Medication or band-aid? revisiting university students’ readiness for online education

Abstract

In the pandemic period we are currently in, online education has replaced face-to-face learning activities on a global scale. Institutions that pursue online education programs commonly assume that online learners are ready for this mode of learning. However, online education programs attract attention due to their remarkably high drop-out rates. This begs the question as to why some students are more able to benefit from online education, and demands to reveal the underlying reasons for such a situation. In this regard, the present study explores students’ e-readiness for the changeover phase to online education, and how this differs in terms of a range of variables. 428 volunteer undergraduate students from 59 departments across 33 universities in Turkey were recruited to the study. The data collection tools consist of a personal information form and an online education readiness scale. The results indicate that university students’ readiness levels for online education were above medium level of the scale. As for the factors which determine online education readiness, it was found that university students have a high level of internet self-efficacy, yet their motivation towards online education is considerably low. In addition, their online education readiness differs significantly in terms of personal computer ownership, internet connection at home, major, and daily internet usage duration, gender, and online education experience, whereas no statistically significant difference was identified in terms of grade year at the university. A significant interaction between gender and online education experience was ascertained as well.