Digital Tool Use and Perceived 21st-Century Skill Development Among University Students in South Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

The paper has analyzed the correlation between the use of digital tools and perceived acquisition of 21^st-century skills among university students in South Punjab, Pakistan. A total of 400 students were sampled at four public universities: The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Rahim Yar Khan University, and the University of Education, Multan. The sample was institutionally balanced (100 students in each university) and gender balanced (200 males and 200 females). The questionnaire contained 39 items on digital-tool-use and 40 items on perceived skill-development (perceived effectiveness, academic and learning impact, personality and soft-skill development). Items of digital-tool-use were reverse-scored such that the higher the score, the more often the item was used. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, Pearson correlations, independent samples t tests, one-way ANOVA, and multiple regression were used. Both scales were highly reliable, with α =.91 in digital-tool use and 89 in perceived skill development. Perceived effectiveness and skill development were moderately high and digital-tool use was high. WhatsApp was used as a learning tool, Google Chrome, YouTube as a learning tool, ChatGPT, Meta AI/Gemini, and MS Office were most frequently used, and JSTOR, open educational resources, Mendeley, Zotero, and Coursera/edX were least frequently used. There was a positive and significant relationship between the use of digital-tools and all perceived domains of skill-development. Digital-tool use was confirmed as a positive predictor by regression analysis following the control of demographic, academic, departmental and institutional variables.