**5. Findings**

This section presents analyses of the field data obtained from our investigation on the extent to which university teachers in a developing country like Ghana effectively used their digital leadership role to promote the use of digital technology in instructional delivery. The presentation in this section is based on only the quantitative aspect of the embedded/nested mixed-method design because, as indicated in Section 4 (see Subsection 4.3), the qualitative data did not yield new issues remarkably different from the main quantitative data.

*Improving Higher Education Instructional Delivery in the Developing World: The Role… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.100546*

The first research question asks: What kinds of digital technology tools do university teachers in Ghana often apply in their instructional delivery as digital leaders?

**Table 2** presents the means (*M*) and standard deviations (SD) of the various digital technology tools used for teaching in Ghanaian universities. It further shows the frequency (in mean rank) of their usage for instructional delivery. Looking at the measure of central tendencies on the table, an examination of only the extreme measures of the means (i.e., variable with the highest mean and the variable with the lowest mean) shows that the participants' responses for the variable "laptops" has the highest mean score (*m* = 4.28) indicating a skew toward the agreement scale, responses for the variable "digital speakers" has the lowest mean score (*m* = 1.52) indicating a skew toward the disapproval scale. By implication, whereas laptops were the most frequently used digital technology tool by the participants, digital speakers were the least used by them.

Having examined the measure of central tendencies on the table, it is equally important to also consider the measure of dispersion. From the table, two extreme measures of standard deviations (i.e., the most dispersed variable from its mean and the least dispersed variable from its mean) show that whereas responses for the variable "Television sets" are the farthest apart and most dispersed (SD = 1.63). On the opposite, responses for the variable "Digital cameras" are the closest and least dispersed (SD = 1.08).

The second research question also asks: How effective are digital technology tools in promoting academic work in Ghanaian universities?

**Table 3** shows respondents' opinions regarding the effectiveness of digital technology tools in promoting teaching and learning in Ghanaian universities. For the measure of central tendencies, an examination of only the extreme measures of the means gives the impression that while the responses for the variable contending that digital technology tools allowed students to easily retain and recollect learning concepts have the highest mean score (*m* = 4.51) indicating a skew toward the strong agreement scale, responses for the variable claiming that digital technology tools made it easy to attract students' attention has the lowest mean score (*m* = 2.20) manifesting a skew toward the disagreement scale.

In the case of the measure of dispersion, a perusal of the table also reveals two extreme measures of standard deviations showing that responses for the variable on the assertion that digital technology tools enhanced the learning experience of


#### **Table 2.**

*Kinds digital technology tools frequently used by Ghanaian universities.*


#### **Table 3.**

*Effectiveness of digital technology tools in promoting instructional delivery.*

students are the farthest apart and most dispersed (SD = 1.51). On the contrary, responses for the variable on the view that digital technology tools enabled students to easily retain and recollect learning concepts are the closest and least dispersed (SD = 0.88).

#### **6. Discussion**

The study found high average usage for laptops, mobile, and phones as the usually used educational technology for teaching by the participants in playing their roles as digital leaders. The study, however, revealed the speaker as the least used educational technology device by the teachers. The findings further show that although most of the participants used digital technology tools, only a few effectively applied the tools in their instructional delivery. This result is interesting, given that a burgeoning body of the literature such as Amory [23], Bagheri et al. [24], Bates and Sangra [25], and Cheung and Slavin [26] found their integration into instructional delivery of most higher education institutions in the world. These digital technology tools are common, easy to operate, accessible, and have numerous advantages [40]. These merits perhaps account for the reason most teachers would want to use them to teach. Alkash and Al-Dersi [29] and Chevers and Whyte [19] believed that these tools make teaching lively, less stressful, and flexible.

Another possible explanation could be that most of the university teachers owned laptops and mobile phones and used them for various social activities. Research has shown that most university teachers believe that the use of these technology tools enhances teaching and fosters collaboration between students and faculty members. For instance, Tondeur et al. [21] pointed out that educational technology integration in the instructional process has become common because technology has assumed a pivotal role in enhancing teaching and learning. It is therefore not surprising that the participants deployed the digital devices to teach. It is also believed that most students have laptops and mobile phones; therefore, the participants would naturally find it ideal to share information and educational resources with the students [5].

Again, the use of the digital tools in teaching by the participants as digital leaders appears to give credence to the finding that digital technology tools increase

#### *Improving Higher Education Instructional Delivery in the Developing World: The Role… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.100546*

teachers' ability to speedily search for information [2, 7] and library databases [1]. By implication, the findings mean that if university teachers in the developing world are assisted with technology devices, it would boost their morale and encourage them to integrate educational technology into teaching [41]. It would also enhance the quality of their instructional delivery and impact positively on students' learning outcomes.

Comparing the findings of this research with previous studies reveals some consistencies. For example, the findings appear to confirm a key finding of Bozalek et al. [1] who revealed that educational technology devices are used in teaching in higher institutions in South Africa. Furthermore, Sife et al. [6] found that in Tanzania, higher institutions faculty members use educational technology for many educational purposes. The findings also corroborate Jackson and Chapman's [4] research who reported that most lecturers were proficient in using PowerPoint and Word applications for teaching.

Arguing from the perspective of Roger's [42] diffusion of innovation theory, which anchors this research, one would reason that if digital technology tools are not easy to use, not accessible, and do not offer relative advantages to university teachers in the developing world, they might decline their usage in teaching. It appears obvious that university teachers in Ghana, like all other teachers in the higher education sector in the developing world, may have positive attitudes toward the usage of digital technology tools in teaching but they need support to procure them.

#### **7. Conclusion and recommendations**

This study aimed to use the context of Ghana to examine the kinds of digital technology tools university teachers in the developing world often used in their teaching as digital leaders, and whether the tools were effective in promoting academic work. The study mainly found laptops, mobile phones, and projectors as the commonest digital technology tools used in teaching by the participants, and they thought that the tools effectively promoted academic work.

The study has two major limitations. First, the accidental technique used to recruit participants from Ghanaian universities does not allow the findings to generalize beyond the present sample. Second, because the study used the cross-sectional survey design, it cannot offer causal interpretations. Based on the limitations, we recommend that future research should compare the experiences of university teachers playing digital leadership roles in different geographical contexts across several developing countries. Because the research found that digital technology tools were effective in promoting academic work, we wish to also suggest that universities in Ghana should provide allowances to teachers to assist them to procure digital technology tools needed for teaching.

Despite the limitations, substantially, the findings are original because, to the best of our knowledge, there has not been previous research that has focused on the same issue on HEIs in the developing world. The study is also novel because of its use of the Diffusion of Innovation (DoN) theory to discuss pertinent issues about digital technology use in higher education. Most importantly, because developing countries arguably have similar characteristics, the findings may apply favorably with other developing countries.

Again, the findings may have global implications because knowing the effectiveness of the use of digital technology in higher education teaching in Ghana as a developing country could serve as a source of information on measures HEIs in developing countries have put in place to deal with the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on academic work. Finally, research also contributes to existing knowledge about how HEIs in the developing are using digital leadership to address the issue of large class size teaching bedeviling most universities.
