Speaker
Description
Uche, U. O.
Abia State College of Education, Technical,Arochukwu
drogbeyaluucheci@gmail.com
Track: Digital Pedagogy and Teaching Innovation
Uchechi, Ogbeyealu Uche
Department of Business Education,
Abia State College of Education (Technical)
+2348066721212
Abstract
The rapid advancement of digital technologies is transforming higher education globally, thereby creating new opportunities for innovation, sustainable development, and workforce preparedness. This study examined digital innovation skills for Sustainable Development Goal attainment and future-ready higher education in Business Education programmes in Abia State, Nigeria. Five research questions and five hypotheses guided the study. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population comprised 36 Business Education lecturers in Colleges of Education in Abia State. The entire population was used since the population was manageable in size. A 55-item structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by two experts from the department of Business Education and one expert from Measurement and Evaluation unit in the department of Science Education all in Abia State University Uturu. A reliability coefficient of 0.84 was obtained using Cronbach Alpha formula. Mean was used to the answer research questions while t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that digital innovation skills such as digital communication and collaboration, artificial intelligence literacy, data management and analytics, digital entrepreneurship, cloud computing, content creation, and problem-solving skills are essential for promoting SDG attainment and developing future-ready graduates. The findings further indicated that these skills enhance educational quality, innovation, employability, entrepreneurial capacity, and lifelong learning. The study concluded that digital innovation skills are critical drivers of sustainable development and future-ready higher education in Business Education programmes. It was recommended, among others, that Colleges of Education should strengthen digital capacity-building initiatives, integrate emerging technologies into Business Education curricula, and invest in digital infrastructure to foster SDG attainment and prepare graduates for the evolving digital economy.
Keywords: Digital innovation skills, Sustainable Development Goals, Future-ready higher education, Business Education, Digital transformation, Colleges of Education.