Table 4.
Preferences and challenges toward mode of learning
| S. No. | Preferences of the participants | n (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Pr. 1 | Preferred mode of learning | |
| Offline | 366 (32.9) | |
| Online | 747 (67.1) | |
| Pr. 2 | Reasons for preferring online mode | |
| Access needed information, at any time or/and at any place. | 821 (73.8) | |
| Learning without much travel, thus saves travel time. | 767 (68.9) | |
| Improvement in general digital literacy. | 434 (39.0) | |
| Access to upgraded and up-to-date educational content. | 532 (47.8) | |
| Learning the subject at my own pace and speed. | 560 (50.3) | |
| Learning how to work independently. | 368 (33.1) | |
| Easier methods of evaluation of the learners and learners don’t have to wait longer for their results. | 503 (45.2) | |
| Pr. 3 | Reasons for preferring offline mode | |
| “Classical” written material and writing down of own lecture notes. | 460 (41.3) | |
| Interactive simulations, discussion with other students. | 522 (46.9) | |
| Communication with the instructor and resolve the queries | 472 (42.4) | |
| Sufficient time to resolve my queries. | 397 (35.7) | |
| Limited requirements. | 242 (21.7) | |
| Retain knowledge and skills gained through online teaching. | 320 (28.7) | |
| Quality of knowledge being disseminated to be good and at student paced, rather than instructor-paced. | 372 (33.4) | |
| Pr. 4 | Challenges of online mode of learning | |
| No provision to “Classical” written material and writing of down own lecture notes. | 426 (38.3) | |
| No provision to interactive simulations, discussion with other students. | 421 (37.8) | |
| Difficult to communicate with the instructor and hence queries remain unresolved. | 318 (28.6) | |
| Difficult to resolve queries because of limited time available during online sessions. | 365 (32.8) | |
| Difficult to connect to online platforms, because of absence of necessary infrastructure and resources to attend such classes. | 235 (21.1) | |
| Difficult to connect to online platforms because of stable internet connection. | 251 (22.6) | |
| Privacy issues related to online platforms. | 161 (14.5) | |
| Difficult to retain knowledge and skills gained through online teaching. | 172 (15.4) | |
| Quality of knowledge being disseminated to be poor and at instructor-paced, rather than student paced. | 170 (15.3) | |
| Pr. 5 | Challenges of offline mode of learning | |
| Trainings to be attended at designated time and place. | 620 (55.7) | |
| Travel to concerned place to attend such trainings, thus lot of time goes in traveling. | 687 (61.7) | |
| The educational content is old and not upgraded. | 203 (18.2) | |
| Offline training to be boring and monotonous. | 224 (20.1) | |
| Difficult to retain knowledge and skills gained through offline teaching. | 152 (13.7) | |
| Method of evaluation is complicated and I have to wait long for the results. | 262 (23.5) |