Open AccessOnline Engagement Gaps among Adult Learners of Higher Education in the Post-Covid-19-Era
Author(s) -
Mei Yuan Law
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of education and training studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2324-8068
pISSN - 2324-805X
DOI - 10.11114/jets.v10i3.5489
Subject(s) - psychology , covid-19 , the internet , medical education , online learning , transferability , student engagement , sample (material) , pedagogy , mathematics education , multimedia , medicine , chemistry , disease , logit , pathology , chromatography , world wide web , computer science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , statistics , mathematics
The purpose of this study is to discover the factors behind the online engagement gaps among adult learners in their postgraduate educational studies in the post-COVID-19 era. The qualitative approach was conducted on postgraduate adult students from an open university in Malaysia, using interviews, observations, and document analysis techniques. The findings of this study show three main themes of factors that influence the online engagement gaps among adult learners; personal conditions, institutional conditions, and external digital technology conditions. The small sample size only involved participants from a similar postgraduate course. The results are accurate only for this group of participants, limiting the transferability of the findings. There is no rich data to affirm on the internet connection of all students since the data can only be collected via interviews of participants and observation of participative students during live sessions. The study revealed that the factors influencing online engagement among adult learners could be helpful for future conceptual framework development and ensure continued success in online learning engagement in the post-COVID-19 era.