Afghan undergraduate students’ perceptions toward e-learning

Abstract

E-learning provides teachers and students with great opportunities and benefits, by enhancing teaching and learning experiences. Although e-learning is widely adopted in educational systems, some countries still use traditional teaching methods with limited use of technology as a medium of teaching and learning. This study investigates the perceptions of Afghan EFL undergraduate students toward e-learning at a public university in Afghanistan. Few studies have investigated the use of e-learning in tertiary-level education in Afghanistan, indicating the need to understand the perceptions of undergraduate students toward it. Students who were the primary beneficiaries of e-learning were included. This quantitative study was conducted in the form of a survey using data gathered via questionnaires. In total, 140 randomly selected respondents participated in the survey. The key finding of this study was that e-learning is perceived to be useful in higher education. However, it was also realized that electronic education is not only expensive but also require strong Information and Communication Technology skills. Additionally, more than half the participants preferred hybrid learning, a combination of online and face-to-face learning methods. The Chi-square test results indicated a significant association between gender and the perceived ease of use of e-learning, whereby a large proportion of males perceived e-learning as user-friendly in education, but females disagreed. However, the Mann-Whitney U test results showed that there were no statistically significant differences between freshman students and senior students’ attitudes toward e-learning. These findings contribute to the field of tertiary-level education regarding the usefulness and flexibility of e-learning. As most participants favored hybrid learning, the implementation of hybrid learning was recommended. These results have significant implications for higher education institutions that use e-learning for teaching and learning. The conclusions of this study might not be generalizable to all universities in Afghanistan; however, to some extent, are reflective of the situation in other universities.

Exploring higher education students’ attitudes toward e-learning after COVID-19

“…These findings parallel Thapa et al (2021), who reported that the main benefit of e-learning for nursing students was the opportunity to stay at home. This finding is also similar to the results of Monib (2023), who found that undergraduate students perceive elearning as useful in higher education.…”

“…Similarly, the study by Bali and Liu (2018) demonstrated that traditional classroom instruction received higher ratings regarding social presence, interaction, and overall satisfaction than online learning. On the other hand, According to Monib (2023), over 50.0% of participants favored hybrid learning that combines online and faceto-face instruction.…”

“…In this era of change in education, it is essential to understand students' attitudes toward e-learning. For example, students' attitudes toward e-learning can significantly impact their engagement, motivation, and, ultimately, their learning outcomes (Akcil & Bastas, 2020;Monib, 2023;Prakasha et al, 2022;Thapa et al, 2021;Uyar, 2023). E-learning is important by providing college students with flexible, accessible, and technology-enhanced learning experiences (Prevalla et al, 2022).…”

“…As e-learning continues gaining momentum, educators, policymakers, and researchers must understand students' attitudes toward this evolving pedagogical approach and design their instruction programs according to e-learning strategies and curricula. Research has suggested that students' attitudes toward e-learning can vary widely and be influenced by several technological, pedagogical, and socio-cultural dimensions (Monib, 2023;Uyar, 2023). While these factors provide a foundation for understanding student attitudes toward e-learning, it is important to recognize that attitudes can be highly individualized and context-dependent (Prakasha et al, 2022).…”

“…In a study conducted by Monib (2023), an examination was carried out to explore the perspectives held by English as a foreign language students regarding using e-learning. The study's findings indicated that elearning is widely regarded as a valuable tool in higher education.…”