E-learning experiences of adults during COVID-19 outbreak The moderating effect of gender
Date
2021
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Adult and Continuing Education
Abstract
COVID-19 has brought surprises in the educational landscape. Educational institutions
had to hurriedly migrate all teaching, learning and assessment activities to online
platforms. Such was the case of adult learners who had signed on to the access
course for entrance into the University of Ghana. This study sought to find out
how the e-learning experiences of adult learners differed across gender as they studied English language, Logic and Mathematics online. From a quantitative analysis of the
data, the online experience of students with regard to Mathematics learning did not
differ along gender lines. Therefore, the experiences of males and females were
similar. Though there were differences across gender groups regarding Logic and
English language experiences and those of Logic experience were much bigger, where
males provided overall more positive ratings than females. Specifically, for Logic experience, instructors’ show of respect to students and understanding of the learning needs
of students and effective communication were rated generally better among males
than females. Going forward, Logic instructors should pay equal attention to both
groups, irrespective of their gender, to identify their learning needs and support them
accordingly. Furthermore, all the instructors, irrespective of their course, could continue to improve their delivery of the courses as well as their relationships with the
students in order to enhance future experience of the students.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
e-learning, online learning, Covid-19