An Investigation of First-Year Students’ Pedagogical Readiness to E-Learning and Assessment in Open and Distance Learning: An University of South Africa Context

Despite the predominance of e-learning in both the literature and within instructional settings, first year students’ pedagogical experiences of e-learning readiness and assessment in open and distance learning are rarely assessed. This research study sought to obtain empirical evidence of first-year students’ pedagogical readiness to e-learning and assessment at the University of South Africa (Unisa), an open and distance learning (ODL) institution. The research question: Are Unisa’s first-year students pedagogically ready for e-learning and e-assessment? Provided the focus the study. Focus-group and individual interviews were conducted to collect data. The interviews were digitally recorded, trancribed and analysed using Collaizi’s data analysis framework. This framework was chosen because of its ability to provide clear steps for data analysis. Findings show that there is a high level of acceptance towards the adoption of e-learning and e-assessment as modes of teaching and learning despite shortage of e-learning resources. Furthermore, the study revealed that e-readiness is important because it allows enablers and policy makers to take appropriate policy measures and implement development plans that help create informed participants in e-learning endeavors. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n13p353