Status of tertiary level online class in Bangladesh: students' response on preparedness, participation and classroom activities

Heliyon. 2021 Jan 15;7(1):e05943. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e05943. eCollection 2021 Jan.

Abstract

In the era of technology, every time the world confronts any kind of crisis or challenge, we use technology as a weapon. Like other emergencies, as COVID-19 is announced as a pandemic, all countries have started trying to control the situation with technological advancement in the medical sector, educational progress, and in the continuity of productions. As most of the educational institutions have been closed since March and the learning process in higher education has moved online, therefore, developing countries like Bangladesh are also trying to continue classes through the online platform with a lack of technological resources, readiness, and inclusiveness from the perspective of the students. This quantitative study surveyed over 844 students of different universities of Bangladesh to analyze the status of preparedness, participation, and classroom activities through online during the pandemic. The findings revealed a lack of preparedness, participation, and less scope of classroom activities through online learning. Problems of infeasible consistency of the internet and electricity, paying attention, understanding lessons through the online platform are the main constraints of online learning in the developing country. Finding ways of mitigating these problems can be the next subject for further researchers.

Keywords: Classroom activities; Distance learning; Online class; Pandemic; Technological advancement.