Abstract:

The transition to online learning has been exponentially growing due to its merits, such as flexibility, accessibility, and innovative course delivery. The huge pivot to urgent distance learning triggered by the pandemic has also raised the attention to this phenomenon. Institutions and instructors, however, encountered many challenges including students’ readiness and attitudes during the transition. This study attempted to investigate the degree to which university students studying at a tertiary level military school are ready for online learning and what attitudes they have towards distance education through an explanatory sequential mixed-methods research design. Besides, it was aimed to explore the correlation between online learning readiness and attitudes towards distance education. The data was gathered from 307 participants through Likert-type scales. Results demonstrated that students were found to have a high degree of online learning readiness and positive attitudes towards distance education. However, the correlation between students’ online learning readiness and attitudes towards distance education was very low while a strong correlation was observed between the ICT competence dimension of readiness and the usefulness dimension of the attitude scale. Furthermore, freshman students had a higher degree of attitudes towards distance education, whereas age differences generally did not influence the results. Finally, a considerable percentage of students had concerns as well as hesitations about attending online learning instead of face-to-face instruction

Keywords:

Online learning, distance education, e-learning readiness, attitudes towards distance education.