Perception of HND Students towards the Use of Virtual Learning Systems in Federal Polytechnic Ede, Osun State

The need to maximise the rate of use of technological devices for educational purpose in order to boost the acceptance rate, acquaintance, and competency in the use of virtual learning systems among the students of higher institutions in Nigeria is of high importance. The perception of Higher National Diploma (HND) students of Federal Polytechnic Ede towards the use of virtual learning systems (VLS) was studied. The population of HND students of School of Business and Management Studies (SBMS) as at the time of the research was 1422 out of which 40% sample was drawn for the study making a total of 570. The types of the virtual learning systems (VLS) available at the Federal Polytechnic Ede was examined, digital competence of the students, their perception of VLS use and challenges of using VLS were also examined. Findings revealed positive perceptions towards VLS use among the understudied students, digital competencies needed for use of VLS include: basic operation skills, practical usage skills, knowledge transfer skill among others. Despite the positive perception rate of VLS use among the understudied, it was discovered that there are some hindrances to the use of virtual learning systems these include: unfavourable network connectivity, epileptic power supply, lack of smart phones among some HND students among others. The study concluded that most of the VLS are available and the students are familiar with the digital competencies needed for their use. Recommendations of possible solutions were given based on the challenges identified