Covid-19: A Reason behind Digital Education in Pakistan

Abstract

Covid-19 is new virus that is spreading rapidly in all over the world. It is a communicable disease. World Health Organization announced social distancing to control the spread of that virus. All institutions are closed in Pakistan. Education was also effecting with this shutdown. A number of educational institutions have started digital education. Education is an important institution of socialization. Traditional education is not possible because of Covid-19. Digital education is taking its place according to the situation. An online survey was conducted to understand the acceptance level of online education in Lahore, Pakistan. A number of 240 students who were attending online classes solved the questionnaire. A software “Statistical package of social sciences” was used to see the distribution of the respondents. A statistical analysis showed that majority of the respondents is accepting online education according to the condition. It is suggested that Government should spread awareness regarding online education to make it more successful because it is the need of the time.

Students’ Perceptions and Experiences of Online Education in Pakistani Universities and Higher Education Institutes during COVID-19

“…Flexibility, communication, adjusted timelines, and revised exam formats can help provide resilience, especially during crises situations such as the pandemic [8]. In contrast to the findings of Akram, Anjum, and Batool [26] where 93% of the students in their study were satisfied with their online tutor, the students in our study were not highly satisfied with the role of instructors in facilitating the students during online learning. Much has been discussed about the importance of timely and constructive feedback in online environments [15,58,59] and the role of timely responses from instructors in contributing towards positive perceptions about online courses [21].…”

“…Literature originating during the pandemic suggests that the sudden shift from a traditional to an online mode of education has significantly impacted the student assessment and evaluation processes [48]. Students were more likely to find online examinations difficult as compared to traditional examinations [26]. Under such circumstances, instructors and institutions need to implement safe, reliable, valid, and fair methods of assessment [65].…”

“…Previously, Akram, Anjum, and Batool [26] have stated that even if students preferred or liked taking online classes during the pandemic, it does not necessarily mean that they are going to be satisfied with them as well. Concurrent with the students' opinions in a recent study by [86], the majority of the students we surveyed unequivocally expressed that they would not prefer taking online classes in the future.…”

“…For a better understanding and generalizability of research in this area, further investigations focusing on developing economies are required. Numerous studies have offered insights into online education during the pandemic in Pakistan [7,[23][24][25][26][27][28]. However, many of them have either focused on specific disciplines or are based on a limited number of institutions.…”

Factors Affecting Online Learning: Perceptions of Future Professionals of Allama Iqbal Open University in Pakistan

“…As Pakistan is developing country and the sudden change in the whole world due to covid-19, all organizations are facing problems. Similarly educational institutions are also affecting negatively, as Pakistani universities have not any advance technology and now a days advance technology has become more important in every field especially in education said, (Akram, Anjum, Batool, 2020). According to Zahra, Gul, Iqbal, Ghafoor, Ambreen (2020) due to lack of resources Pakistan considered in developing countries.…”