Online Educational Activities of Students: Readiness and Self-Efficacy

Abstract

Introduction. The widespread use of telelearning raises the issue of ensuring its effectiveness. Researchers consider various factors, but student readiness for such learning has not yet become the subject of systemic research in domestic science. The objectives of the article are: to reveal personality predictors of online learning success, to identify the components of student readiness for such learning (on the basis of foreign works); to characterize the readiness and self-efficacy of students’ online educational activities drawing on empirical data. Materials and Methods The researchers utilized the methods of theoretical analysis of the problem and the survey method. The author’s questionnaire was used to collect the data on the online activity of the students, self-assessment of readiness and effectiveness of online learning. 252 first- and second-year IT-students participated in the survey. Results. Five components of students’ readiness for online learning have been identified: attitude towards online learning, self-directed learning, time management, communicative competence, and technical competence. The students’ attitudes towards online learning are ambivalent. The students understand the importance of such training, but they are not willing to invest enough time and effort into it. Two interrelated components (self-directed learning and time management) contribute most to the overall online learning readiness. Online learning self-efficacy is related to technical competence and attitudes towards online learning. Discussion and Conclusion. The results will be useful for further research of the factors and ways improving online learning effectiveness. The research prospects are the development of psychodiagnostic tools for assessing the online learning experience and readiness of students and the diversification of the sampling by adding students from different programme tracks and with different experiences in online educational activities.