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Students’ Perception and Preference for Online Education in India During COVID -19 Pandemic

38 Pages Posted: 12 May 2020 Publication Status: Published

See all articles by Muthuprasad T

Muthuprasad T

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - Division of Agricultural Economics

Aiswarya S

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - Division of Agricultural Extension

K.S. Aditya

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - Division of Agricultural Economics

Girish K. Jha

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - Division of Agricultural Economics

Abstract

Educational institutes across the world have closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic jeopardizing the academic calendars. Most educational institutes have shifted to online learning platforms to keep the academic activities going. However, the questions about the preparedness, designing and effectiveness of e-learning is still not clearly understood, particularly for a developing country like India, where the technical constraints like suitability of devices and bandwidth availability poses a serious challenge. In this study, we focus on understanding Agricultural Student’s perception and preference towards the online learning through an online survey of 307 students. We also explored the student’s preferences for various attributes of online classes, which will be helpful to design effective online learning environment. The results indicated that majority of the respondents (70%) are ready to opt for online classes to manage the curriculum during this pandemic. Majority of the students preferred to use smart phone for online learning. Using content analysis, we found that students prefer recorded classes with quiz at the end of each class to improve the effectiveness of learning. The students opined that flexibility and convenience of online classes makes it attractive option, whereas broadband connectivity issues in rural areas makes it a challenge for students to make use of online learning initiatives.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Competing Interest: We whole-heartedly acknowledge all the respondents for spending their valuable time on filling our questionnaire

Keywords: online learning, perception, preferences, content analysis

Suggested Citation

T, Muthuprasad and S, Aiswarya and Aditya, K.S. and Jha, Girish K., Students’ Perception and Preference for Online Education in India During COVID -19 Pandemic. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3596056 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3596056

Muthuprasad T (Contact Author)

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - Division of Agricultural Economics ( email )

New Delhi
India

Aiswarya S

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - Division of Agricultural Extension ( email )

New Delhi
India

K.S. Aditya

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - Division of Agricultural Economics ( email )

New Delhi
India

Girish K. Jha

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - Division of Agricultural Economics ( email )

New Delhi
India

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