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Introduction
The global pandemic of COVID-19 has revitalized the search for new methods and means of teaching (Artemova et al., 2022). Information and communication technologies (ICT) are gaining a wide spread (Rakhinsky et al., 2021). Among ICT tools, particular popularity is enjoyed by the Moodle platform - a learning content management system belonging to the class of freely distributed software that provides support for distance learning and allows creating electronic learning courses and conducting both classroom (full-time) training and distance (extramural) learning (Oproiu, 2015). In this context, blended learning as integration of traditional and distance learning is becoming widely used (Kumar Basak et al., 2018; Korotaeva & Kapustina, 2021). In turn, the use of the Moodle platform, in our view, is an important factor in this integration.
On the Moodle platform, the teacher creates a common training course using multimedia teaching resources, customizes it to the needs and abilities of each learner, and supports the activities of students. The student studies the material recommended to them, organizes their work, and performs exercises. The learner can see the evolution of their activities, perform tasks for self-assessment, and submit completed tasks for review by the teacher. Teachers and students communicate individually or in groups, suggest topics for discussion, and collaborate on research or in creating shared documents. The administrator manages and maintains the system, controls the access and rights of faculty and students, and creates links to external information systems (administrative documents, directories, pedagogical resources, etc.).
Literature review. At present, there is increasing research attention to e-learning, which is the most common form of distance learning (Hernández García de Velazco et al., 2021). E-learning is a promising model of education that relies on the use of new multimedia technologies and the Internet to improve the quality of education by making it easier to access resources and services, as well as exchange them and work in collaboration over distance (Krivova et al., 2021).
According to Benta et al. (2014), 99% of higher education institutions use learning management systems and among the key advantages of e-learning, note its usefulness, convenience, and practical usability. A study by Judrups (2015), demonstrates the effectiveness of teaching with the use of Moodle. In particular, a survey of students reveals higher motivation and productivity and better preparation for exams among learners.
Overall, the review of scientific literature shows that the use of Moodle in the educational process provides the participants in this process with the following opportunities and advantages:
- for the teacher: organization of educational and methodical materials for the discipline in a structured form; a convenient instrument for keeping record of and controlling students’ learning activities; an opportunity to set up deadlines for certain tasks for students (Sabir et al., 2014); software that meets the requirements of the educational process; an opportunity to use text, graphics, audio, and video materials in the organization of the educational process (Park, 2014); an opportunity to quickly and easily change, expand, supplement, and correct educational and methodical materials for the discipline; organization of computer-based testing to monitor students’ knowledge using different types of questions (Belchenko, 2021); an automated rating system for evaluating students’ independent work (Guri-Rosenblit, 2016); an opportunity to engage students in the formation of educational and methodical materials for the course; software protected from unauthorized access, modification, and damage (destruction);
- for the student: access to logically structured and compiled educational and methodological material, which improves the conditions for independent study of the content of disciplines (Moreno et al., 2017); tools for self-assessment and the completion and assessment of tasks without the intervention of the human factor (the teacher); an opportunity to truly take part in the scientific and methodological work of the departments; broader access to Internet resources; the opportunity to learn the educational material remotely and pass the credit and exam session ahead of time (Joksimović et al., 2015).
However, the introduction and use of the e-learning system also cause some problems, among which researchers mention little support from the heads of educational institutions and low motivation and information literacy on the part of teachers (Pechenkina, 2017). Substantial barriers to the use of Moodle also appear on the part of students: lack of experience using the platform (Barannikov et al., 2020) and poor time management (Kör et al., 2016).
Consequently, the use of Moodle can be considered in the context of the previously unresolved part of the overall problem of integration of traditional and distance learning in order to improve the educational process in higher education.
In view of the above, the purpose of this article is to identify and compare the opinions of undergraduate and graduate students regarding the use of Moodle in a university setting, depending on the period of restrictions caused by COVID-19.
Research objectives:
to conduct a survey of students regarding their registration in the Moodle e-learning system;
to conduct a survey of students regarding the use of Moodle depending on the period of restrictions caused by COVID-19;
to perform statistical processing of the results of the study and draw conclusions.
The statistical hypotheses assumed for the statistical processing of the obtained data are as follows:
Materials and methods
To achieve the established research goal, we compiled a set of theoretical and empirical research methods: theoretical methods (analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization) employed to study scientific literature on the use of Moodle in the study of academic disciplines; empirical methods (survey) used to analyze the state of the use of Moodle in the study of academic disciplines by undergraduate and graduate in different years of study depending on the period of restrictions caused by COVID-19.
The empirical study was conducted on the basis of three Russian universities - the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN), the Moscow Aviation Institute, and the Russian State University of Tourism and Services Studies - using an anonymous online survey in Google Forms administered at the beginning of the second semester of 2021.
The characteristics of the sample are presented in Table 1.
Table 1 - Sample characteristics.
| Years of training and educational and professional levels | Form of education | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | 2B | 3B | 4B | 1M | 2M | full-time | extramural | |
| Number of students | 250 | 167 | 142 | 241 | 150 | 120 | 962 | 108 |
| Total | 800 | 270 | 1,070 | |||||
Note: B - bachelor’s degree, respectively 1B - first year of bachelor’s degree; M - master’s degree, respectively 1M - first year of master’s degree
Before starting to use the e-learning system, all students had to register on the Moodle website. Given that students get their first impressions from the e-learning system already at the stage of registration, we were concerned whether they had any difficulties at this initial step, which was assessed by the corresponding survey question: “How did your registration on the e-learning website go?”.
The respondents were asked to answer on a five-point scale: 0 (no registration) 1 (very difficult); 2 (rather difficult); 3 (it depends); 4 (rather simple); 5 (very simple).
The main research question was formulated as follows:
“Indicate the dynamics of your use of the e-learning website (Moodle system) for your academic disciplines in higher education: before the restrictions caused by COVID-19; during the restrictions caused by COVID-19; how comfortable you would be in continuing to use Moodle after the restrictions caused by COVID-19 are alleviated”.
The response was to be given on a five-point scale: 1 (no or very few disciplines), 2 (the lesser part); 3 (almost half); 4 (most); 5 (vast majority/all disciplines).
The SPSS Statistics software program was used for mathematical processing of the results (to calculate Pearson’s χ2 criterion)
Results and discussion
The results on student registration on the e-learning website are shown in Tables 2 and 3.
Table 2 - Results of student registration on the e-learning platform Moodle: the year of study within the bachelor’s and master’s degree.
| Response | N/% | Years of training and educational and professional levels | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | 2B | 3B | 4B | 1M | 2M | |||
| No registration | N | 6 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 28 |
| % | 2.4% | 4.2% | 2.1% | 2.9% | 1.3% | 2.5% | 2.6% | |
| Very difficult | N | 14 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 43 |
| % | 5.6% | 4.8% | 4.9% | 2.1% | 2.6% | 4.2% | 4.0% | |
| Rather difficult | N | 18 | 18 | 14 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 90 |
| % | 7.2% | 10.8% | 9.9% | 8.3% | 6.6% | 8.3% | 8.4% | |
| It depends | N | 36 | 32 | 26 | 38 | 18 | 24 | 174 |
| % | 14.4% | 19.2% | 18.3% | 15.8% | 11.9% | 20.0% | 16.2% | |
| Rather simple | N | 87 | 38 | 44 | 79 | 45 | 36 | 328 |
| % | 34.8% | 22.8% | 31.0% | 32.8% | 29.8% | 30.0% | 30.7% | |
| Very simple | N | 89 | 64 | 48 | 92 | 71 | 42 | 407 |
| % | 35.6% | 38.3% | 33.8% | 38.2% | 47.7% | 35.0% | 38.0% | |
| Total | N | 250 | 167 | 142 | 241 | 150 | 120 | 1070 |
| % | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | |
Note: N - number of respondents; % - percentage of the course/year of study
Table 3 - Results of student registration on the e-learning platform Moodle: distribution by educational and professional levels, forms of training.
| Response | N/% | Form of education | Full-time | Extramural | All students | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time | Extramural | 1-4B | 1-2M | 1-4B | 1-2M | 1-4B | 1-2M | ||
| No registration | N | 23 | 5 | 19 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 5 |
| % | 2.4% | 4.6% | 2.6% | 1.8% | 6.6% | 2.1% | 2.9% | 1.8% | |
| Very difficult | N | 39 | 4 | 31 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 34 | 9 |
| % | 4.1% | 3.7% | 4.2% | 3.6% | 4.9% | 2.1% | 4.3% | 3.3% | |
| Rather difficult | N | 78 | 12 | 63 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 70 | 20 |
| % | 8.1% | 11.0% | 8.5% | 6.7% | 11.5% | 10.4% | 8.8% | 7.4% | |
| It depends | N | 156 | 18 | 122 | 34 | 10 | 8 | 132 | 42 |
| % | 16.2% | 16.5% | 16.5% | 15.2% | 16.4% | 16.7% | 16.5% | 15.5% | |
| Rather simple | N | 293 | 36 | 224 | 69 | 24 | 12 | 248 | 81 |
| % | 30.5% | 33.0% | 30.3% | 30.1% | 41.0% | 25% | 31% | 29.9% | |
| Very simple | N | 373 | 34 | 280 | 93 | 13 | 21 | 293 | 113 |
| % | 38.8% | 31.2% | 37.9% | 41.7% | 31.3% | 43.8% | 36.6% | 40.6% | |
| Total | N | 962 | 109 | 739 | 223 | 61 | 48 | 800 | 270 |
| % | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | |
| χ2-criterion | 2.70 | 1.66 | 6.54 | 2.63 | |||||
Our intention was to determine the factor affecting these challenges the most - the year of study or some other factors. Pearson’s χ2 criterion was used to compare registration rates among undergraduate and graduate students. At 95% confidence level (p <0.05), the critical value of Pearson’s criterion for four degrees of freedom is 9.488.
For the compared groups l-4B /l-2M, the results of calculations are χ2emp(2.63) < χ20.05(9.488). Thus, the null hypothesis is accepted, the reliability of the convergence of characteristics (registration rate) between the compared samples (students of different educational and professional levels of training) according to the statistical criterion x2 is 95%, that is, there are no statistically significant differences in registration.
No statistically significant differences are also found in comparing the studied groups by the following parameters:
- form of undergraduate/master’s education - full-time χ2emp(1.66) < χ20.05(9.488) and extramural χ2emp(6.54) < χ20.05(9.488);
- form of education (all students) - full-time/extramural χ2emp(2.70) < χ20.05(9.488).
Thus, none of the above factors reveal statistically significant differences (p <0.05) between students in terms of their registration in Moodle.
The results of the student survey on the use of Moodle depending on the period of restrictions are shown in Table 4.
Table 4 - The use of Moodle depending on the period of restrictions caused by COVID-19.
| Response | N/% | 1B | 2B | 3B | 4B | 1M | 2M | Total |
| Before quarantine | ||||||||
| No or very few disciplines | N | 125 | 105 | 69 | 129 | 72 | 46 | 546 |
| % | 50.0% | 62.9% | 48.6% | 53.5% | 47.7% | 38.3% | 51.0% | |
| The lesser part of the disciplines | N | 48 | 32 | 30 | 62 | 40 | 30 | 242 |
| % | 19.2% | 19.2% | 21.1% | 25.7% | 26.5% | 25.0% | 22.6% | |
| Almost half of the disciplines | N | 46 | 18 | 24 | 32 | 22 | 24 | 166 |
| % | 18.4% | 10.8% | 16.9% | 13.3% | 14.6% | 20.0% | 15.5% | |
| Most of the disciplines | N | 22 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 69 |
| % | 8.8% | 1.2% | 5.6% | 5.0% | 7.9% | 10.8% | 6.4% | |
| Vast majority or all of the disciplines | N | 9 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 48 |
| % | 3.6% | 6.0% | 7.7% | 2.5% | 3.3% | 5.8% | 4.5% | |
| Total | N | 250 | 167 | 142 | 241 | 151 | 120 | 1071 |
| % | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | |
| During quarantine | ||||||||
| No or very few disciplines | N | 12 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 51 |
| % | 4.8% | 6.0% | 3.5% | 3.7% | 4.6% | 6.7% | 4.8% | |
| The lesser part of the disciplines | N | 31 | 25 | 15 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 109 |
| % | 12.4% | 15.0% | 10.6% | 8.3% | 6.6% | 6.7% | 10.2% | |
| Almost half of the disciplines | N | 43 | 33 | 30 | 32 | 28 | 21 | 187 |
| % | 17.2% | 19.8% | 21.1% | 13.3% | 18.5% | 17.5% | 17.5% | |
| Most of the disciplines | N | 53 | 33 | 34 | 41 | 33 | 26 | 220 |
| % | 21.2% | 19.8% | 23.9% | 17.0% | 21.9% | 21.7% | 20.5% | |
| Vast majority or all of the disciplines | N | 111 | 66 | 58 | 139 | 73 | 57 | 504 |
| % | 44.4% | 39.5% | 40.8% | 57.7% | 48.3% | 47.5% | 47.1% | |
| Total | N | 250 | 167 | 142 | 241 | 151 | 120 | 1071 |
| % | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | |
| After quarantine | ||||||||
| No or very few disciplines | N | 29 | 22 | 20 | 30 | 9 | 14 | 124 |
| % | 11.6% | 13.2% | 14.1% | 12.4% | 6.0% | 11.7% | 11.6% | |
| The lesser part of the disciplines | N | 34 | 29 | 22 | 32 | 25 | 11 | 153 |
| % | 13.6% | 17.4% | 15.5% | 13.3% | 16.6% | 9.2% | 14.3% | |
| Almost half of the disciplines | N | 65 | 43 | 41 | 68 | 46 | 43 | 306 |
| % | 26.0% | 25.7% | 28.9% | 28.2% | 30.5% | 35.8% | 28.6% | |
| Most of the disciplines | N | 60 | 27 | 26 | 40 | 34 | 27 | 214 |
| % | 24.0% | 16.2% | 18.3% | 16.6% | 22.5% | 22.5% | 20.0% | |
| Vast majority or all of the disciplines | N | 62 | 46 | 33 | 71 | 37 | 25 | 274 |
| % | 24.8% | 27.5% | 23.2% | 29.5% | 24.5% | 20.8% | 25.6% | |
| Total | N | 250 | 167 | 142 | 241 | 151 | 120 | 1,071 |
| % | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | |
To compare the study of academic disciplines in Moodle by bachelor’s and master’s students, the χ2 criterion (p <0.05) was calculated for the following time frames:
- before quarantine restrictions B/M χ2emp(10.49) > χ20.05(9.488)
- during quarantine restrictions B/M χ2emp(5.32) < χ20.05(9.488)
- after quarantine restrictions B/M χ2emp(7.67) < χ20.05(9.488).
Thus, with respect to the time prior to the restrictions brought about by COVID-19, the compared groups demonstrate a statistically significant difference, whereas in the period during quarantine, there are no differences to be found (reliability 95%). There is also no difference in students’ desire to continue using Moodle after the restrictions caused by COVID-19 are over. The reason for that could probably be that Moodle has become the primary and quite effective platform for the distance learning of university students under quarantine restrictions.
In the conducted study, we compared the responses of students regarding the difficulty/ease of registering in Moodle and the number of disciplines studied through Moodle by students at different levels of training depending on the period of restrictions introduced due to COVID-19.
Our findings suggest that registration on the e-learning website (Moodle) is simple for most students (63-78%), although some difficulties are reported by 9-16% in different years of study. The results obtained are consistent with previous research. For instance, is a study by Shen & Huang (2006), the majority of respondents (76%) had no difficulties registering in Moodle, 16% of students had some difficulties, which they easily overcame, and 8% of the respondents failed to register on their own and asked for help from the teacher. In this respect, we suggest that teachers and employees of the e-learning platform conduct appropriate methodological work to consult students before or during their registration in Moodle.
Furthermore, students who had the most difficulties registering note that prior to quarantine restrictions, most of their academic courses were not represented in Moodle. Specifically, 81.4% of the students for whom registration was “very difficult” and 58.9% of those for whom it was “difficult” report having little to no disciplines studied in Moodle before the pandemic. Accordingly, these students had no prior experience working in the system, which, in our view, could be the reason for their difficulties in registering.
Over 70% of all students note that before the pandemic restrictions were introduced, Moodle had been very little used in their studies. Afterward, under the quarantine restrictions, the number of academic disciplines represented on the e-learning platform increased sharply for both bachelor’s and master’s students, which is consistent with the results of the 2020 Analytical report (Barannikov et al., 2020). While before the COVID-19-induced restrictions, 25% of undergraduate students and about 30% of graduate students reported at least half or more disciplines studied in Moodle, these numbers increased to nearly 84% and 88%, respectively, during the restrictions, or from about 26% to nearly 85% for all responding students.
Meanwhile, the primary scenarios of the use of Moodle are practically identical before and during the pandemic limitations: the most widespread is the use of educational and methodical materials of the discipline by students (lecture courses, textbooks, materials for practical classes, working programs of academic disciplines, and the like); sending the completed current academic tasks; computer testing to perform the tasks of the module and final control (Benta et al., 2014). The biggest change during quarantine restrictions is driven by an increase in the number of academic disciplines in Moodle (Barannikov et al., 2020).
This fact affected the use of Moodle before and after quarantine measures, which is evidenced by the fact that as of the end of 2020, 97.4% of students and all teachers of the universities covered in our study were registered on the Moodle platform. The number of daily views of educational materials and daily users of the universities’ e-learning systems in Moodle also shows a significant increase compared to previous years.
Organization of e-learning also has a positive effect on the formation of students’ positive attitudes to Moodle, which goes in line with previous studies - most undergraduate (72%) and graduate students (78%) express a desire to continue taking academic disciplines in Moodle (Table 4).
Conclusions
The research findings show that the Moodle platform enjoys great popularity in higher education and presents an effective instrument for organizing distance learning. The study reveals some limitations in the use of Moodle for teaching students that had been faced prior to the restrictions brought about by COVID-19, since only 25% of bachelor’s students and about 30% of master’s students studied most of their academic disciplines on the platform. In the period of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the conditions of distance learning, these shares grew up to 84% and 88%, respectively.
After the alleviation of pandemic restrictions, 72% of undergraduate students and 78% of graduate students show a willingness to study most of their courses on the Moodle platform. Whereas prior to the quarantine restrictions, there was a statistically significant difference between the compared groups in the use of Moodle, during the pandemic restrictions and afterward, no differences are detected.
The majority of university students in all years of study (63-78%) have no difficulties registering in Moodle. Some difficulty in registering is reported by about 9-16% of students in different courses. According to the χ2 criterion (p < 0.05), no statistically significant difference is found in the indicators of student registration by their educational and professional levels, form of education, and gender. It is established that among the students who had a “very difficult” and “difficult” time registering in Moodle, 81.4% and 58.9%, respectively, had no or very few disciplines taught through Moodle prior to the pandemic. The lack of relevant experience in e-learning probably caused students to have further difficulties registering in Moodle.
Prospective further research in this area, we believe, is expedient to be aimed at the further analysis of the various aspects of the influence of distance learning in general and the Moodle platform in particular on both students and teachers at universities.
