Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a medium of communication: ICT usage among UiTM Shah Alam lecturers.

Many have argued that information and communication technology (ICT) has a significant role to play in the four primary functions of higher education institutions: teaching and learning, research, support and administration. However, the adoption of computer assisted learning technologies in teaching and learning in higher education must be understood in relation to the overall use of computers by university faculty. Researches haw shown that while computer use by faculty in higher education in some countries has become widespread, there has not been wide diffusion of computers in teaching. Given the ICT infrastructure in placed at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and the issues of diffusion and the integration of ICTs in teaching as raised in the literature, the related issue that arise is: to what extent is the ICT facilities being used by the faculty at UiTM Shah Alam for teaching and learning and communication? The result of this research showed that although UiTM Shah Alam lecturers’ usage of ICT facilities is widespread, only less than half of them use the ICT facilities for academic or research purposes. At the same time the majority of them claimed to use e-mail, a communication tool, for personal purposes. The result thus reflects findings from other countries, such as the United States and Canada, where the usage of JCT for teaching and learning is still very low.