Evaluating an online learning program from students' perspectives

A O Ogunleye
University of Lagos,
Lagos, Nigeria

This study aimed to evaluate -- with respect to sex, age and occupation -- the effectiveness of students' participation in a blended FirstClass online program for 40 practising teachers and administrators in one of the colleges of the University of London. The study employed a questionnaire, which was divided into four parts: Learning environment, Personal factors, Pedagogical strategies and Learning process.

The major findings were that sex and age are the key variables that contribute to successful online learning, while participants' occupations seem not to have any effect. Also, this online learning program contributed more to the acquisition of the following skills with respect to age and sex -- browsing and searching skills, information-gathering skills and library reference-searching skills -- but did not generally contribute to arousing students' interest. The implications of the findings are discussed.