Computer Self-efficacy and Perceived ease-of-use of Personal Digital Assistants for Academic activities by Undergraduates in University of Ibadan

Abstract This study investigates computer self-efficacy and perceived ease-of- use of personal digital assistants for academic activities by undergraduates in University of Ibadan. Relevant literature on academic activities of undergraduates, undergraduates Computer Self-efficacy, perceived ease-of-use of personal digital assistant and the challenges faced by undergraduates in the use of Personal Digital Assistant was reviewed. The descriptive survey research design of expo-factor was adopted for this study. The study population was determined using 2% of all the registered students in the university using stratified method. A total of 244 questionnaires were distributed, out of which 223 were returned and found valid. Data collected through the questionnaire, were analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques, frequency counts and percentages. The study provides answers to five research questions posed. The result of the study revealed that the undergraduate students had high level of computer self-efficacy in the use of PDAs. It was revealed that the students can easily use PDA for learning. The study revealed that Android phones and Blackberry phones were the commonly used PDAs by students. It was also revealed that the major academic activities they use PDAs is for their projects, assignments and classwork. The study also revealed the barriers of using the PDAs by the undergraduates to be battery life power outages, accidental loss of data or damage of equipment and others. Based on these findings, the following were recommended: Organise workshop where undergraduates will undergo training at the point when they are newly admitted into the University so that they can acquire computer skills and develop high computer self-efficacy. There should be constant power supply within the university so that students could power their PDAs information technology devices in order to avoid accidental loss of data or damage of equipment and to maximally use PDAs to enhance their academic activities