Tech-Ready Student Teachers: Demographic Insights into Digital Empowerment in Arunachal Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT Technology has been an intricate part of human lives in this contemporary digital era, making proficiency in its use crucial. The study explored the Digital Empowerment (DE) levels of student teachers in Arunachal Pradesh, with a focus on demographic variables such as sex, locale, and residential status. The descriptive survey research method was used. Data was collected from 611 fourth-semester student teachers pursuing a Bachelor of Education using the Student Teachers’ Digital Empowerment Scale (STDES) constructed and standardised by the researcher. Findings revealed that the majority (71.03%) of the student teachers were ‘Moderately Empowered’, while only a small proportion fell into the high or low extremes of DE. Moreover, independent sample t-tests showed no significant differences in DE between male and female, rural and urban, and between native and non-native student teachers. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were made to elevate digital empowerment from moderate to higher levels.