A Study on the Online-Offline and Blended Learning Methods

J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. B https://doi.org/10.1007/s40031-022-00766-y ARTICLE OF PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS A Study on the Online‑Offline and Blended Learning Methods Deepti Sharma1 · Ajay K. Sood1 · Preethi S. H. Darius2 · Edison Gundabattini3 · S. Darius Gnanaraj3 · A. Joseph Jeyapaul4 Received: 13 February 2022 / Accepted: 2 June 2022 © The Institution of Engineers (India) 2022 Abstract The education sector is witnessing a paradigm shift with the rapid and ongoing technological advancements. The online, offline, and blended modes of learning continue to evolve with time. The purpose of this survey is to collect students’ responses to understand their perspectives on the different modes of learning. The advantages, challenges, and requirements for conducting classes through online, offline, and blended learning methods are discussed. A questionnaire was designed, and a survey was conducted among undergraduate engineering students. The questions are carefully planned to understand the choice of students while selecting different modes of learning, various activities and tools, and the reasons for their preferences. 654 students took part in the survey and shared their feedback. The advantages and disadvantages of online and offline learning are presented. A chi-square test was conducted, and the association between the two questions is shown to be significant. Suggestions for enhancing teaching and learning based on the findings of the survey help faculty members to plan the teaching methodology to suit the requirements of students. Keywords Online learning · Offline learning · Blended learning · Chi-square test * S. Darius Gnanaraj 1 BML Munjal University, Haryana 122413, India 2 CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru 560037, India 3 Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 532014, India 4 Jimma University, MVJ4+R95, Jimma, Ethiopia Introduction Learning is a dynamic phenomenon and it is evolved continually over the years. The effectiveness of learning depends on the methodology adopted. The methodology or the pedagogy depends on the skillsets that are expected to be acquired by the students. The COVID-19 pandemic has given an opportunity to experience and assess various online teaching and evaluation tools. In this the stake holders are students, teachers and institutional administrators. Chang et al. [1] had contrasted the physical classroom learning efficacy and online learning to estimate and enhance the quality of learning. Both the methods of learning were surveyed among the students, and results showed that the learning efficacy of online class learning was better than that of physical classroom learning. Survey results on the contrary indicated that the suitability and fairness of physical classroom evaluation were better than that of online examination. The students across various schools expressed their learning experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic period were to some extent effective and engaging. The study by Singh et al. emphasized the thrust to build an apt infrastructure and capacity building to support hybrid and blended learning methods. The capacity building also included familiarizing the faculty members with the various online learning methods and e-Learning tools. The study by Singh et al. suggested that both the learners and the teachers are to make use of the innovative technology to enable effective teaching and engaged learning [2]. Ghosh [3] presented an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) that behaves like a real teacher by having the dynamic response and dynamic review of the performance of students and their level of understanding. In the backdrop of COVID-19 and its multiple variants, the challenge was to design appropriate educational technologies to improve learning efficiency [4, 5]. Darius et al. [6] found 13 Vol.:(0123456789) J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. B that animations, digital collaborations with fellow students, video lectures delivered by the same faculty, online quizzes, student version software, online interaction with faculty, and online materials provided by the faculty promote effective online learning. A study conducted by Michalíková and Povinský, Matej Bel University concluded that blended learning was one of the best ways of learning during this pandemic period [7]. The conclusions of a study conducted by Hysaj in Albania motivate the researchers to bring out more research on the employment of various technological tools to raise young learners’ lively involvement in online learning [8]. Online learning tools provided a good learning space for learners to learn independently. Also, the proposed teaching model would enhance the students’ knowledge retention in comparison to traditional classroom learning. Hence, the proposed model proved to be feasible and effective although it requires necessary capacity-building measures in place, as shown in Fig. 1 [9–11]. In all the e-learning, hybrid learning, and blended learning strategies, interactions between students and teachers are vital apart from the appropriate online settings. Nortvig et al. indicated that the designed influences between online and offline activities as well as between campus-related and practice-related activities are crucial factors for effective learning [12]. This paper reports the outcome of a survey carried out among undergraduate students pursuing an engineering degree. The responses given by students are presented and discussed in the following sections. The comments and suggestions given in the last section are useful to faculty members in designing their teaching pedagogy to suit the requirements of students to improve the quality of teaching–learning. Methodology The parametric study was carried out to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the different modes of learning such as Online, Offline, and Blended. A Fig. 1  Employing Blended learning in the learning environment questionnaire as shown in annexe-1 was developed by the authors, and it was used for conducting the survey. Questions 1–8 are used to know the students’ familiarity and inclination to use the different modes of learning. Questions 9–10 are related to know the various activities and tools, used by the students. Questions 11–14 are for knowing the reasons as to why students prefer one mode of learning to the other. The last section of the questionnaire is for the comments and suggestions by the students for improving the teaching and learning methods followed at present. The questionnaire was floated in the form of Google form and a total of 654 students from various universities pursuing BTech courses participated in this survey. The data analysis was done using Microsoft excel and SPSS software and Chi square method is used for checking the association between different questions. The participants belong to private universities, colleges, and institutions (VIT, BML Munjal University, and CMR Institute of Technology). 66% of the respondents are from (...truncated)