Abstract

Use of a learning management system such as the Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment (MOODLE) provides solution to issues of educational inequities, social exclusion, poverty and provides resources for equalizing learning opportunities for students from different socio-economic backgrounds. This study which considered the use of the MOODLE as a means of levelling the playing-field for some Nigerian undergraduates investigated the following: the difference in the ICT skills of students from middle and lower socio-economic classes, the difference in the ICT skills of male and female students and the relationship between the ICT skills and challenges faced by students on a Communication and Study Skills Course. Copies of questionnaires were randomly administered to 210 undergraduates and inferential statistics was employed in testing three hypotheses. The results indicate that there was no significant difference in the ICT skills of students from middle and lower socio-economic groups, in the ICT skills of male and female students and a positive relationship was established between the ICT skills and challenges faced by the students. The study concludes that use of a teaching/learning resource such as the MOODLE can provide equal learning opportunities and platforms for students from different socio-economic backgrounds and transform second language learners from developing economies into multi-literate global citizens.

Key Words:  E-learning, ICT, Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment (MOODLE), blended learning communities, Computer-mediated Communication

*Titi Janet Fola-Adebayo, Ph.D., an Associate Professor, lectures in the General Studies Unit of  The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.

^JCMR Journal  of  Communication and Media Research, Vol. 9, No. 2, October  2017, 76 – 85