ASSESSMENT OF DIGITAL LITERACY SKILLS OF POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITIES IN BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated Assessment of Digital Literacy skills of Postgraduate students in Universities in Benue State, Nigeria. Two specific objectives with two corresponding research questions guided the study and two hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.5 level significance. The study adopted a survey design The population of the study comprises 3821 postgraduate students in three Universities in Benue State, namely, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi (JOSTUM), Benue State University (BSU), Makurdi and University of Mkar, Mkar (UMM). The sample size consisted of 362 postgraduate students were determined using Taro Yamane formula. The instrument for data collection were questionnaires titled “Assessment of Digital Literacy skills and Searching skills of Postgraduate students in Universities in Benue State, Nigeria). The questionnaire was divided into Eight (8) clusters: A, B, C D, E, F G, and H. The data collected was analyzed using Means and Standard Deviation to answer the research questions while the hypothesis was tested using ChiSquare test of independence from the data analysis, the following findings were made: the study shed light on the challenges faced by postgraduate students in acquiring digital literacy skills and searching skills for effectively utilizing electronic information resources in universities across Benue State. Based on the findings, the study concludes that postgraduate students in universities in Benue State, Nigeria possess the necessary digital literacy skills to effectively utilize electronic information resources, including skills in searching for information. The study recommends Universities in Benue State should consider integrating digital literacy courses into the curriculum. Universities should provide hands-on information literacy training to improve students' searching skills which will facilitate better literacy and searching skills for students.