Internet-based Online Higher Education in Nepal Amidst COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashis Acharya ◽  
Nabaraj Poudyal ◽  
Ganesh Lamichhane ◽  
Babita Aryal ◽  
Bibek Raj Bhattarai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Human Life ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Traditional Concept ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Online Higher Education ◽  
Alternative Means ◽  
The Government

The COVID-19 global pandemic has affected all aspects of human life, with education, not an exception. In an attempt to stop the SARS-CoV-2 spreading like wildfire, the Government of Nepal has implemented nationwide lockdowns since March 24, 2020, that have enforced schools and universities to shut down. As a consequence, more than four hundred thousand students of various levels in higher education institutions (HEIs) are in a dilemma about restoring the situation. Several HEIs, nationwide, have leaped forward from the traditional concept of learning—limited within the boundary of the classroom—to choosing digital platforms as an alternative means of teaching because of the pandemic. For this research, the descriptive and inferential analysis was carried out to investigate the effects and challenges of learning via digital platforms during this pandemic. Data were collected from students and faculty at various levels of higher education and analyzed statistically with different factors using t-test and ANOVA, and variables were found to be approximately normally distributed. The study revealed that 70% of the respondents had access to the Internet, but 36% of the Internet accessed did not continue online classes due to unexpected disturbance in Internet and electrical connectivity. Likewise, 65% of students did not feel comfortable with online classes, and among attendees of online classes, 78% of students want to meet the instructor for a better understanding of course matters. According to the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model, three factors, such as institutional policy, internet access, and poverty, are found to be significant factors affecting the online higher education systems in Nepal. On the brighter side, this outbreak has brought ample opportunities to reform the conventional teaching-learning paradigm in Nepal.

scholarly journals The Utilization of Digital Platforms for Marketing in the Nigerian Entertainment and Media (E&M) Industry: Prospects and Challenges

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Nelson Obinna Omenugha
Keyword(s):  
Power Supply ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
The Internet ◽  
National Bureau ◽  
Network Infrastructure ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
The Government ◽  
Analogue To Digital ◽  
Economic Need ◽  
The Impact

The National Bureau of Statistics recently announced that the entertainment and media (E&M) industry in Nigeria recorded growth of 1.86% to 12.81%; contributing N54bn to the country’s GDP. The industry’s revenue is projected to reach an estimated $8.5bn in 2018, from $4bn in 2013, with internet as one of the key drivers (PwC report, 2016, p.14). This comes at a time when Nigeria’s economy has shrunk by 2.24% since 2015 and receded by 0.18% from the previous quarter. Therefore, this study unpacks the possibilities and challenges of the impact of e-marketing tools on the growth of the Nigerian E&M industry. E-marketing tools provide “a unique combination of powerful capabilities for marketers” (Parsons et al., 2015). E-marketing suitability for the E&M industry lies in its lower capital demand, and a convenient and online means of disseminating marketing messages across a heterogeneous population at an unlimited geographical space. E-marketing is a reality in Nigeria as a study by Mathew, Ogedebe & Ogedebe (2013, p. 549) shows that “Many Nigerians who used (sic) the internet as one form of communication or another are bombarded daily with advertisements of products and services from industries in the country.” This reality has brought a shift from mechanical to electronic and from analogue to digital; ultimately impacting the marketing realms. The internet enables these electronic/digital platforms; which marketers (E&M industry) and customers (content consumers) rely on to effectively reach and receive communication content and feedback respectively.  However, this study examined the challenges that have possibly hindered the full realization of the e-marketing tools of the Nigerian E&M industry and noted among others; poor power supply and unreliable network infrastructure in the country. There is also an increased customer expectation, security, content copyright and privacy issues as well as the challenge of compliance demand in the industry as influenced by ever dynamic digital boundaries. There is a huge economic need for the Nigerian government to live up to its obligation and enhance power supply and boost network infrastructure. The Nigerian E&M industry needs to continually integrate different digital platforms to reach targets and attract more content consumers. Both the government and industry should increasingly learn and bring a global perspective that can help the nation adapt to the constantly changing digital environment.

scholarly journals Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: E-Learning as a Tool

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 458-463 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Communication Tools ◽  
Modern Education ◽  
E Learning

Recently, the market of E-Learning is soaring and is known as a new paradigm in modern education. E-Learning acts as a medium, consisting of several types of computers and electronic media that are communication tools as well as the Internet, which provides training and informative access on certain subjects. By using E-Learning students can attend online classes anywhere, regardless of time and place. Generally, E-Learning is more geared towards self-training and is ideal for individuals who work full-time but desire to further their studies. Thus, this study has been developed and integrated with factors leading towards the effectiveness of E-Learning as a tool in Teaching and Learning (T&L) approach. A quantitative approach was applied by using a self-administered distribution of questionnaire targeted at higher education students. Therefore, the outcomes of this research will help to provide insightful information to the current education system in Malaysia, particularly in crafting strategies to enhance the learning education for the country in general.

Bringing the Internet to the Rural Area

2013 ◽  
pp. 438-460
Author(s):  
Zulkefli bin Ibrahim ◽  
Ainin Sulaiman ◽  
Tengku M. Faziharudean
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Rural Area ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Rural Population ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Urban Community ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The Government ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Malaysia aims to be an information society by the year 2020 can only be achieved if the mass population, that include those who live in the rural area, has the access to use the ICT. This is due to the uneven distribution of the basic telecommunication infostructure between the urban and rural areas in Malaysia that left the rural area to be at the disadvantage to access the ICT. Meanwhile, there are many programs that have been implemented by the government to encourage the rural population to use the Internet, such as ‘Kedaikom’, a community based telecenter serving the rural population. A questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate how ‘Kedaikom’ as a community based telecenter could assist in diffusing the usage of the ICT to the rural population. The result from the survey has indicated that the community telecenter could be used to bridge the digital divide between the underserved rural community and the well-accessed urban community. More of the rural population, especially from the younger generation and those with higher education background (irrespective of age) are using the community telecenter to be connected to the Internet.

scholarly journals Equity and Equality in Higher Education- India Calling…

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 18-24
Author(s):  
Preeti Oza
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Communication Technology ◽  
College Graduates ◽  
Good Health ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Developing Nation ◽  
Education In India ◽  
Present Context ◽  
The Government

Higher education in India is always a socio-political way and a powerful engine of social mobility. It adds to the benefits to society as more people earning Higher Education credentials. It is proven that college graduates earn more. They are less likely to be unemployed. They are more likely to vote, more likely to volunteer, and more likely to maintain good health. India as a Globalised and developing nation has been little systematically progressing on the educational front since its independence. The government is making progress in reaching out to all the classes of its society. The improvement in the country’s economic front has resulted in the upscaling of communication technology. The advent of the internet, have vastly leveraged the promotion of education across all verticals. But at the same time, the idea of Equity and Equality needs to be redefined in the present context of the newly established notion of ‘Inclusivity’. This paper deliberates on the various ideas and approaches of Higher Education in India on ‘Inclusivity’ in general and Equity and Equality in particular.

The Adoption of Information Technology

2011 ◽  
pp. 17-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Chieochan ◽  
D. Lindley ◽  
T. Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Agricultural Cooperatives ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Adoption Theory ◽  
Agriculture Economics ◽  
Thai Government ◽  
The Government ◽  
Institute Of Technology

Agriculture is important to the Thai economy, contributing about 17 percent to the Thai GNP. It accounts for about 34 percent of all exports (Mahidol University, 1998). Important activities include crop cultivation, rearing of livestock, fishery, and forestry. In 1991, about 62 percent of the Thai population, approximately 36 million people, was involved in agriculture (Office of Agriculture Economics, Ministry of Thai Agriculture and Cooperatives, 1992, p. 29). Thai agricultural cooperatives play an important role and a study of them provides a window into Thai agriculture. For some Thai farmers, co-operatives provide access to information from the outside world; for others, they provide information about Thai agriculture. Particular cooperatives provide marketing information on agricultural produce that should improve the income of Thailand’s farmers. In addition, Thai agricultural co-operatives can use e-commerce to improve their trading. A report in The Nation newspaper in 1998 (1998a) supported this view, saying that market information such as product prices, could assist farm planning and protect farmers from merchants’ unfair trading practices. Merchants could also use such information to improve business planning and to evaluate investments. It is further suggested that the Thai government could use information technology to better support the Thai farming community; that information technology could be used by agricultural cooperatives as a tool for communication with farmers; and that the government could be better informed of farmers’ needs, and so provide better and more useful services. In a similar vein, Sirimance (1998) suggests that information technology could reduce the communication gap between rural communities and the cities [The Nation newspaper (1998b)]. Despite the apparent advantages, Thai agriculture, including agricultural cooperatives, have been slow to introduce and exploit e-commerce; this is basis of our research project as described in Chiecochan and Lindley (1999), Chieochan, Lindley and Dunn (2000a & 2000b). In these papers, diffusion and adoption theory was used to classify Thai agricultural cooperatives according to if and when they adopted e-commerce. The main conclusion is that Thai agricultural cooperatives are slow in adopting e-commerce. Chieochan, Lindley and Dunn (2000) show that only 60 percent of Thai agricultural cooperatives use information technology and only 5 percent access the Internet. The Internet in Thailand is used mainly as a communication tool and websites for publishing organizational information , but is rarely used to conduct commercial transactions (King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology, Thonburi, 2001). Therefore, understanding factors affecting the use of information technology in Thai agricultural cooperatives is the fundamental to understand the use of e-commerce in Thai agricultural cooperatives and Thai culture. Al-Qirim and Corbitt (2001) support that factors inhibiting and encouraging e-commerce adoption are similar to factors inhibiting and encouraging information technology adoption in Thai agricultural cooperatives. Five keys factors affecting the use of information technology in Thai agricultural cooperatives need to be examined: • Thai agricultural cooperatives • Information Technology and e-commerce • National factors affecting the use of information technology and e-commerce in Thai agricultural cooperatives • Organizational factors affecting the use of information technology and e-commerce in Thai agricultural cooperatives • Implications to Thai government and Thai agricultural cooperatives

A Comparative Evaluation of E-Learning Adoption in Private and Public Higher Education Institutions

2017 ◽  
pp. 805-828
Author(s):  
Mpe Paulo Mwamahusi ◽  
Titus Tossy
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Strategic Change ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Empirical Survey ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
E Learning ◽  
The Government

This paper examines e-learning adoption in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The paper examines whether there is a difference between the Private and public HEIs e-learning adoption. The rationale for the examination stands from the fact that scholars are of option that there is different between private and public HEIs e-learning adoption. From an empirical survey conducted in Tanzania, this paper evaluates both staffs and students on the current situations, factors affecting, similarities and differences of e-learning adoption between private and public HEIs. The research reveals that, despite of the government efforts to support e-learning initiative by introducing national ICT polices to boost the level of adoption; very few private HEIs have adopted e-learning compared to public HEIs. The limited initial investment, lack of expertize, lack of guaranteed electrical power, poor strategic change management plans, and lack of innovative ideas are the barriers to e-learning adoption.

Bringing the Internet to the Rural Area

2010 ◽  
pp. 19-41
Author(s):  
Zulkefli bin Ibrahim ◽  
Ainin Sulaiman ◽  
Tengku M. Faziharudean
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Rural Area ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Rural Population ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Urban Community ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The Government ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Malaysia aims to be an information society by the year 2020 can only be achieved if the mass population, that include those who live in the rural area, has the access to use the ICT. This is due to the uneven distribution of the basic telecommunication infostructure between the urban and rural areas in Malaysia that left the rural area to be at the disadvantage to access the ICT. Meanwhile, there are many programs that have been implemented by the government to encourage the rural population to use the Internet, such as ‘Kedaikom’, a community based telecenter serving the rural population. A questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate how ‘Kedaikom’ as a community based telecenter could assist in diffusing the usage of the ICT to the rural population. The result from the survey has indicated that the community telecenter could be used to bridge the digital divide between the underserved rural community and the well-accessed urban community. More of the rural population, especially from the younger generation and those with higher education background (irrespective of age) are using the community telecenter to be connected to the Internet.

Transition to online higher education during COVID-19 pandemic: turmoil and way forward to developing country of South Asia-Nepal

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dhruba Kumar Gautam ◽  
Prakash Kumar Gautam
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Technological Support ◽  
Online Mode ◽  
Online Higher Education ◽  
The Future ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Future Path

PurposeEvery 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/approachIt 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.FindingsThis 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/valueThis study significantly contributes to the future management of higher education and digs the future path of online and on-class teaching-learning practices.

scholarly journals Toward Digital Citizenship: Examining Factors Affecting Participation and Involvement in the Internet Society among Higher Education Students

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulrahman Al-Zahrani
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Digital Citizenship ◽  
Computer Experience ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Daily Average ◽  
Computer Self Efficacy

<p class="apa">The current study aims to understand digital citizenship, based on the assumptions of Ribble (2014), by examining factors affecting participation and involvement in the Internet virtual societies among higher education students. A quantitative approach using a survey questionnaire was implemented. The participants were 174 students from the Faculty of Education at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia. The descriptive statistics show that the students generally have good levels of perceived Internet attitude, computer self-efficacy, and digital citizenship, especially in terms of respecting oneself and others online. The factors affecting digital citizenship are computer experience, daily average technology use, students’ attitudes toward the Internet, and computer self-efficacy. Students with higher levels of computer experience are more involved in activities related to educating oneself and connecting with others online compared with students with less experience. Further, students with higher levels of daily average technology use tend to protect themselves and others online more compared with students with lower levels of technology use. Moreover, higher levels of students’ Internet attitude and computer self-efficacy are associated with higher levels of respect for oneself and others, of educating oneself and others, and of total digital citizenship. Based on the current study findings, appropriate recommendations are proposed in terms of policy and practice.</p>

scholarly journals Economies Of Elearning In The 21st Century

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noah Kasraie ◽  
Esrafill Kasraie
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
21St Century ◽  
New Technology ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Effectiveness And Efficiency ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Web Based Education

The Internet and advancements in the field of information technology have opened up unprecedented opportunities for every citizen to succeed in the 21st Century.  Higher education has been utilizing the new technology by offering web-based education.  Many universities today offer online classes and even online degrees using eLearning.  But how can we measure the cost effectiveness and efficiency of eLearning?  The purpose of this article is to review a model to measure the cost effectiveness and efficiency of eLearning by investigating the three major sectors of the eLearning industry and discuss the impacts of economy on the growth of this newly developed industry.

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