Author: Yusuf Brima

Introduction

The chapter is geared towards attaining insight into the role of digital learning on tertiary institutions in the country. Digital learning refers to the process of learning with the aid of digital content, platform or facilitators (Blake, 2014). Digital Learning is “learning facilitated by technology that gives students some element of control over time, place, path and/or pace (Rauschenberg, 2013). The research will focus on the intrinsic effect of digital learning on the evolving performance of students in tertiary institutions of learning within Sierra Leone. Computing is increasingly becoming pervasive in all spheres of human endeavor; this chapter will be dedicated to investigating the ramification of buzzing technology with learning at the tertiary level. ICT is being experimented in the academic realm; it often has ambivalent outcomes which in themselves are predictable. Today it’s not just the shop that’s gone; books and pencils are joined by Chromebook laptops and tablet computers as educational essentials (Sophie, 2014).

Digital learning tools include numerous types of media that deliver text, audio, images, animation, and streaming video, and includes technology applications and processes such as audio or video tape, satellite TV, CD-ROM, and computer-based learning, as well as local intranet/extranet and web-based learning. Information and communication systems, whether free-standing or based on either local networks or the Internet in networked learning, underlie many e-learning processes (Tavangarian, et al., 2004). Educational technology encompasses e- learning, instructional technology, information and communication technology (ICT) in education, EdTech, learning technology, multimedia learning, technology-enhanced learning (TEL), computer-based instruction (CBI), computer managed instruction, computer-based training (CBT), computer-assisted instruction or computer-aided instruction (CAI), (Health, n.d.) internet-based training (IBT), flexible learning, web-based training (WBT), online education, digital educational collaboration, distributed learning, computer-mediated communication, cyber-learning, and multi-modal instruction, virtual education, personal learning environments, networked learning, virtual learning environments (VLE) (which are also called learning platforms), m-learning, and digital education (Wikipedia, 2013).

Background of study

This research will specifically focus on probing into the Role of Digital Learning on Students of Tertiary Institutions in Sierra Leone, Sylvanus Koroma Campus as a case in point. Digital learning is the killer-app of the 21^st Century pedagogy that every learning institution must jump into or be left out in the “digital race.” There are vistas of opportunities digital learning provides if harnessed in a personalized fashion tailored to the learners’ pace and suite. The ubiquity of technology buzz with education is markedly phenomenal; little if not no scholarly thesis has been written on this crucial subject in question. The researcher has deemed it necessary to study the relationship between Digital Learning and the performance of student in institutions of higher learning in Sierra Leone.

The history of Digital Learning and technology in general is so rich that it has some of the world’s leading thinkers and eminent Scientists, educators, policy makers and engineers. With the dawn of the Digital Revolution in the early 40’s, education was the focal point for researchers to exploit the power of technology. Semour Papert, a Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was among the first to recognize the potential of technology to fundamentally change the learning enterprise (Suzie, 2011). Prof. Papert in the mid 60’s having collaborated with a leading Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, developed the Logo Programming language and began introducing it to learning institutions. This tool was warmly received in tertiary institutions: students were able to solve complex mathematical problems .Today’s learning landscape includes an almost dizzying array of tools: from inexpensive Personal Computers and handheld devices to interactive whiteboards, digital video cameras, and a constantly expanding suite of Web 2.0 (gradually the Semantic Web) (Suzie, 2011).

Digital Learning is learning facilitated by technology that gives students some element of control over time, path and/ or pace (Rues, 2010). The ability to use digital technology, communication tools or networks to locate, evaluate, use and create information (Slater, 2008). Digital learning is more than just providing students with Laptop; it requires a combination of technology, digital content and instruction. According to (Siegel, 2008): digital learning environment is an open system with an ever-expanding information architecture supporting learner centered, rather than content-centered, education; stimulating problem-centered learning that focuses on the development of authentic, cooperative, problem solving strategies; facilitating big-concept, multidisciplinary learning; and providing an integrated set of instructional, navigational, communication, management and collaborative wisdom tools.

Brief background of host case study

Sylvanus Koroma Campus is located in Yoni village (an outskirt along the Kamakwie Highway; it is found it Makaribganti Chiefdom, Bombali District, Northern Province, Sierra Leone. Inhabitants of Yoni are chiefly engaged in agricultural and petty trading activities. Their agricultural activity is limited to subsistent farming which comprises: cereal crops like rice, maize, millet; tubers like cassava, potato and yam. Most of the inhabitants earn less than the average Sierra Leonean. Yoni village is a heterogeneous society with a mixture of Temnes Limbas and Susus; Yoni is predominantly overwhelmed by Temnes; the Temnes are the indigenes of Yoni, they were the first settlers there. Yoni is marked by unprecedented level of illiteracy; the natives barely have any formal education. The people of Yoni are staunch All Peoples’ Congress supporters owing to the fact that the current President of Sierra Leone is a son of that land. They have a rich tradition and culture, these traditional practices include: Poro, Gbagbani and Bondo secret societies.

Brief background of case study

Sylvanus Koroma Campus – Yoni is one of the campuses of the University of Makeni (UNIMAK), an aspiring young private university in Sierra Leone. Sylvanus Koroma Campus – Yoni was established in 2010 as the Saint Joseph College of Management and Technology – a Constituent College of the University of Makeni by the Daughters of Mary Immaculate (DMI) Catholic branch. The DMIs offered courses in Computer Science (Bsc.) and Business Management; which were tutored by renowned tutors with state-of-the-art knowledge in their fields. Computer Science was the primary course taught by the DMIs which garnered students from the perimeters of Sierra Leone.

In 2012 the DMIs left the Campus to the University of Makeni on the grounds of unsettled discords; which inevitably prompted the urge for their departure. The departure of the DMIs created a void that had deleterious effect on the academic performance on students who virtually missed a whole Semester of not been taught.

This chaos was off set neutralized with the exigent intervention of the University body; they set up a body that oversaw the administrative activities of the Campus which lead to the emergence of the two most prestigious disciplines in the University (Computer Science and Law) both housed on the Sylvanus Koroma Campus. The Campus is presently a branch of the two campuses the University has (Fatima Campus and Sylvanus Koroma Campus). The Campus is fairly rapidly growing with a staff-base of 40 (administrative, lecturers, labour force and security inclusive). The two departments have some of the brightest minds in the field of academia in the Country as lecturers and researchers. They pride themselves with artful pedagogy that has magnetized students from across the Country and beyond. The Campus has population of 140 students of which 60 belong to the Information Technology Department and the rest in the Law department.

Problem statement

Ideal

Digital learning has profound impact on improving the overall academic performance of students not only in tertiary institutions but across all levels. With digital learning, ease of access to a quantum of richly available learning resources (eBooks, Eduware, iPads, eReaders, tutorials in all forms, online wikis, dictionaries, thesauri and encyclopedias and so on).

Actual

Instructors, course planners, policy makers and technologists likewise are still discerning the impact of acclimatization of technology with learning process. Technology is so ubiquitous that is literally fits into any domain of human pursuit. Some governments are waiting for the trail to be blazed by “Guinea-pigs” who would be lead example if the system were to fail disastrously. The adaptation and integration of digital learning tools in Sub-Saharan countries like Sierra Leone is being done at an unprecedentedly snail’s pace.

Gap

The true impact of Digital Learning on the performance of students is still a black art that eludes policy makers and instructors.

Research Aim

This research is aimed at demystifying the role of digital learning on the performance of students in tertiary institutions in the country.

Objective of study

• To point out the relationship between easy learning and student performance at Sylvanus Koroma campus.

• To explorer the relation between the availability of richer learning resources and student performance at Sylvanus Koroma Campus – Yoni.

• To find out the effect of acquiring new skills on student performance at Sylvanus Koroma Campus – Yoni.

Research Question

• How can digital learning lead to easy learning which in turn improves student performance at Sylvanus Koroma Campus – Yoni?

• How does digital learning provide richer resources and improve student at Sylvanus Koroma Campus – Yoni?

• How can new skills be achieved by students at Sylvanus Koroma Campus – Yoni through digital learning?

Significance of study

Many research activities have been conducted with a hypothetic viewpoint that digital learning is key to improving student pedagogy, acquisition of new skills, parallel learning, asynchronous and synchronous learning, linear and nonlinear, platform learning, exponential knowledge processing and a host of other benefits. According to the principle of Unintended Consequences: the outcome of phenomena/events/undertakings can/do have unpredictable effects which under any parameters are innately nondeterministic. This is not false for digital learning and student performance; all these benefits can be harnessed if policy makers act decisively and cautiously.

Nonetheless, there is a strong positive correlation between the two variables in question (digital learning and student performance). Digital learning is a knowledge multiplier: it exponentially improves student performance when implemented discreetly in learning. The ubiquity, inexpensiveness and better **ROI** of technology is unparalleled. Policy makers in education foresaw the intrinsic role of technology decades ago when digital technology was being developed.

This discourse will be of immense benefit to students of the Sylvanus Koroma Campus – Yoni as it will be a compass that will help them to fully reap the benefit of technology in their academic pursuit as they strive to achieve excellence. It will foster high insight about how, when, where and why to use digital learning tools. Most of these tools are commonplace; the impediment to exploiting the potential of these tools is they were not properly juxtaposed in the simplest possible terms. Some of these tools such as: smartphones, tablets, PDAs, Readers, Camcorders, Computers (Laptops, Notebooks, Palmtops) and a host of other gadgets are virtually everywhere on Campus.

Additionally, this thesis will have a national benefit to the Country: as it will serve as an eye- opener to all institutions of learning (not only tertiary institutions). It will serve as a catalyst in terms of making headway to invest in digital learning as a gateway to future education. Notwithstanding the quantum of opportunities it will give to the nation (Sierra Leone), this piece of work will add to existing knowledge in this research topic; it will blaze the trail for further researchers as the underpinning constructs have been deciphered and the foundation has been laid.

Not surprisingly, technology is an expensively proposition; policy makers should not embark on it in a tongue-in-cheek fashion; this worthwhile adventure has to be meticulously studied to prove its viability in education. This research has answered all these questions in a scientific, structured and coherent approach. It will serve as a guide book for education policy makers as it contains all and sundry as far as technology is concerned. It creates a bridge between in-depth technology and user-oriented view; without paying much emphasis on the underlying technologies (most of these technologies are abstracted).

Research Limitations

It is frequently said, “Research is time and money”; this is very true. Conducting a research as a student is a marathon task (it was literally the last Rubicon for me to cross). The researcher was hit on my fronts: financial challenges were atop the researcher’s snags, money to facilitate movement, make calls, rent books from the libraries, book hotels, access to the Net, and finally data entry, processing, analysis and report generation cost. It was very difficult for the researcher to afford all these expenses.

In addition to this, time was another constraint that restrained the researcher’s work; the research was done in a single semester barely within three months. Research is a discipline that has guidelines and formulas that should be strictly abide by to achieve objective, reliable, adaptable and inferable conclusions that are applicable to a large problem domain in the area being researched. Simply put, time was not enough for the researcher.

Furthermore, respondents were another source of problem during the research activity; some questionnaires were left unanswered, some answered inordinately, and some never returned by respondents. Some respondents were hyper-sensitive and disinclined to letting researchers know too many and too soon about their personal details on the grounds of privacy and confidentiality.

Finally, access to primary source of research materials on related literature was a herculean task; getting access to books and related materials was so difficult on the grounds that little if not no materials had existed on this topic. It was time consuming for the researcher to synthesis materials from an array of sources (primarily from the World Wide Web) to facilitate the research.

Scope of research

This research is geared towards investigating: Role of Digital Learning on Student Performance of Tertiary Institutions in Sierra Leone. Developing economics like Sierra Leone are hit on many fronts in terms of infrastructural challenges like: poor road networks, electricity, water supply, telecommunications to name but a few. This discourse will provide a framework of policies that will augment the integration and implementation of Digital technologies in the educational sector.

Principally, this research will use the case study of Sylvanus Koroma Campus – Yoni; it was decidedly selected because of its heterogeneity: it comprises Computer Science and Law Departments which are good enough to study the dynamics between students immersing themselves into technology and those pursuing a career in a legacy course (Law). The researcher will use the leverage of Computer Science students to benchmark the performance of Law Students.

The research duration will be a semester-wise because it is due at the end to the semester with a duration of two and half months (July to September, 2015). And questionnaires will be used to garner data from the researched which will be further input and processed using any available Statistical Analysis packages.

Chapter Two

Introduction

The focus of this chapter is to review academic discourses that have examined the subject in question. Many researchers have focused on the positive impact of technology on the performance of students unwittingly declining to look at the subject from a dual perspective. Digital learning like other constructs can have unintended consequences on the performance of students; digital learning in itself is relative to the adaptable way it is used. Digital learning is unprecedentedly supplanting conventional forms of learning on the basis of many yardsticks: effectiveness, maximum returns, productivity, engagement, participation, improved learning skills, augmented instructor delivery performance, real-time learning, and simultaneous adaptation.

Easy learning and student performance in tertiary institutions

Digital learning is the new “Gold Rush” in the arena of academic circles; its potential is limitless. The 21^st Century has been marked as the Golden Age of learning – characterized by productive learning mechanisms, effective learner engagement, learner collaboration, dual learning techniques, self-pace learning, self-exploration, motivating learning apparatus and a host of other platforms gearing towards improving and blurring the hurdles of learning. A report made by the National Institute of Multimedia Education in Japan, proved that an increase in student exposure to educational ICT through curriculum integration has a significant and positive impact on student achievement, especially in terms of "Knowledge Comprehension”, "Practical skill" and "Presentation skill" in subject areas such as mathematics, science, and social study (Stewart, 2015).

Availability of richer learning resources and student performance in tertiary institutions

It is not surprising that digitization of contents (books, audios, videos, and graphics amongst others) is the pathway to the future. Educators have discerned the potential of digital learning as the isthmus to knowledge codification, externalization and internalization. The Internet, and its World Wide Web, is the biggest library ever (Clark, 2015). Many diverse and exiting initiatives demonstrate how rich sources of digital information could enhance, the transfer of knowledge (Attribution, 2013). Modern forms of eLearning give rise to diverse settings that have practically no limitations in terms of space or time (Althaus, 2015). Some of the new approaches on the horizon, such as learner analytics (where big data can be captured and applied practically to visualise how better learning can be achieved), and advanced networks which can connect people to each other globally, are rich both socially and personally (Wheeler, 2014). According to Perse (2009), digital learning has an illustrative list in no order of priority includes the benefits of instant access to the Internet without the hassle of booking IT rooms; enriched digital communication; a range of handy apps; a virtual multimedia studio; and the creation of our own iBooks and iTunesU resources tailored to the learning needs of our students.

Further, digital learning resources enable rapid cycles of iterative improvement, and improvements to resources can be instantly distributed over the Internet (Duncan & Cator, February 2013).

Acquiring new skills and student performance in tertiary institutions

Students learn new skills: analytical, including improvements in reading comprehension (Lewin, et al., 2000). ICT also develop some writing skills: spelling, grammar, punctuation, editing and re-drafting (Lewin, et al., 2000). The assumption that educational systems and institutions have a role in seeking to redress social exclusion, particularly in relation to the digital divide is common. Cook and Light for example write "In other words, as networks offer the potential to develop from connecting people to connecting the things around us, new skills and sensibilities are needed to understand the world and design for it. We need to make explicit what these new abilities are. New technologies allow students to learn another skillset that will help them in the marketplace (Ten Reasons to use Technology in education -iPad, Tablet, Computer, Listening centers, 2014).

Summary

Relevant literature has shown that digital learning provides an auspicious platform for interactive, dynamic, parallel, asynchronous, personalized, simultaneous and self-paced learning environment. Resources are abundantly available which are markedly easy to integrate into the learning curriculum. Digital tools also pave the way to professional skills development for the next generation work force (Millennium kids or digital natives).

Conclusion

The aforementioned benefits can only be achieved f proper policies are stated and put into practice by policy makers and educators. Digital Learning in the near future will become the de facto, du jour conduit to the acquisition of education across all levels of learning not only in tertiary institutions. It provides superior modes of information delivery that encompasses traditional forms too. The benefits of digital learning are still being discovered since it is evolving as it attains maturity.

Chapter Three

Introduction

This research will give a limpid relationship between the two variables being studied: Digital Learning and Student Performance. This chapter focuses on elucidating the Research Design, population and sampling techniques, methods used to garner data and other research methodology procedures. The researcher will chiefly employ Case Study and Triangulation as the design tools to conduct the research. These tools are selected in lieu of the fact that hybrid data will be collected from participants and an in-depth analysis will be done on the studied variables. The research will employ Simple Random Sampling Technique (**SRS**) to select respondents, and Randomization will be the principal Quality Control Technique to mitigate errors in the research; questionnaires will be used to harvest data from respondents. The research will use Statistical Package for Social Sciences (**SPSS**) for data analysis and reporting owing to the fact that it is widely used and is regarded as a sound tool for data analysis in the research community.

The researcher is scrupulous with respondent confidentiality and privacy; they are factors that are deemed critical to the research. Confidentiality of the source information is of high primacy and is strictly concealed. Information to be given by the participants may be anonymous and / or covert at the will of the participants.

Research Design

The researcher will use Case Study as the design tool to study the relationship between Digital Leaning and its effect(s) on student performance at the Sylvanus Koroma Campus –Yoni. This framework is used to study student behavior, academic proficiency and skill sets that are acquired with the aid of technology. An in-depth view will be taken to gain insight into the interplay of technology and pedagogy at tertiary circles. This tool is employed because the sample will be representative, and small.

Population and Sampling

Population

Target population is the total number of beneficiaries including the environment of interest to the researcher (Kanu, 2014). Population: basically, the universe of units from which the sample is to be selected (Bruman, 2012). The research will target students of the Sylvanus Koroma Campus – Yoni that comprises Law and Computer Science departments. The campus hosts a population of 140 students of which 60 belong to the I.T. Department. These students have shared commonalities that bind them; they cooperatively work towards their goals: foundation courses are shared by students of both Departments. The researcher chose Sylvanus Koroma Campus because it hosts the most prestigious courses offered in the University. It was decidedly chosen to study the interplay between the performance of students that immerse themselves into technology with astonishingly rounded and honed skills in adept computing, and students that pride themselves with opulent legacy course that has little integration ability with technology. The researcher wants to map the socio-cultural impact of this relationship with less cardinality.

Sample

Bhattacherjee (2012) defines sampling as the statistical process of selecting a subset (called a “sample”) of a population of interest for purposes of making observations and statistical inferences about that population. Amongst the 140 students of the Sylvanus Koroma Campus – Yoni, 20 participants will be selected from the Information Technology Department and 30 participant from the Law Department to participate in the research process; this sums to 50 participants which is ~36 per cent of the population. This sample is exhaustive, representative and reliable to conduct the research. This sample is selected on a random basis, without any biases. The sample includes students from freshmen through final year IT and Law students. In other to complete the research within the stipulated time frame, the researcher focuses only on this sample size (50 participants). Financial hurdles are also key factors that downscaled the sample.

Sampling Technique

The researcher will use Simple Random Sampling (SRS) technique to select representative respondents from the population of Sylvanus Koroma Campus Students –Yoni. Simple Random Sampling is used to reduce sampling biasness and to have respondents that truly are representatives of the target population. The simple random sample is the most basic form of probability sample. With random sampling, each unit of the population has an equal probability of inclusion in the sample (Bruman, 2012). (Osu, 2009) observes that, Simple Random Sampling: ensures that each member of the target population has an equal and independent chance of being included in the sample.

Data Collection

Instrumentation

Questionnaires will be the chief tool to collect data from respondents which will be sent through mail and other media that are tailored to the interest of respondents. Osu (2009) defines a questionnaire as a collection of items to which a respondent is expected to react, usually in writing. This method of data collection is quite popular, particularly in case of big enquiries. It is being adopted by private individuals, research workers, private and public organizations and even by governments. In this method a questionnaire is sent (usually by post) to the persons concerned with a request to answer the questions and return the questionnaire (Kothari, 1990). Kothari (1990) enumerated the reasons why questionnaires are preferred to other data collection instruments:

There is low cost even when the universe is large and is widely spread geographically. It is free from the bias of the interviewer; answers are in respondents’ own words. Respondents have adequate time to give well thought out answers. Respondents, who are not easily approachable, can also be reached conveniently. Large samples can be made use of and thus the results can be made more dependable and reliable

Secondly, the period of data collection is limited since the researcher is conducting the study in just a semester that barely entails three (3) months.

Research Procedure

Having studied the Research Objectives and Questions, the researcher has borne in mind to use a hybrid tactic of conducting this research (Triangulation). This procedure fusses qualitative and quantitative approaches to harmonize the research process.

Quality Control

The researcher will employ Elimination of Extraneous as a control element during the research; sample population will be randomly chosen to reduce sampling errors and biasness. Automated data analysis will be used (SPSS as mentioned earlier) to crunch patterns. According to (Kothari, 1990), the purpose of randomization is to take care of such possible extraneous factors (say as fatigue) or perhaps the experience gained from repeatedly taking the test. In order to control quality, the research builds up a reliable and valuable proposal with a coefficient of at least 0.80 or 80%. This will lead to obtaining authentic data for the research and will also aid the researcher to achieve his desired goal.

Data Analysis

The researcher will use statistical tools that measure Central Tendencies (Arithmetic Mean, Median, Mode, Median, and Quartiles), Dispersions (Range, Inter-quartile Range, Standard Deviation, Variance) and Correlation Coefficient including charts to graphically portray data. SPSS will be the focal data input and analysis tool in this research; it has a rich set of functions to perform statistical operations including the above mentioned functions.

Ethical Consideration

Confidentiality of the source information is of high priority and is strictly for academic purpose. Information to be given by the researched may be anonymous and / or be covert as per their request. Not surprisingly, researched in this research process are not or will not be coerced to give information and the research is absolutely on voluntary basis. Respondent may decline, interrupt the process and/ or discontinue from the interview at any point in time without any ramification.

Appendix I – Questionnaire

Introduction

This research is conducted by Yusuf Brima, a third year Computer Science student of the Information Technology Department at the University of Makeni (UniMak). The researcher was enthused to undertake this scholarly discourse with a view to getting deeper insight into the relationship between Digital Learning which has become the parlance of mundane education and student performance. The intrinsic benefits and viability of technology in education has bemused educators, policy makers and course planners likewise. Most educators are wary about the impact of Digital Learning on the performance of students (the principle of unintended consequences) follows for this phenomenon.

Instruction(s)

The questionnaire entails close and open ended questions that require the respondent to tick, check and fill the necessary information accordingly. Explanations on how these should be done are explicitly stated to their respective questions. Kindly read the instructions and answer the questions in this questionnaire. Answer the questions by ticking (√) the correct answer in the cells. Please do not write your name or any comment that in any form could identify you. I certify that the information provided on this is correct and completed to the best of my knowledge.

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