PERCEIVED ECONOMIC CHALLENGES OF ONLINE LEARNING AMONG SANDWICH STUDENTS IN NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY, AWKA

The study examined the perceived economic challenges of online learning among sandwich students in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. One research question guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The population of the study was made up of 576 sandwich students in the Faculty of Education in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The sample of 236 sandwich students was used for the study. Taro Yamane’s formula was used in two stages. A pilot test was carried out using 10 sandwich students in the Faculty of Education, Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Uli. The data collected from the pilot test were analysed using Cronbach’s alpha. The analyses showed that the instrument has a reliability of 0.79 which was accepted as reliable. A 10 item questionnaire measured on a four-point Likert scale was the instrument used for data collection. The instrument was titled “Perceived Economic Challenges of Online Learning among Sandwich Students Scale (PECOLSSS)”. The instrument was subjected to both face and content validity by two experts. The data collected were analysed using mean. The study revealed that high cost of internet data and access, lack of access to computers and other devices, loss of income from taking time off from work, lack of financial support from employers and families, high cost of educational materials and resources, high cost of tuition fee, inadequate facilitator/instructor training by the institution, not developing the curriculum to meet the needs of the online medium, lack of constant power supply and not being rich enough to cater for school along-side family bills were regarded as the economic challenges of online learning among sandwich students in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. Based on the finding of the study, the study recommended, among others, that study loans should be given to the sandwich students in order to enable them to cope with some of the challenges they might be facing in the tertiary institutions. Conclusion and implications of the study were made.

Economic Challenges, Online Learning, Sandwich Students,

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