Transition to Online Higher Education during COVID-19 Pandemic: Turmoil and Way Forward to Developing Country of South Asia-Nepal

• Published in: Journal of research in innovative teaching 2021-03, Vol.14 (1), p.93-111
• Main Authors: Gautam, Dhruba Kumar, Gautam, Prakash Kumar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anxiety; anxiety and behavior; Barriers; College Faculty; College Students; Colleges & universities; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; covid-19 pandemic; Distance learning; Educational Technology; Foreign Countries; higher education; Internet; Learning Activities; Learning Processes; on-class mode of teaching; online class; Online Courses; Pandemics; School Closing; Student Attitudes; Teacher Attitudes; Teaching Methods; teaching-learning process; Technology Integration; Universities
• ISSN: 1947-1017; 2397-7604; 1947-1017; 2397-7604
• DOI: 10.1108/JRIT-10-2020-0051

Purpose: Every day thousands of academic institutes suspend their classes and students are staying in their home maintaining social distancing due to the fear of COVID-19 pandemic and Nepal is no exception. Realizing these facts, this study aims to explore the factors for the effectiveness of online mode of classes to on-class course-based students and analyzes the perception of faculties and students toward online mode during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: It is based on exploratory research design, following mixed methods of qualitative and quantitative procedure. To build a rich understanding of the phenomenon, three-stage data collection procedure: preliminary interview, structural survey and validation were used. Findings: This study revealed triplet factors: infrastructure, student and teacher as antecedents of effectiveness of online classes during a pandemic. Technological support, infrastructure availability, faculty and students' perception have a significant relationship for the effectiveness of the online mode of the teaching-learning process. Students faced anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic, but a higher willingness to learn reduces the level of anxiety. Originality/value: This study significantly contributes to the future management of higher education and digs the future path of online and on-class teaching-learning practices.