Evaluating Online Learning in India: Insights from Students

Abstract

As technology has advanced, the educational system has undergone numerous modifications. The benefits of online teaching and learning include increased accessibility, reduced costs, and the opportunity to learn at any time and from any location. However, a few drawbacks of this approach include a decline in student involvement, a lack of face-to-face interaction with classmates and teachers, and technical difficulties. Improving the online teaching and learning mechanism from the student’s perspective is crucial to enhance its use. In this study, we closely examine the challenges that students encounter when studying online and rank the perspectives with an aim to improve their participation and engagement. This study is based on a dataset gathered online during COVID-19 to assess the problems and perspectives of students and teachers involved in online teaching learning. Purposive sampling was used to collect data from 683 totally completed questionnaires for the study. We use statistical and decision-making approaches, including RIDIT, TOPSIS, and RII, to examine the data from multiple viewpoints related to online learning, including student motivation, platform usability, instructional quality, and accessibility. The study evaluates these components based on how they affect student participation: Academic and emotional. The ensemble majority voting method combines the findings obtained from the tools used. Additionally, the outcome of Spearman's rank correlation study between the ranks derived from the three approaches showed a favorable association between these methods.