Technology Proficiency Development and Business Educators' Job Effectiveness in Public Universities in Rivers and Bayelsa States
Downloads
This study examined the relationship between technology proficiency development and Business Educators' job effectiveness in public universities. Specifically, it investigated the relationship between web searching skill acquisition, digital problem-solving skill acquisition, and job effectiveness. The study was guided by two research questions and two null hypotheses tested at a 0.05 level of significance. A correlation survey design was adopted, and the population consisted of 72 Business Educators in public universities, with a census sampling of all respondents used for the study. Data were collected using two structured questionnaires titled “Technology Proficiency Development Questionnaire (TPDQ)” and “Job Effectiveness of Business Educators Questionnaire (JEBEQ)”. The instruments were validated by experts in Business Education and showed high reliability coefficient, with Cronbach Alpha coefficients of 0.93, 0.98, 0.98 for web searching skills, digital problem-solving skills, and job effectiveness respectively, and an overall reliability of 0.96. The questionnaires were administered with the assistance of one research assistant, and all 72 copies were returned and used for analysis. Data were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation to answer the research questions and test the null hypotheses. Findings revealed moderate positive relationships between web searching skills and job effectiveness, as well as between digital problem-solving skills and job effectiveness. Business Educators proficient in web searching were found to be more efficient and resourceful in their academic tasks, while those with strong digital problem-solving skills demonstrated higher productivity and adaptability in their work. The study indicates that technology proficiency development, particularly in web searching and digital problem-solving, enhances the job effectiveness of Business Educators. Based on these findings, it was recommended that Business Educators should continually improve their technology proficiency to optimise the use of digital learning facilities, and that digital learning tools and training should be incorporated into the Business Education curriculum to improve professional competence and teaching outcomes.
M. Aliyu and A. Zakari, “Support systems and problem-solving strategies among tertiary institution teachers,” Journal of Educational Development Studies, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 44–53, 2017.
J. C. Garma, E. C. Ihalon, and S. C. Gador, “Technological proficiency of senior high school students in the lens of digital education,” Psychology and Education: A Multidisciplinary Journal, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 41–46, 2024.
T. R. Garma, J. A. Bello, and E. C. Nwachukwu, “Technology proficiency and digital competence among educators in higher education,” International Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 55–68, 2024.
T. M. George, E. Okwu, and K. F. Ogunbodede, “Digital literacy and job performance of librarians in Rivers State university libraries, Nigeria,” Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal), Art. no. 7011, 2022.
K. Hasim and A. Salman, “Web search engines and educational collaboration in the digital age,” Asian Journal of Information Technology, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 201–208, 2010.
R. Kapur, “Problem-solving skills among employees and organizational effectiveness,” International Journal of Management and Social Sciences, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 14–22, 2015.
S. Liyana, A. Rahman, and N. Hamid, “Use of the web by postgraduate students of the computer science department of the University of Malaya,” Malaysian Journal of Library and Information Science, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 85–97, 2010.
F. A. Loan, “Internet searching behaviour among educators and researchers,” Library Philosophy and Practice, no. 356, pp. 1–15, 2010.
R. Mamta, “Problem-solving skills among individuals in educational institutions,” International Journal of Research in Social Sciences, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 88–96, 2019.
C. Ndubuisi and E. Udo, “Web information retrieval and information searching behaviour among educators,” Journal of Information Science and Technology, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 55–66, 2013.
J. C. Nunnally, Psychometric Theory, 2nd ed. New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill, 1978.
J. L. Sumile, Jr. and R. A. Lozano, “Availability and functionality of ICT tools and digital literacy skills of teachers,” International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Analysis, vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 2652–2658, 2025.
P. Sumile and M. Lozano, “Digital literacy and technology competency in educational environments,” Journal of Digital Learning and Innovation, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 21–35, 2025.
K. Ukwuije and M. L. Orluwere, Transfer of Training: Action-Packed Strategies to Ensure High Payoff from Training Investments. Cambridge, MA, USA: Perseus Books Press, 2012.
R. P. I. Ukwuije and G. W. Orluwene, Research Methods and Statistics in Education and Social Sciences. Port Harcourt, Nigeria: Chadik Printing Press, 2012.
M. T. Woldemariam, A. A. Ergado, and W. Jimma, “Factors influencing effective integration of educational technology in the colleges of teacher education in Ethiopia: A constructivist grounded theory,” Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 50–70, 2025.
S. Woldemariam, H. Desta, and T. Bekele, “Technological pedagogical content knowledge and classroom effectiveness among teachers,” International Journal of Teacher Education, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 102–119, 2025.
Copyright (c) 2026 Fortune Omasirichi Sam-Eleyi, Ann Boma Green Owota
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
In submitting the manuscript to the International Journal on Integrated Education (IJIE), the authors certify that:
- They are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
- The work described has not been formally published before, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, thesis, or overlay journal.
- That it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere,
- The publication has been approved by the author(s) and by responsible authorities – tacitly or explicitly – of the institutes where the work has been carried out.
- They secure the right to reproduce any material that has already been published or copyrighted elsewhere.
- They agree to the following license and copyright agreement.
License and Copyright Agreement
Authors who publish with International Journal on Integrated Education (IJIE) agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the International Journal on Integrated Education (IJIE) right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
