DIGITAL TECHNOLOGICAL COMPETENCIES REQUIRED BY TEACHERS OF ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN NORTH-EAST NIGERIA

This study was conducted to determine the digital technological competencies required by teachers of electrical/electronic technology education in tertiary institutions in North-East, Nigeria. Four research questions and four null hypotheses guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was used in the study. 194 respondents which comprised of 18 heads of ICT unit and 176 electrical/electronic technology education teachers from nine tertiary institutions in North-East Nigeria offering Electrical/Electronic Technology Education programme participated in the study. There was no sampling because the population was manageable. The instrument used for the study was a structured questionnaire developed by the researchers and tagged Digital Competencies required by Teachers of Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria Questionnaire (DCTTINQ). Three experts validated the instrument and their suggestions were incorporated in the final production of the instrument. The reliability of the instrument was further established using Cronbach Alpha method of determining reliability. The reliability index hence stood at 0.88. The four research questions were answered using the mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 (95%) level of significance. Results from the study revealed that, the digital information competencies which are Storage (  = 4.48), Search (  = 4.58), Critical Evaluation (  = 3.89), and Self-Service (  = 3.90), as well as digital communication competencies which include Active Participation cluster (  = 3.93), Collaboration cluster (  = 3.96), Social Awareness cluster (  = 4.00), and Media Choice cluster (  = 4.03) were all required by teachers of electrical/electronic technology education. The results further showed that, there was no significant difference between the mean responses of teachers and heads of ICT units in the tertiary institutions. Based on the results and findings of the study therefore, it is recommended that, regular workshops be organized for all teachers in order to improve their abilities in gathering digital information needed to perform their job. Additionally, creation of digital platform and group should be encouraged to enable teachers share ideas and knowledge on digital technologies and communication. This is capable of engendering effective teaching and learning situation especially in electrical/electronic technology education.