PERCEIVED USEFULNESS OF REMOTE LEARNING PLATFORMS AMONG DISTANCE LEARNERS IN SOUTH-WEST UNIVERSITIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined the perceived usefulness of remote learning platforms among distance learners in South-West universities in Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was adopted for this study and a questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. The population of the study was 76,794 distance learners across six selected universities in South-West Nigeria. 483 distance learner were selected using simple random sampling technique. 483 copies of the questionnaire were distributed and 371 (76.8%) were retrieved and analyzed using frequency count, percentages, mean, standard deviation and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The study revealed that Google hangouts, Zoom and skype were majorly available to distance learners under study, the perceived usefulness of remote learning platforms among distance learners is high and the study established a significant relationship between perceived usefulness and use of remote learning platforms among distance learners under study. The study concluded that remote learning platforms have the potential to support distance learning. Therefore the study recommended that universities should utilize popular remote learning platforms, leverage on the positive perception of distance learning to remote learning platforms for extensive teaching processes and adopt holistic approach to the use of these learning platforms.