Perceptions of Online Teaching Effectiveness in Higher Education: Case of Private Universities in Rwanda

Perceptions of Online Teaching Effectiveness in Higher Education: Case of Private Universities in Rwanda

Dr. Enock Nyisingize – Director of Students Affairs and Quality Assurance, University of Tourism, Technology and Business Studies, Rwanda
Dr. Liliane Umutesi – Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic, Research and Consultancy, University of Tourism, Technology and Business Studies, Rwanda
Corresponding Author: enyisingize@gmail.com

Abstract: This study was undertaken to investigate the online teaching effectiveness in higher education institutions during Covid 19 pandemic. It is quantitative descriptive research design which intended to describe the phenomenon of online teaching and learning in private universities. The targeted respondents were lecturers who ever delivered an online course. Both Universities and lecturers were selected purposively due to the presumed technology infrastructure and lecturer’s firsthand experiences in on online teaching. Institutions are named institution A and B in this study due to research ethical consideration. The survey was sent to 93 lecturers from both selected universities, regardless whether they had the aforementioned experiences. Consequently, the researcher was able to collect back only 34 questionnaires. The research instruments used were borrowed from Volery (2000) and was a bit modified to suit the present research. It was composed of four indicators such as –Instructional design and organization, Facilitation of Discussion, Digital library, and online teaching experience. The results indicate that the main challenge that universities have to deliver an effective online teaching is the lack of digital library with a mean of 3 and 1 standard deviation. It is therefore recommended to private universities to digitalize their libraries for effective online teaching. Furthermore, as the study was quantitative, it is recommended for future researchers to undertake the same study from either qualitative research or mixed methods approaches for in depth understanding of the phenomenon.