STUDENTS' USE OF ONLINE LEARNING RESOURCES AND THEIR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

1.1 Introduction

Online Learning is a system designed to help students gain access and acquire knowledge in any Institution of their choice. It can include: Enhance face –to- face instruction, enhanced distance education (on or off campus) individuals and group learning with both print and computer-based materials instruction entirely on- line because of this mix Electronic Learning and text based e- learning knowledge is moving towards every student being an e- learner at last for part of their study, whether through learning materials, e-mail for contacting teachers/ tutors or any one of their myriad other e-learning applications. Electronic Learning results to learning and other supportive resources that are available through a computer and it includes computer based training, computer based instruction and technology.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

Education is a key factor for sustainable development (Chimombo, 2005). The significance of education, especially in developing countries, is increasing because of progressing pressure to catch up with the developed world regarding, for example, global competitiveness (Hawkins 2002). Predictably, educational settings are different in developing countries than in developed countries, such as low quality of education and narrow possibilities in attending schools in rural areas because of far distances and high opportunity costs. Chimombo, 2005 opined that country-specific circumstances have to be improved regarding compulsory and free education to foster general access to education.

The continual emergence of new technologies has placed academic staff under increasing pressure to react to these substantial changes within a very short and often unrealistic time-frame. As stated by Bates and Poole (2003), one of the major challenges of teaching with technology is that you cannot possibly keep up with the technology. The paradox of technology enhanced education is that technology changes very rapidly and human beings change very slowly. Electronic resources are regarded as the extract of information that are developed through modern information communication technology devices, refined and redesigned and more often stored in the cyber space in the most concrete and compact form and can be accessed at the same time from immeasurable points by a great number of audience.

E-Learning resources is not important than how much resources you have, than how feasible they are, in other words, resources should be readily accessible to all. Before the development of computer and internet technology, printed version of resources like books, journals, encyclopaedia, dictionaries, work books, and the likes played significant roles in learning process. Usually, these printed versions are not easily accessible to all and are also expensive in nature. For example, if two students want to refer to a particular book simultaneously, two separate copies of the same book must be needed in the library. Instead of having the printed version of the book, if we have electronic or e-version of the book, the same book can be easily accessed simultaneously by many and also can be accessed from their drawing room with the help of a personal computer. In this computer age, e-version of books, journals, etc or e-resources in general have become inevitable and hence it is very much needed to convert the printed version into e-version for future needs.

Consequently, the teaching and learning practices of Nigeria are undergoing a shift from the old methods to extensive usage of e-learning resources. However, little or no efforts have been recorded in the identification of influence and impact of e-learning on academic performance of student in tertiary institutions. As the use of e-learning is becoming more and more widespread in higher education it has become increasingly important to examine the impact that this learning style has on student’s performance.

Therefore, this study was designed to investigate Students’ Use of Online Learning Resources and their Academic Achievements in college of education using Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Lanlate, Oyo State, Nigeria.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that the importance of education is increasing because of increasing pressure to catch up with the developed world regarding, for example, global competitiveness (Hawkins 2002). Before the advent of e-learning many people who wanted to obtain tertiary degree had to compete for the few places that were offered by the public institutions. Those offered places had to apply for study leave as they had to go through the traditional learning system. This kind of further education system was characterized by limited number of students that could be absorbed per an academic year and consequent removal from their places of work for the duration of their study.

Several research works have been carried out on academic performance especially on students, but not much on e-learning students within the Nigerian educational system. There seems to be any study that focuses on the Students’ Use of Online Learning Resources and their Academic Achievements in college of education in Nigeria. Certainly, that is what this study will focus on using students of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Lanlate, Oyo State, Nigeria.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to investigate the student access to e-learning resources and their academic achievement in college of education. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To examine the prevalence of e-learning among the students of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education
2. To establish the prevailing factors that affect e-learning among the students of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education
3. To survey the reasons for the use of e-learning among the students of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What is the prevalence of e-learning among the students of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education?
• What are the prevailing factors that affect e-learning among the students of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education?
• What are the reasons for the use of e-learning among the students of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There is no significant relationship between e-learning and student’s academic performance
• H1: There is a significant relationship between e-learning and student’s academic performance

Hypothesis Two

• H0: There are no significant factors affecting e-learning among the students of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education
• H1: There are significant factors affecting e-learning among the students of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education

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1.7 Significance of Study

This study sought to investigate the Students’ Use of Online Learning Resources and their Academic Achievements in college of education. The study would provide knowledge and guidelines to that may be of help to policymakers. The research is therefore of importance for planners, and other social scientists. Finally, this study provides an input to the students, teachers and researchers in the areas of e-learning.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Students’ Use of Online Learning Resources and their Academic Achievements. This study will cover undergraduate students of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Lanlate, Oyo State, Nigeria.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

The following terms were used in the course of this study:

E–Learning: it is an acronym of electronic learning it is an aspect of Electronic Learning that is concerned with sharing of knowledge electronically by use of text video, web or any other IT tools.

Academic achievement: Is the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their short or long-term educational goals.

Access: A means of approaching or entering a place.

Student: Learner or someone who attends an educational institution.

Computer: an electronic device that is capable of accepting data, processing data automatically, store it, produces the result where needed.