Various efforts have primarily focused on policy and infrastructure, with little emphasis oninstructional approaches to enhance digital literacy preparedness. Thus, the study examinedthe narratives surrounding students' Digital Literacy Skills and the associated pedagogicalapproaches aimed at supporting their development. The investigation was limited to MzumbeUniversity to justify the current initiatives promoting graduates’ 4.0 IR skills. A convergentmixed-method design was employed, utilising interviews, focus group discussions,documentary review and questionnaires for data collection. The study used thematic analysisand descriptive analysis methods to interpret the collected data. Framed by the conceptualframework of 4IR skills (operational and informational skills), the findings reveal that moststudents rated their ICT operational skills as above average. In contrast, instructors perceiveddeficiencies in these same skills. The study also reports inconsistent use of ICTs among bothstudents and instructors, which may compromise students’ acquisition of digital literacy skills.Furthermore, this article identifies limited pedagogical practices dedicated to enhancingstudents’ Digital Literacy Skills for learning at the University and a lack of a clear institutionalframework supporting skill development in this domain. Based on these findings, practical andpolicy implications suggest challenging existing frameworks, such as the 2014 Education andTraining Policy (2023 version), the National Digital Education Strategy (2024-2030), the 2016National ICT Strategy, and the SDGs (4 and 10).
Kihwele et al. (Tue,) studied this question.