Advantages of Internet and Intranet for knowledge creation among lecturers and students in university of Ilorin Ogunlade , Oyeronke Olufunmilola (PhD) drronkeogunlade@yahoo.com, ogunlade.oo@unilorin.edu.ng (+2348032455690) and Olafare Festus Oladimeji demaajy@yahoo.com(+2347066236402) University of Ilorin, Faculty of Education, Department of Science Education ABSTRACT The study examined the advantages of internet and intranet for knowledge creation among lecturers and students in university of Ilorin. A questionnaire on the advantages of internet and intranet in knowledge creation and the difference between the roles of internet and intranet in knowledge creation, was designed to elicit information from a total of 81 lecturers and 568 undergraduates. Frequency count and percentage were used to analyze the research questions asked in the study. Results revealed that the internet connectivity was a very strong means of creating extensive knowledge. Moreover, majority agreed that there was a difference between the roles played by internet and intranet in knowledge creation. Based on the results, some recommendations were made ;that lecturers should be given more opportunity to use intranet for easy communication in the university, Undergraduates should also be given easy access to surf the internet anywhere on campus, the cost implications of which should have been added to their school fees on resumption. Keywords: knowledge creation, information and communication technology, internet and intranet. INTRODUCTION Knowledge has become a way of developing life as the world is now a global village. This happens as a result of development through Information and Communication Technology. The key instruments to globalization are internet and intranet which have increasingly become the facts of everyday life. Professional knowledge, skills and capabilities have been enhanced by information and communication. Knowledge Creation from one generation to another has enabled planning and preparation. In today’s highly dynamic educational environment, knowledge is an added advantage. The ability to create knowledge is the main source of development for today and the future. Nonaka and Takenali, (1995) reported that works of scholars from different areas of specialization have suggested that access to a rich variety of information stimulates creativity and knowledge creation. However, most organizations desire to structure and control their information environment.Generation of new knowledge can also be examined from learning and innovation points of views. Learning is being extremely unevenly developed in the world while science and technology are globally integrated to the world with full concentration on ICT. Knowledge creation is essentially an activity that develops individual, socially and academically. Knowledge can be created, enriched, shared among individuals and organisations, in interaction among several people (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Brown & Duguid, 1991; Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995; Nahapiet and Ghoshal 1998, Sharpton & Jhaveri, 2006; Ridings Gefen and Arinze (2002); Wasko & Faraj, 2000) concluded that a recent trend in the organizations like education, business and other communities are becoming ‘virtual’ to an increasing degree, and more knowledge-creation activities take place online with the use of ICT. ICT is opening up new possibilities for knowledge creation among organizations and individuals. It is also facilitating development through interaction. Knowledge creation is considered as one of the most essential processes in knowledge intensive environments like the education sector. One very distinctive aspect of true creativity is that it tends to show up where it is least expected. Obviously one may have creative meetings or brainstorming sessions where one sits down and produces innovative decisions or new solutions to known problems. These are exploitations of familiar concepts with the use of ICT. Unpredictable as it may be, creativity can still be promoted (Stenmark, 2000). According to Ogunlade (2010) Lecturers can use ICT to conduct researches even on collaborative bases. They can surf the internet and gather on-line data that can also hasten their researches.This study therefore sought to find out the advantages of intranet and internet in knowledge creation among lecturers and undergraduates in university of Ilorin. Evolution of ICT in University of Ilorin The use of worldwide web started in University of Ilorin in 1990 with the introduction of the internet which change the way information is been disseminated. In 2002, internet service distribution was made possible across the university through the donation of a VSAT and bandwidth subscription for a year by Education Trust Fund for the faculty of health sciences. The bandwidth and the network infrastructure have allowed the following internet dependent services in university of Ilorin: e-mail services (all staff have been registered on a staff domain server as staffname@unilorin.edu.ng while students are on matricno@unilorin.edu.ng.Discussion groups: lecturers have developed e-learning web pages for courses like engineering mechanics (CVE253 & CVE 254) Statistics(STA 201,STA 202) course materials and assignments are done on the site, Distance learning, online schooling, examination for a class more than 500. University of Ilorin website (www.unilorin.edu.ng) has been hosted at the ICTP, Italy since it was launched in 2004 and it is maintained and updated by COMSIT Directorate. A student portal was deployed in 2007/2008 academic session which enables students and lecturers interaction for registration, examination score. Mejabi and Babatunde (2010) identified students and lecturers reasons for visiting the website respectively as follows: Announcement 80%, student portal 77% and general news 71%, and university publications 74%, general news 70% and academic publications and research work 66%. A major outcome from launching the website has been the assessment by various international organizations such as Webometrics and 4ICU. In 1990 ,Unilorin recorded the feat of being the first Nigerian public institution to establish an e-mail link through partnership between Unilorin Faculty of Health Sciences and McMaster University Ontario, Canada ( Mejabi, 1992a, 1992b, 1995) this link opened the community to the internet and world-wide-web. Internet The internet is a global network of computers that connects independent networks containing information of any kind that can be assessed and retrieved by all users all over the world. Learning can be provided and teaching can be done through internet services like the electronic mail (email), telnet, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Goptar, video conferences and the World Wide Web. The internet is made up of millions of computers around the world in such a way that information can be sent from any one computer to the other in universities, offices and other institutions. The internet can also be referred to as the network because all network stations are linked together. All the network stations are equal except the speed of connection which is dependent on the internet service provider and the modem in use. The internet has developed a strong community- base where information, software and expert advice are freely shared. The average user in the US spends 5.3 hours on-line a week. 43 percent of U.S. homes have Internet access in 2000 (compared to just 28 percent in 1998). Electronic mail, with an internet email account, users can communicate with anyone else on-line, any place in the world, with no long distance fees. Email can also be used to join mailing lists, bulletin boards, or discussion groups that cover a huge variety of subjects. According to a 1999 study (the 1999 Consumer Technology Survey), email has replaced research as the leading reason given by people in the US for using the Internet. Table 1. POPULATION OF INTERNET USERS IN NIGERIA YEAR USERS POPULATION % SOURCE 2000 200,000 142, 895, 6000 0.1 ITU 2006 5,000,000 159,404,137 3.1 ITU 2009 23,982,200 149,229,090 16.1 ITU Retrieved 14th December.2010 from http://www.internet worldstats.com/af/ng.htm ITU: International Telecommunication Union INTRANET According to Damsgaard (2001), Intranets have been embraced in record time by many organizations. It has moved from being a largely unknown technology only a few years back, A vast number of knowledge-intensive organizations have now embarked on large-scale intranet implementations. Organizations have implemented intranets for a variety of reasons which include, sharing information, to enhance organizational communication in general, and to support collaboration across departmental, functional and regional boundaries (Bernard, 1996; Scacchi & Noll, 1997; McNaughton, Quickenden, Matear and Gray 1999). A recent development is the organizational application of intranet technology to support knowledge management (KM) processes (Scott, 1998; Alavi & Leidner, 1999a; Newell, Swan, Galliers and Scarbrough 1999). Intranet is private computer network that uses internet protocol technology to secure and share any part of an organization information or network operating system within the organization. It is in contrast to internet, a network between organizations, instead it refers to a network within an organization ,mostly to the internet website at the organization. It may host multiple private websites and constitute an important component. Any of the well-known internet protocols may be found in an intranet such as HTTP, SMTP, and FTP. Access to the net is restricted exclusively to specified number of organization (Oppliger 1997, Lauden and London2000). A number of knowledge intensive institutions like University of Ilorin have embarked on large scale intranet implementation in the institution to improve research, share information and academics works. Intranet can be a private analog of the internet or a private extension of the internet. Studies have shown that internet and intranet used in University of Ilorin have been performing major roles which are really helping the institution in pursuing academic excellence. In order to create more extensive knowledge among lecturers and students in the university therefore , the major challenges facing ICT development which include high cost of bandwidth, and ISP downtimes, disruption of internet reception by local hiccups, death of personnel’s, high staff turnover, quick obsolescence of computer, epileptic power supply , internet network failure and high computer system replacement must be tackled and improved upon. Purpose and Research Questions The purpose of this study is to find out the advantages of intranet and internet in knowledge creation among lecturers and undergraduates in university of Ilorin. The study also examined the following research questions: What are the roles of internet and intranet technologies in knowledge creation in University of Ilorin? Is there any difference between the role of internet and intranet in University of Ilorin as regards knowledge creation? . METHODOLOGY The design used for the study was a descriptive survey type. 10% of the academic staff and students of the university were involved in the study. Simple random sampling technique was used to select the faculties and departments involved in the study. The lecturers found in their offices at the time of visit and the students of the selected departments who were on campus then were purposively selected . A sample of eighty one lecturers and five hundred and sixty eight undergraduates were used for the study. This study was conducted during the 2010/2011 session. Ten- item questionnaire was designed by the researchers (self developed) to answer the research questions as proposed by the researchers for both the students and the lecturers. The instrument was given to experts and other senior colleagues in the related areas for content and face validity. Their responses were analyzed using the mean and percentage. RESULT Table 2: usage of internet by lecturers and students Ever used internet LECTURERS STUDENTS Frequency % Frequency % Yes 81 100 422 71.2 No - - 164 28.8 Total 81 100 568 100 100% of the lecturers have used Internet while 71.2% of the students have convincingly used the internet. Since a vast majority of the students and lecturers have effectively utilized Internet at least once, 28.8% of the students have not used the internet on their own for once ,they normally employed the services of cafés. All they use the computer for is examination. Table 3: usage of intranet by lecturers and students Ever used internet LECTURERS STUDENTS Frequency % Frequency % Yes 55 67.9 18 3.2 No 26 32.1 550 96.7 Total 81 100 568 100 As high as 67.9% of the lecturers have used Intranet while 3.2% of the students have also used it. Majority of the students have not used the intranet while a low percentage of lecturers have not used the internet effectively. Research Question 1: What are the roles of internet and intranet technologies in Knowledge creation in University of Ilorin? Table 4: purpose of using internet by lecturers and students Roles ( internet) Lecturers student Frequency % frequency % Educational information always 62 76.5 423 74.5 Sometimes 19 23.5 145 25.5 Gather information for study always 38 46.9 330 58.1 Sometimes 43 53.1 238 41.9 Send mails always 54 66.7 525 92.4 Sometimes 27 33.3 43 7.6 Registration always - - 568 100 Sometimes - - - - Internet plays different roles in knowledge creation among the lecturers and undergraduates in university of Ilorin. 76.5% of the lecturers used the internet for educational information and 74.5% of the students used the internet for same purpose. 38% of the lecturers used it for gathering information for study always while 58.1% of the students used it to gather information . The students used the internet for registration always because it is the only means of registering as a student. Table 5: purpose of using intranet by lecturers and students Roles ( intranet) Lecturers Student Frequency % frequency % Educational information always 62 76.5 - - Sometimes 19 23.5 - - Gather information for study always 38 46.9 30 53 Sometimes 43 53.1 538 94.7 Send mails always 64 76.7 25 4.5 Sometimes 17 23.3 543 95.5 Registration always - - 568 100 Sometimes - - - - 76.7% of the sample in the university used Intranet to send mail always and 23.3% use Intranet sometimes to send mail. 46.9% used intranet for the purpose of gathering information always to study, 53.1% used it always to seek information. All the students used the intranet for the purpose of registration since that’s the only way they can access the university portal for registration for any academic session while non of the lecturers made use of the intranet for such purpose. Research Question 2: Is there any difference between the roles of internet and intranet in university of Ilorin? The roles performed by internet and intranet in knowledge creation among lecturers and undergraduates in university of Ilorin were different because a higher percentage of 76.7% of the lecturers in the university used the internet in sending mails and receiving information from the university authority, the internet was also used for the same purpose. The main use of the intranet by the students was for their registration which brings them in a close range to the university. The internet performed the major roles due to the accessibility in and outside the university environment without signing into the school domain. DISCUSSION Majority of the students and lecturers rated the roles of internet and intranet very high due to its advantages in knowledge creation in university of Ilorin. This implies that the roles of the internet and intranet in facilitating knowledge creation through the teaching and learning process in University of Ilorin is not lost despite the deployment of ICT in the university. This study has shown the prospect of the ICT policy documented for the university in 2004 and reviewed in 2009 that guides the usage and practice of ICT in the University. The following are the objectives among others for the use of ICT : To provide adequate and reliable ICT facilities , effective teaching, research and scholarship. Capacity building for staff and students. To encourage research and development in the areas of pedagogy, academic management and governance. Also the phrase “knowledge-driven world” as conceived by Hawkins, (2004) and Inwent, (2004) shared the same prospect with meaning that Education reform practices should focus on equal; access and quality in education which should highlight the importance of change in education sector through the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and equipping new generation with enhanced skill to operate in 21st century. Most of the lecturers and undergraduates do not have their sites for individual courses except in few cases where they have a large class like Collaborative works is encouraged but not many have embraced it. The study also agreed with Bandele (2006), stating the interest of Nigerians in developing their ICT skills and knowledge toward education. Their worries are lack of skills, initial knowledge and pace of development in which they feel they cannot cope with and intricacies associated with the use of computer. With training, great awareness of ICT will be created and many will be encouraged to perceive it as a necessity in information delivery system. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS The finding of this study has shown the advantages of internet and intranet among lecturers and undergraduates in University of Ilorin. The roles played by internet in knowledge creation were seen to be high because the intranet solely depends on the internet. Generally, the internet was used by both lecturers and students within and outside the university community for academic purpose and information dissemination like the e-mail. The major constraints facing the use of internet and intranet in knowledge creation in university of Ilorin are low computer skills by lecturers and students, inadequate power supply, access to the internet disruption of internet reception and skilled personnel. Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations were made: 1. 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Wasko, M. and Faraj, S. (2000), ‘'It is what one does': why people participate and help others in electronic communities of practice’, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Vol. 9, pp. 155 -173. Yusuf, M.O.(2005), information and communication technology and education: Analysing the Nigerian national policy for information, international Education journal Comments from External Reviewer Evaluation Grade Please fill a grade of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1(high to low) Overall evaluation on the paper Contribution to existing knowledge 2 Organization and Readability 2 Soundness of methodology 2 Evidence supports conclusion 2 Adequacy of literature review 3 Strength The study was able to reveal that the internet connectivity was a very strong means of creating extensive knowledge. Weakness Problem is not stated, how the sample was selected –not properly written, the names of somr authors were not cited, research question two was not properly answered