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Items correlated with this attribute were answered by both learners and teachers through online surveys. Responses were illustrated in graphs and discussed with the support of verbal feedback from learners' interviews.

Page 133 The following items were used to answer the question:

a. Course objectives were clear.

Learners' Response Teachers' Response

Fig. 5.8a Fig. 5.8b

For an online course to be successfully used by students, its instructional designers should be able to write learning objectives, which are observable, measurable, and clearly defined according to a specified course syllabus. A majority of the participants from both learners and teachers agreed that the Online Basic Computing Skills course objectives were stated clearly as evidenced in the above diagrams. Both the learners' feedback diagram in Fig. 5.8a above left and the teachers' diagram in Fig. 5.8b above show that 64% of students (150) and 90% of teachers' (12) responded positively to this particular aspect. Both students and teachers expressed satisfaction on the clarity of learning objectives stated in the course. This is due to the fact that these objectives were clearly written for each lesson, module, chapter, or section of the course. As a result, users were provided with guided learning and enhanced motivation. St. S: “Objectives are clear ...” St. J: “Aims of the course are clear”. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 90% 10% 0% A ve rag e in % Total# 14

Course objectives were clearly explained.

Agree Not Sure Disagree

Page 134 In contrast, 25% of students could not describe whether or not the learning objectives were clearly provided in the course. A possible explanation for this could be that they did not give particular attention to the objectives provided in the course. In all probability, they compared book and course notes on which objectives did not match with the online course syllabus. Furthermore, the remaining 11% of students (26) expressed disagreement with the argument. This could be due to their unwillingness to try out the course since it involved a new method of learning. These were the ones who needed orientation on the importance of learning the main objectives of any course before starting it. The following comment provides evidence that some students were confused between learning objective and the objective of offering the online course as a different medium of learning the same subject. St. M: “Objectives are not clear I will need more introduction and explanation on how to manage the course”

b. Multimedia / simulations in the course were useful.

Learners' Response Teachers' Response

Fig. 5.9a Fig. 5.9b

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Ag re e N o t Su re Dis agre e 99% 1% 0% Ave rage in % Total# 14

Content of the course was useful.

Agree Not Sure Disagree

Page 135 The interactive course was divided into four separate modules:

 Module 1 - Computer Fundamentals,

 Module 2- Basic Computer Operations and File Management,

 Module 3 - Word Processing Skills, and

 Module 4 - PowerPoint Skills.

Each module was self-paced and contains rich-media engaging interactive learning materials and simulations. There were also review questions available on each module, which enabled students to check how much they had learned in a particular module. Furthermore, support discussion rooms through forums and chats were also incorporated in the course to allow students to share their insights, queries or difficulties while learning a particular topic.

As shown in Fig. 5.9a above, a (64%) majority of students (152) expressed great satisfaction on the usefulness of the contents provided in the course. This group of students possessed a high degree of optimism in utilizing simulation tools. They perceived that simulation learning could assist their comprehension, understanding and retention of content and thus made their learning a more interesting and enjoyable experience. St. A: “Online Course helped me to understand better because there is colored representation video and images and interactive activities besides the text and all this is not available in the book only”.

As shown in Fig. 5.9b above, an extremely high 99% of teachers (13) agreed that the content of the course was useful. They found the interactive simulation packages were very useful for their students to learn topics better by being able to immediately try and apply simulated problem solving activities. While 10% of the learners (24) found the content was not clear enough for them, 0% of the teachers showed this concern. The teachers' feedback certified the appropriateness and usefulness of the content as they were the subject matters of the course.

Page 136 c. navigation of the course was easy and user-friendly

Learners' Response Teachers' Response

Fig. 5.10a Fig. 5.10b

One of the most important success factors of an online course was its user friendliness. Within the course, both students and teachers were able to navigate quickly and easily able to search for the topic when required. The course theme and page layout were also designed with a high level of simplicity making the course very user-friendly. As shown in Fig. 5.10a above, majority of the students (164), i.e. about 69% confirmed satisfaction with the course design and navigation. The design features enabled students to use the course with a great ease via user-friendly navigation buttons. According to St. C: “very much interesting and easy to navigate ... to me it is as excellent course in terms of the design”. Similar to the students' views, 97% of the teachers (13) thought that the design and navigation system of the course was easy and user-friendly as displayed above in the teachers' response diagram in Fig. 5.10b above.

In contrast, 25% of the students (59) were not sure if the „design and navigation of the course was easy and user-friendly. Moreover, 6% of the students (14) expressed disagreement that the course was user-friendly. These students were probably those who were either not interested in learning through a screen or did

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 97% 3% 0% A ve rag e in % Total# 14

Navigation of the course was easy and user friendly.

Agree Not Sure Disagree

Page 137 not possess basic computing skills. Hence, they found it hard to manage and navigate the course. Some students justified their view by asserting: St. G: “to me the design needs revision because the colour of the interface was not comfortable also the font was not eye catching I suggest the representation of the content (chapters) could be in a more interesting way ... I want easier and clear way of navigating the course.” And St. I: “everything regarding design was ok and clear, but I will need more guidance and instructions on how to use the course”.

In comparison, an overwhelming 97% of the teachers (13) thought that the online course was easy to navigate and user-friendly, as shown in Fig.5.10b above. A negligible number (3%) of teachers were not sure and none of the teachers disagreed with this statement.

In summary, both students' and teachers' perceptions of the fifth attribute regarding the presentation of online learning in a multimedia or simulation-based environment were extremely positive. An overwhelming majority of both students and teachers thought that the course objectives were clearly explained with the teachers' perceptions in almost total agreement. Results were almost exactly the same regarding the vast majority of both students and teachers judging that the multimedia / simulations in the course were extremely useful. The pattern of agreement was almost identical to the previous responses in terms of the vast majority of students and teachers assessing that the online course navigation was easy and user-friendly.

From the above evaluation of the online course that is under investigation in this study, it can be concluded that the instructional design of online courses currently available in Sultan Qaboos University proves to be favored by both students and teachers for the four design attributes: autonomy, interactivity, rich multimedia and offering immediate feedback. However, the attribute on accessibility turns out to be unsuccessful due to several technical barriers, where the internet connection is rated as the biggest barrier. The above section has evaluated

Page 138 participants‟ perceptions on the instructional design of the online course. The following section presents participants‟ perceptions and attitudes on some general issues concerning their experience of online learning.

5.2 Section Two: Participants’ general attitude on their experience of taking