An Exploration of experiences and determinants of blended learning adoption among students in Higher education institutions:A case study of Ghana Technology University

Abstract

This paper presents the experiences and determinants of blended learning adoption among students in a higher education institution in Ghana. With students increasingly being exposed to teaching and learning deliveries in which both traditional classroom and online methods are employed to deliver instructional content through blended learning (BL), the indications are that blended courses offer them convenience and flexibility that face to face delivery alone may not. However, while both classroom-based and fully online instruction are well understood, little is reported about the students BL experience. This paper uses the blended learning initiative at the Ghana Technology University College (GTUC) as a case study to investigate the perception of blended learning adoption among students. The population comprised of 57 students who participated in a BL course at the Faculty of Computing and Information Systems. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The three categories identified from the data were: student BL perspective, student BL adoption determinants and BL challenges. The findings of the study contribute to a better appreciation of student’s experiences of the BL approach. This is against the backdrop that student perception and experiences are captured in the personal utility and pedagogical significance that students derived from BL and the challenges thereof that they face. It is envisaged that this study will assist administrators planning on implementing BL initiatives by providing the guidance to make tailor made deliveries to the satisfaction of users.