Students' acceptance and use of ICT applications for e-learning amidst covid-19 pandemic in universities in delta state; Implications for counselling

This study was conducted to investigate students' acceptance and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) applications for e-learning amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic in Admiralty University and Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Delta State. Two research questions were hypothesized and tested at a 0.05 level of significance. The survey research design was employed for the study and the population is 450 final-year undergraduate students from two out of the thirteen Universities in Delta State. The sample size is 80 students obtained using the multi-stage random sampling technique in three stages. The research instruments "Students' Acceptance of ICT Applications for E-Learning Scale" (SAIAES) and "Students' Use of ICT Applications for E-Learning Scale" (SUIAES) were adapted and revalidated by two experts in test and measurement. The Cronbach Alpha technique was used to ascertain the consistency of the test items, and the   reliability coefficients of 0.72 and 0.83 were obtained. The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and ANOVA. The findings showed that though students remarkably accepted the use of ICT applications for e-learning, the ICT applications were underused amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic for e-learning. Also, the findings revealed a significant difference between the schools mean scores of students' acceptance of ICT applications, and there was no significant difference in the utilization of the ICT applications. Based on the findings, the study recommended that the school authorities should organize workshops and seminars for students on the need and strategies for utilizing ICT applications for effective e-learning amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic.