Factors affecting students’ attitudes towards

online learning - The case of Sofia University

Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 2048, 020025 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5082043
Published Online: 11 December 2018

Roumiana Peytcheva-Forsyth, Blagovesna Yovkova, and Lyubka Aleksieva

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 Factors Affecting Students’ Attitudes Towards Online
Learning - The Case of Sofia University
Roumiana Peytcheva-Forsyth 1, a) Blagovesna Yovkova 1, b) Lyubka Aleksieva1, c)

1
Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, 1504 Sofia, 15 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd., Bulgaria
a)
Corresponding author: r.peytcheva@fp.uni-sofia.bg
b)
b.yovkova@fp.uni-sofia.bg
c)
l.aleksieva@fppse.uni-sofia.bg

Abstract. Distance education is becoming more and more popular in higher education in Bulgaria and it is increasingly
preferred by the students from all age groups. In order to provide quality education, higher education institutions should
be aware of students’ needs and expectations and, on this basis, to search for effective strategies and solutions for
introducing distance education. The answer to the question: “What are the attitudes of students to online learning and
distance education?” has a significant role in developing and implementing pedagogically effective online curricula. It
could also facilitate the process of accrediting more distance education programs at Sofia University (Bulgaria) which is
a campus-based university at the stage of transformation of its educational model from face-to-face to online learning.
The paper presents the attitudes and perspectives of 590 undergraduate students of the Sofia University towards online
learning and distance education. The main aim of the study is to determine the influence and dependencies of different
factors on the attitudes of the students to online learning and distance education. The interrelations between students'
attitudes and their demographics, the experience of using the technologies in everyday life and the experience of using
technologies in an educational context are analysed. Conclusions drawn would be useful for the academic community
and everyone concerned with the planning, development and implementation of strategies for online learning and
distance education in a campus based university in a transition to distance education.

INTRODUCTION
The introduction of distance education at campus-based universities worldwide in recent decades makes the
provision of a smooth transition between face-to-face and distance mode of education an increasingly important
management task for the universities. One of the factors related to this transition is the attitude of learners towards
online learning and distance education. The knowledge of their attitudes and perspectives will help the universities
and the academic staff to develop and apply appropriate models and forms of online learning to meet the students’
needs. Many researchers [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] pointed the importance of studying and reporting students' attitudes towards
online learning by educational institutions. According to other researchers, the learners' attitudes and perspectives
towards online learning are a key factor for their learning outcomes [6, 7, 8]. As Lim et al. and Selim claim,
students’ positive attitudes towards online learning are critical to their readiness and their inclusion in distance form
of learning [9, 10].
Furthermore, the Rhema’s & Miliszewska’s [5] meta-analysis study revealed that the factors that affect students'
attitudes towards online learning can be divided into two main groups: demographic (age and gender) and computer
skills (ICT training background, experience in working with ICT, possession of own computer, access to ICT,
frequency of using computer).
Undoubtedly, for Sofia University, which is in a process of transition from face-to-face mode of education to
blended and distance modes of education, the permanent investigation of students' perspectives and attitudes is a

Proceedings of the 44th International Conference on Applications of Mathematics in Engineering and Economics
AIP Conf. Proc. 2048, 020025-1–020025-8; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5082043
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1774-8/$30.00

020025-1
necessity not only for the successful transformation of the educational paradigm, but also for the support of the
academic staff in designing and conducting effective online learning. In the current situation in Bulgaria where there
are ongoing changes in higher education and a serious competition among the universities, collecting information
from learners about their attitudes, expectations, needs, and factors that influence their choice on the mode of
education is an essential element of planning and delivering quality online education.
The main focus of this paper is exploring the attitudes of the students from Sofia University to online learning
and distance education with respect to the factors that affect these attitudes.

METHODOLOGY
Research Questions: The study attempts to determine what are the students’ attitudes and expectations in
relation to distance education and how and to what extent specific factors affect them. The research is based on a
survey consisted of 24 items divided into three large groups, according to the predefined interdependencies and the
questions derived from them.

FIGURE 1. Predefined interdependencies of the study and the derived research questions

Method: The research is based on a survey which aims to identify students' attitudes towards the introduction of
online learning and distance education. The survey was conducted during the winter semester of the 2017-2018
academic year through an online survey platform (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BHT5752). Paper version of
the survey was also available as an option.
Participants: 590 bachelor students from Sofia University in their 3rd or 4th year of education took part in the
survey. The participants were representatives of a variety of educational fields from eleven Sofia University
faculties (Faculty of History, Faculty of Classical and Modern Philology, Faculty of Educational Studies and Arts,
Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication, Faculty of
Philosophy, Faculty of Slavic Studies, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Faculty of
Economics and Business Administration, Faculty of Biology). The majority of respondents were female (71%).
Data Collection and Analysis: The data was collected via questionnaire which items consisted of statements for
responses on Likert scale of 1–4 (ranging from “never” to “often”), dropdown, multi-choice, closed questions
(Yes/No) and open-ended questions. The questionnaire was administered online in Survey Monkey. For the
quantitative data analysis, we primarily used descriptive statistics, and in order to investigate interdependences
between the key categorical variables we used Pearson Chi-square test (applying the continuity correction where
necessary) using a significance level of p<0.05.

RESULTS

Findings for the RQ1: How and to what extent demographic factors affects students’ attitudes towards
online learning and distance education?
In order to investigate the interdependencies between demographic factors and attitudes of students to online
learning and distance education, we used the Chi-Squared test with the null hypotheses that the variable "attitudes to
online learning and distance education" was independent of demographic factors.
According to the obtained data, the most significant dependencies are those between the factors gender, age and
occupation (employed/non employed student) and the attitudes of the respondents to online learning and distance

020025-2
education. The data indicates that there is an interdependence between gender and the respondents’ willingness to be
supported online by their teachers – Chi-squared (1, N = 484) = 26.912, p = 0.01. Table 1 shows that female students
who responded affirmatively to the question: "Would you like teachers to help you work in an electronic
environment?" - are almost twice more (48,3%) than men (28,7%). In addition, 68,2% of the students responded that
they would like to receive online support from the teacher sometimes are female. Altogether a little bit over 90% of
all female participants prefer to get teacher’s support in online learning always or sometimes. While in the case of
the male participants this is only 50,6%.
TABLE 1. Crosstab of student’s attitudes towards teacher support in online learning by gender
Support Gender Total
F M
Yes Count 168 39 207
% within Q22 support 81,2% 18,8% 100,0%
% within Q1 gender 48,3% 28,7% 42,8%
Sometimes Count 146 68 214
% within Q22 support 68,2% 31,8% 100,0%
% within Q1 gender 42,0% 50,0% 44,2%
Don’t know Count 18 7 25
% within Q22 support 72,0% 28,0% 100,0%
% within Q1 gender 5,2% 5,1% 5,2%
No Count 16 22 38
% within Q22 support 42,1% 57,9% 100,0%
% within Q1 gender 4,6% 16,2% 7,9%
Total Count 348 136 484
% within Q22 support 71,9% 28,1% 100,0%
% within Q1 gender 100,0% 100,0% 100,0%
There is also an interrelation between the age of the students and their willingness to submit their assignments
online (Chi-squared (1, N = 484) = 16,353, p = 0.012). From the distribution of responses by age group, it is clear
that most of the respondents who would prefer to submit their papers (home assignments, course projects, scientific
papers and essays, etc.) online instead in face-to-face mode are from the aged group of 18-21 (61,2%). At the same
time 31.4% among the students with a positive answer are 22 to 24 years old and only 7.5% among those over 25
years are willing to submit papers online. The same ratio is also found among the age group that chose the answer
"sometimes": 66,5% - 22,2 -11,3%. Obviously, younger people tend to be more proactive in using technologies in
their learning, which is most likely due to their earlier contact with technology and also to the way they perceive the
technology as an instrument both for entertainment and learning.
Interesting results were revealed from the analysis of the interrelation between the students’ employment
(whether they work or not) and their opinions on the extent to which distance education responds to their needs. The
data shows that among the participants in the survey who responding to both questions 61,6% are un-employed and
38,4% are employed. Data analysis shows that there is statistically significant dependence between the
employed/non-employed categorical variable and the attitudes of the students towards their needs of online learning
(Chi-squared (1, N = 484) = 15.478, p = 0.004). 66,7% of the employed and 54,4% of the un-employed students
state that the distance education would respond to their needs (answers “yes” and “rather yes”). At the same time the
distance education is not (or rather not) relevant to the needs of the 23% employed students and 29% of the non-
employed students. Therefore, the employed students have a greater need of distance education and it would respond
to their needs in greater extent than to the needs of unemployed students.
In addition, there is a correlation between the employed/non-employed factor and the willingness of the students
to submit their assignments (home assignments, course assignments, etc.) online: Chi-squared (1, N = 484) =
10.533, p = 0.015). It is noteworthy that the non-employed students (48,3%) who prefer to submit their papers
online in all courses they study in are by 11% less than the employed students (59,7%). It is obvious that for more
employed than un-employed students the online submission of their assignments is the more relevant way of doing
this. In general, though the majority of both groups of students prefer to use this way of submission as probably they
have experience in doing it in the face-to-face mode of training and also because this gives them more flexibility.

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 TABLE 2. Crosstab of student’s employment and their opinions on the extent to which distance education responds to their
needs
The extent to which employed Total
distance education responds yes no
to students’ needs
yes Count 71 67 138
% within Q24 respond to students’ needs 51,4% 48,6% 100,0%
% within Q2 employed 38,2% 22,5% 28,5%
rather Count 53 95 148
yes % within Q24 respond to students’ needs 35,8% 64,2% 100,0%
% within Q2 employed 28,5% 31,9% 30,6%
Don’t Count 19 39 58
know % within Q24 respond to students’ needs 32,8% 67,2% 100,0%
% within Q2 employed 10,2% 13,1% 12,0%
rather Count 29 57 86
no % within Q24 respond to students’ needs 33,7% 66,3% 100,0%
% within Q2 employed 15,6% 19,1% 17,8%
no Count 14 40 54
% within Q24 respond to students’ needs 25,9% 74,1% 100,0%
% within Q2 employed 7,5% 13,4% 11,2%
Total Count 186 298 484
% within Q24 respond to students’ needs 38,4% 61,6% 100,0%
% within Q2 employed 100,0% 100,0% 100,0%
From the survey results analysis, it is obvious that for the majority of both employed and non-employed students
dominate the positive attitudes towards online learning and distance education. This is most likely because of the
flexible conditions that online distance education creates for combining studying with work and personal
engagements.
Statistically significant correlations were not found between the mode of education (full-time and part-time) and
attitudes of students to distance education (Chi-squared (1, N = 484) = 4.366, p = 0,359). Close to 70% of the
bachelor students regardless of the mode of education (full-time or part-time) responded positively to the question:
"Do you think that distance education would respond to your needs?". Probably the reason for these results is that
the majority of full-time students in their 3rd or 4th year of education are employed or have social and personal
commitments, and online distance mode of learning provides an opportunity for more flexibility in learning.
In general, it can be concluded that according to the data analysis, specific demographic factors (gender, age and
employment) affect the attitudes of bachelor students towards online learning and distance education. Through
electronic technologies students could easily and quickly communicate with their teachers and submit their papers
which guarantees them some independence in terms of time and location.
Findings for the RQ2: How the usage of technologies (and which technologies) in everyday life affects
students’ attitudes towards online learning and distance education?
One of the factors that could seriously affect students' attitudes and perspectives to online learning and distance
education is their skills and experience in using technologies. Lack of skills can lead to technological barriers which
cause increase of anxiety and demotivation for online learning and vice versa, good skills and confidence in working
with digital technologies could create positive attitudes towards the introduction of online learning. In order to
investigate which of the most popular technologies (PCs, laptops, tablets, internet, mobile phones/smartphones) are
commonly spread and used by students we asked the question: "Which technologies do you use and how often?". It
appeared that except the tablet and PC, all other technologies are very often used by students - mobile
phone/smartphone (95%), laptop (80%). PCs are never or rarely used by half of the students and tablets are never or
rarely used by almost 80% of the students (table 3). 98% of the respondents use internet often. Obviously, PCs and
tablets (see table 3 below) are not often used by the respondents, as they tend to access internet using their mobile
phone / smartphone or laptop. It means that the studied group of students is homogeneous in terms of frequency of
internet usage – all of them use it often regardless of the access technology.
TABLE 3. Technologies that students use in everyday life and frequency of their use
Type of technology
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Total Weighted average
Tablet 43,94% 33,80% 12,92% 9,34% 503 1,88
221 170 65 47
Laptop 2,98% 7,16% 12,52% 77,34% 503 3,64
15 36 63 389
PC 22,07% 28,63% 17,89% 31,41% 503 2,59
111 144 90 158
mobile phone/smart- 0,80% 0,99% 3,38% 94,83% 503 3,92
phone 4 5 17 477
internet 0,20% 0,00% 1,39% 98,41% 503 3,98
1 0 7 495

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 Another survey Likert-scale question investigates the students’ usage of web applications. It appeared that
students actively use a variety of web applications. The most popular of them is the e-mail application (84%),
followed by chat (79%) and the YouTube video sharing platform (76%). Nearly 80% of respondents claim they
often use Wiki application, and more than half of them (53%) use e-learning platforms. More than 90% of the
students use social networks. The least known and used web applications by students appeared to be: Bookmarking,
Flickr, RSS, SlideShare, Blog and Forum. Some of these technologies, however, especially Blog and Forum, have
been proven as pedagogically efficient in online distance education.
After establishing that the majority of respondents often use the most common technologies in their everyday
life, we attempted to identify the interdependences of their experience in working with technologies and their
attitudes towards online learning and distance education. We identified an interdependence between the frequency of
internet usage in students’ everyday life and their willingness to submit their assignments online (Chi-squared (1, N
= 484) = 10.507, p = 0.015). More than half of the respondents (53%) who said they often use internet in their
everyday life have indicated that it would be easier for them to submit their papers in electronic format in all courses
they are enrolled, and for 41,8% it would be convenient, but only in some of the courses. However, the data from the
correlation analysis could not be accepted as valid, since the number of respondents who have never or rarely use
internet is 1. Further analysis of the survey data shows a statistically significant correlation between the intensive
use of the technologies (mobile phones and laptops) and the willingness of students to be supported online by their
teachers (Chi-squared (1, N = 484) = 34.196, p = 0.001). It is important to note that the majority of students have
expressed a positive attitude and willingness to be supported by their teachers in the electronic environment – 42,8%
students responded definitely "yes" and 44,2% “yes, sometimes”. Very few is the number of students with negative
responses – 7,9% and those who hesitated to respond – only 5,2%. Considering that online support is a significant
component in terms of the effectiveness of online distance learning, the study results are very important as they
identify the students’ readiness and positive attitude to such an assistance.
As an extension of the exploration of online support we analysed the preferred by students means of
communication with the teacher. A statistical dependence was found between the frequency of using internet and
their willingness to communicate with their teachers through social networks (1, N = 484) = 10.141, p = 0.017) as
well as between mobile/smartphone usage by students and their willingness to communicate with their teachers
through social networks (1, N = 484) = 17.290, p = 0.044). It is important to note that the percentage of students
who have declared willingness to use social networks for communication with the teachers is very high – 84,7%,
from which 47,5% of the respondents answered “definitely yes” and 37,2% expressed their willingness to
communicate only with certain teachers.
Consequently, students with better digital literacy who use internet on a daily basis expressed their preferences
and readiness to use technology in learning. This is exactly the combination between good digital literacy of
students and their positive attitudes towards online learning that is very important condition for the successful
introducing of online distance education.
Findings for the RQ3: How the usage of technologies for educational purposes (and which technologies)
affects students’ attitudes towards online learning and distance education?
In order to examine the importance of students’ experience in using ICT in an educational context we asked
them: "Have you used ICT for educational purposes?". Almost all respondents (99%) have used technology for
educational purposes. The most common ICT usages are related to: internet research (97%), e-mail communication
(91%), resources research (85%), word processing (83%), creating presentations (82%) and access to social
networks (82%).
Very interesting additional information is provided by the responses of another question concerning the
relevance of the above-mentioned technologies for educational purposes. Again, the majority of students found the
e-mail (84,1%) as the most applicable for educational purposes, followed by the YouTube platform (60,6%) and the
Wiki application (51,2%). Surprisingly, only 41,7% of the survey participants consider that online learning
platforms could be used in the learning process. Probably the reason for that rating of online learning platforms is
the lack of experience and sufficient knowledge of students on the pedagogical and technological capabilities of
VLEs such as MOODLE, Blackboard, etc. At the same time, VLEs appear to be very important component for
implementing effective distance education.
Technologies and applications such as Blogs, Forums, Bookmarking, Flikr, RSS, SlideShare are not mentioned
by the majority of respondents, which means they do not appreciate their educational aptitude. Meanwhile, world-
wide practices indicate that these technologies have a high pedagogical potential thus they are widespread in online
learning.

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 Therefore, it can be concluded that bachelor students generally express a positive attitude towards the
technologies they are well aware of. Moreover, the lack of experience or the limited usage of other technologies
affects negatively students’ perceptions and attitudes towards technologies’ relevance to learning.
In order to analyse in-depth, the interrelationship of the "using ICT in educational context" factor and the
attitudes of bachelor students towards online learning we investigated whether there is a statistically significant
correlation between the students' experience and their attitude to specific components of online learning such as
online submission of papers, online support by the teacher, communication with the teacher through social networks.
The analysis reveals that there are dependencies between the frequency of ICT usage in educational context and i)
the willingness of students to be supported online by the lecturer (1, N = 484) = 14.107, p = 0.03); and ii) students’
willingness to communicate with teachers through social networks (1, N = 484) = 12.401, p = 0.006). Here the
correlation analysis could not be accepted as valid since the number of students who never used ICT in educational
context are only 2. However, the descriptive statistics show that the majority of respondents - 87% would like to
receive a support from the teacher when working in the electronic environment, from which 42,8% responded
"definitely yes" and 44,2% – „sometimes”. The percentage of respondents who expressed their willingness to
communicate with the teacher through the social networks is 84,7%. These results are not surprising considering the
youth's dependence on technology, internet and social networks.
Additionally, we found a correlation between the experiences of students in using social networks in a
pedagogical context and their willingness for online support by the teacher (1, N = 484) = 13,688, p = 0.03). 85,5%
of the students who definitely would like to receive online assistance from the lecturer аre using social networks for
educational purposes. Similar is the ratio of those who indicate that they sometimes need online support (82% of
them use social networks for educational purposes and probably for pedagogical communication with the teacher –
see Table 4). Based on the statistical analysis of the data, it can be assumed that willing for online support from the
lecturer are mostly those students who use social networks in an educational context and probably would use it for
pedagogical communication in order to obtain assistance.
TABLE 4. Crosstab of student’s usage of social networks and they need of online support
Q99 social networks Total
no yes
Q22 support yes Count 30 177 207
% within Q22 support 14,5% 85,5% 100,0%
% within Q99 social 34,5% 44,6% 42,8%
net
some Count 38 176 214
% within Q22 support 17,8% 82,2% 100,0%
% within Q99 social 43,7% 44,3% 44,2%
net
dnk Count 4 21 25
% within Q22 support 16,0% 84,0% 100,0%
% within Q99 social 4,6% 5,3% 5,2%
net
no Count 15 23 38
% within Q22 support 39,5% 60,5% 100,0%
% within Q99 social 17,2% 5,8% 7,9%
net
Total Count 87 397 484
% within Q22 support 18,0% 82,0% 100,0%
% within Q99 social 100,0% 100,0% 100,0%
net
Another important interdependence is revealed between the factor “strong willingness of the respondents for
using ICT in their education” and the relevance of distance education to the students’ needs (1, N = 484) = 26.197, p
= 0.01). As it is clear from Table 5 more than half of the respondents who insist on using ICT in teaching/learning
proves (64.6%) state that distance learning corresponds to their needs, with 31,7% choosing the "yes" answer and
the other 32,9% answering "rather yes". This percentage is much lower for the respondents who have indicated that
they don’t insist on using ICT in education - 41%. This gives us reason to summarize that the positive attitude
towards the use of ICT in education influences students' positive attitudes towards distance learning. And vice versa,
the predominant positive attitude towards distance education of the majority of the respondents is related to
students’ experience in using ICT in an educational context. This is an indicator of the willingness of students to
study in courses with integrated ICT, which reveals good prospects for introducing distance education at Sofia
University.

020025-6
 TABLE 5. Crosstab of students’ willingness to use ICT in education and their attitudes opinions on the extent to which
distance education responds to their needs
Q13 Students’ willingness to use
ICT in education

Yes Don’t know No Total

Q24 Students’ attitudes yes Count 111 14 13 138
opinions on the extent % within Q13 willingness to use IT 80,4% 10,1% 9,4% 100,0%
to which distance % within Q13 Students’ willingness to use ICT 31,7% 19,2% 21,3% 28,5%
education responds to in education
their needs rather yes Count 115 21 12 148
% within Q24 Students’ attitudes to distance 77,7% 14,2% 8,1% 100,0%
education
% within Q13 willingness to use IT 32,9% 28,8% 19,7% 30,6%
don’t Count 35 15 8 58
know % within Q24 Students’ attitudes to distance 60,3% 25,9% 13,8% 100,0%
education
% within Q13 willingness to use IT 10,0% 20,5% 13,1% 12,0%
rather no Count 57 16 13 86
% within Q24 Students’ attitudes to distance 66,3% 18,6% 15,1% 100,0%
education
% within Q13 willingness to use IT 16,3% 21,9% 21,3% 17,8%
no Count 32 7 15 54
% within Q24 Students’ attitudes to distance 59,3% 13,0% 27,8% 100,0%
education
% within Q13 keep using IT 9,1% 9,6% 24,6% 11,2%
Total Count 350 73 61 484
% within Q24 Students’ attitudes to distance 72,3% 15,1% 12,6% 100,0%
education
% within Q13 keep using IT 100,0% 100,0% 100,0% 100,0%
The analysis of the answers to the open questions in the questionnaire provides additional valuable information
about the attitudes of the respondents towards the relevance of distance education to their needs – both in terms of
its advantages and in terms of its limitations. Among the advantages of distance education, students indicated mainly
those related to:
i) time and location: the opportunity to work and study simultaneously; lack of travel (especially if living in
another city/country); saving time; access to resources at any time which makes students calmer ii) learning process:
more flexibility and opportunity to learn in your own pace; opportunity to combine studying with social and
personal commitments; improving the quality of learning; opportunity to employ several learning styles; faster and
easier learning of the contents through interactive multimedia resources, equal access for SEND students; iii)
financial aspects: reduction of the expenses for purchasing textbooks and travel expenses. As limitations of distance
education students pointed mainly the lack of direct communication with the teacher and other learners, the
impossibility to introduce it in some specific fields of study and the technological issues that may occur in relation to
the access to the VLE.

CONCLUSIONS
The analysis of the survey data allows us to draw some important conclusions regarding the perspectives and
attitudes of the bachelor students from Sofia university towards the online learning and distance education.
- It is obvious that students have a clearly stated positive attitude towards online distance learning, which
implies that they are more likely to accept it well as a mode of education. The majority of them not only use ICT in
their everyday life, but would also like to use ICT actively in their education. It could be concluded that students'
main aspirations are related to the employment of an effective online learning environment with integrated
technologies for providing online communication between participants, online assignment submission and online
support by the teacher.
- The results regarding the impact of the demographic factors (gender, age and occupation) on the students’
attitudes towards online learning and distance education confirmed the results from other similar studies in the field

020025-7
[11, 12, 13]. Unlike the demographic factors which are relevant to the students’ attitudes, the form of education
(full-time/part-time) is irrelevant to them.
- Another finding of the study is that students' skills and experience to work with specific technologies and web
applications in an educational context are a significant predictor of their attitude towards online learning. This
statement also supports findings from previous researches [14, 15].
Generally, the results of this study are encouraging in terms of introduction of online and distance education at
Sofia University because they clearly demonstrate the willingness and the positive attitudes of a large number of
bachelor students to the use of technology in education. Forthcoming steps for Sofia University are related to the
integration of technology into academic life and the provision of a distance mode of education without neglecting
the importance and function of face-to-face mode of learning.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work is supported by the H2020-ICT-2015/H2020-ICT-2015 TeSLA project ‘An Adaptive Trust-based e-
assessment System for Learning’, Number 688520, and by the Sofia University under Grant 80-10-189/2018.

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