Spatial Behaviour of the Undergraduates’ Satisfaction and Issues of Participation on E-Learning during COVID-19
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Date
2021
Authors
Dias, W.M.S.S.
Arambegedara, C.S.
Rathnayake, W.V.W.S.K.
Jayasekara, Y.G.P.D.K.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
All the higher education institutions in Sri Lanka have shifted to e-learning from face to face
learning with the COVID-19 by making e-learning essential for every university student. However,
the studies on e-learning during COVID-19 focused more on the overall satisfaction and issues,
rather than aerial unevenness behind them. Therefore, as a preliminary attempt, this research was
examined the spatial variation of undergraduates‟ satisfaction and issues of participation in e-
learning according to the residence. At the moment, 151 undergraduates have taken as the sample
by covering 105 Divisional Secretariat Divisions in 20 Districts; representing 32% - 45% out of the
total number of Divisional Secretariat Divisions in each district (hope to be completed all 25
Districts in further studies) and the findings & conclusions were made based on the sample.
Geostatistical analysis: Inverse Distance Weighted Interpolation used as the main analysis technique
to generate findings with the support of ArcGIS. The findings indicated that a minimum of 25% to a
maximum of 86% of the undergraduates in different districts was believed that e-learning was
successful. A higher percentage of undergraduates in Kandy, Colombo, and Galle were satisfied
with the new learning method when respondents in Anuradhapura, Gampaha, Kegalle, Jaffna &
Matale were moderately satisfied. But, a significant number of students in Monaragala, &
Trincomalee were dissatisfied with the system and believed that it was unsuccessful. This reveals
the students who live in major provincial capitals, and recently developed regions believed that e-
learning was successful than the students in under-developed regions. Furthermore, respondents of
18 districts suffered from stuck/freezing rather than other difficulties in issues of participation.
Except for the students in Colombo, Kalutara, & Galle, more than 70% of all other districts faced
problems related to weak network strength due to uneven coverage network & geographical
obstacles. Subsequently, the issue of data cost wounded respondents in 18 districts; mostly
Monaragala, & Badulla, except for Colombo & Puttalam. Therefore, by indicating these spatial
variations, the study suggests that the implementation of solutions and decisions on e-learning have
to be flexible with both national and regional scales to provide a better virtual learning experience
to the undergraduates.
Keywords: E-learning; COVID-19; Undergraduates; Spatial Behaviour
Description
Keywords
Computing and Information Science, Higher Education, E-Learning, COVID-19