The impact of e-learning on academic performance: a case study of College of Business and Management Sciences, Makerere University

Abstract

The study was about the impact of e-learning on academic performance at the College of Business and Management Sciences, Makerere University. It was guided by four specific objectives which included; to establish the role prior computer skills play on academic performance, to find out the extent to which e-learning is applied and used by the learners and lecturers at the university, to find out how e-learning improves learners’ academic performance and to determine the impact of socio-demographic characteristics e-learning and academic achievement. The study adopted a cross sectional survey design that involved the use of quantitative and qualitative research method. Qualitative research involves the study of cases and makes very little of numerical data or statistics but rely heavily on verbal data and subjective analysis. The preference for a cross-sectional survey design is because it collects information from a random sample drawn from different categories of the population at a point in time. Information was collected from a total of 120 respondents using a detailed questionnaire. The findings revealed that most students are not well prepared to take the challenge of studying through e-learning, because of the unexpected complexities of the application of IT as a learning tool that requires commitment as there is no strict rules on the learning times.The attitude and perception is that most of the students have got a positive attitude towards usage of electronic learning unlike others. There are still many issues that need to be closely considered before it is concluded that e-learning and other related learning methods contribute to the enhancement of the performance of students. It can be confidently said that there is still a long way to go in order to appreciate the impact of electronic learning on students’ performance. Basing on the findings, the study recommends that there is need to carry out detail research involving case studies based on survey questionnaires involving various learning institutions which will ultimately give a better understanding of impact of e-learning aspects within implementation process.