Perceptions and Attitude of Students toward E-Learning in Kwara State University, Malete, Kwara State, Nigeria

The study examined the perceptions and attitude of students toward e-learning in Kwara State University, Malete, Kwara State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to: examine the perceptions of undergraduates on the adoption of e-learning by Kwara State University; examine the attitude of students towards e-learning in Kwara State University, Malete; and investigate the constraints affecting e-learning by students of Kwara State University. The study adopted the survey design. The population of the study comprised the entire undergraduate students in Kwara State University, Malete. 240 students participated in the online survey. A self-designed questionnaire was used for the collection of data. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts and percentage. Findings of the study revealed that students have positive perceptions and attitude toward e-learning. The study also revealed the constraints affecting the use of e-learning tools by students of Kwara State University, Malete. The study recommended that the management of Kwara State University should embraced e-learning as a way of overcoming the covid-19 challenges in the university and expanding learning.

groups together to share ideas and good practice. vi.
Individualizing learning to cater for all types of learners irrespective of their locations. vii.
Providing online contents to help learners locate courses of their interest and register for them. viii.
Creating a virtual learning world where learners can creatively and actively participate through simulations, role play, remote control of real world tools and devices as well as online master classes or collaboration with education providers. Research undertaken in the area of attitude and attitude formation shows that attitudes and perceptions are interconnected, moreover, attitudes are essentially divided into likes and dislikes (Siragusa & Dixon, 2008). University students in developing countries have varying attitudes towards e-learning but generally their attitudes are positive (El-Gamal & El-Aziz, 2011). This was emphasised by Nassoura (2012) who revealed that many students had positive attitudes towards e-learning because it had a positive impact on their motivation as well as self-esteem.
Student attitudes towards e-learning have been identified as critical to the success of e-learning (Zhang & Bhattacharyya, 2008). Bhuasiri, Xaymoungkhoun, Zo, Rho and Ciganek (2012) found that in developing countries the most significant factors were related to increasing technology awareness and improving attitude toward elearning, enhancing basic technology knowledge and skills, improving learning content, requiring computer training, motivating users to utilise e-learning systems, and requiring a high level of support from the university. In addition, attributes used to assess the attitudes towards ICT of students, teachers and principals have been categorised in two groups: demographics (age and gender) and computer experience (training, years of using computer, ownership of computer, access to a computer, intensity of computer use) (Jimoy-iannis & Komis, 2007;Wen & Shih, 2008;Papaioannou & Charalambous, 2011).
Student levels of access to technologies represent an initial factor that would shape their attitudes towards elearning, and their willingness to use it; the availability of reliable ICTs and the convenience of accessing these technologies reflect student attitudes toward e-learning. Access to the necessary ICT infrastructure is one of the most important issues that come into focus in the assessment of how developing countries have progressed in elearning.
Despite the numerous benefits of e-learning in education, its adoption in Nigerian tertiary institutions is faced with several setbacks Ekundayo and Ekundayo (2009) identified the constraints to e-learning adoption in Nigerian tertiary institutions to include inadequate human resources, brain drain, staff-student ratio, lack of finance, poor infrastructural provision, electricity challenge, ICT and bandwidth constraints, highly bureaucratic management systems, digital divide and political instability.
The traditional means of learning, which are paper-based, are still the most commonly used in contrast to the web-based and online learning methods. According to Gulati (2008), the developing nations find the traditional means of learning more reliable and sustainable.

Methodology
This study adopted a pure quantitative method. Survey research design was adopted for the study. The design was considered suitable as recommended by Maduekwe (2011) andUzoagulu (2011) for studies that use questionnaire to explore the opinions of a given population or its representative sample on existing phenomena. The data in this study was gathered via an online survey completed by students from seven faculties. A total of 240 students participated in the survey.
A test -re-test reliability of the questionnaire method of two weeks interval was used and responses collected were subjected to Cronbach alpha. The overall reliability of the questionnaire returned an r = 0.87 which exceed the minimum standard of 0.80 suggested for basic research (Wang and Tang, 2003). Descriptive statistics which include percentage and frequency count were used for the analysis of the data.   Table 2 reveals that majority of the respondents 119(49.6%) were between the age bracket of 21 to 25 years.  Table 4 shows the result of analysis on students' perceptions toward e-learning. The result shows that majority of the students 119(49%) agreed that e-learning offers the possibility to efficiently manage their time, 125 (52%) of the respondents strongly agreed that e-learning is a learning environment which needs advanced technical knowledge to use, 111(46%) of the respondents agreed that e-learning guarantees learning flexibility, 104(43%) strongly agreed that students need to be trained before they can undergo any e-learning activity, 134 (55.8%) strongly agreed that students who use e-learning materials need to be updated with the latest trends in technology, Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.11, No.31, 2020 114(47.5%) strongly agreed that e-learning is as an assisted learning tool, 93(38.8%) agreed that use of online learning methods makes learning easier for students, 103(42.9%) agreed that the use of e-learning increases students' creativity, 112 (46.7%) of the respondents agreed that use of e-learning increases students' creativity, 131(54.6%) agreed that e-learning is a self-paced learning environment, 112(46.7%) agreed that e-learning environment improves their thinking skills, 107(44.6%) agreed that e-learning environment enhances their problem-solving skills and 109(45.4%) of the respondents agreed that they like the instructor's help and suggestions in the e-learning environment Research Question 2: What is the attitude of students towards e-learning?  Table 5 shows the result of analysis on students' attitude towards e-learning. Majority of the respondents 123(51%) agreed that they have generally favourable attitude towards using e-learning tools, 106(44.2%) agreed that it will be a good idea to use e-learning tools, 94(39.2%) agreed that if available, they intend to use e-learning tools during the semester, 119(49.6%) agreed that if available, they intend to use e-learning tools whenever possible for their coursework, 110(45.8%) agreed that they feel confident in using e-learning tools, 108(45%) of the respondents agreed that they enjoy using ICT for their studies, 111(46.3%) agreed that e-learning gives them the opportunity to acquire new knowledge, 120(50%) of the respondents agreed that convenience is an important feature of e-learning, 127(52.9%) agreed that E-learning increases the quality of learning because it integrates all forms of media, and 115(47.9%) agreed that adopting ICT and e-learning allows for increased student satisfaction. Research Question 3: What are the constraints affecting e-learning by students?

Distribution of the Respondents by Level of Study
Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.11, No.31, 2020 Table 6 shows the result of analysis on constraints affecting e-learning by Kwara State university students. Majority of the respondents 108(45%) strongly agreed to lack computer literacy skills, 112(46.7%) agreed to lack of internet skills, 128(53.3%) agreed to ignorance of ways of utilizing e-learning for receiving lectures, 109(45.4%) agreed to lack of interest in learning new skills, 123(51.3%) agreed to lack of training on the use of e-learning tools, 125(52%) agreed to lack of confidence for utilizing e-learning, 111(46.3%) agreed to inability to understand contents delivered online, 114(47.5%) agreed to ignorance of the benefits of e-learning, 118(49.2%) agreed to inability to procure computer, 96(40%) agreed to lack of skills to take online continuous assessment, 99(41.3%) agreed to inability to procure smart phones, 116(48.3%) strongly agreed to inability to subscribe to data, and 134(55.8%) agreed to constant power failure.

Discussion of Findings
The findings of this study have revealed that students have positive perceptions towards e-learning. They believe that e-learning help them to efficiently manage their time, that e-learning guarantees learning flexibility, that students who use e-learning materials need to be updated with the latest trends in technology, that e-learning is as an assisted learning tool, that use of online learning methods makes learning easier for students and that e-learning increases students' creativity. The results also disagreed with the perception that e-learning is a waste of students' time and the perception that e-learning cannot work in Nigeria. This finding agrees with that of Akpan and Tralagba (2019) which reported that students are favorably disposed to the adoption of mobile technologies for learning and that undergraduates also showed their willingness to procure their own mobile technology devices if they are introduced for learning. This finding is also in alignment with that of Ihechukwu and Chima (2016) which revealed that students have positive perceptions towards use of e-learning in science education.
The study also revealed the attitude of students toward e-learning. The results revealed positive attitude of students towards e-learning. They have generally favourable attitude towards using e-learning tools and they agreed that they will use e-learning tools if made available. This finding is in agreement with that of Adewole-Odeshi (2014) which reported that students have a positive attitude towards e-learning because they find the system easy to use and useful for their course work. This finding is also emphasised by that of Nassoura (2012) which pointed out that many students had positive attitudes towards e-learning because it had a positive impact on their motivation as well as self-esteem.
The study further identified the constraints affecting the use of e-learning tools by students. These constrains include lack computer literacy skills, lack of internet skills, ignorance of ways of utilizing e-learning for receiving lectures, lack of interest in learning new skills, lack of training on the use of e-learning tools, lack of confidence for utilizing e-learning, inability to understand contents delivered online, ignorance of the benefits of e-learning, inability to procure computer, lack of skills to take online continuous assessment, inability to procure smart phones, inability to subscribe to data, and constant power failure. This finding is supported by that of Ezenwafor and Ementa (2016) which reported that despite the numerous benefits of e-learning in education, its adoption in Nigerian tertiary institutions is faced with several setbacks. The finding is also buttressed by that of Ekundayo and Ekundayo (2009) which outlined the constraints to e-learning adoption in Nigerian tertiary institutions to include inadequate human resources, brain drain, staff-student ratio, lack of finance, poor infrastructural provision, electricity challenge, ICT and bandwidth constraints, highly bureaucratic management systems, digital divide and political instability.