Exploring Learners’ Experience And Perceptions Of Online And Autonomous Learning: A Case Study Of Algerian Master 1 Students In Abou Al KACEM Saadellah University
Abstract
This paper investigates learners’ perceptions of their online learning experience and teachers’ views regarding their online teaching experience with the aim of exploring the potential influence of online learning on the construction of learner autonomy. Our interest is triggered by the new demands imposed on university students witnessing, within the digital age, a shift of the learning mode from the traditional on-site context to the hybrid mode implying online learning. To this end, a case study involving both qualitative and quantitative methods is carried out to provide an accurate picture of 100 Algerian University students’ and Master 1 teachers’ perceptions. The findings suggest, according to the students, that online learning helped promoting students’ “reactive autonomy”, to some extent, though teachers’ views run counter such a result. On the other hand, students tend to hold more negative than positive views vis-à-vis online learning – a finding shared by the teachers taking part in this study. Some pedagogical proposals are made, in this regard, stressing both ‘reflective’ and ‘reciprocal’ dimensions of learning, and suggesting that autonomy is determined by a number of factors including intensive training in metacognitive strategies, internet literacy, ICT skills, motivation, teacher’s guidance and student-student interaction.
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