The effect of e-learning experience on readiness, attitude, and self-control/self-management

Abstract

Aim/Purpose This study aimed to reveal the effect of the previous Internet-based education (IBE) experiences of the students' readiness, attitude, and self-control / self-management variables towards the e-learning process, and also to determine their opinions. Background The institutions have made efforts to ensure the continuity of education through their learning management systems and the necessity of addressing the e-learning process from the perspective of students once again showed itself as an undeniable fact. Accordingly, the necessity to consider holistically the variables of readiness, attitude, and self-control/self-management, which affect students' adaptation to e-learning process, has once again emerged based on the relevant literature. Methodology This research based on the simultaneous mixed method considering the previous IBE experiences of 75 Computer Education and Instructional Technology (CEIT) students taking part in the study in Turkey. The quantitative results of the study were analyzed based on the single-group pretest-posttest weak experimental design. Qualitative results were obtained through the structured interview form and set an example for the case study. Contribution The results showed that regardless of students' previous Internet-based education (IBE) experience, it is seen that increasing and continuous experience has a significant effect on the readiness, attitude and self-control/self-management variables towards the e-learning process. The main contribution of experimental results showed that IBE experience is effective on individuals' perceptions of internet self-efficacy, and has an impact on the self-learning skills of individuals. In addition to this, the e-learning experience has an impact on individuals' self-evaluation. It is also seen that the certificate presented to learners in the e-learning environment has a positive effect on students' attitudes towards e-learning processes. Finally, the experiences of e-learning processes, the methods used to transfer the content in the learning environment, the motivation and feedback provided to the learner also support the significant difference obtained in terms of readiness, attitude and self-control/self-management. Findings After the findings were analyzed holistically in depth, it has been observed that; if the contents offered to students in e-learning environments support their professional development, in this case, their attitudes, readiness (excluding the sub-dimension of learner control), and self-control/self-management skills for these environments differ significantly in the posttest. It is also among the results that students having previous IBE experience have not higher awareness levels on online communication self-efficacy, technology use self-efficacy, readiness for e-learning, e-learning predisposition, self-reinforcement, self-control management, although significantly found. The findings regarding the effectiveness of the experimental process are as follows: Although it is possible for the students having previous IBE experience to use these experiences within the course for their personal development, it has been seen that the observed differences regarding students' readiness, attitude, and self-control/self-management towards e-learning processes arise from the experimental operation. Recommendations for Practitioners Recommendations for Researchers It is recommended for the policy-makers and practitioners that while e-learning platforms were designing, using different methods for delivering the content is as important as making the interaction meaningful and sustainable. In addition to this, to develop a positive attitude it is recommended that individuals' participation of an e-learning platform should be supported with a certificate. Researchers should test the obtained results by a well-structured e-learning platform with their recorded activities on the platform (e.g. in which section was used mostly by a learner etc.). Hence, the impact of IBE experiences might be discussed in an up level framework. Impact on Society Actually, this study is based on a mix design and the results were also meaningful especially considering the implacable global pandemic. It is clearly understood by this process that e-learning is very important. In line with this, to support the e-learning process (e.g. with the method while delivering the content, well-structured feedback, motivation strategies etc.) and make it sustainable, the increasing of individual's readiness, attitude, and self-control through the IBE would be indispensable. Future Research Future studies might focus on the longitudinal methods. It is worth to find out how the students experiences affect the sustainability of the course content, and what should the program developer make to improve their course content in line with the findings of longitudinal studies.