Undergraduate students' perception on e-learning systems during COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria

Abstract

Covid-19 has forced many educational institutions to adopt e-learning as an alternative to physical classroom learning. However, the concern of critical stakeholders in higher educational institutions on the adoption and usage of e-learning system, especially in the developing countries continue to increase recently, due to various challenges facing the sector. This study investigates perception of undergraduate students in University of Ilorin, Nigeria on use of e-learning systems during Covid-19 pandemic. Specifically, this study sought to identify factors that influence the use of e-learning systems, investigates the perception of students on the quality of e-learning systems used, assesses the attitude of their lecturers towards the use of the e-learning system during the pandemic. A three stage sampling techniques including purposive, random and proportionate were employed with a total number of 333 students as respondents using a quantitative research approach. The analysis of the data collected was done using descriptive statistics including mean. The results of the study revealed that e-learning system use among University of Ilorin students is high, but highly influenced by the decision of the school management to employ e-learning system as only approach for teaching during the pandemic. It further revealed that the perception of students on the quality of system used is high, while their lecturers' attitude towards the use of e-learning facilities is positive. The study concluded that adoption of e-learning system for continue education during Covid-19 pandemic was a success at the University of Ilorin. It however suggested a blended learning approach (virtual and face-to-face) and recommended more investment from educational stakeholders to sustain e-learning beyond Covid-19 period.

1. Introduction

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a contagious and deadly disease declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11^th of March 2020. This declaration forced many countries to implement several non-pharmaceutical measures including social distancing, use of face masks and lockdown to reduce the spread of the virus [1,2]. Consequently, many aspects of human lives and economy were affected, especially the education sector. To guarantee continuity of citizen’s education, many educational institutions across the world shifted to electronic learning (e-learning) as alternative to traditional face to face approach [3].

E-learning, also known as online learning is a digital form of learning that involves the use of new technology such as internet and other enabling technologies for effective two-way communication between teacher and students [4]. With e-learning systems, learning processes can be expanded beyond the confine of classrooms as course materials can be delivered and accessed remotely from anywhere at any time. E-learning systems support education providers with tools for planning, delivering, managing and track education processes effectively and efficiently [5].

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the world witnesses significant increase in the adoption and usage of e-learning technology in higher educational institutions across the world. In April 2020 for instance, during a meeting with the administrative heads of tertiary education in Nigeria, the Federal government through the Minister of education directed the heads of educational institutions to embrace e-learning platforms for the continuation of education in Nigeria [6]. Despite the enormous benefits offer by e-learning system such as ubiquity, flexibility, availability, interactivity, ease of use and low cost, its acceptance among various stakeholders in Nigeria has continued to raise a serious concern such as inadequate plans and inadequate infrastructure. For instance, the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) predicted a ported failure of the technology when adopted in the universities [7,8]. Despite the concerns raised by some educational stakeholders, some higher institutions such as university of Ilorin proceeded to adopt e-learning for teaching and learning during the period of Covid-19 lockdown. This is due to the hybrid system of e-learning which had been in existence at university of Ilorin, such as the use of email and WhatsApp to submit assignments, the use of online platform for General Studies that involve a very large number of students, and use of online discussion forum such as Google Meet. In addition, Zoom, Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams were introduced for lectures and subscription was made for Zoom to allow classes beyond an hour.

Globally, students form a critical part of education ecosystem. In fact, they are one of the most important stakeholders in education sector who make use e-learning systems especially in higher institutions. As a result, investigating students' perception on e-learning systems or any other technology adopted for their use is crucial for the process of education planning and programming [9]. More so, the success of e-learning system depends heavily on students' willingness and readiness to accept it as a means of study. Therefore, lack of e-learning system acceptance and usage may hamper maximization of its benefits and causes wasting of money and resources to such institution [5]. Investigating student’s opinion enables their perspectives to be included during educational policy formulation and implementation. And this will go a long way to enable institution further understand their students' needs and challenges and also reduces wastage.

Meanwhile, e-learning adoption and usage is not new in many developed countries. However, it is gaining a widespread in developing countries such as Nigeria due to Covid-19 pandemic that paralyzed the educational sector because of over reliance on the traditional face-to-face mode of teaching and learning. Several studies such as [[5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10]] have investigated various factors responsible for adoption or usage of e-learning systems in different countries and institutions. However, for the fact that studies on technology acceptance and usage are context based, there has not been a thorough investigation of the success of e-learning system usage during Covid-19 Pandemic. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the perception of undergraduate students who engage with e-learning system during the COVID-19 lockdown at the University of Ilorin. This is aimed at determining the use of e-learning systems; determine the quality of e-learning systems, and the attitude of lecturers towards the use of e-learning system during the pandemic. These objectives make it possible to focus on the following research questions:

• 1)What influences the use of e-learning system?
• 2)What is perception of students on the quality of systems used for e-learning during the pandemic?
• 3)What is lecturers' attitude towards the use of the e-learning system during the pandemic?

2. Literature review

Technology acceptance or usage varies among educational stakeholders. A successful implementation of e-learning system demands that a thorough investigation on the current adoption level and challenges are conducted. Several studies have been conducted to investigate the key factors influencing the use of technologies in education.

For instance, [11] investigated factors that could be responsible for students' behavioral intention to accept e-learning approaches in teaching courses that are field training based during Covid-19 pandemic at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU). The analyzed results from 397 students based on the adopted Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use Technology (UTAUT) model revealed the primary factors responsible for students' intention to use e-learning facilities to be Effort expectancy (EE), Performance Expectancy (PE), Facilitating Condition (FC), and Social Influence (SI). The results also indicate a significant difference in students' performance expectancy, facilitating condition, as well as social influence with respect to gender of the respondents. Similarly, Eze [12] adopted Technology Organization – Environment (TOE) framework to study factors influencing the use of e-learning systems by students of private higher education institution in Nigeria. A semi-structured interview was employed to collect data from 15 students in Landmark University, Nigeria. Their findings grouped factors influencing students' use of e-learning systems to be technology-related factors, organization-related factors, environment-related factors, and impact-related factors. [5] used semi-structured interview and online interview to collect data from 30 students and 31 experts in e-learning systems from six universities in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The purpose of their study was to investigate the critical challenges bedeviling the current e-learning systems and to identify the main factors that determine the usage of e-learning system during Covid-19 Pandemic in the two countries. Some of the critical challenges identified were classified as change management issues, technical issues and financial support issues. Their findings also categorize factors affecting the usage of e-learning systems during Covid-19 Pandemic into technical factors, e-learning system quality factors, trust factors, self-efficacy factors, and cultural aspects. A prominent suggestion includes that universities need to inculcate the culture of e-learning systems among students by organizing training to develop their IT skills and competences.

Furthermore, [13] examined factors influencing the use of e-learning in Indonesia during the Covid-19 Pandemic. The findings based on 210 respondents revealed that e-learning use among students is majorly affected by perceived enjoyment, students' experience, computer anxiety, and perceived self-efficacy. It also confirmed that the intention of students to utilize e-learning systems is dependent on students' perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. In a similar study conducted by Ref. [14] using an integration of UTAUT and Structural Equation Modelling Approaches (SEM) revealed that the behavioral intention of students to use e-learning systems depends on three factors, including social influence, performance expectancy and facilitating condition of the systems. [10] assessed level of e-leaning acceptance among students of a teacher education institute in Malaysia. The study also investigated factors influencing its acceptability among students using variables such as students' perception on usability, ease of use, characteristics of lecturer, information quality, system quality, and technical support for e-learning systems. From their findings, system quality, usability, information provided, lecturer characteristics, as well as availability of technical support are the key factors that influence acceptance of e-learning system. The study also revealed that perceived usefulness and benefits of e-learning play a key role in its acceptance among the students.

In [15] study with an objective of investigating how to ensure quality and smooth online learning. The article also sought to develop a standard method for assessing students' performance based on the knowledge acquired while using distance learning approach during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study examined 81 Engineering students of the University of Tours, France. It divided the participants into four groups and developed a four-phase based model known as “remote knowledge acquisition and assessment” to collect, analyze and evaluate the students' performance. From their findings, it was revealed that there is no significant difference in the performance of students comparing the scores obtained in distance learning to the face-to-face learning. It also showed that students were not fully satisfied with the use of electronic systems for practical work and projects. In a similarly study conducted by Ref. [16] using 63 students of electrical and electronic engineering in the College of Engineering of the University of Tours, France as respondents. The result of the various knowledge tests based on the proposed “remote knowledge acquisition and assessment model” indicates that distance learning does not reduce the scores or performance of students when compared to the scores obtained during face-to-face method. It also confirmed that students with sufficient resources and software had no obstacle while interacting with distance learning systems. However, students with digital divide require the use of other means of communication such as telephone and social network platforms. The study further revealed that students were less enthusiastic about teaching and learning processes while using electronic systems for projects and practical work.

The study conducted by Ref. [7] to evaluate the attitude of Engineering students towards online learning in a Nigerian private university revealed that about 4% of the respondent preferred e-learning method, while 62% preferred a blended learning approach. Their study further showed that most students believed online learning is expensive and gender does not influence the learning mode of students. It however, advocated for more work to be done by the educational stakeholders to improve the e-learning experience in Nigeria. [17] conducted a research to identify the factors that determine students learning processes during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to predict their online learning success. The study investigated 302 students of Islamic Religion Higher Education in the West Papua region. Out of the seven independent variables (that is, student characteristics, internal motivation, instructor characteristics, quality of institutions and services, infrastructure and system quality, quality of courses and information, online learning environment), only institutions' variety and services have no significant effect on the success of online learning during the pandemic. It however, recommended that more attentions need to be paid to the provision of adequate infrastructure for online learning and ensures the quality of e-learning systems. [18] studied a group of undergraduate and post-graduate students in Vietnam who studied online during COVID-19 pandemic to understand factors that influence university students' intention to use online learning system. The study revealed that perceived enjoyment (satisfaction) greatly influence online learning intention. Also, the perceived satisfaction is affected by the ICT infrastructure and internet speed and access.

More so, [19] investigated factors affecting students' and lecturers' satisfaction with online learning. The study results show the overall satisfaction among students and faculty members as 41.3% and 74% respectively. The results further revealed that the areas of the online learning that are mostly satisfied with by the students are communication and flexibility nature of the platforms, and most lecturers expressed their satisfactions in the area of students' enthusiasm for online learning. [20] investigated whether online perception and online readiness can affect students' online learning performance. The results of the study indicated that student’s computer and internet self-efficiency have great effect on their online learning satisfaction. It also revealed that student’s computer and internet self-efficiency for online learning readiness had a mediated effect on online learning perception and course satisfaction.

3. Methodology

This study investigates the perception of undergraduate students who engage with e-learning system during COVID-19. The study uses survey design of quantitative research approach with a well - structured questionnaire, where some of the Items were adopted from study conducted by Ref. [10]. From the study, some questionnaire Items from usability, system quality and lecturer characteristics factors were modified and structured to fit into Nigerian context. The survey was used to get more responses from students who gave their perception on the study. These quantities determine to an extent, the agreement of students on the questions to be answered. The developed questionnaire consists of four sections labeled section A-D. Section A elicits relevant responses about the respondents' demographic information, sections B, C, and D were used to collect responses regarding items for objectives 1, 2, and 3 respectively using a five-point scale.

A three-stage sampling procedure was used to select the respondents for the study. The first stage involves a purposive selection of four faculties in the University of Ilorin. The selected faculties are Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Communication and Information Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, and Faculty of Law, due to their variation in term of the requirements for ICT usage and experience in their respective fields. The second stage includes a random selection of 200 level students in each faculty due to the fact that they were in 100 level during the pandemic and most of their courses were done using e-learning management system. The third stage involves the use of Raosoft software to get sample size at 50% of the total population of 200 level students in the selected faculties which includes 2484 registered students for the 2019/2020 academic session, with error margin of 5% and confidence level of 95%. This gives a total number of 333 students as respondents for this research work.

A total number of 333 questionnaires were administered for this study, but only 320 were completely filled and returned. This is equivalent to an impressive 96.6% retrieval level. The description of the respondents in terms gender and faculty is presented in Table 1, Table 2 respectively. The structured questionnaire was validated by the senior researchers in the department of Information and Communication Science (ICS) of the university, and a test-retest method was used to ensure the instrument was reliable. More importantly, the objectives of this research work were presented to the participants and they all agreed to freely participate in the process. Similarly, this research was conducted with the approval of the research and ethical committee of the department of ICS in the university of Ilorin. The questionnaires were administered by the researchers physically at the various faculties in the university. In addition, a descriptive statistic was performed to analyze the collected data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Specifically, the study analyzed the students' responses using mean to answer the research questions.

Table 1.

Gender of respondents.

Gender	Frequency	Percentage
Male	152	47.5
Female	168	52.5
Total	320	100.0

Table 2.

Faculty of respondents.

Faculty		Frequency	Percentage
	Arts	79	24.7
	CIS	117	15.3
	Law	56	17.5
	Engineering	68	21.2
	Total	320	100.0

3.1. Description of participants

A total number of 333 questionnaire was administered for this study, but only 320 were completely filled and returned. This is equivalent to an impressive 96.6% retrieval level. Table 1, Table 2 present the distribution of the respondents by gender and faculty respectively.

From the demographic information presented in Table 1, gender distribution of the respondents shows that a total number of 320 students were sampled with males equal to 152 (47.5%) while females were 168 (52.5%). The high number of female respondents may suggest an improvement in the number of female students' enrolment in Nigeria higher institution of learning.

Table 2 shows that majority of the respondents (117; 36.6%) are from the faculty of Communication and Information Science, while 79 (24.7%) of them were sampled from the faculty of Arts, 68 (21.2%) from the engineering faculty and the remaining 56 (17.5%) were from the faculty of law. The table indicates that more of the respondents are from faculty of CIS who should have more knowledge to give accurate information as regards the study.

4. Results and discussion

This section presents the description of analysis performed and discuss the findings with respect to the research questions.

4.1. Analysis of research questions

4.1.1. Research question 1: what influence the use of e-learning system?

Table 3 presents the responses of students regarding their perception on use of e-learning system. This study adopts a score level of 1–5 for mean score as used by Refs. [10,21]. The mean score is categorized as Low if the score is between 1 and 2.49. A mean score that falls between 2.5 and 2.99 will be considered as moderate level, while any score between 3.0 and 5 is regarded as high level. The Mean of responses range from 2.24 to 3.52 with a grand mean of 3.09. It can be deduced that item 2 has the highest mean response of 3.52. Thus, majority of the respondents enjoyed learning remotely. The item 1 with a mean response of 3.3, indicates that, majority of respondents found e-learning system useful only for online courses.

Table 3.

Perception of Undergraduate Students of University of Ilorin on the Use and Usefulness of e-learning systems used during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

	ITEMS	SA		A		D		SD		Mean
		F	%	F	%	F	%	F	%
1	I find e-learning system useful for online courses	149	46.5	144	45.0	27	8.5	0	0	3.37
2	I enjoyed learning remotely	179	56.0	133	41.5	8	2.5	0	0	3.52
3	E-learning enhances my learning effectiveness	125	39.0	171	53.5	24	7.5	0	0	3.31
4	I find using e-learning system stressful during covid-19 pandemic	136	42.5	155	48.5	29	9.0	0	0	3.33
5	Through e-learning, the content of the course is easier to learn	88	27.5	168	52.5	64	20.0	12	3.8	3.04
6	Learning process on e-learning platforms is cleared and structured	133	41.5	160	50.0	27	8.5	0	0	3.33
7	Taking online courses increased my productivity during covid-19 pandemic	115	36.0	149	46.5	53	16.5	16	5.0	3.18
8	E-learning increases my level of understanding	72	22.5	92	28.8	104	32.5	56	17.5	2.56
9	I find e-learning system useful for learning	53	16.5	40	12.5	160	50.0	67	21.0	2.24
	Grand Mean									3.09

This was followed by item 4 and 6 which both has a mean response of 3.33, indicative of the fact that although e-learning platforms is cleared and well structured, using the system was stressful during the covid-19 pandemic. Item 3 has a mean response of 3.31, where respondents agreed that e-learning enhance their learning effectiveness. This was followed by item 7, which sought information on if taking online courses increased productivity during covid-19 pandemic with a mean response of 3.18. This is a clear indication that majority of the respondents agreed that e-learning system was effective. Item 5 with a mean of 3.04, showed that majority of the respondents agreed that the content of the course is easier to learn through e-learning platform. Item 8 with a mean response of 2.56, where majority of respondents disagreed that e-learning increased their level of understanding. This is a moderate score which implies that more efforts still need to be done to make knowledge acquisition more appealing and understandable to students with e-learning systems. The understanding level of students may be improved with the use of multimedia-based instructional materials. Similarly, Item 9 had the least mean response of 2.24 and can be categorized as a low score. Here, majority of the respondents disagreed that they found e-learning system useful. These responses could be as a result of challenges encountered by some students while accessing the e-learning systems. This result supports the findings of [10,13,14] who affirmed that perceive ease of use, perceive usefulness, performance expectancy and availability of technical support play a key role in the acceptance e-learning systems.

Based on the research question one with the grand mean of 3.09, it can be stated that the use and perceived usefulness of e-learning system by students of the University of Ilorin during the Pandemic is high by stating that students enjoyed learning remotely with the platform due to the way the courses were clearly structured. These could further encourage the use of the system after the pandemic. However, even though taking online courses increase productivity during covid-19 pandemic, it was stressful to some students and as a result some asserted that e-learning did not increase their level of understanding and could not find it useful for their studies due to the mean reported for Items 8 and 9. These findings further support the idea of [22] who stated that students only take into consideration technology as a supporting or assistive tool in teaching and learning process. Therefore, the high level of e-learning use can be said to be highly influenced by the decision of the school management to employ e-learning system as only approach for teaching during the pandemic.

4.1.2. Research question 2: what are perceptions of students on the quality of systems used for e-learning during the pandemic?

Table 4 presents the responses of students regarding their perception on the quality of systems used for e-learning during the pandemic.

Table 4.

Perception of Undergraduate Students of University of Ilorin on the quality of systems adopted for e-learning during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

SN	ITEMS	SA		A		D		SD		Mean
		F	%	F	%	F	%	F	%
1	I find the features of the e-learning platform easy to use	72	22.5	92	28.8	100	32.5	56	17.5	2.56
2	E-learning allows me learn at my pace	180	56.3	132	41.3	4	1.3	4	1.3	3.52
3	E-learning gives me the flexibility to study anytime and anywhere	124	38.8	172	53.8	24	7.5	0	0	3.31
4	Using e-learning allows me to interact with friends and work together on projects	136	42.5	156	48.8	28	8.8	0	0	3.33
5	I learn more in online classes than face-to-face	116	36.3	8	2.5	44	13.8	152	47.5	3.18
6	E-learning allows me to learn lessons in a customized form of my learning style	148	46.3	144	45.0	28	8.8	0	0	3.37
7	E-learning allows me to get information through online sources	88	27.5	168	52.5	52	16.3	12	3.8	3.04
8	The institution did not provide training for me to use e-learning tools	4	1.3	132	41.3	4	1.3	180	56.3	3.52
	Grand Mean									3.22

The mean of responses ranges from 2.56 to 3.52 with a grand mean of 3.22. It can be deduced that, the questions Item 2 and 8 have the highest mean response of 3.52, thus, e-learning allows majority of the respondents to learn at their pace but the institution provided little or no training for students to use e-learning tools. The Item 6 with a mean response of 3.37, showing that majority of respondents learn lessons in a customize form based on their learning style through e-learning management system provided by the institution. Item 4 with a mean response of 3.33, attesting to the fact that e-learning allows students to interact with friends and encourages collaboration on group projects. Similarly, the Item 3 with a mean response of 3.31 agree to the statement that e-learning gives them the flexibility to study anytime and anywhere.

Furthermore, majority of the respondents disagreed with the Item 5 that has a mean response of 3.18, showing that they actually learn more or prefers face-to-face learning to online learning. From Item 7, the result shows that e-learning allows students to get information through online sources with a mean response of 3.18. Item 5 with a mean of 3.04 thus revealed that online learning is gaining a widespread adoption among students in developing countries. The Item 1 with a mean response of 2.56 had the least mean score. This simply means that about average of the respondents could not find some of the features of the e-learning system easy to use. This finding further supports the findings of [7,17] that stated that more work still needs to be done by stakeholders in education, including e-learning system developers, to improve students e-learning experience in Nigeria.

In summary, this result revealed that the perception of students on the quality of e-learning systems adopted for learning during Covid-19 pandemic is high with respect to the grand mean score of 3.22. However, some students still struggled to use some of the features, which indicates that reasonable improvements are required to further enhance and make e-learning systems more useable and accessible to all students irrespective of their digital skills and disabilities. This result also corroborates the idea of [10] who asserted that system quality determines the level of acceptance. Hence, some students still prefer face-to-face approach.

4.1.3. Research question 3: what is lecturers' attitude towards the use of e-learning system during the pandemic?

Table 5 presents the responses of students regarding lecturers' attitude towards the use of e-learning system. Mean of responses range from 2.09 to 3.28 with a grand mean of 2.83. Item 6 with the highest mean response of 3.28, thus, majority of students agreed that Lecturers' lecture delivery style in online learning was brilliant.

Table 5.

Perception of undergraduate Students of University of Ilorin on the e-learning systems usage and attitude of their lecturers during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

SN	ITEMS	SA		A		D		SD		Mean
		F	%	F	%	F	%	F	%
1	Lecturers actively use e-learning to teach	52	16.3	40	12.5	160	50.0	68	21.3	2.24
2	Lecturers explain how to use the e-learning system	60	18.3	40	12.5	88	27.5	132	41.3	2.09
3	Lecturers handle e-learning effectively	104	32.5	152	47.5	52	16.3	12	3.8	3.09
4	Lecturers are excited using e-learning system	84	26.3	164	51.3	64	20.0	8	2.5	3.01
5	Lectures encourages students to participate in the class	80	25.0	200	62.5	32	10.0	8	2.5	3.10
6	Lecturers delivery style is brilliant	120	37.5	176	55.0	16	5.0	8	2.5	3.28
7	Lecturers are excited when we use e-learning system to interact	104	32.5	152	47.5	48	15.0	16	5.0	3.08
	Grand Mean									2.83

The Item 5 with a mean response of 3.10 revealed that majority of students agreed that lecturers do encourage students to participate in online classes. With Item 3 scoring a mean response of 3.09, it shows that lecturers handle e-learning tasks effectively. In addition, Item 7 with a mean response 3.08 expresses that lecturers were excited when interacting with students online. The result of Item 4 with a mean response of 3.01 means that majority of the respondents agreed with the statement that says using e-learning system excites lecturers. Therefore, this result show that lecturers have positive attitude towards the use of e-learning systems in the University of Ilorin. This result is also in support of [10] study that stated that lecturers at teacher education institute in Malaysia have positive attitude towards the use of e-learning systems and do encourage students to use the technology. However, Item 1 with a mean response of 2.24 shows that not all lecturers were active in using e-learning systems for teaching during the Covid-19 lockdown. Finally, Item 2 with the least mean response of 2.09 revealed that some lecturers don’t usually explain how to use e-learning system to students during the pandemic. This suggests the need for an institutional based training scheme to formally teach students on how to use the various e-learning platforms provided by the university. With this, the course lecturers will only be saddled with the responsibility of focusing on effective way(s) of delivering the course contents.

With regards to the grand mean score of 2.83, it can be stated that, the attitude of lecturers towards the use of e-learning is moderate. This may be linked to the fact that most of the lecturers do not see training students on the use of e-learning platform as their responsibility.

5. Conclusion

This study investigates the perception of undergraduate students of University of Ilorin on the use of e-learning system during Covid-19 lockdown. The study revealed that e-learning system is widely accepted and perceived by students as a useful tool for continue their studies during the pandemic. More so, the study also revealed that majority of students are satisfied with the quality of the e-learning system and acknowledged that their lecturers have positive attitude towards the use of the technology. This study indicates that the adoption of e-learning system as alternative to face-to-face learning during the Covid-19 lockdown was a success at the University of Ilorin. This could be linked to the availability of infrastructural facilities including Internet access, moderate power supply, and the management willingness to invest heavily in order to provide a standard and quality e-learning platform.

In addition, prior to the deployment of the technology, several workshops and training were organized for lecturers to expose them on how to use online learning systems. This is a positive development and a pointer that e-learning adoption in Nigeria is likely to go beyond the pandemic period. This further negates the concern of some stakeholders that adoption of e-learning in Nigerian public universities may likely fail. However, even though majority of the students expressed high level of use, some students expressed dissatisfaction with the technology due to some challenges encountered such as unstable power supply, high cost of mobile data and technical issues from their end or their lecturers. Hence, the study suggests that government should invest more in ICT and other enabling technologies with supporting infrastructural facilities to encourage a blended learning approach. This may guide against a nearly paralyzed education activities as a result of a virus or unforeseen circumstances in the future as witnessed during Covid-19 Pandemic lockdown.

Government, through the school management, could provide uninterrupted power supply and ensures that the cost of mobile data or Internet access is reduced and affordable to students and lecturers. The university administration may also set up training workshops for Lecturers to improve their digital literacy. Courses needed to improve students' ICT skills can be mounted during the first year at school or during a few weeks of orientation. The focus of the study serves as the limitation. The study focuses on one university out of many universities that adopted e-learning for continue education during the Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria. Consequently, the success of e-learning system at University of Ilorin cannot be generalized to other universities in Nigeria. In addition, the study does not compare responses based on gender and faculty or field of studies. Future study may expand the scope of this study by sampling students from other universities across the country. Future study may adopt another data collection such as interview to further reveal novel factors or themes that may influence the use of e-learning systems in Nigeria.

Author contribution statement

Naeem Atanda Balogun; Faizat Adewumi Adeleke; Musbau Dogo Abdulrahaman: Conceived and designed the experiments; Performed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.

Yahaya Isah Shehu; Adeyinka Adedoyin: Conceived and designed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.

Funding statement

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Data availability statement

Data will be made available on request.

Declaration of interest’s statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.