Skills and Competences for Utilization of Web Storage Technology (WST) Platform for Academic Activities by Faculty Members in Faculty of Education, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

Abstract

This paper focused on Skills and Competences for utilization of Web Storage Technology (WST) Platform for academic activities by Faculty Members in Faculty of Education, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Two objectives were identified for this paper, they are; to find out the WST Platform skills and competences possessed by the Faculty Members; and to identify the challenges encountered by Faculty Members in the utilization of WST Platforms for academic activities in Faculty of Education, A.B.U., Zaria. Quantitative research methodology and cross-sectional survey research design were adopted. This study comprised of 175 Faculty Members in the Faculty of Education, A. B.U., Zaria. It excluded the staff on sabbatical, secondment and on study leave. Total population sampling technique was adopted. Self-developed questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. Descriptive statistics (frequency distribution, percentage, mean and standard deviation) was used to analyze the data collected from the respondents. The study discovered that, basic knowledge of computer skills was the most common WST Platform skills and competences possessed by the Faculty Members. The most common challenge encountered by the Faculty Members in utilizing the WST Platforms for their academic activities was poor Internet connection. The researchers recommended that: the WST Platform service providers should put more efforts in providing training of different forms of WST Platform skills and competences. The management of A.B.U., Zaria, should also add more effort in providing strong network bandwidth for Faculty Members’ convenient utilization.