Use of ICT Skills and Blended Learning during Covid-19 Pandemic by Undergraduate Students of Department of Library and Information Science, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria

Abstract

Learning is a mandatory activity that students must engage in to acquire knowledge and skills necessary for personal, societal and national development. Therefore, it is part of pedagogical strategy for students to assemble in schools for learning. However, the outbreak of coronavirus in late 2019 has led to the introduction of social distancing for avoidance of physical contact to mitigate the spread of the virus. This study investigates the ICT skills of Undergraduate students in relation to their expectations on Blended Learning amidst coronavirus pandemic as they return back to the schools in University of Maiduguri, Borno State. Survey Research Design was used for study. Two research questions and one hypothesis were used for this study. Using questionnaire as instrument for data collection, 306 respondents sampled from 1,500 target population of Library and Information Science students were involved in the study. Descriptive statistic of frequency count, percentage, mean and standard deviation as well as inferential statistics of PPMC were used in analyzing the data. The findings revealed students that ICT skills of undergraduate students were below average ((x̅w = 2.48 < x̅= 2.50) and the expectation of students on Blended Learning were also low (x̅w = 2.49 < x̅= 2.50). However, the p-value < α=0.05 and Correlation coefficient (r=0.285) indicated that there is significant positive but weak relationship between ICT skills and expectation on Blended Learning of undergraduate students in learning library courses in University of Maiduguri. It is also discovered that the current level of ICT skills of undergraduate students can only have 28.5% impact on their expectations on BL. It is recommended that Library and Information Science Department should put in place ICT learning facilities and blend every library course with ICT at all levels to improve the ICT skills of students while institutionalizing hybrid learning culture to curtail the spread of Covid-19 among students.