The Impact of Asynchronous Instructional Platform on Motivation and Academic Achievement of Students’ in Technical Education

Abstract

IntroductionTeaching and learning process in the present generation is no longer solely confined to the classroom or school days. Advancement in technology has now made it possible for education to be distributed when, where and how the teachers and learners desired without necessarily remaining under the same roof, in the same traditional environment. Perhaps, it is in support of this assertion that Adamu and Nathaniel (2019) affirmed that the advent and subsequent transformation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has now made it possible for the 21 st century teachers to interact with their students beyond the confines of the conventional four corners of the classroom using elearning medium.According to Ogbonna, Ibezim and Obi (2019) one of the popular e-learning platforms where this is achieved is known as the Asynchronous instruction. Asynchronous instruction platform is defined by Dada, Alkali and Oyewola (2019) as a type of e-learning platform that makes learning available as soon as or whenever it is required. Asynchronous elearning gives the learners greater flexibility in term of learning time, content and process. Many of the present e-learning systems offer asynchronous learning environments because they are easy to set up and are cheaper than synchronous elearning methods. Perhaps, it is in this regard that Raymond, Atsumbe, Okwori, Jebba (2016) asserted that Asynchronous instruction is becoming the popular teaching and learning e-learning platform which teachers can use to interact with their students beyond the confines of the conventional four corners of the classroom. This view also agrees with that of Adamu and Natahniel (2017) that Asynchronous instruction is a student-centered teaching method that uses e-learning resources to facilitate information sharing outside the constraints of time and place among a network of people.One of the unique characteristics of the Asynchronous instruction according to Dada, Alkali and Oyewola ( 2019) is that instructional delivery does not take place simultaneously. In this case, the teacher may deliver the instruction via video, computer, or other means, and the students respond at a later time. For example, instruction may be delivered via the Web or videotapes, and the feedback could be sent via e-mail messages. Smith ( 2009) gave examples of asynchronous instruction packages to include the use of eLearning applications such as hypertext documents, wikis, blogs, email, discussion boards, audio and video conferencing as well as the use of social media networking such as Facebook, Whats App, etc. Other examples of asynchronous instruction technology includes DVD, CD Rom, video tape, Moodle and Youtube.