Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Web-Based Learning in Selected Iranian Public Universities
The development of learning in the society has always been a topic of concern for most countries. In Iran, discussions for its improvement focus primarily on the role of Information Communication Technology (ICT) on the existing educational systems. Traditional education criteria are no longer su...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
2009
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/11068/1/FPP_2009_28_A.pdf |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | The development of learning in the society has always been a topic of concern
for most countries. In Iran, discussions for its improvement focus primarily on
the role of Information Communication Technology (ICT) on the existing
educational systems. Traditional education criteria are no longer sufficient and
suitable to cope with the changes that have been brought by ICT. Web-based
learning is one of the new changes in Iranian educational systems. Although
the role of web-based learning in supporting ICT integration is comprehended
as critical, to date there are lack of scientific studies about its effectiveness in
Iranian public universities. This study is to understand this information gap
through comprehensive sources of data on web-based computer courses in
Iran.
The specific objectives of this study were to identify the socio-demographic
and academic profiles of students, their perceived effectiveness of web-based learning, its relationship with a number of independent variables, and to
determine learning factors that may influence the effectiveness of web-based
learning. The study was primarily quantitative in nature and employed
descriptive correlational research designs to collect data on students who
were taking web-based computer courses at Iranian public universities during
the first semester of 2008/09 (N=1500). The web questionnaire was used to
obtain the required data and the number of valid responses was 482.
The results of this study indicated that the average age of the respondents
was about 26 years. Half of the students preferred to communicate via e-mail
and about 57% of them preferred to download their course contents from files
with the .swf extension (Flash Player files). Further, 80% of them indicated that
they participated in the web-based courses because they could learn at their
own pace and it could fit into their busy schedules. Some 49% of these
students had jobs. On average, they spent about four hours a week to study
using computers. However, the instructors suggested that for a three-credit
computer course, at least six hours must be spent on the computer a week. In
addition, 55% of the students perceived that the web-based computer courses
were moderately effective. Further analysis showed that the percentage of
second year students or above (Level 2) who perceived the web-based
computer courses to be effective was higher than the first or second year
students doing Level 1. |
|---|