Readiness of Undergraduate Students for Distributed Learning in Selected Higher Educational Institutions in Southern Nigeria (Published)
The study investigated the level of readiness of undergraduate students for Distributed Learning. Descriptive survey method of the cross-sectional research design was used for the study. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select the sample of 600 from the population of 39,316 undergraduate students of the University of Port Harcourt and the Port Harcourt study center of the National Open University of Nigeria. A self-assessment instrument, Distributed learning Readiness Instrument (DLRI), developed by the researcher was used to collect data from the sample. The reliability of the instrument was determined through the test-retest method and a reliability coefficient of 0.77 was obtained. Three experts in the field of Educational Technology and two in Measurement and Evaluation confirmed the face and content validity of the instrument. Six research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while six hypotheses were tested with t-test and one-way ANOVA at 0.05significance level. The results showed that Distance and Part-time students had higher level of readiness than Full-time and Sandwich students. Also, there were significant differences found on modes of study, gender, age and course of study. The conclusion is that there is inequity in the readiness of students for e-Learning. The use of readiness assessment, orientation programmes, effective learner support were recommended.
Keywords: Communication Skills, Computer Skills, Internet skills, Motivation, Self-Efficacy, Self-directed Learning, Study Skills, distributed learning, readiness