ICT literacy among undergraduates in Nigerian universities

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the availability, use of Information and Communication Technology and the ICT literacy skills of undergraduates in seven Nigerian universities. The descriptive survey research design was adopted and seven universities were selected based on distribution of ownership of university. Four faculties were purposively selected with a study population of 8,497. Random sampling procedure was employed using a sampling percentage of 20% to give a sample size of 1,702. Results revealed that computer, telephone and the Internet were the three ICT mostly used by the undergraduates, although more on an occasional basis. The undergraduates in the state universities (BSU and IMSU) were found to have poor ICT literacy skills in the use of the three ICT with over 25%, while those with average ICT literacy skills were in the federal universities (ABU and UNIMAID). Three major factors affecting the ICT literacy of the undergraduates were identified as irregular power supply, inadequate ICT and limited duration of the use of the ICT. For increased ICT literacy of undergraduates, the university administrators must introduce courses on ICT competency to all students especially first year students and encourage all lecturers to use ICT for teaching and learning. The article contains original work carried out on the ICT literacy competencies of undergraduates in selected Nigerian universities and the result would be useful to library staff and university administrators.

Gender Inequality in the Usage of ICT Facilities in Academic Libraries: A Case Study of Presbyterian University College Library (PUCL), Ghana

“…Regrettably, management of Presbyterian University College, Ghana (PUCG) has invested heavily in the purchase of ICT facilities to enhance learning and research in the library, from the preliminary observation by the researchers, it appears that there is disparity between male and female students' concerning the use of these facilities in the library; others have also expressed their dissatisfaction with the facilities. This observation confirmed the studies of Adetimirin (2012;Reffell & Whitworth, 2002) that the use of ICT facilities in most of the university libraries in developing nations is far below expectation. Again, there has not been any similar study on gender inequality concerning the use of ICT facilities by students, particularly at the Presbyterian University College, Ghana.…”

Lecturers’ perception of students’ information literacy skills versus students’ actual information literacy levels

“…This aligns with the views of Kerins, Madden, and Fulton (2004); King (2007); Gross and Latham (2008); MohdSaad (2008); Baro and Fyneman (2009);Abubakar and Isyaku (2012); Adetimirin (2012); Kunakornsakul and Pinit (2012) Ukpebor and Emojorho (2012); Williams (2010) ;and Krubu (2015). However, this outcome is contrary to the submission of the lecturer who taught the course and gave the assignment as the lecturer rated the students" level of information literacy as excellent/advanced.…”

“…In Nigeria, studies by Baro and Fyneman (2009);Abubakar and Isyaku (2012); Adetimirin (2012); Ukpebor and Emojorho (2012); Krubu (2015) reveal that the information literacy levels of Nigerian undergraduates are inadequate, even though some students have acquired a certain level of information literacy, including technological skills.…”

ICT Literacy Competence of Staff members of Colleges of Education in Kano State, Nigeria

“…The trend of development is so intensive that we are confronted with the constant increase of new technologies every few years (Ibegwam, 2004). According to Ibegwam (2004) and Adetimirin (2012), it is impossible to predict what will be the direction of development in the future, but it is certain that we will have to adapt and learn new things brought by new technologies. According to The International ICT Literacy Panel 2002, ICT literacy could be defined as the ability to use digital technology, communications tools, and/or networks to access, manage, integrate, evaluate, and create information in order to function in a knowledge society.…”