Unraveling the attributions of digital literacy skills and knowledge gap in Ghana’s higher education : Undergraduate students voices in a phenomenological study

Jacob Oppong NKANSAH*, Yusuf Ikbal OLDAC

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Any undergraduate student lacking the knowledge and skills for digital technology will find it challenging to succeed academically and thrive in the 21st -century higher education setting. This study employed a novel conceptual framework built from ecological theory to investigate the attributions of the knowledge and skill gap in digital literacy among Ghanaian undergraduate students. A phenomenological qualitative design with a purposive sampling technique was implemented to collect data from 16 undergraduates in a large public university in Ghana in a four-months period. The findings show several factors responsible for students’ digital literacy knowledge and skills gap. Undergraduates have ascribed these reasons to various macro and micro factors. The students attributed their skills gap to personal, parental, institutional, and government factors, pointing to the need for concerted action from national and international policymakers and educators alike. This paper argues that university lecturers, administrators, the Ministry of Education, and policymakers in Ghana should collaboratively redesign comprehensive, persuasive, and integrated digital literacy approaches to benefit undergraduate students at all levels.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)15249-15268
Number of pages20
JournalEducation and Information Technologies
Volume29
Issue number12
Early online date23 Jan 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.

Keywords

  • Digital literacy skills
  • Digital literacy knowledge
  • Higher education
  • Undergraduates
  • China
  • Ghana

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Unraveling the attributions of digital literacy skills and knowledge gap in Ghana’s higher education : Undergraduate students voices in a phenomenological study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this