1. Introduction
With the fusion of information communication technology (ICT) in higher institutions of learning, new teaching and learning practices have developed—often called blended learning—allowing students and teachers to interact with information and each other more independently of both place and time by the lowering of information friction. Blended learning is introduced in most educational institutions as a new educational approach to substitute e-learning [
1]. It has become the most popular educational model that universities apply to teaching and learning [
2].
According to Allison and Rebecca [
3], “blended learning is a method of learning that integrates formal and informal learning, face-to-face and online experiences, directed paths and reliance on self-management, and digital references and collegial connections, to achieve the goals of an individual and the governing body” (p. 2). Ricky et al. [
4] added that blended learning requires a good balance of face-to-face contact and online time and a range of pedagogical practices such as flipping and self-regulated learning for actual teaching and learning. Oweis [
1] further observed that blended learning combines both direct and indirect forms of online learning that normally contains the internet and intranet, whereas indirect learning happens concurrently within traditional categories.
There are many benefits of using blended learning, for example, it offers flexibility and efficiency, enhanced social interaction, communication and collaboration, lower student dropout, encourages students to use their out of classroom time in meaningful activities, more productive classroom interactions, provides individual learning opportunities for both students and lecturers, thus supporting more self-regulated learning [
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10]. It is cost-effective [
11,
12], enhancing learning [
13,
14], increased convenience and access to learning opportunities, more focus on learner-centered learning, emphasize peer-to-peer learning and interaction with remote experts [
15]. It also offers consistent and updated messages to both scholars and lecturers, improves lecturers and students’ performance and controls costs, converges learning and study, and is a solution to classroom insufficiency [
16,
17,
18].
Proper planning in the implementation of blended learning will complement the existing formal means of teaching, learning, assessment and educational administration and management in higher education.
In Uganda, there are eleven (11) public universities, thirty-eight (38) private universities, four (4) military universities and three (3) other degree-awarding institutions. Some public universities in Uganda such as Makerere University, Kyambogo University, Makerere University Business School, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Muni University, Gulu University, Uganda Management Institute adopted blended learning, but some challenges led to low adoption rates, abandonment and even the failure of some blended learning projects. SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of blended learning has not been ascertained in these public universities of Uganda. Thus, this work aims to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of blended learning in Muni University, one of the public universities where students and lecturers are direct actors in implementing blended learning in their daily educational practices. The findings of the study will help the government and public universities identify and build upon their strengths, discover new opportunities and work upon eliminating threats to blended learning. To accomplish this aim, the study tried to answer the following questions:
RQ1. What are the factors influencing students and lecturers’ intention to use blended learning?
RQ2. What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of blended learning in Muni University as one of the public universities of Uganda?
In the next section, the relevant literature on factors influencing students and lecturers’ intention to use blended learning and SWOT analysis of blended learning are covered. The third section discusses the materials and methods used in the study. In
Section 4, we provide the overview of the analysis of the results. In
Section 5, we give a detailed discussion of the results. These are followed by the limitations, conclusion and then recommendations.
5. Discussion
The perception of students and lecturers remains very important in the adoption and implementation of a blended learning system. Therefore, the main aim of this work was to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of blended learning in MU one of the public universities in Uganda. The focal point of the survey was to ascertain how MU students and lecturers use blended learning platform and if the recommendation can improve the technology. Before analyzing the SWOT, there is a need to ascertain the factors that motivate participants to use blended learning.
The finding from research Question 1,
Table 2, shows that accessibility of blended learning within and outside the university makes it the best choice for both students and lecturers to use. This outcome is consistent with the study conducted by References [
4,
22] who noted that easy accessibility of blended learning makes teaching and learning easy; a positive attitude towards using blended learning make students and lecturers use the system. This is in line with the submissions of References [
35,
37,
38] who also found that teachers’ attitudes and values are a significant motivating factor in producing and implementing e-learning competence; knowledge and skills in blended learning are one of the elements that motivate students and lecturers. This finding is in conformity with what References [
25,
26,
35,
36] found as they noted that teachers’ competencies in computer literacy, working with e-learning systems, applying the instructional design example, online moderating, online mentoring and quality literacy motivates them to use blended learning; The respondents also noted that perceived resources motivate them to use the scheme. This finding is reported in other earlier studies conducted by References [
21,
22,
23,
24,
25,
26,
27], who believed that for a successful implementation of blended learning, requires putting in place key resources such as the required technology infrastructure (hardware and software) and human resources (academic staff) who possess the necessary qualifications, skills and experience, as well as continuous training. Other factors include learning environment, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, good user interface, awareness and adaptation, self-management of learning and perceived quality content.
The study identified the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of blended learning at MU.
Respondents identified the following as the strengths of blended learning:
- ▪
Blended learning can serve many students in a short time, thus saving students time and enhancing teaching and learning interaction between readers and students. This is in line with the work of References [
6,
10] who state that blended learning can connect people, actions and outcomes through technology and the interaction between learners and instructor, as well as learners with fellow scholars, may build online communities and learning exercises where they can exchange and value knowledge, thoughts, experience and other learning products. It is as well affirmed by Reference [
5] where it was noted that blended learning can create dialogue outside of the classroom among students and teachers with the help of tools such as discussions, chats, and forums. This made the classroom interactions more productive through pre-work;
- ▪
There is flexibility in the scheduling of classes. This result is logical with the work conducted by Reference [
6] where it was likewise noted that blended learning combines offline and online learning;
- ▪
With online teaching, the internet provides flexibility and efficiency in instruction and learning activities which can be conducted via videos or teleconference. It is as well confirmed by other researchers such as [
4,
7,
8,
9,
48] where it was identified that blended learning increases the flexibility of learning time and place and permits flexibility and self-regulation learning among learners and teachers;
- ▪
Instant results and feedback, meaningful use of subject material and independent learning are some of the benefits of blended learning. These findings are similar to the studies of [
4,
7,
8,
20,
48] where it was found out that blended learning provides individualized learning opportunities for both scholars and lecturers thus supporting more self-determined learning.
Regarding the weaknesses of blended learning, respondents stated that:
- ⇨
It is dependent on internet connectivity which makes it difficult to be accessed by other students and lecturers. This reaffirms the findings of earlier studies by References [
18,
52] who observed that slow internet accessibility makes it hard to upload course materials. It is further supported by References [
5,
20,
49,
50,
51,
52] who observed that poor internet speed and connectivity is a heavy challenge in blended learning implementation;
- ⇨
Lack of plagiarism tools to monitor the character of student assignments. This result is logical with the work conducted by Reference [
1] in which the researcher identified that plagiarism and credibility pose a major problem to blended learning;
- ⇨
There is a high risk of reduced face-to-face social interactions with blended learning mode. This outcome is consistent with the study conducted by Reference [
53] where it was noted that in blended learning, learners may not only experience the isolation of lively social interaction with peers but also incapable to connect with their instructors;
- ⇨
The insufficient number of computers per student is also another challenge. This finding is reported in other earlier studies conducted by References [
5] that added that the process of conducting online tests is entirely dependent on expensive technology that may or may not be available to all off-campus students.
- ⇨
Very limited staff capacity to implement blended learning. This finding is described in other earlier studies conducted by References [
49,
50,
51]. It is also consistent with References [
52,
53] who argued that learners should be provided with computer-related and technological skills to succeed in a blended learning setting because some students from different social, economic background might be facing difficulties in accessing or adapting to the online learning component in blended learning due to lack of IT skills and knowledge;
- ⇨
Some of the weaknesses found include; dependent on internet connectivity, lack of commitment among students and readers to use blended learning, stressful when time-special assignments are granted, resistance by some students and lecturers’ to adopt new technology, lack of awareness to implement blended learning, absence of an up-to-date blended learning platform, and absence of university policy on blended learning.
The opportunities for blended learning include:
- ✕
It is in line with university expansion plans and the growing trend towards blended learning adoption. This outcome is consistent with the study conducted by Reference [
25] in which they observed that the development of e-learning is in line with the university’s expansion strategies so that it can reach more students;
- ✕
Availability of external support of blended learning specialists. This finding is also reported in another earlier study conducted by Reference [
25] where they opined that external support will help the institution in training staff on professional competencies of using e-learning which is a great opportunity;
- ✕
Respondents also identified the accessible means of learning regardless of location as an opportunity. This result is logical with the work conducted by Reference [
11] where they found that using a single method of teaching and learning limits the range and number of people who can access the information. If such kind of information can be posted on a blended learning system, learners can easily access them at any time and location. It is as well affirmed by References [
5,
20] where it was observed that uniform content can be presented to students and international students are appreciative of online assignments. Cucciare, Weingardt, and Villafranca [
12] added that when complementary training contents are provided on blended learning, they can reach many learners;
- ✕
Finally, the respondents also identified management support—competency-based systems that make it easier to manage individual progress as some of the opportunities for blended learning.
Threats to blended learning identified by respondents include:
An unreliable power supply is a major threat to the implementation of blended learning. This reconfirmed the findings of earlier studies by Reference [
25,
49,
50,
51,
52,
53] where they identified a concern of inconsistent power supply, which makes it hard to rely on online components of blended learning. It is as well affirmed by Reference [
58] where they noted that lack of power played a heavy role in the digital divide in Tanzania and Uganda thus hindering the implementation of e-learning;
Unreliable internet connection is also a threat. This result is logical with the work conducted by Reference [
25] in which they found that, for successful implementation of blended learning, there should be stable internet connectivity but in many developing and least developing countries, the internet is unreliable and the bandwidth is low. It is as well affirmed by References [
1,
18,
52,
57] who identified poor internet speed and connectivity as a threat to blended learning.
Chat sessions while multitasking online proved to be a distraction. This reconfirms the findings of Reference [
5] who took note that chat sessions while multitasking online is a distraction to students.
Exchange of student username and passwords to complete assignments for others. This outcome is consistent with the study conducted by Reference [
5] where they found that exchange of student ID and passwords to complete assignments for others is common with blended learning platforms if not properly monitored.
Dependence on computers for spellings deteriorate students and lecturers’ English language knowledge. This is supported by Reference [
5] who observed students who depend on computers for spelling checking have their English knowledge deteriorated.
Respondents also identified internet shorthand used in student assignments and lack of intrinsic motivation of students as some of the threats to blended learning. This is in line with the work of Reference [
5] who urged that internet shorthand like acronyms, emoticons and playful spelling is used by a student in assignments, online essay exams and quizzes.