ERIC Number: EJ1233144
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2079-8245
EISSN: N/A
Perceptions of Undergraduates on the Relationship between Exposure to Blended Learning and Online Critical Literacy Skills
Reading & Writing: Journal of the Reading Association of South Africa, v10 n1 Article 200 2019
Background: Exposure to a blended experience has the potential to heighten students' online critical literacy skills, and prepare them to participate in the new online communities that emerge within a networked society. Objectives: This article considered the perceptions of a cohort of third-year undergraduates of the Department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, on the relationship between exposure to blended learning (BL) and the development of online critical literacy skills. Method: A BL mode, which took the form of a face-to-face approach and the use of a virtual learning environment, was employed in teaching Critical Literacy, a component of the Developmental Reading Skills course designed for undergraduates of English as a second language. For 4 weeks, 80 students were trained to read web-based information critically and evaluate web pages in the Developmental Reading course, after which their perception of the relationship between exposure to BL and the development of online critical literacy skills was investigated. This work, for which data were obtained through focus group discussion and administration of a structured questionnaire, is grounded in both critical literacy (Janks 2013) and social constructivist theories (McInerney & McInerney 2002). Frequency distribution and Pearson correlation coefficient were employed in analysing the data collected. Results: The results revealed that the students perceived a positive relationship between exposure to BL and the development of online critical literacy skills. Conclusion: Many of the respondents showed a preference for the BL mode, and the benefits they derived from it include: the improvement of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills, the acquisition of more knowledge after the class, convenient time to work and ease with self-expression.
Descriptors: Undergraduate Students, Student Attitudes, Blended Learning, Critical Literacy, Electronic Learning, Skill Development, English (Second Language), Foreign Countries, Critical Reading, Web Sites, Information Literacy, Educational Benefits, Integrated Learning Systems, Young Adults, Violence, Self Expression, Correlation
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Nigeria; South Africa
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A