Studying the ICT Skills Level in Students Enrolled in IMT-CDL’s Online Courses

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Abstract

In today’s world, ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) rules the roost. But we all are not equally comfortable using the same or are able to make full use of the available ICT facilities. This concern is relevant in the field of education; while bringing new ICT-enabled tools to our classrooms are we able to fully utilize them? Are faculty members able to use them comfortably and creatively; are students able to benefit from them? Compared to classroom-based courses, the relevance of ICT in the field of distance education is more. Students suffer from constraints of time and locational dispersion and ICT-enabled tools are a feasible medium of student-institution interaction.


ICT tools like login accessible web portals, online bulletin boards, social media tools, videoconferencing classes, online digital libraries, digital whiteboards, PowerPoint slides and recorded lectures etc. are available; however, their suitability varies according to the scenario of the course (regular/classroom based or distance learning). The author has seen vast difference in the comfort levels of both the students and the faculty when faced with using ICT-enabled tools. A study of education, work experience and age based differences are used to create an empirical picture of this comfort level (of the students), thus identifying ways through which the usage of ICT tools can be improved.


Purpose/Objectives: The study aims to assess the level of technology skills and psychology towards the use of technology for both personal and professional (academic) purposes.


Methodology/Approach: A questionnaire was developed to collect data. The questionnaire was circulated to 759 students who are enrolled in the PG (post graduate) level management courses (PGDM or Post Graduate Diploma in Management – as per extant UGC or University Grants Commission nomenclature) (Gazette of India, 2014) offered by Institute of Management Technology: Centre for Distance Learning, Ghaziabad, UP, India (IMT-CDL) through online mode, utilizing ICT tools for course delivery and process.


Hypothesis:
H₀ – ICT usage and IL levels of the respondents is high. (Proved)
H₁ – There is limited scope for further growth in ICT usage given the skills levels of the respondents. (Dis-proved)


Findings: The survey found that a majority of respondents claimed to be tech-savvy and exhibited reasonably high levels of technology readiness and IL (Information Literacy). As per the TRI (Technology Readiness Index) typecasting, 57.33% of the respondents were tech pioneers and explorers. Overall, 73.87% of the respondents claimed to be using ICT enabled services with a score of 3.81 on comfort levels and a confidence level of 75.52%.

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Submission Details

Published: 2017-01-30
Issue: Volume - 3 (2017)
Section: Article

Authors

Tushar Marwala

Assistant Professor, Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, University of Delhi

Keywords

E-learning ICT technology readiness distance learning technology comfort lavel IMT-CDL