Learning Remotely during a Pandemic: Are Students in a Developing Country Fully Equipped with Tools for Swift Changes?

Abstract

Many higher educational institutes are forced to the online mode of lecture delivery without fully understanding students’ perspectives of remote study during COVID-19, and the resource limitations of students to engage successfully in remote learning. The present study aimed to understand this gap and the students’ perspective. We collected and analysed the devices, which used by the students to connect to remote learning in a developing country. It was found that the majority of students are dependent on the laptop-smartphone combination to engage in remote learning, particularly the students in rural areas. The results highlighted the importance of smartphones in the online learning experience, considering their affordability, relatively long battery life, inbuilt internet capabilities, and portability. Although students indicated their willingness for remote learning, they clearly recognised the need for face-to-face teaching return to avoid some of the challenges and disadvantages they face as a part of remote learning.

Adoption of Online Education and Pedagogy as New Codes of Life for New Future in Rural Regions

“…With the interruption of face-to-face education, it is seen that online measurement and flexible evaluation methods, which are not normally used, are used in education [27]. Designing student assessment "helps teachers to focus as well [18].…”

“…In a study examining the digital divide in urban and rural areas [17], it was found that the absence of computers, smartphones, and internet bandwidth for low-income families affects the participation of students in online education at home. Such findings were echoed by [18] that majority of students in rural areas must depend upon laptop-smartphone combinations to engage in remote learning and therefore the affordability of such devices, battery life of devices, portability, and internet connection become crucial issues. In a study on the experiences of nursing students [19] about shifting from face-to-face to e-learning education, the main challenges were limited electronic resources and a balance between work and family responsibilities while learning in online mode.…”

Analysing mobile learning designs: A framework for transforming learning post-COVID

“…Contrary to small-scale and discipline-specific applications of mobile learning pre-COVID, utilisation post-COVID has been generic and widespread. Multiple recent studies from the field have reported significant impact on the adoption of mobile learning, particularly on learner remote access to education (Baldock et al, 2021;Dhar et al, 2021;Eutsler, 2021;Hartmann et al, 2021;Naciri et al, 2020;Perera & Gamage, 2021;Recke & Perna, 2021).…”