Students’ Experiences in Using Web 2.0 Technologies for Learning: A Case of Muni University, Uganda

Abstract

The advancement of web technologies has innovated tools and software applications, also known web 2.0, to support collaborative teaching, learning and research. These technologies offer learners and learning facilitators an opportunity to interact both vertically and horizontally beyond four walls of the classroom. This study provided further understanding, from students' perspective, of issues surrounding usage of web 2.0 Technologies in Mui University, Uganda. This was achieved by: assessing the students' awareness of Web 2.0 technologies, ascertaining the usage of Web 2.0 technologies, and establishing barriers that hinder students to use web 2.0 technologies for teaching and learning beyond the four walls of classroom. Questionnaires were administered to 100 students from the Faculty of Technoscience, Muni University. SPSS v.21 was used to analyse the data collected. The results were presented in form of tables, charts, means, and percentages were used to indicate the student's experiences on the usage of web 2.0 technologies in the learning process at Muni University. The research revealed that the students know and always use mainly YouTube, Facebook and Google during their studies. The study further showed that students use web 2.0 in both academic and personal activities with at least 73.8% of the respondents expressing that they use web 2.0 in collaborating with lecturers and fellow students in addition to fulfilling the university learning requirements. The study also found that students are challenged by low-speed Internet connections, lack of appropriate devices to support web 2.0, timeconsuming nature of web 2.0, inadequate literacy skills to use web 2.0, and tight restrictions and lengthy procedures by local authorities over the use of internet e.g. Over the Top Tax (OTT) being imposed by the Government of Uganda. The researchers recommend that different stakeholders should support students to embrace the use web 2.0 in learning, e.g., the learning facilitators need to advocate for and provide continuous awareness, the national government needs to provide an equitable environment like internet and its infrastructure that will foster learning through the use of web 2.0, and parents should provide basic facilities like smartphones and laptops for use in learning.