Online Learning and Teaching: The Perceptions of Off-Campus Postgraduate Management Students

Abstract

The aim of this study was twofold: First, to determine students' perceptions regarding the positive and negative aspects of online learning and, second, to identify the activities students have experienced when learning online and to determine their perceptions regarding the way these activities were managed by lecturers. An online survey (developed using Qualtrix) was emailed to 474 off-campus students who are pursuing a postgraduate coursework degree in management. So far we have received 62 responses, which indicates a response rate of 13%. Results show that these students consider that the most important benefits of online learning are its flexibility and the learning management system, whilst lack of interaction, traditional approaches to learning, poor feedback and low usage of online learning tools are the most negative ones. With regards to experience with online learning tools, students are more familiar with discussion boards, emails and chat rooms while few students had experience with podcasts and vodcasts. In relation to the management of online learning activities, the tools identified as being most beneficial were the ones that were less frequently used by lecturers, whilst emails (which were widely used) were ranked least beneficial. There was no significant difference related to the level of competence with the online environment, number of subjects completed, type of internet access or gender.