The Impact of the Online Learning Readiness Self-Check Survey with Australian Tertiary Enabling Students

Abstract

This study reports on two key aspects relating to the use of the Online Learning Readiness Self-Check (OLRSC) survey, which has been proposed as identifying non-traditional students’ readiness for online learning, and their strengths and weaknesses in six key areas.  The first aspect validates the use of the instrument based on data from 199 students engaged in an online tertiary enabling course at a regional university in Australia.  Factor analysis verified the scale structure of the instrument; however, two items were removed prior to the final analysis due to low communality and/or high cross loading with other items. This is followed by an examination of whether the instrument might be useful for the early identification of students who are at risk of disengagement from the enabling program. While it was hypothesised that the instrument, which measured factors such as the quality of interaction with peers and instructors, their capacity to manage technology and how well they managed learning, should have been a useful tool to identify early disengagement, the hypothesis was not supported.  No significant associations were identified between any of the instrument’s scales and early withdrawal from the course or completion of the first unit of study. Future recommendations for educators are made with a view to improving student engagement.