A Study On The ICT Literacy In Cameroonian Students:A Case Study In The University Of Yaounde 1

The University of Yaoundé 1 is an exemplary university in Cameroon that portrays student's ICT literacy given the fact that students in this university use ICT in their daily learning activity.It is evident from the literature review that ICT literacy in students has led to the economic development of other countries such as America,Britain,and Australia and as such,its sustainability in Cameroonian students and more precisely in students at the University of Yaoundé 1 will be beneficial not only to the university but to the economic growth and development of the country.This work sought to investigate the situation of students' ICT literacy in higher education in Cameroon and specifically in the University of Yaoundé 1.The researcher assesses the factors influencing ICT literacy in students of higher education in Cameroon,University of Yaoundé 1.Using a case and a field-based study conducted in this University in line with different methods,through a research lens known as the selfefficacy theory and a literature review,this study explores ICT literacy in students at the University of Yaoundé 1.It adopted a mixed research method,whereby,both the qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analyzed.The researcher did a random sampling of a population of 300 students,4 teachers,3 school top leaders,and a secretary in charge of the university computer lab.The University of Yaoundé 1 being the focus group provided vital data to this study.Students from 3 faculties in the university provided vital information to the researcher.Also,to avoid gender bias the number of male students chosen equated to the number of female students.It has been observed that although students at the University of Yaoundé 1 are ICT literates,they are not professionals in the domain,and this is as a result of the problems plaguing student's ICT literacy in the University.The solutions to these problems as noticed are to reinforce ICT education into the university and the entire Cameroon's higher educational system,to improve ICT literacy among students by Using ICT to support data-driven decision making.This can be achieved by identifying the challenges that impede student's mastery or ICT usage in learning,some of which include: the inadequacy of trained or ICT skilled teachers,laxity in enforcing ICT in the scheme of work where more time will be used for ICT in the school timetable,poor maintenance culture with poor quality hardware and softwares,lack of teacher's commitment to teaching using ICT tools,poor infrastructure and most importantly the presence of inefficient leadership.It is important to note that the examination of ICT literacy in students at the University of Yaoundé 1 does not consider students who are specialized in computer engineering.This is because the University of Yaoundé 1 does not offer computerized base specialties.As such,most students who are targeted are specialized in other majors which are not computer engineering programs.This aims at providing the ICT literacy level of students of all fields of study to see their ICT Literacy level and to seek a way forward to improvements that can be made to build skillful university graduates who can boast the country's economy.