Financial capabilities and ICT skills as correlates to the use of ICT for knowledge sharing among students of federal universities in South-West, Nigeria

Abstract

Knowledge sharing is a pivotal ingredient in information society that allows collaborations and access to information. As a result of the immense importance of knowledge sharing in today's digital age, lot of ICTs has been used to sharpen its process. Several factors mitigate against easy sharing of knowledge; hence this study was carried out to investigate financial capabilities and ICT literacy skills as correlates for the use of Information and Communication Technologies for knowledge sharing among federal university students in South-West Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. Using Multi stage sampling technique, the sample size for the study was 604 respondents selected from the six federal universities in South-West Nigeria. Questionnaires were used to gather data and were analysed using descriptive statistics, Spearman Correlation and Multiple Regression analysis on SPSS. The result shows that students make use of ICTs when sharing knowledge. The finding shows correlation between the financial capabilities of students  and the ICTs used for knowledge sharing. Also, ICT literacy level of undergraduates influences the ICTs use in sharing knowledge. Finally, the joint influence of the financial capabilities and ICT literacy skills on ICTs used for knowledge sharing was significant (df = 566, R2 = 0.177, F= 60.721, p < 0.05). The study reveals that financial capabilities and ICT literacy skills of students have influence on the use of ICT for knowledge sharing. Therefore, enhancing students' financial capabilities and ICT literacy is crucial for maximizing the benefits of ICTs in knowledge sharing.