Navigating the digital landscape: ICT skills in rural Haryana

The study was conducted in the Hisar district, the research targeted two government senior secondary schools, one each from the villages of Niyana and Bhiwani Rohilla. A total of 100 students from grades 9 to 12 participated in the study who were willing and interested to participate. The collection of data was done through the developed questionnaire from 1 May, 2022 to 30 May, 2022 by the researcher itself.Skill is the ability to use one's knowledge effectively and readily in execution or performance. Skill in the present study was related to the skill for the usage of ICT gadgets viz. Basic ICT skills, Browsing skills, Operational skills, Communication/Email etiquette skill and Management skills. The extent of the skill in the respondents was studied by collecting the responses of the respondents on three continuum scale. The extent was measured as high, medium and low. To analyze the competency level of skills of respondents for ICT modified ‘Dreyfus Model of Skill acquisition’ (1980) was followed and was categorized in three competency levels viz. ‘Basic’, ‘Proficient’ and ‘Expert’.It was found that students of School-I were ‘Expert’ in Management skills, Basic ICT skills and Browsing skills and ‘Proficient’ in Communication skill whereas ‘Basic’ in Operational ICT skills. On the contrary, students of School-II were ‘Proficient’ in Management skill whereas ‘Basic’ competency level in Browsing skill, Communication skill/Email etiquette and Operational ICT skills.