IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSR-JRME) e-ISSN: 2320–7388,p-ISSN: 2320–737X Volume 7, Issue 2 Ver. III (Mar. - Apr. 2017), PP 96-106 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/7388-07020396106 www.iosrjournals.org 96 | Page Awareness of Students on the Usefulness of ICT Tools in Education: Case of EMU Ilodigwe Udoka Tochukwu 1 , Fatma Tansu Hocanın 2 1 (Department of Management Information Science, Cyprus International University, TRNC) 2 (Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technologies, Eastern Mediterranean University, TRNC) Abstract: The importance of technology and its adoption has widely turned out to be a norm in the conventional classroom for both teachers and learners. Preliminary researches have shown that educational institutions have adopted Information Communication Technology (ICT) in their teaching/learning process. There are many researches that have been conducted to find out the level of students’ awareness on the use of ICT tools, and the factors affecting ICT diffusion on the part of the students’ education. The study was conducted at the Information Technology (IT) Department of Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) in Northern Cyprus. The significance of this research focused on investigating EMU IT students’ awareness on the use of ICT tools in education by considering factors like skills in usage of ICT tools, purpose of usage etc., based on various variables like age, gender and class levels of the participants. The study also elaborates the basic trends of ICT, and the sync between ICT and education for pedagogical development. Data were elicited from 120 participants through the use of a questionnaire containing 54 ICT related questions and five open- ended interview questions. The analyses showed that there is a significant difference between male and female respondents on their awareness of the use of ICT tools, where female students proved to be more active on the adoption of such tools. In addition, a significant difference was also observed between students’ age where the younger students displayed to be more active in the usage of such ICT tool. Keywords: Instructional Technology, Information Communication Technology, awareness, ICT tools I. Introduction Constructivism as a learning theory posits that experience and knowledge is built and constructed by the learner on the basis of a mental activity. Students are proven to be lively species looking for definitions and meaning. This theory increases learner‟s rational and theoretical development. The essential idea of constructivism learning principle is the part that knowledge or interaction with the connecting surrounding performs in learner training. Social constructivism inspires students to reach at their description of what is true, subjective at their upbringing beliefs or rooted general view. Past growths and sign methods, like semantic, logic and reasoning, and calculative systems are embedded within student as a participant of a specific culture and beliefs, and all of these are assimilated all through the life of the student. This focuses on the aim of nature of the student‟s public connection with information and communication technological (ICT) tools, instructional materials and also with the experienced associates of the public. Some scholastic technologists which use most type of constructivist standpoint likewise rely on collaborative learning. Presently, on the part of education, constructivism has occupied a dominant lead role on which the aim of investigators have deviated into finding how experience is constructed. Looking at the development of ICT learning tool, constructivist learning theories have been studied and reviewed as instructors try to include ICT even though trying to harmonize constructivist centered educations. Nowadays, digital populations go across to virtual worlds in which the ICT tools are started to be accepted as an instrument in learning. According to [1], the vast amount of information that ICT supply on a daily basis has allowed students new ways to explore education compared to ordinary instructional tools. ICT is mostly presumed to be a platform and catalyst of trending educational change [1]. Instructional technology arranges a learner through assisting them to gather an insightful comprehension and familiarity of learning resource, ways for investigating via research study, principles, design, assessment, and utilization. Instructional technology target is on the successful patterns to encourage learning by adopting technologies and imparting the usefulness of technological tools on learners and institutions. As ICT tools turn out to be obvious, learning became the center of all kinds of teaching processes [2], [3]. It is common today that technology welcomes learners as they take a walk into modern classroom which are donated with ICT tools like Liquid Content Display (LCD) projectors, computer software programs, interactive whiteboards, etc. Regrettably, the presence of ICT tools does not necessarily mean its effectiveness [4]. Therefore, this study focuses on investigating the perception of EMU IT students‟ on the effectiveness of use of ICT tools in teaching and learning settings. Educational technological tools is most times seen as a booster for modification, alteration in teaching patterns, modification in integration processes and in retrieval of information or data [5]. ICT tools