- Title
- Ict literacy skills and demographic factors as determinants of electronic resources use among the undergraduate students in the selected universities the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Creator
- Olatoye , Oluwayemi IbukunOluwa
- Subject
- Electronic information resources
- Date
- 2019
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Doctoral
- Type
- PhD
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16176
- Identifier
- vital:40675
- Description
- In today’s world, information is the foundation on which every strata in society is built and established. As we are in the jet age, the use of Information Communications Technology (ICT) is sine-qua-non to academic development. It is equally important to acquire skills and build capacity in ICT applications, as well as reflect on the demographic factors that determine the utilization of electronic resources among the undergraduate respondents. ICT has also evolutionalized professionalism in librarianship by providing delivery of appropriate, suitable and value-added information services in digital format. This research, therefore, investigated undergraduate students’ ICT literacy skills and demographic factors as determinants of electronic resources use, with selected tertiary institutions of learning in Eastern Cape South Africa as a case study. The study was premised on the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) with the aim of appraising undergraduate students’ ICT literacy skills and demographic factors as causative elements of e-resources utilization in designated Eastern Cape universities in South Africa, as well as to unravel the impact of the theories on the adoption of technology and the perceived utilization of the electronic resources. The application of DOI, TAM and TRA theories for this study exemplifies the acceptance and usage of technological innovations by envisioned users in ICT literacy skill and electronic resources research, and these theories formed the theoretical basis to strengthen the study. The specific x objectives of the study are: To ascertain how undergraduate students in selected Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Eastern Cape access e-resources; to determine the level of influence of ICT literacy skills on the use of electronic resources by Undergraduate students in the selected universities; to determine the regularity levels of use and problems encountered in the use of electronic resources by Undergraduate students in the selected universities; to ascertain the contributions of demographic factors on the use of electronic resources by Undergraduate students in the selected universities; and to determine the attitudes and perceptions of undergraduate students towards the use of eresources. The approach of the study was in threefold; one, general discussion regarding ICT literacy skills of the respondents and secondly the demographic factors that determine electronic resources use of undergraduate students in the University of Fort Hare and Rhodes University. Finally, ICT literacy skills and demographic factors were investigated with the applicability of TAM, DOI and TRA theories Specifically, under these theories (TAM, TRA and DOI), TAM and TRA models were used to explain behavioural intention and to envisage user acceptance of technology usage (electronic resources), and to elucidate the correlation between the respondent’s (undergraduate students) perceptions, attitudes, beliefs and ultimately system utilization. DOI was conceptualized in this study as a valued tool for appraising the effect of demographic factors on the utilization of electronic resources among the undergraduate students in their academic pursuit. The major findings of the study specifies that ICT literacy skills and demographic factors determine the use of electronic resources. Hence, it is reasoned in the thesis that ICT xi literacy and demographic factors affects the frequency of electronic resources with those, for instance, who have obtained high ICT literacy skill levels when compared to others who are yet to develop their ICT literacy skills. Further, it has been disclosed elsewhere in the study that in terms of age, the younger undergraduate students (from 21 to 30 years) utilize electronic resources more regularly than their older colleagues (those who are 30 years of age and above).The study was approached with the adoption of the mixed-method research technique. The administration of a total of 377 copies of the questionnaire to undergraduate respondents in the aforementioned HEIs, (out of which 266 copies were returned), was conducted with in-depth interview conversations comprising of ten participants, with six respondents selected in the University of Fort Hare and four respondents from Rhodes University. Data acquired from the study were processed and analyzed with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) for the quantitative data. In the light of the theoretical frameworks of the study, research results established that the ICT experience of the undergraduate respondents greatly influences their proficiency levels. This hypothesized assertion was subjected to statistical validity test through regression analysis. The result depicts that the p-value is 0.49 (which means that p≤ 0.05), and interprets to mean that the hypothesis is accepted. Also, the findings of this study depicts that the utilization of electronic resources by the respondents is mostly for entertainment purposes (such as viewing online videos, listening to sport commentaries, music and video downloads, e-mail communications, chatting with other people) had the highest rankings from the component matrix analysis which were greater than 0.5. From the forgoing, this is interpreted to mean that the respondents possess excellent proficiency in ICT literacy skills as well as in the use of Microsoft packages. xii Also, in the course of the in-depth research interview, it was discovered that most of the interviewees have excellent proficiency in ICT literacy skills. Generally, gender is an essential element that determines accessibility and e-resource utilization of respondents to electronic resources through the home and from other sources. Furthermore, it was discovered that that language is not a determinant regarding respondents’ accessibility and e-resource utilization from other sources of access to respondents. The analysis of this study revealed that more males, who are within the active e-resource using age bracket of 21 to 30 years old access and utilize electronic resources through the residences than their female counterparts. This age bracket is followed in terms of access and use of e-resources through residences by the respondents that are 20 years and below. A chi-square test of independence was also performed to survey the level of correlation between age and access to E-resources. A small p-value (typically ≤ 0.05) indicates strong evidence against the null hypothesis, so you reject the null hypothesis. A large p-value (> 0.05) shows weak evidence against the null hypothesis, so you reject the null hypothesis i.e. X2 (3, N=53) = 7.82. The Pearson chi-square (p-value) generated was .294, which is construed to mean that it is insignificant. Therefore, the explanation is that age has no influence on access of respondents to electronic resources through cybercafé. In order to make ICT literacy skills more beneficial to the undergraduate students in the selected HEIs, recommendations were made in this study. Firstly, there is a need for mass enlightenment campaigns on the use and benefits of E-resources among undergraduate respondents, the building of capacity of the undergraduate students in the use of electronic resources ICT literacy skill development programmes, need for intervention programmes focusing on the application xiii of some E-resources and software where the students are ranked low. Further, it is recommended that female students need to be encouraged to use E-resources. Also, delivery and empowering of Wi-Fi services, as well as the provision of CD- ROM databases should be considered.
- Format
- 406 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
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