Post Covid-19: Students’ Readiness towards Open Distance Learning in Higher Education

Abstract

The outbreak of Covid-19 in 2019 has forced institutions of higher learning in Malaysia to switch to open distance learning (ODL). As the implementation was done abruptly, there were concerns raised on whether the students were actually ready to undergo the new learning system. This study examines the different factors that may influence students’ readiness in undergoing ODL in a higher education setting. It also investigates the relationships between those factors and how they contribute towards the students’ actual performance during ODL. These investigations are important as it provides an empirically-proven data and perspectives on how students actually perform in their studies during ODL; an area which the researchers believe is still lacking and requires further inquiries. The data for the study was gathered from a questionnaire distributed online to 111 students. The questionnaire consisted of items looking into the students’ demographic data, their self-directedness, learning preference, study habits and equipment capabilities while undergoing ODL. The elicited data were then analysed using ordinal logistic regression model and empirical illustration to yield an in-depth analysis between the factors involved in the study. The major findings of this study show that students’ readiness towards ODL are indeed influenced by their demographic factors such as their parents’ education background, the telco services they use, and the availability of proper equipment as learning aids.  Furthermore, the application of ordinal logistic regression in the current research shows that students who possess a high readiness in undergoing ODL tend to produce better results in their studies during the pandemic. Apart from that, the study also reported new findings that indicate students’ study habits bore no effect on their readiness to go through ODL. This is rather odd as positive study habits are commonly associated with a high readiness to undergo a new learning system, which is not the case for the participants in this study. Another puzzling finding also reveals that the students’ equipment capabilities have a negative relationship with their performance in ODL. This means that even if some participants do not have the necessary equipment to actively undergo ODL, they do not feel that their performance in their studies are negatively affected. These new findings are certainly inconsistent with the results shown in previous, similar studies. Hence, it is recommended that future researchers look into why students’ typical study habits are not affecting their readiness to undergo ODL and why their lack of equipment do not deter them to study effectively in ODL mode. This is important as it may give educators new insights on how to tailor their ODL teaching methods to cater to their respective students. Education policy-makers may also learn from this to better improve the implementation of ODL in higher education institutions in the near future.