(2014) DETERMINING THE HELPFULNESS OF E-LEARNING FOR HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS: A CASE STUDY OF A SOUTH AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION

摘要

The evolvement from traditional classroom to distance learning and now electronic learning has made electronic learning (e-learning) a prevalent tool. With the progression of technology and the Internet, educational institutions are changing their learning techniques to meet demands of user in providing a perfect learning environment. The use of e-learning method involves the opportunity of learning from information delivered electronically through sending or receiving emails, online courses, online discussion forums, video conferencing. The purpose of this study was to determine how helpful elearning is towards students’ academic progress at the Durban University of Technology. It specifically investigated the how academics encourage students to make use of e-learning, how often students make use of it and whether or not they are satisfied with e-learning as a tool of teaching and learning. The results of the research indicate that even though majority of the students know about e-learning and make use of it some students are still left in the dark and do not at all use this platform. While some students feel that e-learning has assisted a lot and have improved their academic progress, some feel that more needs to be done to certain that everyone is satisfied with the implementation and effectiveness of e-learning. The study reveals that majority of the students have agreed that e-learning has greatly impacted their academic performance with its flexibility of being accessed anywhere and at any time. Over 38 percent of the students agreed that e-learning helps them study and revise in places that are convenient to them and over 35 percent of the students stated that notes posted on e-learning helps them understand far better things that are taught in class. Even though majority of the students has revealed a positive feedback on how e-learning positively impacts on their academic progress, there are still students that battle with making use of this tool and that does not really impact much in their progress. E-learning has become a pillar of success in higher education as it enhances the quality of teaching and learning (Bhuasiri, 2012:99), therefore a positive relationship exists between the use of learning technology and students’ engagement and desired learning outcome (Chen, Lambert & Guidry, 2010:368). A study conducted by Paechter and Maier, (2010:205) found that students prefer face-toface learning to acquire conceptual knowledge in the subject matter, while online learning is preferred in acquiring self-regulated learning skills. Following an in-depth analysis of the findings, this study recommends that all students are encouraged to participate and make use of e-learning as it has been proven that it definitely does contribute to students’ performance. So, if every student made use of this platform then they would all produce great results and there will be a lot of students graduating in recorded time.