A qualitative study of students' perspective on e-learning adoption in India

Abstract

PurposeThis paper will try to uncover how e-learning is giving a new shape to the education industry. Also, it will encompass the students' perspective and experience of e-learning.Design/methodology/approachThe present study employed interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to intensely scrutinize the lived-in experiences of the participants. In the present study, the respondents were selected from Delhi NCR of India. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the primary data to understand the student's perspectives on the impact of information and communications technology (ICT) in education industry.FindingsThe findings have been grouped under two sections referred to as “themes,” which include “drivers for e-learning adoption” and “inhibitors which restrict the adoption of e-learning.”Practical implicationsAt present, India does not have a big market for e-learning, but there is huge potential in the country. The present study may be helpful for the educational institutions in India and in similar developing countries in understanding the students' perspectives on e-learning adoption. The educational institutions may improve their systems accordingly so that they can not only retain the students of their own countries but also attract students from other countries for further education.Social implicationsE-learning can be employed to give users quick access to ideas and experiences from a wide range of people, communities, and the cultures to increase the tangibility.Originality/valueThe study will be useful to the policymakers in the higher education sector of developing nations like India, in understanding the students' mindsets. This study makes a contribution to the growing literature on e-learning, where the researchers have determined the relative importance of various motivating and inhibiting factors which influence the adoption of e-learning. Additionally, the study has used IPA as the methodology to determine the factors, which is a novel contribution.

Learning beyond the Brick and Mortar: A Review of Prospects and Challenges of E-learning Innovation

“…The interactivity between instructors and students conducted via virtual learning is fundamental to feedback generation in e-learning environment [31], [32], [29]. According to Aldosemani [31], tests and general examinations can be undertaken through e-learning, thus enabling a larger number of students than a traditional classroom.…”

“…E-learning ensures high flexibility of conducting tests for students and instructors [33]. However, Phutela and Dwivedi [32] and Sarrab [13], argue that the e-learning is an enabler of students' dishonesty and cheating in tests and examinations. The authors argue, that because e-learning assessments are often supervised by digital proxies, it is often difficult to control or regulate activities such as cheating behaviour such as piracy, plagiarism.…”

“…Several scholars found that e-learning adoption in educational institutions provides enormous opportunities to students, instructors, and administrators (e.g., [6], [9], [7]). It reduces the trouble of distance travel for learning and education [32], [35], empower students to the knowledge of global issues and trends, increasing access to tertiary educations for students who are denied due to reasons such as health, financial, cultural, etc. [7], [36], improve innovativeness [3], and global cultural immersion of students and instructors [2].…”

“…Moreover, in Indian universities, Phutela and Dwivedi [32] report that elearning carves students' career prospects in ICT, and help enhance computer skills and knowledge thus employing after graduation. For instructors/Professors, it stimulates teaching and research activities of instructors, especially where incentives are available for e-learning adoption (such as certificates, stipends, and acknowledgement of their accomplishments during the tenure and promotion process) [31], [6], [5].…”

“…A recent study proposed that, in addition to text-based forms of interaction, designers of an e-learning project, should integrate graphical elements of elearning interaction. This makes e-learning more interesting, and its adoption more rapid among students [32]. Applications placed in 2 or 3 dimensional (2D or 3D) contents offer students more interesting shapes, colours, dimension, and position [6].…”