The International Journal Of Science & Technoledge (ISSN 2321 – 919X) www.theijst.com 410 Vol 2 Issue 5 May, 2014 THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLEDGE Availability, Gender and Teaching Experience: Determinants of ICT Utilization in Teaching in Rural Secondary Schools in South Eastern Nigeria 1. Introduction Information and communications technology is as old as man. This is informed by the fact that man since creation has continually created ways and means of communicating with his fellow man. The development of gadgets which handle and transfer information in ways that marvels and was unthought-of in the history of man is as a result of man’s quest to create better ways of handling information. The principal stock in trade of education is the transmission or transfer of information from the teacher to the learner. If there is any technological development that has a very great potential for development in education and can improve education quality, expand learning opportunities and make education accessible, it is the development in ICT. Information and communication technology according to Ochoyi and Ukwumonu (2008) has the capacity to produce higher interactive potentials for users to develop individual intellectual and creative ability. It is as a result of the great advantages which ICT offers that Nigerian educational reforms stressed the importance of computer technology in Schools during the 32 nd ministerial council meeting of the National Council on Education in 1987 (FRN,2004). The role of ICT in the advancement of knowledge and skills necessary for the effective functioning of an individual in the modern world is further stressed in the National policy on education. In the bid to integrate ICT into education in Nigeria for effective teaching and learning to take place, internet services in schools tagged school Net Nigeria was launched in September 2001. Thirteen years after the launch, one would expect to see the impact felt in all the secondary schools in Nigeria. Computers are supposed to be provided by the government in all schools whether in urban or rural areas as part of her responsibility in funding and running of schools. These computers are to be connected to the internet for the use of teachers and students in learning. Information and communication technology are information handling tools that are capable of being used to generate process, store and retrieve, distribute and exchange information. When these different tools work together, they combine to form a network which reaches any part of the globe. It has increasingly become the most powerful tool for participating in virtually every global activity such as global market, promoting political accountability, improving the delivery of basic services and enhancing local development opportunities (UNDP 2006). When ICT is mentioned, computer and internet connection are what readily comes to mind. These two are not the only components of ICT but have actually revolutionized the way we handle and disseminate Bede Blaise Chukwunyere Onwuagboke UniversitiSains, Malaysia Termit Kaur Ranjit Singh UniversitiSains, Malaysia Joy Ngozika Onwuagboke AlvanIkoku Federal College of Education Owerri, Nigeria Abstract: This paper is a survey which was designed to ascertain the various Information and Communication Technology resources available for teaching and learning in secondary schools in Mbaise, Imo State Nigeria. The study is a descriptive survey. The population of the study is made up of all the secondary school teachers in all the forty Secondary Schools in Mbaise. A sample size of 264 respondents was selected for the study using stratified - random sampling technique. The instrument used for the collection of data was a set of researcher–made questionnaire. Data collected was analyzed using frequency counts and simple percentages, independent sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Result shows that the extent of availability of ICT resources in secondary schools in Mbaise is very low. The extent of utilization of ICT resources in teaching and learning is equally very low with male teachers having higher utilization mean scores than the female teachers. The mean difference between the male and female teacher was found to be statistically significant. There was however no significant difference in ICT utilization means score between teachers based on teaching experience. It was concluded that much need to be done by government in the area of provision of ICT resources for teaching and learning in this era of ICT- based learning. The paper recommends governments’, non-governmental organizations’ and private individuals’ intervention in the provision of needed ICT resources in the schools among others. Key words: Availability;ICT resources; Learning; Secondary Schools;Teaching;Utilization. Nigeria