Digital Skills of Mathematics Education Students in a State University: Psychological Basis for an Action Plan

Abstract

The internet penetration rate in the Philippines was forecast to increase continuously, indicating a high-level digital technology adoption among Filipino students. Considering that mathematics education students are being educated to demonstrate 21st-century skills, stressing the role of digital skills in their education is more important than ever. As a result, this study assessed the digital skills among mathematics education students in a state university in Eastern Visayas region. This descriptive cross-sectional study used the Measure of Internet Skills (MOIS) questionnaire with data analyzed using mean and standard deviation. Using Raosoft sample size calculator, 145 out of 220 served as respondents, with 4.76 margin of error. Moreover, proportionate stratified random sampling was applied in identifying the number of respondents per year level. Data showed that mathematics education students have a high level of digital skills. They are notable for their strong information navigation, social, mobile, operational, and creative skills. This finding shows that students have a high level of digital technology penetration. Although these students are technologically creative, they appear to lack the skill of designing a website and applying types of licenses to online content. Moreover, there is still a need to improve students' way of navigating information online.