The influence of Elearning on students at a University of Technology in the Western Cape

All industries were impacted worldwide by the COVID-19 pandemic, and especially so, higher education. To rescue the 2020 academic year, higher education institutions had to resort to emergency online teaching and learning activities. Fortunately, the advancement in technology provided the opportunity for universities to quickly adapt to online teaching and learning during the pandemic. In addition, funding was provided to support students who had no access, with data and devices. However, the existence of the digital divide was a reality for many students who needed to stay home, where geographically not all areas had the ICT infrastructure in place to accommodate the new teaching model. Therefore, this study aims to characterize the elements that influence students' eLearning experiences at a University of Technology in the Western Cape. Using a mixed approach, a survey questionnaire was distributed among second- and third-year students enrolled for the Business Applications subject in the Business and Information Administration Programme within the Business and Management Sciences faculty. A total of seventy-three responses were received. The closed-ended responses were analysed using NCSS 2021 Statistical Software (2021) and the openended responses were analysed using content analysis. The findings revealed that students had mixed feelings about online teaching and learning activities. Some of the students’ academic performance improved due to eLearning. The biggest challenge for some students, was load shedding; it disrupted their connection during eLearning, which affected their learning process. The recommendations made included: • that the university of technology continue to follow a blended learning approach in the future, to accommodate different student learning styles. • a specific help desk where staff, lecturers, and students can get 24/7 technological support for all eLearning activities. It is intended that the results may shed light on how online teaching and learning affects students' academic performance for other departments and faculties.

全球范围内各行业均受新冠疫情（COVID-19 pandemic）冲击，高等教育领域受影响尤甚。为挽救2020学年，高等教育机构不得不紧急转向线上教学与学习活动。所幸技术进步为各高校在疫情期间快速适配线上教学模式提供了契机。此外，相关部门还提供了资金支持，为缺乏网络资源与设备的学生配发数据流量与终端设备。然而，数字鸿沟（digital divide）仍是诸多居家学生面临的现实问题——从地理层面来看，并非所有区域都具备适配新型教学模式的信息通信技术（ICT, Information and Communications Technology）基础设施。

有鉴于此，本研究旨在刻画西开普省某理工大学（University of Technology）学生电子学习（eLearning）体验的影响因素。本研究采用混合研究方法，向工商与管理科学学院商务与信息管理专业修读《商务应用（Business Applications）》课程的大二、大三学生发放了调查问卷，最终共回收有效问卷73份。研究采用NCSS 2021统计软件（NCSS 2021 Statistical Software, 2021）对封闭式问卷问题进行数据分析，并通过内容分析法处理开放式问卷反馈。

研究结果显示，学生对线上教学与学习活动的态度褒贬不一。部分学生的学业表现因电子学习得到提升；而部分学生面临的最大挑战为电力限电（load shedding）：该措施会打断其线上学习期间的网络连接，进而干扰学习进程。

本研究提出如下建议：
• 该理工大学后续应持续采用混合式教学模式，以适配不同学生的学习风格；
• 设立专属技术服务台，为教职工、讲师及学生提供针对各类电子学习活动的全天候技术支持。

本研究成果可为其他院系探究线上教学对学生学业表现的影响提供参考借鉴。