Factors of best practices of e-learning among undergraduate students

Gbolahan Olasina

doi:10.34105/j.kmel.2018.10.016

Abstract

A renewed focus should be on human aspects and change behaviour in the uptake of e-learning. Thus, the overriding purpose of the study was to provide a diagnostic insight into how different factors come into play in the context of best practices of e-learning. The research aimed to help build a robust approach to the phenomenon. A dominant quantitative and less dominant qualitative method using survey approach was adopted. A total of 2,718 undergraduate students of the School of Social Sciences at two campuses of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, UKZN, South Africa participated in the survey. The theoretical framework adopted to underpin the research was the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology Model (UTAUT). The findings identified the criticality of factors such as perceived ease of use, complexity, ease of use, attitude, subjective norm, social factors and image to best practices of e-learning. The significance of the study has the potential to impact on the policy, implementation and best practices of e-learning. Theoretically, the context of South Africa in contrast to early adopter countries was employed to advance the frontiers of global knowledge and improve an understanding of the UTAUT model to explain e-learning best practices.

Highlights

Most universities commit to e-learning in response to recent social, economic, and pedagogical challenges to tertiary-level teaching and learning, where universities are increasingly investigating and adopting e-learning to engage and motivate students (Bell & Federman, 2013; Al-Qahtani & Higgins, 2013)
The research is needed and essential to strengthen and improve the understanding of best practices by which students approach e-learning which suffers from a shortage of innovation, creativity and diffusion of best practices
The study outlines initiatives to inform the best practices of students such as individual priorities, ownership, cultural contexts and capacity building of students to support themselves using South African languages as means of communication

Summary

Introduction

Most universities commit to e-learning in response to recent social, economic, and pedagogical challenges to tertiary-level teaching and learning, where universities are increasingly investigating and adopting e-learning to engage and motivate students (Bell & Federman, 2013; Al-Qahtani & Higgins, 2013). The context-specific issues addressed by the research included a lack of understanding of the best e-learning practices by students from a developing country setting that are essential elements of positive user experiences and e-learning success. The aim of the study was to review evidence and describe best practices of e-learning by users Another goal was to examine the inhibitors to best practices of e-learning. To put it another way, some researchers argued that the designers of e-learning and educational technologies need to remember that students do not understand the presentation of features and tools inherent in the systems. Often, system designers understand the inhibitors from the perspectives of the users (Torrisi-Steele & Drew, 2013; Teach & Murff, 2014)

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Conclusion