Impact of Online Learning in India: A Survey of University Students During the COVID-19 Crisis

Abstract

The unprecedented situation of COVID-19 caused the government of India to instruct educational institutions to switch to an online mode to mitigate the losses for students due to the pandemic. The present study attempts to explore the impact of online learning introduced as a stop-gap arrangement during the pandemic in India. A survey was conducted (N=289), via Facebook and WhatsApp, June 1-15, 2020 to understand the accessibility and effectiveness of online learning and constraints that students of higher education across the country faced during the peak times of the pandemic. The analysis and interpretation of the data revealed that the students acclimatized in a short span of time to online learning, with only 33% saying they were not satisfied with the online learning mode. However, the sudden shift to online education has presented more challenges for the socially and economically marginalized groups, including Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Class (OBC), females, and students in rural areas, due to factors like the price of high-speed Internet (78% identified it as a barrier to online learning), insufficient infrastructure (23% needed to share their device frequently or very frequently), poor Internet connectivity, etc. According to 76% of respondents, the future of learning will be in “blended mode.” A total of 89% of the respondents suggested that the government should provide high-quality video conferencing facilities free to students to mitigate the division created by online education in an already divided society.