Ocena stosowania rozwiązań e-learningowych na poziomie szkoły wyższej

Sytuacja, w jakiej znalazło się szkolnictwo wyższe pod koniec pierwszego kwartału 2020 roku, była zarówno zaskoczeniem, jak i wyzwaniem dla władz uczelni, wykładowców oraz studentów w kontekście kontynuowania procesu nauczania i realizacji badań naukowych w formie zdalnej. E-learning może być określany jako proces ułatwiania nauczania i uczenia się z wykorzystaniem Internetu, aplikacji sieciowych oraz sprzętu komputerowego. Badania nad e-learningiem stają się coraz bardziej pożądane i ważne również w kontekście oczekiwanego wzrostu udziału tej formy działalności w globalnym rynku. Aktualne kierunki prowadzonych badań dotyczące e-learningu obejmują w szczególności: identyfikację czynników sukcesu wdrażania rozwiązań e-learningowych, badanie relacji pomiędzy jakością systemów e-learningowych a korzystaniem z systemów i satysfakcją użytkowników, ocenę wpływu indywidualnych cech i umiejętności zarówno nauczycieli, jak i studentów na pozostałe elementy uwzględnione w modelach akceptacji rozwiązań e-learningowych. Zainicjowane w połowie 2020 roku, zaledwie po trzech miesiącach realizacji nauczania zdalnego, badania wśród studentów Politechniki Białostockiej pozwoliły na ocenę nastawienia tej grupy do e-learningu w początkowym okresie jego użytkowania. Uzyskane wyniki będą mogły stanowić punkt wyjścia do analiz porównawczych realizowanych w późniejszych okresach.

The situation in which higher education found itself at the end of the first quarter of 2020 was both a surprise and a challenge for university authorities, lecturers and students in terms of continuing the teaching and research process remotely. E-learning can be defined as the process of facilitating teaching and learning using the Internet, web-based applications and computer hardware. Research on e-learning is becoming more and more desirable and important also in the context of the expected growth of this form of activity in the global market. The current directions of conducted research on e-learning include in particular: identification of success factors for implementation of e-learning solutions, study of the relationship between the quality of e-learning systems and use of the systems and user satisfaction, assessment of the impact of individual characteristics and skills of both teachers and students on other elements included in the acceptance model of e-learning solutions. The initiated in mid-2020, after only three months of the implementation of e-learning, research among students of Bialystok University of Technology allowed to assess the attitude of this group to e-learning in the initial period of its use. The obtained results will be a starting point for comparative analyses carried out in later periods. The monograph consists of three chapters. Chapter one defines the term e-learning and indicates the strengths and weaknesses of its use. The second chapter analyses the factors of society’s acceptance of technological solutions, especially e-learning tools. Chapter three presents the results of own research conducted at the turn of May and June 2020, which engaged 982 students of Bialystok University of Technology. The aim of the research was, in particular, to: 1. Assess the perceived functionality, ease of use and user satisfaction with the application of e-learning tools. 2. Establish factors determining future intentions in the application of e-learning tools by users. Among the analysed constructs measuring the acceptance of e-learning, the highest mark was given to the construct of perceived ease of use of e-learning tools, while the lowest mark was given to the construct reflecting the functionality of e-learning tools. The analysis of students’ statements in the context of their perceived benefits of e-learning allowed to identify six categories of benefits relating to: competence development, improvement of learning conditions, refinement of didactic methods and materials, upgrading of teaching methods, enhanced communication and higher flexibility. The weaknesses of e-learning indicated by students were grouped into eight categories relating to: deterioration of interpersonal communication, competence gaps among both students and teachers, poor quality of infrastructure and equipment, diversity of platforms and teaching tools used, social problems (regarding lower student involvement and motivation), lower quality of the teaching process (in the context of practical and laboratory classes), opportunities to control the teaching process (verification of the achieved effects) and negative impact on users’ health. Recommendations aimed at reducing the perceived weaknesses and enhancing the strengths of e-learning include: y limiting the number of e-learning platforms and indicating the preferred, recommended platform at the university level; y constant improvement of IT competences (e-skills) of academic teachers and students, enabling more efficient use of e-learning tools; y increasing the scope of application of methods and didactic tools activating students, motivating them to act (e.g., through gamification of classes) and increasing their level of interest during classes; y making teaching methods of practical subjects more attractive through enhanced use of e.g. work in virtual environment, simulations; y promoting active learning by taking a leading role in the learning process; y promoting student-centred, self-directed, interactive and flexible learning.