Emerging Technologies - E-Counselling Amidst Covid-19 and the Role of ICT for Quality TeachingLearning in Private Universities in Nigeria: A Case Study of Veritas University Abuja

The outbreak of Corona virus in 2019 necessitated the emergence of new technologies in search for alternative means of teaching and learning in Institutions worldwide. Before this development, effective and standardized school structures like faculty blocks, classrooms, chairs, desks, learning boards and affective learning were emphasized. With emerging new technologies for adequate learning due to COVID-19 now, standardized school structures, learning boards, chairs, classrooms, etc; all seem obsolete because almost everywhere people are being advised to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines which include social distancing from physical persons and surfaces. Although, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) had been around for some time, for example, learning was carried out through Mails, Google classroom, WhatsApp, Zoom, etc, the advent of COVID-19 has brought to the fore its importance and usage. More and more schools are beginning to step outside of the box to explore and employ the use of ICT in teaching and learning. Hence, the prime question is, how can ICT affect teaching and learning in light of the new normal and the challenges it has entrenched on the school environment where people are being encouraged to stay at home and learn online? This study discussed the role and immense contributions of ICT for quality education amidst COVID-19 pandemic in Veritas University, Abuja. A sample of 500 respondents was selected for the study out of a population of 3,490. The sample was selected using a simple random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was an organized questionnaire titled: “Role of ICT for Quality Education Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic Questionnaire” (RICTQECPQ). Two experts validated the instrument. In order to obtain the reliability of the instrument, test re-test was carried out on some respondents outside the sample area. 0.81 correlation co-efficient was gotten which was high enough to determine the reliability of the instrument. The collected data were analyzed using mean to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The results indicated that ICT usage had a positive impact on teaching and learning amidst COVID-19 pandemic in Veritas University Abuja. Based on the results of the findings, it was recommended that the university management should provide ICT facilities and lecturers and students should ensure that there is internet facilities especially during teaching-learning process.