Journal Articles

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915

Browse

Subject: search.filters.subject.Online learning

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Learning during a pandemic: an Activity Theory analysis of the challenges experienced by Aotearoa/New Zealand university students
    (Springer Nature Limited on behalf of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, 2023-12) Gedera D; Forbes D; Brown C; Hartnett M; Datt A
    The worldwide disruption of higher education during the Covid-19 pandemic has been studied from the viewpoints of institutions and teachers, with some attention to students’ health and learning challenges. Attempts to theorise the diverse and conflicting challenges faced by students learning online during the pandemic have been limited. It is helpful to analyse students’ experiences as part of an activity system in order to unravel the system’s elements and determine contradictions that occur. This study adopted a mixed methods approach to investigate students’ online learning experiences at all eight New Zealand universities during the pandemic. Data obtained via a large-scale online survey, followed by focus groups and individual interviews, is presented in light of an Activity Theory framework. Findings show that students’ key challenges were associated with new tools and technologies, lack of interaction and social connection, lack of routine and space, and clashing commitments due to multiple roles and responsibilities. Contradictions can be a driving force for change and development in teaching and learning contexts. We conclude with recommendations for tertiary institutions, teachers, learning designers and students to inform future learning and teaching plans.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Online learning adoption by Chinese university students during the Covid-19 pandemic
    (School of Psychology, Massey University, 2022-12-01) Huggins TJ; Tan ML; Kuo Y-L; Prasanna R; Rea DD
    The 2019 Novel Coronavirus Pandemic has severely challenged the continuity of post-secondary education around the world. Online learning platforms have been put to the test, in a context where student engagement will not occur as a simple matter of course. To identify the factors supporting online learning under pandemic conditions, a questionnaire based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology was adapted and administered to a sample of 704 Chinese university students. Structural equation modelling was applied to the resulting data, to identify the most relevant theoretical components. Effort expectancy, social influence, and information quality all significantly predicted both students’ performance expectancies and the overall adoption of their university’s Moodle-based system. Performance expectancy mediated the effects of effort expectancy, social influence, and information quality on symbolic adoption. Internet speed and reliability had no clear impact on adoption, and neither did gender. The direct impact of information quality on symbolic adoption represents a particularly robust and relatively novel result; one that is not usually examined by comparable research. As outlined, this is one of three key factors that have predicted online learning engagement, and the viability of educational continuity, during the Coronavirus pandemic. The same factors can be leveraged through user-focused development and implementation, to help ensure tertiary education continuity during a range of crises
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Digital divide framework: online learning in developing countries during the COVID-19 lockdown
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2022) Mathrani A; Sarvesh T; Umer R
    This article showcases digital inequalities that came to the forefront for online learning during the COVID-19 lockdown across five developing countries, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Afghanistan. Large sections of population in developing economies have limited access to basic digital services; this, in turn, restricts how digital media are being used in everyday lives. A digital divide framework encompassing three analytical perspectives, structure, cultural practices and agency, has been developed. Each perspective is influenced by five constructs, communities, time, location, social context and sites of practice. Community relates to gendered expectations, time refers to the lockdown period while locations are interleaved online classrooms and home spaces. Societal contexts influence aspects of online learning and how students engage within practice sites. We find structural issues are due to lack of digital media access and supporting services; further that female students are more often placed lower in the digital divide access scale. Cultural practices indicate gendered discriminatory rules, with female students reporting more stress due to added household responsibilities. This impacts learner agency and poses challenges for students in meaningfully maximising their learning outcomes. Our framework can inform policy-makers to plan initiatives for bridging digital divide and set up equitable gendered learning policies.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Online professional development for digitally differentiated nurses: An action research perspective
    (Elsevier, 2017-01) Green JK; Huntington AD
    Professional development opportunities for nurses are increasingly being offered in the online environment and therefore it is imperative that learning designers, nurse educators and healthcare organisations consider how best to support staff to enable Registered Nurses to capitalise on the resources available. Research participants explored educational strategies to support digitally differentiated nurses' engagement with professional development activities in an online environment through a participatory action research project that collected data over a 16 month period through six focus groups before being analysed thematically. The reality of work-based, e-learning while managing clinical workloads can be problematic however specific measures, such as having a quiet space and computer away from the clinical floor, access to professional development resources from anywhere and at any time, can be effective. A 'one-size-fits-all' approach to resources offered will not meet the needs of diverse staffing groups whereas heutagogical learning offers tangible benefits to Registered Nurses seeking professional development opportunities in this context. Apparent proficiency with technological skills may not reflect a Registered Nurse's actual ability in this environment and face-to-face support offered regularly, rather than remedially, can be beneficial for some staff. Implementing specific strategies can result in successful transition to the online environment.