Index

Effectiveness of Online Learning during the COVID -19 Pandemic in Mizoram

L.P. Lalduhawma1; L. Thangmawia2*; Jamal Hussain3

1,2Department of Mathematics, Pachhunga University College, Aizawl, India.
3Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Mizoram University, Tanhril, India.

Abstract

Due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, most schools in Mizoram shifted to online learning platforms to continue with their academic activities.  A survey was carried out using a questionnaire to identify the effectiveness of online learning. 356 students and 60 teachers from different secondary and higher secondary schools in Mizoram responded to this survey.  To find the effectiveness of online learning, percentages were calculated to analyze the data and the mathematical consensus (Cns)  were calculated.  Students’ preferences and perceptions on various attributes of online classes were analyzed. The results indicated that most of the students and teachers were not quite ready to shift to online learning platforms. Bad internet connectivity,  low data  limits, slow data speed,  demand  for costly devices such as smart  phones  and related software   and connectivity  were  problems faced in  conducting online classes. It was found that the students preferred  using smart phones  to follow  online classes, and mathematics was the most difficult subject to  learn or teach  in online classes.

Keywords:Online learning, Consensus, Mean, Perception, Preferences, Mizoram.

1. Introduction

Mizoram is the land of the Mizo people, a north eastern  state of India  lying between Myanmar and Bangladesh. Aizawl is the capital city of Mizoram and there are eleven districts in this state.  The state covers 21,081 square  kilometers of land area. According to the 2011 census, the state population  was around eleven lakhs (1.1 million) and the literacy rate  was around 91%. The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic  has  been a major problem in Mizoram. To minimize the spread of Covid-19, the education institutions in Mizoram  made  the transition to online teaching and learning soon after the first Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. The online education affected the quality of the education system, student's comprehension of  lessons and teaching quality of the teachers.

In the beginning of February 2020, China closed her   education institutions due to the  rising pandemic. In mid-March, almost eighty countries around the world announced the closure of their  education institutions. By the end of April 2020, one hundred and eighty six countries  had closed down their  education institutions, affecting about 1.3  billion  enrolled learners (UNESCO, 2020). In India a  nation-wide lockdown for twenty one days started from 25th March 2020, which was later extended for nineteen days. In Mizoram, the private  institutions started their online learning sessions soon after the lockdown, even before the announcement was made by the government. The main aim of this   study was to investigate the quality of online teaching and learning practiced during the pandemic lockdown in the state of Mizoram.  Online education had never been  practiced before and it  was a massive experiment for this state. The effectiveness of online learning depends on the online environment as well as understanding and addressing  constraints faced by the students and teachers.  This study examined  the perceptions of Mizoram state higher and secondary school students  and teachers and various other attributes which could make  online teaching and learning more effective and fruitful. In secondary level education,  the syllabuses include Major Indian languages, English, Science, Social Science and Mathematics;  in  higher secondary education,  students are divided into three streams,  namely Arts, Commerce and Science. The results of this  study may be important for the Mizoram state as well as for the rest of the world because most  educational institutions  did not  have much time to design and  adapt  their course contents for online  teaching and learning,  to enable the  experiences of teachers and students  to be incorporated  into online learning, to make the process easy and more effective. There  was uncertainty about the length of the pandemic and chances of second waves and third waves surfacing, so the  education  authorities modified the course  structures  to fit e-learning platforms.

2. Literature Survey

The advancement of technology brings new types of online content for teaching and learning. The preferences and  perceptions of learners and teachers are very important to make online learning and teaching effective and productive. Warner, Christie and Choy (1998) proposed the concept of readiness for online learning in the Australian vocational educational and training sector. Smith, Murphy and Mahoney (2003) conducted an exploratory study for online readiness and came up with two factors: ‘Comfort with e-learning’ and ‘Self-management of e- learning’. Luaran, Samsuri, Nadzri and Rom (2014) studied the students’ perspectives on the effectiveness of using e-learning among secondary school students in Kuala Lumpur. Muthuprasad, Aiswarya, Aditya and Jha (2021) investigated the students’ perceptions and preferences for online education in India during the Covid-19 pandemic. Rafique, Mahmood, Warraich and Rehman (2021) studied the readiness for online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic among the library and information science students in Pakistan. The factors of readiness for online learning and motivation and learning with computer and internet are explored in the following research papers by Gunawardena and Zittle (1997); Lin and Hsieh (2001); Deci and Ryan (1985); Ryan and Deci (2000); Frankola (2001); Hung, Chou, Chen and Own (2010); Bignoux and Sund (2018).  Several studies reveal that the instructor’s interaction with students has considerable impact on the student’s perceptions of online learning. Cereijo, Young and Wilhelm (1999) investigated the factors facilitating learner participation in asynchronous Web-based courses and Swan et al. (2000) studied the consistency of course designs. The teacher’s interaction with students also has a considerable impact on the students’ perceptions of online learning. Arbaugh (2000) studied how classroom environment and student engagement affected learning in internet based Master of Business Administration (MBA) courses. Sun and Chen (2016) studied how effective online classes depended on well-structured course content, well prepared instructors and advanced technologies. Pandey et al. (2022)  recommended online teaching   during the Covid-19 pandemic  but  concluded that satisfaction with online  learning is significantly dependent on the teaching   method and attitudes of teachers and lecturers towards delivering  online  lessons.  Studies related to online learning  are found in the research papers by Petrides (2002); Wagner, Werner, and Schramm (2002); Vonderwell (2003); Woods Jr (2002); Kim, Liu, and Bonk (2005); Piccoli, Ahmad, and Ives (2001); Song, Singleton, Hill, and Koh (2004); Shahzad, Hassan, Aremu, Hussain and Lodhi (2021).

3. Data Analysis and Methodology

For this study, the respondents were chosen from different parts of Mizoram.  356 students and 60 teachers were selected from different higher and secondary schools in Mizoram. Among them, 230 were secondary school students and 126 were higher secondary school students, with 239 male and 117 female students.  Among the teachers, 38 were males and 22 were females, with 2 graduate and 58 post- graduate students. In the year 2020 in Mizoram, the education institutions were closed due to the pandemic lockdown, beginning from March 2020.  The lockdown eased slowly and face-to-face classroom teaching was partially carried out in the following year, 2021. During that time a preliminary questionnaire was designed with the help of literature survey and informal discussion with the students and teachers who had experience in online learning and teaching printed questionnaires were distributed to both government and private-owned institutions where students attended online classes.

 Data were collected on demographic features of the respondents, the teachers’ and students’ preferences  and perceptions, benefits  and drawbacks and constraints  and suggestions. The statements in the questionnaires  were designed based on the literature survey and discussions with students, teachers and experts. The percentages  were calculated to  analyze the data and the mathematical consensus (Cns)  were calculated  using the following formula (Tastle & Wierman, 2007).

The mirror image of consensus is dissension (Dnt) and the standard deviations always increase as dissension increases. It has the following form (Tastle & Wierman, 2007):

  The dissension is always one minus consensus, i.e.

In the five point continuum scale (likert scale), the number of individuals participating in the group does not have any impact on the value of the consensus. The shift of one person from strongly agree to strongly disagree causes the balance to shift slightly towards the strongly disagree on the likert scale.  When participants in the group shift to neutral, the degree of consensus increases. Hence the degree of proximity increases as the number of individuals in the group adjusts their perceptions about the statement under discussion and move towards or away from the agreement. The increase in the number of participants does not affect the consensus measure. Regardless of the number of participants, the proportion of the group in each category is constant and the measure of consensus remains unchanged (Tastle and Wierman, 2007).

4. Results and Findings of Study

The analysis of the data is as follows:

4.1 Demographics of Respondents

The demographic variables include degree (degree refers to the Level of Education in the case of students; and Educational Qualification in the case of teachers)e, sex, place of residence and district. The mean age of students was 18 years and 41.45 years for teachers. Among the students, 64.6% were higher secondary school students and 35.4% were secondary school students; there were 96.6% post graduate teachers. The percentage of male students  was 67.1 and female students comprised  32.9%. As for teachers, 63.3% were males and 36.7%  were females. There  were 73.3% of students living in urban areas and 26.7%  living in rural areas, while all the teachers  were from the city area (see Table 1).

Table 1. Demographic details of respondents.
Students Item
Nos.
Teachers Item
Nos.
Degree Higher Sec. School
230
Degree Graduate
2
High School
126
Post Graduate
58
Total
356
Total
60
Sex Male
239
Sex Male
38
Female
117
Female
22
Residence Rural
95
Residence Rural
0
Urban
261
Urban
60
Age group 10 – 15
4
Age group 26 – 35
24
16 – 20
348
36 – 45
14
21 – 25
4
46 – 60
22
District Aizawl
275
District Aizawl
60
Others
81
Others
0

4.2. Basic Information on Online Classes

Among the students in the study sample, 86.2% had experience in attending online classes and 73.3% of teachers  had prior online  teaching experience. Some private schools started online classes just after the first covid-19 pandemic lockdown; they  comprised 26.6% of the overall number of students and teachers. Many of the students (77.8%)  attended online  classes less than 10 times  a week and 76.6%  attended online mathematics  classes less than 5 times  a week while 73.3% of teachers  conducted online  classes less than 10 times and online mathematics  classes less than 5 times  a week. During the pandemic lockdown, 26.7% of the students wanted teachers to provide only  assignments and reading materials, 41.3% wanted to  suspend the curriculum and 32% wanted to manage with online classes. Among teachers, 26.6% wanted to provide only  assignments and reading materials, 10% wanted to reduce the syllabus and 63.4% wanted to manage with online  classes during this pandemic.  Most of the students (62.9%) and teachers (76.6%) opined that Mathematics  was the most difficult subject to teach and understand  in online classes. During  the Covid 19 pandemic lockdown, the teaching videos of different subjects  were broadcasted throughout Mizoram. Only 14% of the students thought that this broadcasting was helpful while 50% of the teachers thought it was good. Basic information on online classes is seen in Table 2; the s- inside parenthesis indicates students and t indicates the teachers in the study.

Table 2. Basic information on online classes.
Questions Response
Nos.
Do you have any experience in attending or conducting online  classes? Yes
307(s), 44(t)
No
49(s), 16(t)
 Did your institution  begin online  classes during the first Covid 19 lockdown? Yes
94(s), 16(t)
No
262(s), 44(t)
How many online classes were conducted  in a week? Less than ten
277(s), 44(t)
Ten to twenty online class
72(s), 14(t)
More than twenty
7(s), 2(t)
How many online Mathematics  classes were conducted  in a week? Less than five
273(s), 44(t)
Five to ten online class
79(s), 14(t)
More than ten
4(s), 2(t)
What measures will you suggest for the education system during the Covid 19 pandemic lockdown? Providing assignments and reading materials
95(s), 16(t)
Suspending the curriculum scheduled
147(s), 6(t)
Managing with online classes
114(s), 38(t)
Which subject is most difficult to  teach /study in online  classes? Mathematics
244(s), 46(t)
Science
96(s), 12(t)
  Languages
16(s), 2(t)
Is broadcasting lectures over the local TV channels during the pandemic helpful? Yes
50(s), 30(t)
No
217(s), 18(t)
No idea
89(s), 12(t)
Note: s- students and t – teachers.

4.3. Technical Requirements for Online Class

 The devices preferred by the  respondents  when attending  or conducting  lectures in online classes were Smart  phones (54.2%  students and 23.3%  teachers), Laptops (38.7%  students and 60%  teachers), Tablets (2.2% students and 6.6%  teachers); Desktops  were chosen  by the rest.  In providing class updates, 95.5% of the students and 93.3% of teachers  chose  Whatsapp,  as it is the most common means of communication  used  by the people of Mizoram.  The most common source of internet among the teachers and students  was the mobile data pack, at 66.6% and 63.7% respectively. Google meet, Google classroom and Zoom were the most common soft-wares used for online classes. The preferred software for attending and conducting  lectures online   were zoom and Google classroom;  53.3%  of students chose zoom  and 36.6% of teachers  chose Google classroom.  The details of the technical requirements for online classes are seen in Table 3.

Table 3. Technical requirements for online classes.
Attributes Response
Nos.
Response
Nos.
Preferred device for online classes Smart phone
193(s), 14(t)
Tablet
8(s), 4(t)
Laptop
138(s), 36(t)
Desktop
17(s), 6(t)
Means of communication for class updates Whatsapp
340(s), 46(t)
Others
16(s), 4(t)
Main source of   internet Mobile data  pack
227(s), 40(t)
Others
129(s), 20(t)
Preferred software for  online classes Google meet
80(s), 12(t)
Google classroom
33(s), 22(t)
Zoom
197(s), 16(t)
Others
46(s), 10(t)
Note: s- students and t – teachers.

4.4. Structure of Online Classes

The preferences of  teachers and students for the structure of online  classes are seen in Table 4.  35.6% of the students  and 50% of the teachers  preferred live online  classes.  19.3% of students and 10% of teachers chose  recordable live online  classes. 31.1% of students and 26.6% of teachers wished to upload the recorded online  classes into the internet sites and the rest of the teachers and students preferred  just sending  out the teaching and reading materials. For the course materials, 75% of the students and 80% of teachers  liked video contents with reading materials. Among the students, 11.23% liked PowerPoint presentations for their video content materials, 12.9% liked white board presentations, 35.1% liked both PowerPoint and white board presentations and the rest  felt it should fit  convenience and requirements. Among the teachers, in video content materials, 40% liked PowerPoint and white board presentations, 36%  left it to convenience and requirement and 16.6% liked only white board presentations  while the rest of the few liked PowerPoint presentations only.

The frequency and duration of online classes are shown in  Table 4. Around 15.4% of students and 23.3% of teachers wanted online  classes every day. 45.7% of students and 40% of teachers liked as per scheduled to complete the syllabus. 31.4% of students and 46.6% of teachers preferred the duration of online  classes at 30 minutes per session while 38.4% of students and 33.3% of teachers  preferred 45- minute lessons. The duration of break between two consecutive online classes was preferred at 15 minutes by 41.2% of the students and 80% of teachers. Around 50.5% of students and 63.3% of teachers thought that technical training  was necessary for online classes and 59.3% of students and 73.3% of teachers  needed privacy to attend and  deliver online  lessons (see Table 4).

Table 4. Structure of online classes.
Attributes Response
Nos.
Online class format Live online classes
127(s), 30(t)
Live online classes that can be recorded
69(s), 6(t)
Recorded classes that are uploaded in the internet sites
111(s), 16(t)
Sending reading/teaching materials
49(s), 8(t)
Nature of course material Reading material is sufficient
52(s), 8(t)
Video content with reading material
269(s), 48(t)
Video content is sufficient
35(s), 4(t)
Nature of video 
content   		PowerPoint presentation
40(s), 4(t)
White board presentation
46(s), 10(t)
Both power point and white board presentations
125(s), 24(t)
As per convenience and requirement
145(s), 22(t)
Frequency of online classes conducted by each of the course instructors 
 		 Daily
55(s), 14(t)
Alternate days
87(s), 14(t)
Once a week  
26(s), 6(t)
Twice a week  
25(s), 2(t)
As per the schedule to complete the syllabus
163(s), 24(t)
Duration of online classes (per class) 30 minutes
112(s), 28(t)
45 minutes
137(s), 20(t)
1 hour
78(s), 12(t)
More than 1 hour
29(s), 0(t)
 Time needed for a break between two online classes Less than 10 munities
14(s), 0(t)
10 minutes
61(s), 10(t)
15 minutes
147(s), 48(t)
More than 15 minutes
134(s), 2(t)
 What do you think of technical training for online classes? Necessity
180(s), 38(t)
Not a necessity
176(s), 22(t)
 Do you think that privacy is necessary to attend online classes? Necessity
211(s), 44(t)
Not a necessity
145(s), 16(t)

Note: s- students and t - teachers. 

4.5 Development in Conducting Online Classes

The various  means of communication used for communication in online education are as follows:  whatsapp was preferred by 36.7% of students and 40% of teachers, while 14% of students and 26.6% of teachers preferred   separate platforms for posting  comments and answers.  54.2% of students expected  their instructors to clarify their  doubts within a  short period of time while in reality only 46.6% of teachers  responded early to students’ queries.  28.9% of students and 40% of teachers chose to have their  enquiries answered within a day. Around 83.3% of teachers and 62.3% of students preferred to ask questions  during online classes and 57.5% students and 80% of teachers  preferred   giving assignments at the end of online classes. 46% of the students and 90% of teachers thought that online exams  were not fair  while 29.2% of students and 10% of teachers  had no idea about online exams.  Around 61.5% of students and 46.6% of teachers preferred online exams to be  solely objective in nature  while 33.7% of students and 53.4% of teachers preferred  objective as well as descriptive or subjective type questions. The details of development in online classes can be seen in Table 5.

Table 5. Development in online classes.
Attributes Response
Nos.
Ways of clarifying  enquiries Using live chat and email
16(s), 0(t)
Creating platforms for posting enquiries
50(s), 16(t)
Direct contact with course instructor
31(s), 10(t)
Using whatsapp
131(s), 24(t)
All of the above
128(s), 10(t)
Expected time for   clarifying  inquiries Within a few hours
193(s), 28(t)
Within a day
103(s), 24(t)
Within a week
19(s), 2(t)
 Before the next class
41(s), 6(t)
Do you like quizzes to be held  at the  end of  each online class  for better learning outcomes? Yes
222(s), 50(t)
No
134(s), 10(t)
Do you like assignments to be given at the end of each class? Yes
205(s), 48(t)
No
151(s), 12(t)
How do you feel about   online exams? It will not be fair
164(s), 54(t)
It will be fair enough
88(s), 0(t)
I have no idea
104(s), 6(t)
Nature of online exams Objective only
219(s), 28(t)
 Subjective only
17(s), 0(t)
Both Objective and Subjective
120(s), 32(t)

Note: s- students and t - teachers. 

4.6. Perceptions of Respondents on Online Classes

The  frequencies of ten statements rated on a five point continuum scale are shown in Tables 6 and 7, for both students and teachers. Around 62% of students and 56.6% of teachers do not believe that it is possible for online courses  to achieve similar  learning outcomes as classroom courses. 62.3% students and 56.6% teachers do not think that online courses can help  in the comprehension of course materials as compared  with classroom teaching.  58.4% of students and 56.6% of teachers think that online mathematics classes  are  inconvenient and difficult to comprehend compared  with other subjects. Local television broadcast teaching is not  seen to be effective  when compared  with online teaching,  according to 69.6% of students and 53.3% of teachers.  Furthermore, online classes  are not  helpful  to poor people  as they face many problems in acquiring the required tools,  based on the opinion of 60.6% of students and 56.6% of teachers (see Table 6 & Table 7).

Table 6. Students’ opinions of online classes.
Statements
1
2
3
4
5
Mean
Cns
Dnt
1. It is not  possible to structure  online classes along the same lines as  classrooms
93
128
64
52
19
2.37
0.55
0.45
2. Online classes can help students to  comprehend the  lesson materials just as  in classroom learning
70
152
71
40
23
2.42
0.58
0.42
3. It is easier to communicate with instructors   online than in the classroom
78
85
84
56
53
2.77
0.46
0.54
4.  Participating in   online lessons is easier  than participating in   classroom lessons
87
68
76
70
55
2.82
0.43
0.57
5. Technical skills can be increased by  attending online classes
62
57
77
96
64
3.12
0.46
0.54
6. It is important  for  instructors  to be more   effective during online    teaching compared  with classroom teaching
66
68
72
90
60
3.02
0.46
0.54
7. Students’ attention  is more important  for successful  online   learning than  classroom  learning
59
84
86
73
54
2.94
0.49
0.51
8. It is more  convenient to  learn mathematics online  compared with other subjects
115
93
57
36
55
2.50
0.41
0.59
9.  Learning  through local television  broadcasts is better than  learning online
151
97
51
37
20
2.09
0.53
0.47
10.  In spite of costly materials, online  classes  are  helpful for poor students
134
82
51
41
48
2.40
0.40
0.60

Note: Learning is associated with students and teaching is associated with teachers.
Where, 1 – Strongly disagree, 2 – Disagree, 3 – Neutral, 4 – Agree, 5 – Strongly agree.

Tables 6 and 7 show that the consensus varied between 0.40 and 0.58  among students and 0.44 to 0.62  among teachers, which implies that there was neither perfect agreement nor perfect disagreement between the respondents regarding the effectiveness of online teaching and learning (see Muthuprasad et al., 2021).

4.7. Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Classes

The perceptions of the participants on distractions, technological constraints, environments, learners, instructors and economic issues which are seen as challenges faced in  online learning  are analyzed in this study. The results show that most of the teachers (93.3%) face problems with network connectivity while 90% and 86.6% of teachers face problems with data limit and speed respectively.  Lack of face to face interaction  is a problem for 83.3% of teachers and 66.6% lack a good learning environment. 86.6% of teachers  feel that students in online  classes need more self-discipline and 56.6% of the students and teachers  feel that online  classes improve technical skills.  Additionally, 71.6%, 66.2% and 67.4% of students have no problems in the network connectivity, data limit and data speed respectively. And the requirement of self-discipline is thought to be high for online  classes by 60.6% of students. The details of the benefits and drawbacks of online classes  as perceived by teachers and students are  shown in Tables 8 and  9 respectively.

Table 7. Teachers’ opinion  of online classes.
Statements
1
2
3
4
5
Mean
Cns
Dnt
1.  It is possible to structure online courses along  the same lines  as classroom courses
8
26
4
12
10
2.83
0.44
0.56
2. Online courses  help  in the  comprehension of course materials just as well as in classroom learning
4
30
6
18
2
2.73
0.58
0.42
3. It is easier to communicate with  students  online than in classrooms
16
18
16
6
4
2.40
0.66
0.44
4.   Conducting online lessons is easier  than  conducting  classroom lessons
12
20
20
6
2
2.43
0.62
0.38
5. Technical skills can be increased by attending online classes
8
22
10
14
6
2.80
0.51
0.49
6. It is important for instructors to be more  effective in online    teaching compared with classroom teaching
10
14
20
14
2
2.73
0.59
0.41
7. Students’ attention  is more  important  for successful online  teaching than classroom teaching
4
22
14
16
4
2.90
0.59
0.41
8. Online mathematics classes  are more convenient compared  with other subjects
10
24
12
10
4
2.56
0.56
0.44
9. Teaching  through local television broadcast is better than teaching online
10
22
18
4
6
2.56
0.57
0.43
10. In spite of   costly materials, online classes  are helpful for poor  students
16
18
16
10
0
2.33
0.60
0.40

 The analysis is based on a scale where 1= Strongly disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree and 5 = Strongly agree.

The results of this study indicate that flexibility and convenience  are the major benefits of online education. Online education  suits the teaching and learning   convenience of the students and the teachers.  Bad internet connectivity  is  a major  problem in online education, especially for those who live in rural areas. The data limit and data speed are also  limitations of internet infrastructure. These findings reveal that if the state wants to move  on with online education it should first focus on its internet facilities.

From Table 8, we  see that there is no  agreement between student respondents, but  in Table 9, the consensus values of statements 6, 8 and 10 of teachers are quite high. This may indicate that network connectivity and data speed  are problems faced in  online classes in the state of Mizoram;  requirement of self-discipline  also seems to be high  when compared  with classroom teaching.

Table 8. Students’ responses on advantages and disadvantages of online classes.
Statements/Attributes (students)
1
2
3
4
5
Mean
Cns
Dnt
1. Online classes are convenient and easy to schedule
54
89
125
68
20
2.75
0.59
0.41
2. Online classes provide more   comfortable environments
57
94
99
80
26
2.78
0.55
0.45
3.  Online classes help improve technical skills
30
46
78
167
35
3.36
0.59
0.41
4.  Online classes enable more interaction and greater ability to concentrate
68
124
86
57
21
2.54
0.56
0.44
5.  Online classes promote self-discipline and responsibility
64
92
67
86
47
2.88
0.47
0.53
6. Network connectivity  hampers  online classes
20
35
46
113
142
3.90
0.56
0.44
7. Data limit  creates problems for online  classes
30
33
57
97
139
3.79
0.50
0.50
8. Data speed  creates problems for  online classes
30
40
46
106
134
3.76
0.49
0.51
9.  Lack of face to face interaction  creates problems
38
56
83
112
67
3.32
0.51
0.49
10. Requirement of self-discipline is very high for online classes
17
39
87
118
98
3.70
0.57
0.43
11. I have no suitable devices to participate in  online classes
35
81
107
72
61
3.12
0.54
0.46
12. I have no good learning  environment
38
89
119
73
37
2.94
0.59
0.41
13. I have technophobia
151
104
67
23
11
1.98
0.61
0.39
14. Cost of  software is a problem for me
43
80
121
78
34
2.94
0.59
0.41
15. Cost of mobile phones, laptops, etc.  are problems for me
42
90
88
92
44
3.01
0.54
0.46
16.  Not having a separate room makes  learning   difficult for me
46
100
85
71
54
2.96
0.51
0.49

Table 9. Teachers’  responses on advantages and disadvantages of online classes.
Statements/Attributes (teachers)
1
2
3
4
5
Mean
Cns
Dnt
1. Online classes  have flexible schedules and are  convenient
8
12
14
22
4
3.03
0.56
0.44
2. Online classes  have more  comfortable environments
16
14
12
14
4
2.60
0.48
0.52
3.  Online classes improve technical skills
8
6
12
30
4
3.26
0.56
0.44
4.  Online classes enable more interaction  and greater ability to  concentrate
10
16
12
10
12
2.96
0.45
0.55
5. Online classes  promote self-discipline and responsibility
14
12
10
20
4
2.80
0.47
0.53
6. My network connectivity   hampers  my online classes
2
0
2
30
26
4.30
0.72
0.28
7. Data limit  causes  problems for my online classes
2
2
2
28
26
4.23
0.69
0.31
8. Data speed  causes problems for my online classes
0
2
6
28
24
4.23
0.74
0.26
9.  Lack of face to face interaction   causes problems
2
6
2
34
16
3.93
0.69
0.31
10. Requirement  for self discipline is very high for  online classes
2
0
6
34
18
4.10
0.75
0.25
11. I have no satisfactory  tools or devices to participate in online classes
8
4
8
26
14
3.56
0.50
0.50
12. I have no good learning  environment
2
12
22
16
8
3.26
0.62
0.38
13. I have technophobia
16
14
14
6
10
2.66
0.43
0.57
14. Cost of software makes online learning difficult
6
10
12
22
10
3.33
0.52
0.48
15. Cost of mobile phones, laptops, etc.  cause   difficulties
4
16
10
16
14
3.33
0.48
0.52
16. Not having a separate room  makes online learning difficult for me
10
16
8
20
6
2.93
0.48
0.52

5. Discussions

The  aim of this research was to examine the preferences and perceptions of students and teachers in  Mizoram state  about the online classes they  attended during the 2020 pandemic lockdown.   The degree of consensus was determined by the different statements, on the advantages, disadvantages and factors that affect online classes, through the  use of the  likert  scale.

Most of the teacher respondents preferred online classes  during the Covid 19 pandemic lockdown while most of the students preferred suspension of the curriculum scheduled. Most of the students and teachers agreed that Mathematics  was the most difficult subject to teach or study through online classes. Most of the students  received no benefits while most of the teachers  agreed with the television broadcast of  lectures through the local channel. Most of the teachers chose laptops for teaching  online while most of the students preferred learning using smart phones. Whatsapp  was the most preferred communication tool for class updates among students and teachers. Most of the respondents preferred to have technical training before  engaging in online classes. Most of the  respondents also liked to have privacy to attend online classes. More than half of the students and most of the teachers preferred  questions to be answered by the instructors within a  short  period of time. Most of the teachers and students believed that online exams  were not fair.

From the likert scale,  no perfect conclusion can be drawn  as the consensus does not vary much from the central value. It is seen that online classes are not much better than teaching broadcast  through local television channels, while most of the respondents felt that  they did not get much benefit from the local TV broadcasts. This implies that the effectiveness of online classes in the state is not much  when compared  with classroom teaching. The reasons for ineffectiveness of online teaching and learning are  network connectivity, data limit and data speed.  These three problems may also be the reasons why many of the respondents preferred the duration of online class  to be only 30 minutes.  In fact, in order to enhance the productivity of learners’, long class hours should be avoided and sufficient break time should be given between two consecutive online classes (Thompson, 2014). The technical proficiency of teachers and students is also a major factor determining the effectiveness of online classes; see Tsai and Lin (2004) and Peng, Tsai and Wu (2006). It is evident that the lack of immediacy in getting answers to  queries is one of the challenges in online learning. This problem is reported by Petrides (2002) and Vonderwell (2003). 

Due to  the different constraints, the present study was restricted to the teachers and students of high schools and higher secondary schools   in the state of Mizoram in India.  This research study can be extended to north-east Indian states with more inclusions from elementary schools to  universities. It is also possible to extend this  study in future by dealing with the impact of online classes  on  society, from the perceptions of students, teachers and parents.

6. Conclusions

During the   Covid 19 pandemic lockdown, online education  was the only suitable method after  learning institutions were closed. Universities and learning institutions shifted to online platforms to complete their syllabi.  Online education was found to be advantageous as it provided flexibility and convenience for learners and instructors. Most of the students and teachers reported that due to technological constraints, delayed feedback and ICT- related problems, many challenges were faced in online classes compared with traditional classroom teaching. Thus, all these factors should be considered in designing online courses  and effective online classes.  The following conclusions can be made regarding the perceptions of teachers and students:

1.     Smart phone is the students’ preferred choice of device for attending online classes while the Laptop is preferred by teachers for delivering online lessons.
2.     The preferred means of communication for both teachers and students is Whatsapp and the main source of internet connection is the Mobile data pack.
3.     The preferred software for attending and delivering online lessons are Google meet and Zoom.
4.     Most of the students do not benefit from lectures broadcast on television while most of the teachers think it  is acceptable.
5.     More than half of the students and teachers prefer video contents with reading materials for their  online course materials.
6.     Privacy is required for most of the students and teachers for online classes.
7.     More than half of the students and teachers prefer quizzes and assignments at the end of online classes.
8.     Almost all the teachers and most of the students believe that online exams are not fair.  In the nature of online exams, most of the students prefer objective questions while teachers  prefer both objective and  subjective questions.
9.     Most of the students and teachers feel that Mathematics is the most difficult subject to study or teach through online classes.
10.   It was observed that the network connectivity, data speed, data limit and bad learning environments always create problems for online classes.

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