Computers in Distance Education: gender differences in self‐perceived computer competencies

Atan, Hanafi; Azli, Nazirah A.; Rahman, Zuraidah A.; Idrus, Rozhan M.

doi:10.1080/1358165020270304

Cited by 11 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

(9 reference statements)

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“…In each case the male students reported a higher level of competency. This finding is in agreement with that of Atan, Azli, Rahman & Idrus (2002) and Hew and Leong (2011) who also found that the maintenance competence was significantly dominated by males. Although not statistically significant, females reported higher levels of competency in only two skills namely the word processing and presentation tools skills.…”

Section: Research Questionsupporting

confidence: 83%

The ICT Competencies of Part-Time Students at a Tertiary Institution in Barbados

Walcott

Garner-O’Neale

Depradine

2013

AJIS

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Many schools and institutions worldwide have integrated ICT competencies into their curricula because it is argued that ICT competence is necessary for economic development and social change. In developing nations such as the Caribbean, however, due to the digital divide, it is questionable whether citizens possess the ICT competencies necessary for economic growth. This paper describes a study which investigated whether students at a tertiary institution in Barbados possessed some of the important ICT competencies necessary for the development of the country's economy. One hundred and five part-time studentswere asked to self-report their perceived ICT competencies on a survey instrument which queried their abilities in the use of productivity tools (word processor, spreadsheet and presentation) and their computer maintenance and security skills. The results showed that both males and females were most highly skilled in the use of word processing software, although females were more competent. Females were also more competent than males in the use of presentation software. Alternatively, females' weakest competence was computer maintenance, while males' weakest was the use of presentation software. Furthermore, there were significant differences in: the computer maintenance and security skills of males and females; the use of word processors and spreadsheets based on age; and all the productivity tools skills based on students' self-rated overall computer skills. Although it appears from this study that students possess some of the basic ICT skills such as word processing, there are significant gender and age differences in skill levels which may affect Barbados' ICT development.

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Section: Research Questionsupporting

confidence: 83%

The ICT Competencies of Part-Time Students at a Tertiary Institution in Barbados

Walcott

Garner-O’Neale

Depradine

2013

AJIS

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“…Research done by TengkuFaekah (2005) showed that form four male students in the Kubang Pasu district of Kedah, a northern state in Malaysia, have higher perceived ICT competency than their female counterparts. However, activities such as handling computer hardware and performing computer maintenance are still dominated by males (Atan, Azli, Rahman & Idrus, 2002). From the review of studies above, it appears that the evidence for specific gender differences in ICT competency is inconclusive although there is a widespread belief that computers and the Internet are male-dominated technologies.…”

Section: Gender and Ict Competenciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Survey of ICT Competencies among Students in Teacher Preparation Programmes at the University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria

Danner

Pessu

2013

JITE:Research

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Executive SummaryToday's fast-paced world is becoming increasingly characterized by technology driven communication, which has transformed the world into a large global connected community with everincreasing outreach of information and communication technology (ICT). Technology plays an increasingly important role in people's lives, and it is envisaged that technological literacy will soon become a functional requirement for people's work, social, and even personal lives. For both social and economic reasons students will need computer and communication technology skills if they are to live successfully in a knowledge-based society. The purpose of this study is to examine the ICT usage habits and the self-assessed ICT competencies possessed by undergraduate students in teacher preparation programmes in the University of Benin. A second important issue that was addressed was whether there were significant differences in the perceived ICT competency among students according to demographic and study related factors. Thus, the paper's central research objectives are: To examine the ICT usage habits of students in teacher preparation programmes. To examine the self-assessed ICT skills' competencies possessed by students in teacher preparation programmes. To determine whether there were significant differences in perceived ICT competencies among students in teacher preparation programmes according to demographic and study related factors (gender, and type of computer training).A descriptive survey was adopted and the target population was all students in levels 200, 300, and 400 of the faculty of education, University of Benin. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire adapted from Bassey, Akuegwu, Udida, Ntukidem, and Ekabua (2007). The results show that:Material published as part of this publication, either on-line or in print, is copyrighted by the Informing Science Institute. Permission to make digital or paper copy of part or all of these works for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage AND that copies 1) bear this notice in full and 2) give the full citation on the first page. It is permissible to abstract these works so long as credit is given. To copy in all other cases or to republish or to post on a server or to redistribute to lists requires specific permission and payment of a fee. Contact Publisher@InformingScience.org to request redistribution permission.Editor: Jane Nash Survey of ICT Competencies Students' ICT usage was low, particularly the use of internet and email. The respondents perceived themselves to be good in word processing and file navigation, moderate in Internet browsing and emailing. Only two percent (2%) of the respondents perceived themselves to be competent in PowerPoint with about seventy percent (70%) having no capability at all. There was no significant difference in the perceived competency among students according to gender and academic year/level. However, there w...

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“…Several studies conducted in Asia report on male students' higher self-efficacy in ICT and DE, for example, Atan, Azli, Rahman, and Idrus (2002) in regard to Malaysian undergraduates, Tekinarslan (2009) in regard to Turkish undergraduates, and Zhang, Li, Duan, and Wu (2001) in regard to Chinese undergraduate and graduate students. All of these studies indicate need for scaffolding, personal tuition, and technical support, particularly for female distance learners.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

IRRODL Volume 15, Number 2

Authors

2014

IRRODL

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Editorial -Volume 15, Issue Number 2 Nn OnlineCourses Rory McGreal Co-Editor, IRRODLThis spring edition of IRRODL begins with several articles describing open educational resources (OER) followed by some financial considerations and a MOOC investigation.These papers will also be included in the OERKnowledgeCloud, which is supported by the UNESCO/Commonwealth of Learning/International Council for Open and Distance Education Chairs in three countries. (I am one of them.) For those readers, who are interested in OER and MOOCs, I would recommend that they visit this repository of more than 600 research articles and reports on issues of relevance to researchers in the field. These are followed by papers on student interaction and support as well as synchronous and asynchronous learning. The later articles investigate blended learning, educational research, and the mobile cloud. MOOCs can be seen as a development emerging from the OER movement. In his blog mining analysis of MOOCs, Chen highlights some of the challenges that need to be addressed to ensure sustainability. In contrast, Marty, focuses on monetizing distance education, with fieldwork analyzing the cultural evolution of a French educational institution from a "public good" mandate to a commercial orientation.The next topic includes the themes of interactivity and student support. Wang et al.provide us with a framework for analyzing interaction within a connectivist paradigm with four levels (operation, wayfinding, sensemaking, and innovation). Barberà et al. This edition is rounded off with two articles. Teräs and Herrington, using an iterative design and rapid prototyping, show how this helps to "refine design principles" for an authentic elearning programme. Wang et al. provide us with a case study of mobile learning using cloud computing in a higher education institution.The notes sections include a critique of MOOCs by V. Dolan followed by a book review by T. Anderson. Mass Customization of Education by an AbstractOne of the claims the OER movement makes is that availability of (open) digital learning materials improves the quality of education. The promise is the ability to offer educational programs that take into account specific demands of the learner. The question is how to reach a situation where a customized demand can be met using OER with acceptable quality against acceptable costs. This situation resembles mass customization as is common in industry for several decades now. Techniques from an industry where an end product is assembled with the demands of the customer as a starting point can be translated to the field of education where courses and learning paths through a curriculum are assembled using a mixture of open and closed learning materials and learning services offered by an institution. Advanced IT support for both the modeling of the learning materials and services and a configurator to be used by a learner are necessary conditions for this approach.

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Computers in Distance Education: gender differences in self‐perceived computer competencies

Cited by 11 publications

References 12 publications

The ICT Competencies of Part-Time Students at a Tertiary Institution in Barbados

The ICT Competencies of Part-Time Students at a Tertiary Institution in Barbados

A Survey of ICT Competencies among Students in Teacher Preparation Programmes at the University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria

IRRODL Volume 15, Number 2

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