Impact of Digital-Divide on Access and Use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) Resources for Research Productivity among Students of Universities in South East Zone of Nigeria

Abstract

The cross- sectional survey research design was adopted to access the impact of digital-divide on the access and use of information communication technology (ICT) resources for research productivity among students of universities in the south east zone of Nigeria. The research was guided by 3 research questions and a hypothesis. Frequency Table and Mean (x) were the statistical measures employed for data analysis. Thereafter, stratified random sampling technique was used to select two universities from the ten public universities in the South East zone of Nigeria. Three faculties (Education, Arts and social Sciences) were purposively selected from the universities. Multi stage sampling technique was then used to obtain a sample size of 366 respondents drawn from a total of 3662 students from the selected universities in the south east zone of Nigeria. The instruments for data collection were structured questionnaire and observation checklist. Cronbach Alpha statistics was used to establish the reliability of the instrument and this yielded a reliability index of 0.87 revealing high internal consistency. The findings of the study revealed that there are still disparities, among universities / students of universities in the south east zone of Nigeria, in terms of provision, integration and adoption of ICT facilities as well as usage skill gaps among students and this impedes their research productivity. Recommendations were made on the need for digital balance and equality and it is advocated among others that university managements in Nigeria and other stakeholders must work concertedly to tackle the menace of digital divide through appropriate ICT policy/strategies as a way of guaranteeing equitable provision and integration of ICT facilities in the universities to ensure equitable access to and use of e-resources by academics in research.

Keywords: Digital Divide, Information Communication Technology, Computer, Digital Literacy, Internet, Electronic Resources, Electronic Information Environment.