Abilities, experiences and perceptions of learners towards the use of ICT in a blended learning environment

Latifah Abdol Latif, and Ng , Man San and Ramli Bahroom, (2009) Abilities, experiences and perceptions of learners towards the use of ICT in a blended learning environment. In: IKICT Conference, 3 February 2009, Ipoh, Perak.

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Abstract

The Open University Malaysia (OUM) is an open and distance learning (ODL) institution which caters to the need of in-service teachers and other learners who are pursuing their higher education. To meet this need, it offers both undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes which emphasize a heavy use of ICT and are delivered via a blended mode. Half of the total learner population enrolled in these programmes are in-service teachers. For these teacher-learners to succeed in their respective programmes, they are expected to have the right attitude towards the use of ICTs for learning, and to optimize the ICT usage. It is hoped that the computer skills and knowledge gained through the programmes would help them to perform more effectively in their daily teaching activities and to inspire and motivate their students to improve computer literacy. The study aims to determine the “teacher-learners’ perceptions of the use of ICT towards learning in OUM and to examine their levels of skills and experiences, with a view to identifying areas for enhancing the effectiveness of e-learning in a blended learning environment. A survey methodology was employed, involving a random sample of 457 undergraduate learners, comprising of 365 teacher-learners and 92 learners from the open market. The study found that between 40-55% of the teacher-learners were able to use word processing, presentation manager, emails and bibliographic database software applications on their own without any assistance. The study also found that nearly 75% of the teacher-learners had used Online Forum. The teacher-learners held a fairly positive view of the different advantages that ICT can bring to learning, while at the same time they showed a relatively strong preference for learning with traditional methods, implying that they also question the value of ICT for learning. Finally, the study found that the significant predictors of positive perception towards learning with ICT, were: ability to use email and the experience of using MyLMS, online discussion forums and academic support via email for teacher-learners with an adjusted R-square of 20%. For the open market learners, the significant factors were: ability to use bibliographic database and experience of using myLMS with an adjusted R square of 25%. This implies that in order to encourage OUM teacher-learners and other learners to use ICT in learning, it is vital to upgrade their ICT skills and provide them with the means to gain experience in e-learning through the institution’s learning management system, MyLMS. (Authors' abstract)

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