Lecturers Digital Competencies for Quality Service Delivery in Public Universities in Rivers State

Abstract

The paper investigated lecturers’ digital competencies for quality service delivery in public universities in Rivers State. Three research questions and three null hypotheses were answered and tested in the study. Descriptive survey design was adopted in the study while the population of the study was 3, 806 lecturers out of which 362 lecturers were sampled using the stratified random sampling technique. Questionnaire titled “Lecturers’ Digital Competencies for Quality Service Delivery Questionnaire” (LDCQSDQ) was used for data collection and it was validated by three experts in Educational Management at the Rivers State University. Cronbach Alpha was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaire with an average coefficient of 0.94. Out of the 362 copies of questionnaire administered, 347 copies representing 95.9% were retrieved. Research questions raised were answered using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested using z-test at 0.05 level of significance. Result of the study indicated that the lecturers were only competent in the area of digital communication and information sharing but were not competent in content creation and problem solving. It was indicated that challenges encountered in building digital competence included lack of internet broadband while suggested strategies included digital training and provision of subsidized digital tools. It was recommended that the universities should formulate and implement a digital policy that will guide all activities carried out by teaching and non-teaching staff in the Universities.