Sowing the seeds for improved Pharmacy education in Nigeria: development of ICT at university of Benin Faculty of Pharmacy

For today\'s pharmacy graduates to function effectively in an ever increasing technological world, pharmacy students must be trained to use computer facilities as they will always encounter the application of computerized information resources throughout their educational and professional lives. Similarly, pharmacy teachers need to be adequately proficient in computer usage in order to be able to apply computers in instructions and research. The purpose of this article is to describe the impact of the application of information technology (IT) on the training of pharmacy students in University of Benin Faculty of Pharmacy as well as explore the willingness of pharmacy instructors to embrace IT. A computer teaching laboratory, equipped with 20 computers, a server, printers, scanners, Laptop, and computer-aided learning (CAL) packages was developed. Internet access was provided through a local area network. Staff (n=30) and students (n=115) were trained to use the facilities. Self-administered questionnaires directed at both the staff and students trained were used to evaluate the success of the project. The level of computer literacy of academic staff increased from 60.8% (prior to the training) to 98.04%. There was a remarkable improvement in their computer skills. The staff agreed that the training greatly improved their abilities to teach and carry out research. All the students agreed that the computer education was beneficial in improving learning, professional competence, team work, problem-solving ability and self-confidence, as well as acquiring new knowledge and opening opportunity for life-long learning. The enthusiasm of staff and students in the Faculty has been overwhelming. Computer facilities for the teaching of pharmacy students have been successfully developed and applied to improve computer literacy for both staff and students in University of Benin Faculty of Pharmacy. These have opened opportunities for improvement in research, teaching and learning. Nig. J. Pharm. Res. 3(1) 2004: 35-4