Wearable Technology Maintenance Skill Needs of Technical College Students for Job Creation in Rivers State

This study which determined wearable technology maintenance skill needs of technical college students for job creation in Rivers State adopted a descriptive research survey design. The study was carried out in Rivers State. Three research questions were answered while corresponding null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The population of the study comprised of all electronic technicians in Rivers State and 49 electrical and electronic trades teachers in all the four Government Technical Colleges in Rivers State. Electrical/Electronic trades teachers were not sampled due to small population size while 170 electronic technicians were selected through accidental sampling technique. Hence, a total of 219 respondents was used as sample for the study. The instrument for data collection was a 105 item self-structured questionnaire titled: Wearable Technology Maintenance Skills for Job Creation. The reliability of the instrument was established as 0.80 using Cronbach’s Alpha method of reliability. Data collected were analysed using mean with standard deviation statistical tools to answer the research questions while z-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings from the study revealed that the students need the ability to; disconnect the upper ribbon cable gently, check the sound balance in device settings among others. The study also revealed the challenges associated with technical college students in the use of modern tools and equipment for the maintenance of wearables. Based on the findings of the study. It was recommended among others that National Board for Technical Education should ensure that the curriculum developers integrate smartwatch and head mounted display maintenance skills into the curriculum of technical colleges for this will enable the graduates become self-reliance. Government at all levels should ensure the provision of modern tools and equipment to be used at the technical college workshops and laboratories for effective training of students.