A STUDY OF THE ONLINE LEARNING OF POSTGRADUATES DURING COVID - 19 PANDEMIC IN SRI LANKA A CASE STUDY WITH REFERENCE TO THE SABARAGAMUWA UNIVERSITY OF SRI LANKA

Abstract

The core purpose of this study is to identify the preferred mode of online learning during the COVID - 19 pandemic situation in Sri Lanka with the cause/s for their preference. The specific objective of the current study is to identify the issues occur during e-learning. The primary data for this study have been gathered disseminating a well-structured questionnaire which consists of both open-ended and close-ended questions. 100 questionnaires were distributed among the postgraduates who following various courses in Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (SUSL) with the help of email and social media platforms and gathered 85 responses usable for this study. Convenience sampling technique has been used to select the sample and gathered data have been analyzed with the help of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The results of the data analysis indicated that more than 65% of the students were happy with online education during this Covid - 19 pandemic situation. Most of the students (70% ) preferred to use “Zoom” platform for their online education due to the user friendliness. But 30% of the respondents were demanded ‘MS Teams’ because specially the advantage of repeatedly follow the recorded sessions and easiness of accessing the learning materials. As per the second objective, the issues during the online learning of postgraduates were mainly the internet connectivity issues (56% ) and lack of concentration (34% ) than the physical mode. Based on the facts, this study recommends to develop any virtual reality applications for online learning including the features that the student’s desire for an effective learning experience. Further, universities can conduct online training programs for both students and lecturers regarding online education tools. The implications suggested by this study will be vital for academics, government authorities and entrepreneurs to identify the preferences on e-learning and address innovatively the revealed issues while contributing to make the online sessions more effective and interactive.