Digital Skills and Academic Achievement among Students at a Peruvian Institute of Technology

Abstract

Although the adoption of technology in higher education has become more widespread in recent years, the onset of the pandemic highlighted critical gaps in teaching. A non-experimental, descriptive and correlational study was conducted among students from a Peruvian technology institute in 2023, to determine if there is a link between digital skills and academic performance. The study population was composed of students from a private technology institute in the city of Trujillo. The sample consisted of 48 students majoring in Occupational Health and Safety. Convenience sampling was used given that edent data was readily available. Data collection methods included surveys and document analysis through questionnaires to assess digital skills. Academic transcripts were used to calculate academic performance. Researchers used inferential statistical analysis via the Shapiro-Wilk test to assess whether or not the data had a normal  distribution, which it did not. The non-parametric Spearman's Rho test was employed to assess variable correlation, yielding a p-value of 0.038. To align with the general objective, a significant relationship was found to exist between digital competency and academic performance among students in the Occupational Health and Safety program at a Peruvian technology during 2023. Based on the findings, it was revealed that that students with strong digital skills are more likely to excel academically.