Digital Skills among Lecturers at the University of Zambia, School of Medicine

Abstract

Digital literacy is critical in today’s teaching; learning and research. In this regard, university lecturers should have the skills that can enable them to interact adequately in the digital environment. Possession of digital skills enables lecturers to retrieve the information they use in teaching and research. This paper aimed to examine the digital literacy levels of lecturers at the School of Medicine at the University of Zambia. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect information from a sample of 57 respondents. Data were analysed quantitatively using simple statistics in MS Excel. Findings indicate that respondents rated their Internet search skills as excellent (8, 19.5%) and very good (18, 43.9%). Search techniques most frequently used were searching by keywords (82.9%) and by topic (31.75%). The Internet was used every day (36, 87.8%). Further, the majority used online digital content for their academic purposes and believed this content was reliable. The study recommends that frequent training in digital literacy be implemented for all academic staff.