Online Learning Readiness Among University Students in Malaysia Amidst Covid-19

Abstract

Universities around the world have been directly and indirectly affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Within the span of less than one month, the traditional face-to-face learning has been replaced by online learning to ensure education continuity. This paper sets out to examine online learning readiness among university students who have been thrown in at the deep end. It aims to investigate if demographic factors make any difference in their readiness to learn, online learning experiences and intention to continue using online learning. It also examines their preferred methods of online learning and challenges they face. Data collected from 399 students in two different online learning courses in Malaysia showed that respondents are generally ready for online learning. However, females are found to be more ready than male, degree students are more ready than diploma students while female students and degree students are more satisfied with online learning and have better learning experiences compared to male and diploma students. More than half of the respondents indicated that if given a choice, they do not want to continue with online learning in the future. Most respondents preferred online learning via pre-recorded lectures uploaded to Google Classroom and YouTube. While the biggest challenge for degree students is internet connectivity, for diploma students, it is the difficulty in understanding the content of the subject. Moving forward, government, telecommunication companies and universities should invest in developing internet infrastructure across the country as online learning will be the new norm in the foreseeable future. University also needs to provide further training to enhance academics’ online teaching skills to ensure lessons are delivered more effectively

Online Distance Learning Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic Among University Students

“…In an unprecedented turn of events, Covid-19 has changed the way students are educated around the globe within a short span of time (Chung, Subramaniam, & Dass, 2020). The educational system worldwide has witnessed the near-total closures of schools, colleges, and universities following the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak which was later announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).…”

Together Apart during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Assessing Students’ Readiness for Online Assessments Using an E-Learning System

“…The demographic data of this cohort was representative of other studies with the majority female students, in the 29 years or younger age range, who were at level 2 of their studies [4,5,17,27]. Analyses on student characteristics and their level of e-readiness of this cohort, resulted in no significant differences among demographics such as age or gender with any of the e-readiness variables as reported in other research by [17,18,27].…”

“…Students' level of e-readiness has therefore become one of the core factors in evaluating success with ELSs [4,7,18]. Notably, self-directed learning and student motivation were found to be significant for their e-readiness [26,27]. However, attributes such as gender, university, or courses, do not seem to show any effect on student e-readiness [17,18,24,28].…”

“…Students' preference for online learning reflects their reliance on the ELS for the duration of their course [4,27]. Thus, it is important that they have attributes that are suitable for blended or online learning [29].…”

Business Continuity Plan in the Higher Education Industry: University Students’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Academic Continuity Plans during Covid-19 Pandemic

“…While the feedback mentioned above revealed the effectiveness of the HEI's business and academic continuity plan, the students nevertheless faced issues with internet connectivity, and their own preference to have face-to-face classes that they were used to. As far as internet connectivity was concerned, this problem has been highlighted by several studies in Malaysia that mentioned technical problems, such as poor internet connectivity and limited data plans [53][54][55], and these issues are not only faced by rural students and academics, but also by people living in urban areas in Malaysia.…”