Analyzing Prospective Teachers’ Information Handling skills for ICT-Enhanced Learning

Abstract

Information handling skills literate individuals know how to locate, evaluate, organize and effectively use needed information. These skills are more important than ever in digital classrooms, where teachers must manage their own resources digitally, separate information from misinformation and carefully use technology to improve teaching (Hussain & Mahmood. 2022). Especially, they have to acquire these skills because soon they will become part of a technological educational system as prospective teachers in Pakistan. The current study is designed in this context and it evaluates the levels of Information handling skills of Pakistani prospective teachers to establish if they are prepared for ICT integrated teaching or not. The current study was quantitative and survey methods were used to data collected, using questionnaire. All the prospective teachers studying in various teacher education institutions were taken as population of the study. While 240 prospective teachers from six public sector universities were selected through multistage sampling technique. The present study was aimed to analyze Prospective Teachers’ Information Handling skills for ICT-Enhanced Learning. Findings reveal significant gender disparities, with males outperforming females in data handling and database skills. Residence-based differences indicate that rural students demonstrate slightly better data handling skills, while urban students excel in internet and e-mail management. Self-support students consistently outperform regular students across most skill categories, suggesting a stronger drive to develop ICT competencies. Additionally, institutional differences highlight significant variations in ICT training quality, with students from Punjab University and NUML displaying the strongest skills. The study recommends gender-inclusive ICT training, improved digital infrastructure in rural areas, flexible learning for self-support students, and age-appropriate training modules. Strengthening ICT curricula, investing in resources, standardizing assessments, and promoting technology-enhanced learning are suggested to address skill gaps and enhance digital competencies.