DIGITAL ILLITERACY: A CONSTRAINT TO TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION ADVANCEMENT IN SOUTH-SOUTH REGION OF NIGERIA

Technology education is one the programmes designed to provide technical knowledge and skills necessary for economic development in Nigeria. But technology education programme has a constraint to its advancement which this study investigated. The study adopted the survey research method for the design. The population of the study was 453 persons comprised of 379 students and 74 technical teachers from one Technical College and a University with technology education department in each of the 6 states of the South-South geo-political zone. A simple random sampling technique was used to obtain a sample size of 188 which comprised of 33 technical teachers and 155 students. A 5-item questionnaire was used as the instrument for the study. The questionnaire item was followed by a single response category based on a 5-point rating scale format of Very High Extent (VHE), High Extent (HE), Moderate Extent (ME), Low Extent (LE) and Very Low Extent (VLE). A test re-test method was adapted to test the reliability of the instrument to obtain a coefficient of 0.73. The data gathered was analyzed using mean and z-test analysis to answer the research question and hypothesis respectively. The finding revealed that digital illiteracy is a constraint to technology education advancement in Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended that in order to enhance digital proficiency in technology education, government should adequately provide digital facilities in all technology education institutions in Nigeria.