ANALYSING COMPONENTS OF E-LEARNING READINESS IN LECTURERS AND STUDENTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic has highly impacted the education field. E-learning proved to be one of the most efficient ways of teaching and learning. Objectives are to identify the components of e-learning readiness: 1. Technology readiness 2. Perceived self confidence 3. E-learning acceptance 4. Beliefs about training requirements It also looks at the differences in the components of e-learning readiness between lecturers and students. Sample size is 91, with both male and female lecturers (n = 48) and students (n = 43) from arts and science colleges of Chennai. E-learning Readiness Scale with both teachers and students forms was used. Independent measures t-test was done. Results showed that most of the lecturers and students have access to basic facilities which is needed for e-learning. Lecturers and students were found to be equal in their technology readiness and perceived self confidence. Lecturers were significantly high on e-learning acceptance compared to students. And students belief towards training requirements of e-learning was significantly high compared to lecturers. This shows that students need to be given proper education and training on e-learning for them to be confident enough to accept and adapt to e-learning. The lesser belief of training requirements in lecturers also needs to be addressed to check if they are fully equipped for efficient use of e-learning tools.