THE DIGITAL DIVIDE BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL TECHNICAL COLLEGE STUDENTS IN AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

The focus of this study was to determine if there was digital divide between urban, rural and gender among students in Technical Colleges in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Two null hypotheses were formulated to direct the study, the ex-post facto design was used for the study. The population was 6,304 students distributed into three urban and three rural colleges in the state. The sample size of 600 students was selected from the six colleges in the state through stratified random technique. The basis of stratification was locations- urban and rural. The instrument used for data collection in the study was students achievement test, which consisted of 20 items multiple-choice questions. The data obtained was analyzed using independent t-test at .05 alpha level of significance. The weight of statistical evident showed that there was a significant difference among the variables of the study. Based on these, it was concluded that, there exist a digital divide between urban and rural technical colleges students in Akwa Ibom State. Some recommendations were made which include that policies, procedures and support should be established by the government at all levels of technical education to ensure that web page, library and distance learning, program developers make their electronic resources accessible to all potential user.