IDENTIFY THE FACTORS AFFECTING EFFICACY AND EFFICIENCY OF ONLINE EDUCATION WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO COVID-19 AS PERCEIVED BY STUDENTS

Abstract

Disruption in the education system has shown positive results with few limiting factors. This study was conducted to investigate and understand the factors which have maximum influence on the student’s efficacy and efficiency while pursuing education through online mode. Based on the literature, the factors were taken into account. The primary motive to conduct this research was to understand the points that can improve online education, leading to an increase in efficiency of the students, which hasn’t been discussed till now. Primary data was collected through a questionnaire that was designed to cover several aspects relating to students’ efficiency and efficacy. The survey was conducted electronically and was distributed voluntarily in different educational institutes across the state. The sample consists of 200 students from management and commerce backgrounds. The exploratory principal component factor analysis technique was used to explore and extract the factors considering the variables with the help of the SPSS platform. Nine key factors have been identified through the factor analysis. Teaching presence, student satisfaction, computer-based test familiarity/satisfaction, and face-to-face learning have proved to be most important with the support of other factors. Online infrastructure, video conference tool awareness, and sources are another set of constructs affecting the abilities. The research focuses on increasing efficacy and efficiency in an online environment. With the current scenario involving acquiring the knowledge through online mode, the experiences shall help students grow and develop. Teaching presence, awareness of computer-based test and video conferencing tools, and online infrastructure play a key role in supporting their educational objectives. Online education still needs a lot of support in IT literacy skills among both students and teachers for their satisfaction.