Higher Education during and after COVID-19: Is Online Education the New Normal?

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed Indian education into a new phase with technology coming upfront. All educational institutions from primary to universities have adopted technology-mediated education. It has opened up new directions in the education arena and online education becomes the ‘new normal. Many EdTech Startups have also boomed in this period to capitalize on the market for online education. It is in this context that this study analyses the impact of online education on Indian higher education during this pandemic through a case study of the learning experience of a Central University in India. The study was limited to the discipline of social science. Out of the 182 students of the School of Social Sciences and Policy of the Central University of South, Bihar contacted through Google Form, 100 forms have been rated in proper order. So these 100 students constituted the sample for this study. Being a new platform for education, the students have faced some difficulties in coping with it. However, it was found that despite the challenges and limitations, the students experienced online education as an alternative to conventional education.