A Study on a factors influencing the online learning of the undergraduates (with special reference to undergraduates of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenapura)

Abstract

The revival in interest in distance education can be seen in the past two decades. This was caused due to many reasons and was made possible through the application of new computer and communication systems. Even the people who believed that the mix of technology in the classroom can help to teach and to learn, do not believe strategy to use is not easy. In the 21st century, with the influx of the Digital era, the mode of instruction delivery in the field of education is being moved from teacher-centered education to student-centered education and that can be marked as a significant development in the field of education. The main objective of this study is to identify the factors affecting the online learning of undergraduates of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. The researcher selected the stratified simple random sampling method to collect data from the undergraduates of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science of the USJ, across the four study years. Based on the register number of the undergraduates of the FHSS, the sample of 400 sampling units were considered for the analysis. An exploratory factor analysis was performed on the data to identify the factors and the factors derived are: Instructor support, Workload and time, Technical assistance, Learner characteristics, and Course content and e-learning material. As per the analysis, Instructor support is the most significant factor among the five factors, therefore, more attention should be focused on the instructors as many undergraduates depend on the instructor’s assistance in online learning. The One-Way ANOVA test was conducted to identify whether there is a significant difference in the identified variables with regard to gender, study year, degree type and primary internet connection, and age levels. The findings concludes that there is no difference in all four factors; Instructor assistance, Workload and time, Technical assistance, Learner characteristics, Course content, and e-learning material, with regard to the gender levels, study year, degree type and primary internet connection type. Yet, it is observed that there is a statistical difference in the two factors: Instructor assistance, Preference, workload and time with regard to age categories.