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ABSTRACT
The study's objective is to assess the readiness of graduate school students in business based on the common challenges in online education. It used a quantitative research design to survey 153 sample students from 3 selected autonomous graduate schools in the City of Manila's University Belt. Results revealed that the respondents are always ready with regard to the online challenges, namely: adaptability, computer literacy, and self-motivation, but not in terms of technology and time management. Also, it was found that regardless of school, age, gender, and years of work experience, graduate school students have the same online readiness level. However, with regards to the effect of student profile on their readiness, findings showed that only the school affiliation has an influence on technical readiness, and gender on readiness in terms of digital literacy. The study implies that online learning should be part of the universities' business strategies, thus the study recommends some plans that the graduate school management can implement. The study contributes to the currently sparse literature on this area. Instructional designers of foreign colleges and universities with graduate studies could get information on how to increase online learning readiness by taking into account the demographics of their target populations.
Keywords: Online Learning; Graduate Student in Business; Online Education Readiness.
1. INTRODUCTION
There seems to be a sustained need for accessible and continuous education and re-education, which pave the way for the steady growth and development of online education. In the Philippines, several universities and colleges have already adapted online learning as a pedagogical tool for their students for bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. Among the institutions that have implemented distance learning in the Philippines are the following: 1.) AMA University Online Education (AMA OEd), 2.) Asian Institute for Distance Education (AIDE), 3.) Benguet State University - Open University, 4.) CAP College Foundation Inc., 5.) E-learning for Agriculture and Fisheries, 6.) New Era University, 7.) Polytechnic University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), 8.) Southville International School Affiliated with Foreign Universities (SISFU) and the Philippines, 9.) University of the Philippines Open University, 10.) Visayas State University - Open University.
There are many studies concerning the challenges dealt with by students and educators during online learning. However, from the perspective of the universities'...