Digital Literacy and 21st-Century Skills in Business Education: Assessing Innovation, Creativity, and Problem-Solving Skills of Students in Colleges of Education, North-East Nigeria

Background: The rapid integration of digital technologies into higher education has heightened the demand for digitally literate graduates who possess 21st-century competencies. In Nigeria's Colleges of Education, particularly in the North-East geopolitical zone, evidence of students' digital literacy proficiency in innovation, creativity, and problem-solving remains largely empirically undocumented. Objectives: This study assessed the digital literacy of business education students' innovation, creativity, and problem-solving skills, and examined whether significant differences exist between the perceptions of students and lecturers. Methods: A descriptive survey research design was adopted. A total of 360 respondents (312 students and 48 lecturers) drawn from four Colleges of Education in North-East Nigeria were sampled using proportionate stratified random sampling. A validated 21-item questionnaire with a four-point Likert scale served as the data collection instrument. Mean, standard deviation, and independent samples t-test were used for data analysis. Results: Findings revealed that business education students possessed high levels of digital literacy in innovation skills (Grand x̄ = 2.71), creativity skills (Grand x̄ = 2.81), and problem-solving skills (Grand x̄ = 2.66). Independent samples t-test results showed no statistically significant differences between students' and lecturers' mean responses across all three dimensions (p > .05). Conclusions: Although digital literacy levels are appreciable, deficiencies persist in advanced competencies such as AI-assisted innovation, generative creativity tools, and decision-support systems. Curriculum reform, targeted digital infrastructure investment, and lecturer capacity development are recommended to bridge identified gaps.