How Does the Use of Open Digital Spaces Impact Students Success and Dropout in a Virtual University?

Virtual universities have developed considerably over the past decade, particularly on the African continent. They provide a way to deal with the considerable need to educate a large young population, but the lack of physical space can be a drawback that prevents students from succeeding and increasing dropout compared to a more traditional face-to-face university. To limit these issues, some virtual universities have been opening Open Digital Spaces (ODS) to complement the virtual space and offer students a place where to work and solve pedagogical, technical or administrative issues. However, it is unclear how students actually make use of these ODS and which uses can be beneficial or detrimental to their success and limit dropout. In this paper we lead an exploratory study of the results of a large-scale digital survey in a major African Virtual University (N=2392 answers) to identify factors in the use of Open Digital Spaces (ODS) that have an impact on students' success and dropout. We analyzed the data using multiple Chi-Square tests of independence. Results indicate that students who visit ODSs more during the 2 weeks before an exam or only when it is mandatory are statistically less likely to succeed, contrary to students who come to work in groups or for the internet access who are more likely to succeed. Conversely, students who do not see the value of ODSs for learning and who visit only when mandatory are more likely to dropout, contrary to students who come when they have a pedagogical need or to work in groups who are less likely to dropout. Some factors particularly impact first year university students, highlighting the need to make them understand which use of the ODS are relevant to increase their chances to graduate.