Students’ Satisfaction Of Online Learning In Oman

Abstract

Background: Due to the development facilitated by modern technology, the world has become a small village with instantly changing methods of education. Online education has become an alternative method for course delivery used by colleges and universities globally.   Methods: The population of this study was N=564 students enrolled in asynchronous online learning at the College of Sharia Sciences in the Sultanate of Oman for the academic year 2020-2021. The survey instruments from “The Student Satisfaction Survey” developed by Strachota (2006) were utilized in this study. The survey included items in the following categories: demographics, learner instructor's interaction, learner-peer interaction, and lastly general satisfaction. The researcher reformulated the questions to suit the target group and some questions were changed to suit the target audience.  Results: Remarkably, the data show that there is no direct relationship between demographic factors and student satisfaction with asynchronous online learning. On the other hand, there is a strong and noticeable relationship between students' satisfaction with asynchronous online learning and student-instructor interaction. There is also a correlation between students' satisfaction with asynchronous online learning and student-peer interaction.   Conclusions: The students of the College of Sharia Sciences are on the whole very satisfied with asynchronous online learning; they consider it a very successful experience and recommend its use by students in other educational institutions.