Abstract:

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays important role in education especially in developing nations like Nigeria, which needs to develop its citizens to live functionally in a globally competitive economy. ICT is increasingly becoming more widely spread throughout University education worldwide. This may probably be because of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO’s) policy paper for Change and Development in Higher Education, which urges higher education institutions to make greater use of the advantages offered by the advancement of communication technology, to improve the provision and quality of their education. University students are at the centre of this technological innovation in education, hence their use for this study. This paper sought to assess the level of students’ Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Competencies for the adoption of e-learning in Nigerian Universities. Four research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The design of the study is descriptive survey. One hundred and sixty 300-level undergraduate students randomly selected from the faculties of Arts, Engineering and Biological Sciences constituted the sample. Data was collected using questionnaire, named Information and Communication Technology Competency Test (ICTCT). The data was analyzed using percentage, mean and standard deviation for the research questions and t-test statistics for the hypotheses. The result indicates that most of the Science and Technology-based undergraduates possess higher ICT competency than the Arts-based undergraduates. The result also showed that area of specialization is significant in ICT competence of students but gender was not significant. Implications of the findings were highlighted based on which it was recommended among others that free compulsory ICT programs should be mounted for undergraduates, especially those based in the arts disciplines.

Keywords:

Students, information, communication, technology, competence, adoption, e-learning, university.