e-Learning Access and Infrastructure in Distance Learning Institutions; A Case of University of Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

The study investigated e-Learning access and infrastructure for the final year Bachelor of Education (Arts) students who were learning through distance mode at the School of Continuing and Distance Education of the University of Nairobi. The study was set to address one objective: to investigate availability and access of e-Learning infrastructure for distance learning at the University of Nairobi. Survey design using questionnaires and an interview schedule was utilized to gather data. A sample size of 217 students was drawn from a population of 500 Bachelor of Education (Arts) students. Both reliability and content validity were tested based on a pilot study. The findings were as follows: Both computer hardware and software were expensive and hence majority of the students could not afford. A majority of the respondents also found learning at the cyber cafes not affordable. The findings revealed that University of Nairobi had inadequate computer laboratories which a good number of students were unable to access at their convenience. Finally, a majority of the respondents faced obstacles studying online because of lack of support from the university’s e-Learning staff. It was concluded that the University of Nairobi lacked adequate access and infrastructure for e-Learning especially for distance education.