Appraisal of the Digital Literacy Skills of Students Pursuing Business Administration Programs in Tanzania

Digital literacy skills (DLSs) are one of the facets that can help unlock the doors of the mystery of knowledge, leading to the optimization of students’ learning. DLSs are fundamentally crucial for all students in their different domains of knowledge, but more so for students pursuing Business Administration Institutes (BAIs). However, there exists thin empirical knowledge on the extent to which students pursuing Business Administration programmes in Tanzania are equipped with digital literacy skills. It is against this backdrop that the present study appraised the extent to which students pursuing BAIs were well equipped with DLSs. Four institutions in Tanzania were sampled and studied: the Institute of Arusha Accountancy (IAA), Institute of Finance Management (IFM), Institute of Tax Administration (ITA), and the Tanzania Institute of Accountancy (TIA). This was a descriptive research design study that used a quantitative approach. The data were collected through questionnaires. A total of 500 final-year students BAIs were sampled through a multi-stage sampling technique. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study revealed that the majority of the surveyed students had acquired DLS as follows; collaboration skills (62%), thinking skills (61%) and awareness skills (60%) operational skills (58%). These figures suggest that students acquired more collaboration skills when using digital media than when using other media. The study concludes that students use DLS for nonacademic issues. The study recommends that BAIs ensure that students make constructive use of the skills they acquire more in fostering academic rather than enhancing collaborations (socialization).