Comparison of social skills of students in in-person training and online system

The computer is used as a powerful yet cost-effective tool in people's lives for any work or activity. The use of computers in education has increased dramatically in recent years, and computers and related technologies are now used in many schools around the world. Up to recently people should gather to learn in a specific place and time, but nowadays by the advancement of technological infrastructures and the Internet this need has vanished to a great extent. Soon everyone is able to learn anything, anywhere, at any time. This is accomplished under the umbrella of a new educational system, called e-learning. Social skills include components. Tolerance, how to react in the face of conflict, critical thinking, the decision to accept or reject an opinion and success based on logical reasons and evidence, responsibility, taking on a job or task and being accountable for it, activity Group activities, participation in group activities, duty, self-control, empathy, gaining, enriching and developing new relationships with other people in the community, respecting others, paying attention to relationships that preserve the social status of oneself and others, and finally, cooperation and coordination with the actions of others towards a common goal are components of social skills. Of all the organizations that play a key role in the socialization of individuals, educational systems are the first official place to gain social experience and the most basic element of social development of individuals because the education system of any society. It is the foundation of the social, economic, political and cultural development of that society. The purpose of this research was comparing the social skills of students under conventional training and e-learning education system.

 The research method is quasi-experimental with two experimental groups. The first comparison was done using a “Pre-Test” and second comparison was also done using a “Post-Test”. A total of 48 people were randomly selected as a sample group. These two groups were similar and comparing the dependent variable was done at the same time and under the same condition.  The social skills questionnaire By Garsham & Elliot was used. The Analyze of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used for analyzing data.

The results showed that there are significant differences between the two groups and e-learning environment in terms of social skills and social skills components of users of this environment has shown better performance in comparison to Face-To-Face training.

The results of the analysis of research data indicate that the e-learning environment has a positive effect on the level of social skills and its components on students. Students in the e-learning environment scored higher than the other group in the traditional learning environment. This indicates the effectiveness of the environment designed for e-learning in the level of social skills.