Challenges of Online Learning in Nigeria

Abstract

Education has traditionally been administered via physical interactions between teachers and students in classrooms. Through technological advancement in communications and digital devices, online education has been developed with the potential to scale education, making it affordable and accessible. With an internet connection and a laptop or mobile phone, learners can access massive open online courses (MOOCs) for free. Nonetheless, the opportunity to scale education and the advantages of online learning are not always fulfilled due to certain challenges. In this work, Socioeconomic, Sociocultural, and IT infrastructural factors are categorized as challenges hindering the adoption of online learning in Nigeria. Although some factors mitigating online learning have been identified in the past, there is relatively little empirical evidence indicating the reality and severity of these challenges. Since scaling education involves worldwide reach, local contexts such as found in Nigeria and other developing countries become critical. The objective of this work, therefore, is to understand these challenges, present empirical evidence through a questionnaire survey, rank these challenges in order of severity, and propose solutions.