Technological Readiness for E-learning among Undergraduate Students at a Private University in Kenya

Abstract

The domains of learning and teaching are experiencing great changes as higher-education institutions rapidly adopt the concepts and practices of e-learning. Student readiness is crucial in implementation of E-Learning in institutions of higher learning. E-Learning readiness adds the benefit of encouraging learners to take responsibility for their learning and build self-knowledge and self-confidence. This study sought to assess the technological readiness for e-learning among undergraduate students at a private University in Kenya. The study utilized descriptive research design where 157 undergraduate students were stratified sampled to participate in the study. Data was collected using Readiness Assessment Tool for an E-learning Learning Environment Implementation. The study results indicated that 86% (n=113) of the students did not know how to resolve common hardware or software problems. A similar number (64%, n=84) did not have access to reliable internet in campus or cafes while 69% (n=90) did not know how to log in to the internet, navigate web pages and download files using internet browsers. On the other hand, 69% (n=90) did not know how to resolve common errors e.g. ‘page not found’ or ‘connection timed out’ while surfing the internet and 88% (n=115) had not attended any seminars/workshops related to online learning activities. The results from this study point to fact that the University should offer basic training in computers for the undergraduate students in order to enable them use the internet for e-learning.

Keywords: Technological readiness, E-learning, Undergraduate students, Computers