Gender differences among university students in access and perception towards e-learning

Pages: 259-264
Anusha and Ritu Mittal Gupta (Department of Extension Education and Communication Management, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab)

Recent lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic proved that e-learning overcomes the barriers of time space and location, when many institutes used e learning to continue education while their institutional buildings were shut down. Though the teachers managed to go for on teaching, students may be reluctant to use e learning due to many factors such as lack of self-efficiency, self efficacy and computer skills. The current research was undertaken to study access, usage pattern of e-learning services and the perception of students towards e-learning in Punjab state. Overall, most of the male and female students had access to e-learning devices such as smartphone, laptop and computer. The findings showed that on an average, students were using internet for more than three and half hours daily and they were using internet since more than five years. Students had positive perception towards perceived ease of use and usefulness of e-learning system. Overall, the students had positive perception towards e-learning and therefore teaching facultiesshould blend e learning in their day to day teaching to make learning more meaningful and interesting. Gender comparison showed that male have more positive perception than female for e-learning.