A Study on the Exposure to E-Learning during COVID-19: Special Reference to Management Undergraduates of Non-State Universities

Abstract

Education is a goal of every human being in this modern era. The remarkable growth in information technology and the internet over the past few years has propelled the need for the application of e-learning among the educational sectors. Due to the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sri Lankan educational institutes were forced to transform to e-learning. Hence, it is essential to have a strong awareness on the engagement of students in this e-learning. The purpose of this study is to examine the level of exposure to e-learning with special reference to the management undergraduates of non-state universities in Sri Lanka. This study is a quantitative research study and is based on a deductive research approach. For data collection, researchers used a questionnaire based on a convenience sampling process. A sample of 332 students was considered from a total population of 2500 students including 3rd and 4th year management undergraduates from two non-state universities. The collected data were analysed using one sample t-test analysis and descriptive analysis using the Statistical Package for Service Solutions. The researchers used one sample t-test to predict the students' level of exposure to e-learning based on the mean value of e-learning. The results show that students had a high level of exposure to e-learning with a value of 3.92. In addition, it revealed that system quality, instructors’ quality, digital readiness and learners’ attitude are highly influential towards the students’ level of exposure to e-learning. Furthermore, descriptive analysis revealed that the average GPA achieved by undergraduates utilising e-learning is higher than by traditional learning with an average score of 3.35. The findings of this study can serve as a guideline for higher educational institutions in developing appropriate initiatives to uplift the e-learning exposure. The main limitation of the study was that only management undergraduates were taken into consideration. As a result, future researchers should focus their efforts on different faculty studies separately to explore the level of e-learning exposure in each one of them.

Keywords: COVID-19, E-Learning, Exposure, GPA, Undergraduates