Enhancing Office Administration Student’s Digital Skills for work with Technology -based Teaching
Authors: Ella M. Lumbo, Shane P. Maala - Computer Arts And Technological College, Inc. Legazpi, Philippines
DOI: 10.87349/ahuri/17093
Page No: 29-38
Abstract
It is expected that Office Administration graduates possess advanced digital competencies in the modern job environment. However, there is still a gap between academic training and the changing technological needs of the workplace. This research paper, therefore, looks into the base-line digital competency of the OA students and assesses whether technology-based teaching would enhance their preparedness for work. A descriptive-quantitative design was utilized for this research, with a census of 50 CAT College OA students (from 2nd to 4th year), using a structured survey questionnaire with a five-point check-list scale in a pre-test/posttest structure. The baseline data showed that students exhibited a "High Skill" level (M=3.97), with specific strengths in online searching and document processing. However, it determined that basic troubleshooting was an important skill that needed enhancement (M=3.72). After treatment, in which experiential digital assignments were incorporated, the students' overall digital competence significantly improved to a "Very High Skill" level (M=4.30), representing a mean gain of 0.33. This signifies that TBT effectively enhanced the skills, especially in cloud collaboration (M=4.33) and the use of online learning platforms. The findings are sufficient to reject the null hypothesis, thus confirming that technology-based teaching significantly enhances the digital competence and perceived workplace preparedness of Office Administration students. These results underscore the importance of integrating purposeful, hands-on TBT strategies, congruent with Experiential Learning Theory, in ensuring that the graduate outputs of the OA program possess high levels of competence to match the demand in the digitally transformed workplace.
