Cognizance of ICT gadgets among rural students: Unraveling the impact of demographic factors

Abstract

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. The level of cognizance of ICT gadgets was measured in terms of cognizance for fifteen ICT gadgets. For the very same purpose gadgets inventory was developed by the researcher. Questionnaire also comprises demographic information. The responses of the students were collected on two continuums in 'Yes' and 'No' with weightage of 1 and 0 respectively. The findings of the study indicated that both the school students had cent percent cognizance about computer, smart phones and television. Majority of the students of school-I had a high level of cognizance as compared to School-II students with a medium level of cognizance about the various ICT gadgets. There was significant difference between the mean of both the schools. It was also found that there was significantly positive correlation of age, education, family income, with cognizance of ICT gadgets in School-I and School-II. Also, there was significantly negative correlation of gender and distance from city or town with cognizance of ICT gadgets in School-II.