A comparative study on effectiveness of online and offline

learning in Higher education .

ABSTRACT

The objective of the study is to assess the effectiveness of online and offline learning
through higher education. The sudden outbreak of Covid-19 in various part of the world in
2020 has severely affected the educational institutions in various countries. Students were
affected in the way to accept the hybrid form of learning and also grasp the interest towards
the classes that were conducted online. The study aims to investigate the effectiveness of
online and offline education in higher education. The study was carried out in India, with 25
respondents among which major responses were from the youth population studying in
Bachelor’s program, Diploma and Master’s mostly. The findings suggest that the
effectiveness of online education is dismal as students find it difficult to adjust to the online
mode of education and the offline mode of education remains the most preferred mode of
education.
Keywords: Online learning, Offline learning, Higher education

INTRODUCTION

In 2021 the digital era, the education system has been developed many ways to expand the
learning material for students to learn. The most traditional way is physical learning which is
now what we call offline learning that will be face to face is the human most direct way to
learn it. According to the technological advances, offline learning did not become the only
way to learn and online learning have been developed out which is now the education
system can use the online teaching method to teach the student through the online did not
like the offline need to face to face and it also makes the student easily can get any of the
material. According to Leisi Pei and Hongbin Wu, (2019) state that student motivation,
technical issues, time management and limited internet access are identified as major
contributors to offline education, which is still the most popular teaching mode. In the offline
teaching model, the learners have been required to attend classes in person to improve the
effectiveness of face-to-face teaching.

Despite various issues, online learning has given the benefit to us because it can reduce
costs and can be used by the education system to expand the scope of education. Online
learning can help to improve the quality of education and the quality of learning that online
learning has brought to us. Not only for that, the online learning can be used by many of the
apps that are suitable for teaching which is Google Classroom, Microsoft Team, Cisco
Webex Meeting, Zoom , google meet, that can be used for the online teaching platform.
According to Hiltz and Turoff, (2005) education can be influence by the developing interest in
online education and those that can adequately consolidate on the traditional and offline
system to give the students more extensive scope for good quality opportunities that can
survive the plunge.

Higher education required serious consideration on overcoming the problem associated with
online teaching before its implementation. (Wright, 2017) did a study among 112 students
and found higher preference toward classroom learning due to face-to-face peer and
lecturer’s interaction which teaching in the class and it also makes them understand better in
the class with face to face.

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the process of teaching and learning in higher
education and interaction between the student and teachers. As a result of this epidemic,
universities are restricted in carrying out any of the activities that are exclusive to students
online . Many countries' governments have taken steps to prevent the virus from spreading,
and institutions seek to ensure that the education process and continuity of universities all
over the world are using online learning The data will be collected using a survey form from
various colleges and universities in various countries to determine the efficacy of study
through online learning and offline learning to the higher education in this study and to
compare the two.

LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Allo, the pandemic's effects on education, universities, faculty and students has
become an important topic for researchers, owing to the extraordinary situation generated by
the Covid-19 pandemic. Researching students' perception of coronavirus online learning,
they are positive about e-learning and consider it helpful and useful during the pandemic's
crisis. It is important to find out how students can help them. (Allo, 2020) carried out a survey
involving 424 universities worldwide has shown that institutions have been influenced by the
current situation which is a covid-19 pandemic in terms of science, meeting, international
mobility, teaching, and education, most of which have needed to embrace online learning
and have faced several challenges (Suresh, Priya, & Gayathri, 2018).

In addition, in the study of Sun et al., in their online analysis of student experience, they have
shown students think that teachers should be able to adapt their teaching to the Internet
world and not only pass the knowledge that is traditionally learned online and that they
should provide an appropriate number of projects and tasks (Sun, Tang, & Zuo, 2020).

According to Huang et al. have described seven critical features of online learning that play
an integral part in maximizing learning in particular situations, such as the Coronavirus
pandemic. These include the administration and development of Internet infrastructure to
prevent interruptions, particularly during video conferences; the use of friendly tools to
assimilate and understand the information of students; the provision of reliable, interactive
and various electronic resources; the use of social networks to build students' online
communities to reduce their feelings of isolation (Huang, et al., 2020).

In his article on online learning, Shivangi Dhawan (2020) calls it a panacea in the time of the
Covid-19 crisis and notes how an online education system was forced to engage in a
pandemic worldwide when others were still trapped with the offline system. Shivangi
Dhawan (2020) has reported that Ed-tech start-ups are bursting into online learning and
integrating multimedia. He argued that amid this boom in online learning, human contact and
teaching communication was lost with many technological difficulties as well as the students'
lack of motivation, as opposed to offline studies, posing a significant challenge to online
education. However, the outbreak of EdTech start-ups is a chance for students and teachers
to learn comfortably, effectively, and interactively, and to solve many of these problems with
better research and technologies regularly. School systems have become more robust and
advanced by natural events, such as the pandemic, as more organizations move from offline
to flipping classrooms (Dhawan, 2020).

The study of Parkes, Stein and Reading (2015) examines how equipped higher education
institutions adopt e-learning and state that, while students are ready to cope with
technologies employed in online schools, they are not as ready as they appear to be. The
students did not have the know-how to think critically in managing the skills of technologies
used during online learning including organizing methods, accuracy and concise response
and summarization of thoughts (Mitchell Parkes, 2015).
According to RACHMAH, N., (2020) reports that more students favour offline than online
instruction, as students are more interested in teaching them to better understand the topics
in classrooms. He believes that the listening abilities of students are improved by offline
classrooms (Rachmah, 2020). In their research, Allen, M., Bourhis, J., Burrell, N., & Mabry,
E. (2002), stated that replacing offline learning would result in a minor decline in student
satisfaction because of various expectations over a system of learning. However, they said
that distance learning is usually just as effective as offline learning, and this does not trigger
attitudes to fall (Mike Allen, 2002).

The Brown and Liedholm Studies (2002) demonstrated that the outcomes of their GPA and
ACT were somewhat better for the students in an online format than the traditional pupils. A
student investigation compared the outcomes discovered in microeconomics. This gap was
more pronounced on hard problems and less significant on basic problems. One reason was
that half of the online students reported having spent less than three hours a week and none
reported having spent more than seven hours a week. At least three hours a week, half of
the traditional students have finished each subject. In another analysis, too, time gaps for
class or active participation that result in differential results were observed (Hiltz et al.,
2000). Brown and Liedholm (2002) have found that the performance of women in the
standard format was considerably lower than the percentage of men, with six percentage
points worse than those performed by male students (Brown, 2002).

Research method

The study explores how higher education is effective both in online learning and offline
learning mode. For this investigation, the online survey was carried out using Google Form.
The surveys will through the Google Form is the online techniques in this research because
the questionnaire is the most suitable way and effectively to collect information or data
(Love, 2014). A survey is a research instrument that contains several questions to collect
information from interviewees. Questionnaires can be regarded as an interview in writing.
They can be done by phone, by post, by computer or by face to face (McLeod, 2018). A self-
structured questionnaire was designed in four sections. In the first section, each respondent
needs to fill out their demographic information. The fundamental goal of the second, third
and fourth sections are to know the respondents' views on the effectiveness of online
learning and offline learning via the higher education, and on how often students spend a
week studying. The Likert scale questions were used for the Fourth sections to get the
responses on the effectiveness of online learning and offline learning through higher
education.

In addition to primary data, existing literature provided additional insight into the study area.
In order to reinforce and combine information already investigated, or case study on online
and offline learning, we additionally gather information from a website, book or journal. This
survey aims to gather data from different countries of the students at the different colleges
and institutions from India, Indonesia, and Malaysia in order to learn their views and
observations.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 1: Summary of Respondents’ Demographics
Table 1 presents a summary of the respondent’ profile. There are 25 respondents who filled
up the survey that we have in our questionnaire. Over 18 respondents are male where there
have 7 are female. All of the respondents were from the age range of 21 years old to 25
years old. These results show that most youths were still studying in higher education
through online learning or offline learning during the pandemic situation. . 32% were studied
in Bachelor of Degree, 64% were studied in Master, and 4% were study PhD. 

Table 2: Summary of respondents’ Effectiveness of Online Learning through higher

education. 
Response Frequenc Percentage
y
I never face technical problems during online learning.
Strong Disagree 6 24%
Disagree 6 24%
Neutral 9 36%
Agree 1 14%
Strongly Agree 3 12%
Online learning technologies provide benefits to the
student.
Strong Disagree 2 8.7%
Disagree 3 13%
Neutral 11 47.8%
Agree 7 30.4%
Strongly Agree 2 2%
Students agree with "Online Learning Tools help
improving students academic performance".
Strong Disagree 6 13%
Disagree 2 8.7%
Neutral 6 26.1%
Agree 10 47.8%
Strongly Agree 1 4.4%
Online Learning Tools help in saving time while studying.
Strong Disagree 4 17.4%
Disagree 4 17.4%
Neutral 4 17.4%
Agree 8 34.8%

Strongly Agree 5 13%

Students prefer online learning during the COVID-19
pandemic.
Strong Disagree 2 5.5%
Disagree 2 5.5%
Neutral 2 8.7%
Agree 11 47.8%
Strongly Agree 8 34.8%
Students prefer online lectures over physical lectures in
the future.
Strong Disagree 6 26.1%
Disagree 5 21.7%
Neutral 7 30.4%
Agree 2 26.1%
Strongly Agree 3 13%
The online classes materials are useful, accurate, and
interesting.
Strong Disagree 3 13%
Disagree 5 21.7%
Neutral 11 47.8%
Agree 3 13%
Strongly Agree 1 6%
During the Covid19 emergency, where all learning
activities carried out well through online (structured, on
schedule, coordinated)
Strong Disagree 0 0%
Disagree 5 22%
Neutral 8 36.4%
Agree 9 40.9%
Strongly Agree 3 9%

In your opinion, online learning is more important

compared to offline learning in the current situation.
Yes 9 40.9%
No 7 31.8%
May be 6 27.3%
Table 2 shows a summary of respondents’ effectiveness of online learning through higher
education. According to the data above, there a higher number of respondents 24%
disagree compared to 14% of respondents who agree that I never face any technical
problem in online learning. This means that there have 24% of the respondents have faced
technical problem during online learning. For the second question, there is a higher number
of respondents 30.4% agree that online learning technologies provide benefits to the student
compare to the 13% who disagree that online learning technologies provide benefits to the
student. However, for the third question, Students agree with "Online Learning Tools help
improving student’s academic performance there have 47.8% l. According to the result for
question four, there is also a higher number of respondents 34.8% of the agree that online
learning tool help in saving time while studying compare to the 17% who disagree that online
learning tool help in saving time while studying. During the pandemic in the current situation,
there was the highest number of the respondent (47%) agree to prefer using online learning
in question five but in question six there have 30% of respondents choose neutral for the
question which is students prefer online lectures over physical lectures in the future. Next,
students feel that online class materials are useful, accurate, and interesting which have
47% of respondents choose neutral. For the question eight and nine, the result shows that
there are 39% of students are agree that all learning activities carried out well through online
(structured, on schedule, coordinated) and 40% of the students agree that students are not
annoyed by studying online due to the current COVID-19 situation. Then, the majority of the
respondents are agreed than disagree which have 33% of respondents feel that online
learning is more important compared to offline learning in the current situation.

Table 3: Summary of respondents’ Effectiveness of Offline Learning in higher

education.
Response Frequenc Percentage
y
Students will more be focusing during offline learning
compare to online learning.
Strong Disagree O%
Disagree 1 0%

Neutral 5 20.8%
Agree 11 45.8%
Strongly Agree 8 33.7%
Students will more direct interaction in offline learning
compare to online learning.
Strong Disagree 3 8.3%
Disagree 1 4%
Neutral 3 12.5%
Agree 8 33.3%
Strongly Agree 10 41.7%
 Offline learning will make students active during the
class compare to online learning.
Strong Disagree 1 5%
Disagree 2 7.7%
Neutral 4 15.4%
Agree 10 38.5%
Strongly Agree 9 34.6%
During offline learning, is it students will be guided
directly and  easier to understand compared to online
learning.
Yes 17 70.8%
No 4 12.5%
May be 3 16.7%
Offline learning doesn't make students bored compare to
online learning.
Strong Disagree 1 %
Disagree 2 8.3%
Neutral 5 20.8%
Agree 7 29.2%
Strongly Agree 9 37.5%
Online learning has more benefits compare to offline
learning.
Strong Disagree 4 16.7%
Disagree 7 29.2%
Neutral 5 20.8%
Agree 6 25%
Strongly Agree 2 8.3%

Table 3 has presented the summary of respondents’ effectiveness of offline learning in

higher education. For question one, the result has shown that 45% of student agree strongly
agree that students will be more focused and only got 0% of students who disagree with it.
According to the result have shown to us that question two have 41.7% strongly agree
student have more direct interaction during offline learning compared to online learning.
Thus, it can be concluded that students will focus more on physical class and have
interaction with their lecture and friends directly. During offline class, there have 38% of the
students agree that physical class will make students more active and only have 5% of
respondents have strongly disagreed that physical class will make students more active in
question three. . Next, there is a higher number of respondents who strongly agree (37%)
than disagree (8.3%) that offline learning does not make students bored compare to online
learning. Other than that, in question six many students choose neutral (20.8%) which online
learning has more benefits compared to offline learning which strongly disagrees only have
(16.7%). On the other hand, there has 29.2% of students were also chosen neutral in
question seven which is that students believe offline learning will not disrupt learning
activities and there is also only 8% strongly disagree students believe offline learning will not
disrupt learning activities.

Table 4: Summary of respondents’ spending time on study.

Response Frequenc Percentage
y
After Covid-19, how many hours will you spend on online
learning in one week.
<4 hours 7
4-8 hours 8
8-12 hours 5
>12 hours 5
Before covid-19, how many time that you will spent
through the offline class in one week?
<4hours 2
4-8 hours 9
8-12 hours 10
>12 hours 4
Based on table 4 that has presents the data of respondents spending how many times on
study in a week. From the result, it can be concluded that before the pandemic covid-19 and
after the pandemic that the student has spent the time on the study which has the same data
but has a different percentage of the respondents will choose that students will spend more
than 12 hours in a week which is 31% and 33%.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this research aims to identify a comparative study of effectiveness through
online learning and offline learning through higher education. Nowadays, the continuous
development of technology has made it a lot more convenient for many people, but online
learning is no exception. Offline learning which is face to face teaching will be replaced by
online teaching. Therefore, it is important to highlight that it is recommended online learning
be replaced with offline learning due to the outbreak covid-19 pandemic from the last year
2020.

However, due to the current situation which is the pandemic of covid-19 outbreak, many
students and teachers are forced to use online learning tools to teach their students in every
country of college and universities. Hence, many teachers and students have changed their
ways in the learning methods, and they also suggested that online learning is much better
than offline learning during the pandemic Covid-19 situation. Online learning is enormously
beneficial in these times of lockdown and limitations. The teaching-learning activities are
done satisfactorily. The students think offline learning yet with online learning, they are
comfy too. The problems of the network constitute a big obstacle to seamless class
management.
In addition, based on the result before the outbreak of covid-19, we found that many
students would like to prefer offline learning compared to online learning. The student
prefers offline learning since the learner can focus, activate, and enjoy throughout the
session by better understanding the content, communicating easily. Due to numerous
issues, online learning was not successful. Students and teachers are unable to meet and
inquire directly if they have not understood the topics, difficulty splitting time between work
and study, fewer interactions between the lectures with students and difficulty in
understanding the topic. The author found the Offline class more successful than the online
class in the conclusion from the analysis. 

Apart from this, many of the students in higher education agree that the online learning tools
help improve students’ academic performance because it helps them do the task more
efficiently and also can always playback the video of the online learning tools that have been
recorded to help improve the academic performance. The online learning tools have helped
the students in saving time while studying. However, when there is an offline learning class
before covid-19 or an online class after covid-19, the student also has to spend almost the
same time on the online class and offline class more than 12 hours per week. 

On the other hand, the quality of the online educational process is based on several factors
such as teacher's level of education using technology, teaching style, interaction with
students, strategies that capture students' attention, encouraging student with teacher
contacts, cooperation, rapid feedback, active learning, and time spent on tasks. The quality
is dependent on various factors. This of the factor can help the student can get more
improvement when through the online educational process and help them to get a good
quality on the online education.

While all of the research included demonstrating that online learning is better than offline
learning using higher education methodologies, neither of the included research revealed
online learning to be less successful than offline learning strategies, regardless of statistical
approaches used. We need to know that online learning is a valid strategy for higher
education instruction and has its advantages for enhancing the education of students. In
order to protect the success of online learning, we need to systematically examine the
design principles of digital learning materials, learning objectives and preferences and
characteristics of student.