Abstract

The technological advancements of the 21st Century saw to the birthing of Office Technology and Management (OTM) programme with its ICT oriented courses.  This has, in turn, placed ICT proficiency demand on OTM teachers, which many are yet to meet.  The paper examined the contents of some key ICT courses offered in OTM to ensure they are congruent with the general objectives of business education (OTM) and that the need for lecturers’ proficiency in ICT skills is justified.  The paper also x-rayed strategies like staff reorientation, development and increased funding as potential measures to encouraging/challenging conservative lecturers of OTM to a positive disposition on ICT proficiency for themselves.  The paper concluded that OTM teachers are pivotal to the successful implementation of the programme’s curriculum and as such, proficiency at ICT skills is a sine qua non for them.  Among other things, the paper recommended that institutions should religiously pursue the training and retraining of OTM teachers so as to keep them abreast of the ever-evolving world of technology.  It also recommended that government should prioritise education, increase its funding, using at least the UNESCO benchmark of 15-20% of the annual budget, so as to foster functional education system in Nigeria.