Online learning, a form of distance education, has transformed post-secondary education with a shift towards interactive and collaborative approaches over traditional lecturing. While offering benefits like flexibility, lower costs, and environmental friendliness, challenges such as socio-economic divides, gender differentiation, and internet accessibility persist in India. The online education market is projected to grow significantly, driven by increased digital adoption, but also requires quality assurance measures and trained faculty for effective implementation.

1. Dr. Zubair Nazeer
Assistant Professor Public
Administration
Jamia Millia Islamia

2.  Online learning is the newest and most popular form of distance
education today. Within the past decade it has had a major
impact on post-secondary education and the trend is only
increasing.
 Online learning is education that takes place over the Internet. It
is often referred to as “e-learning” among other terms.
 However, online learning is just one type of “distance learning” -
the umbrella term for any learning that takes place across
distance and not in a traditional classroom.
 Distance learning has a long history and there are several types
available today, including:
 Correspondence Courses: conducted through regular mail with
little interaction.
 Telecourses: where content is delivered via radio or television
broadcast.
 CD-ROM Courses: where the student interacts with static
computer content.
 Online Learning: Internet-based courses offered synchronously
and/or asynchronously.
 Mobile Learning: by means of devices such as cellular phones,
PDAs and digital audio players (iPods, MP3 players).

3.  Online learning is catalyzing a pedagogical shift in how we teach
and learn. There is a shift away from top-down lecturing and
passive students to a more interactive, collaborative approach in
which students and instructor co-create the learning process.
The Instructor’s/Teacher’s role is changing from the “sage on the
stage” to “the guide on the side.” It is based on:
 Constructivism: This point of view maintains that people actively
construct new knowledge as they interact with their environment.
This is a student-centered approach in which students “co-
create” their learning experience. This approach empowers
students as active learners instead of just passive recipients
absorbing information and reproducing it for standardized tests.
 Constructionism: It asserts that learning is particularly effective
when constructing something for others to experience. This can
be anything from a spoken sentence or an internet posting, to
more complex things like a painting or a presentation.

4.  Collaboration: As an instructor/Teacher you focus
on the experiences that would best generate
learning from the learner's point of view, rather
than just publishing and assessing the information
you think they need to know.
 Each participant in a course can and should be a
teacher as well as a learner. Your job changes from
being the sole source of knowledge, to being a
guide and role model.
 You connect with students in ways that address
their own learning needs by moderating
discussions and activities in a way that collectively
leads students towards the larger learning goals of
the class.

5.  Saving extra expenses- with the implementation of
online education, we will be able to save the
expenses of travel, lodging, and boarding and
these fee reductions will mean lower fees for the
online classes.
 No limitation- in contrast to physical classrooms,
digital classrooms don’t have limitations.
 Flexibility- In physical classrooms, there’s a
limitation to the local population of the students
but if we talk about digital classrooms, faculties
will be able to address not just the local population
but also the global population. Even in terms of
faculty, we will not be confined and will be able to
hire an expert professional from around the globe

6.  Nature friendly- by going digital, we are actually doing
the earth a favor. Trees are used in the construction of
paper, so if there would be less production of
textbooks, the number of cutting down of trees will
significantly decrease.
 Time saver- traditional methods of teaching includes
years of studies and months of waiting for the final
examination results but with the digital implementation
of the classes we are getting the content on spot, can
give examinations with the ease of sitting at home, and
can get the results instantly (or within few days) on our
smartphones and laptops which is less stressful and
saves a lot of time

7.  Socio-economic divide: In India, not even one-third of the
population receives online education. In rural areas, lack of
internet connectivity, less to no power supply, and inability or
un-affordability to buy relevant devices are the major concerns.
Many teachers had complained about the non-reachability of
study materials to lower class students because they are unable
to attend live sessions due to a lack of network.
 Gender differentiation: Another drawback is the differentiation
between girls and boys in our country. Parents are less motivated
to provide them electronic gadgets which are essential element
of online education.
 Internet drawbacks: It’s a big challenge to use the internet as a
source of online education. Google, Firefox, and other web
browsers are good sources of information but using these
platforms for online education isn’t easy. For teachers who had
always worked in universities, expecting them to be up to date
with creating digital content and delivering it effectively online
and for the children to easily adapt is completely unfair.

8.  Internet drawbacks: For education two main
factors, body language, and eye contact are
difficult to perceive in an online class. Many
questions arise, are students paying attention in
the class? If they are, is the session understandable
for them? Is their pace alright? These questions are
common for traditional classes too but they are
harder to address in an online session.
 Mental Health and Screen Time: The excess screen
time has resulted into major health complications
especially related to eyes and mental stress. This
has actually led to decreased performance among
students. It has had negative performance
influence on teachers as well.

9.  The online education market in India is expected to grow by a
staggering 50% during 2021-2025 to reach $5 billion by the
financial year 2025.
 That’s the forecast of Bengaluru-based market research firm
RedSeer, which in a new report has found that India’s
burgeoning EdTech industry will be driven by new reforms,
including the increase in public spending (targeted at 6 per cent
of the nation's GDP), relaxation in regulations governing degrees,
supply side capacity gaps, need realisation among students and
professionals and transition to a credit system of learning.
 The phenomenal opportunities for the sector in India becomes
even more apparent when compared against the global
benchmark. The global e-learning market size is projected to
grow $370 billion by 2026, from $226 billion in 2020, at a CAGR
of 8.56% during 2021-2026.
 Online education in India has witnessed an enhanced acceptance
over a few years – but it’s the coronavirus pandemic which has
heralded a boom for the industry.

10.  The Rapid Growth in internet connectivity in India driven
by shift towards Digital India
 Improvement in internet speed due to the low cost of
4G Data
 Growth in Smart Phone penetration in tier 2 and tier 3
cities.
 Online education cost is comparatively less compared to
traditional programmes
 Favourable e-learning policies of Government of India
such as SWAYAM and Digital India
 The advent of cloud infrastructure, peer to peer
problem solving, open content creation, and rapid
expansion of the target audience.
 Rising demand among working professionals due to
flexibility of time.

11.  Online Education in Higher Education whether
through Swayam MOOCs and Online Certificates,
Diploma and Degree Programmes are regulated by
the University Grants Commission.
 There are 56 Higher Education Institutes which
have been accorded permission to run online
programmes in India.
 There are 328 higher education programmes
sanctioned by the UGC.
 The UGC has categorized online education as part
of the distance education and this is regulated by
the UGC (Open Distance Learning and Online
Learning) Regulations 2020.

12. Eligibility
 Higher Educational Institutions having NAAC score 3.26 and above or
having rank in Top-100 in University category of National Institutional
Ranking Framework, at least twice in three preceding cycles (at the time
of application), shall be permitted to start full-fledged Online
programmes without prior approval of the UGC, provided it satisfies all
the conditions mentioned in these regulations:
 Provided that the Higher Educational Institutions can start maximum of
three (03) Under Graduate (UG) programmes and ten (10) Post Graduate
(PG) programmes with the approval of its statutory authorities and in
strict compliance with the provisions of these regulations:
 Provided also, that in case, the Higher Educational Institutions want to
start more than the defined number of programmes, then they shall seek
prior permission from the Commission

13. Quality Mangement
The functions of Centre for Internal Quality Assurance would, inter
alia, include the following, namely:-
◦ To maintain quality in the services provided to the learners.
◦ To undertake self-evaluative and reflective exercises for
continual quality improvement in all the systems and
processes of the Higher Educational Institution.
◦ To contribute in the identification of the key areas in which
Higher Educational Institution should maintain quality.
◦ To devise mechanism to ensure that the quality of Open
and Distance Learning programmes and Online programmes
matches with the quality of relevant programmes in
conventional mode.
◦ To devise mechanisms for interaction with and obtaining
feedback from all stakeholders namely, learners, teachers,
staff, parents, society, employers, and Government for
quality improvement.
◦ To suggest measures to the authorities of Higher
Educational Institution for qualitative improvement.
◦ To facilitate the implementation of its recommendations
through periodic reviews.
◦ To organise workshops/ seminars/ symposium on quality
related themes, ensure participation of all stakeholders, and
disseminate the reports of such activities among all the
stakeholders in Higher Educational Institution

14.  In terms of syllabus and content, online
degrees would adopt the same course
content as it is for the regular degree
programmes which brings the parity in
education.
 Online Degree programmes would have all
components from admission to teaching to
evaluation through online mode.
 The online programme would be fully based
on Four Quadrant Structure as adopted in
MOOCs.

15.  The Four Quadrants are:
1. Quadrant-I (e-Tutorial)
2. Quadrant-II (e-Content)
3. Quadrant-III (Discussion Forum)
4. Quadrant-IV (Assessment)
Quadrant-I (e-Tutorial): Shall contain Video and
Audio Content in an organized form,
Animation, Simulations, video demonstrations,
Virtual Labs, etc, along with the transcription of
the video.

16. Quadrant-II (e-Content): Shall contain self instructional
material, e-Books, illustrations, case studies,
presentations, Web Resources such as further
references, Related Links, Open source Content on
Internet, Video, Case Studies, books including e-
books, research papers & journals, Anecdotal
information, Historical development of the subject,
Articles, etc.
Quadrant-III (Discussion Forum): Discussion forum for
raising of doubts and clarifying them on a near real
time basis by the Course Coordinator or his team.
Quadrant-IV (Assessment): Shall contain problems and
solutions, which could be in the form of Multiple
Choice Questions, Fill in the blanks, Matching
Questions, Short Answer Questions, Long Answer
Questions, Quizzes, Assignments and solutions,
Discussion forum topics and setting up the FAQs,
Clarifications on general misconceptions.

17. To start the online progarammes, entitled HEIs would
have to ensure:
1. Learner Authentication - integrated with Aadhaar or
other government recognised identity for Indian
learners and Passport for foreign learners;
2. Learner Registration - through a web application
with supporting documents;
3. Payment Gateway – using Digital Payment system;
4. Learning Management System - which tracks the
delivery of Programme, learner's engagement,
assessment, results, and reporting supported by
analytical tools that can help the teachers to extract
and use the relevant reports example Google
Classroom and MS Teams, etc

18. To successfully run the online progarammes, entitled HEIs
would have to ensure two critical elements are in place:
1. Well Trained Faculty
2. Quality Self Learning Material
Well Trained Faculty:
1. It is essential that workload management is done
properly by the universities to ensure that teachers are
able to provide quality education. Over burdened faculty
would lead to deterioration of the quality.
2. Proper refresher courses for teachers to upgrade skills
to match needs of online education.
3. Financial resources to ensure that teachers are able to
create quality self learning material and e-content

19. Quality Self Learning Material
1. Self Learning Material has clearly stated objectives, intended
learning outcomes, study guidance and advice for the learners as to
how to optimally use the material and suggestive related reference
material to enhance the learning experience, and linkage within the
text with other media (for digital SLM) is maintained for easy
referencing and progress;
2. At least 60 per cent. of Self Learning Materials shall be developed
by the in-house faculty of the Higher Educational Institution and
the remaining per cent of the materials can be sourced from
available resources such as other Higher Educational Institutions,
Open Educational Resources (OER), and SWAYAM,
3. Self Learning Materials developed and offered by it is self-
explanatory, self-contained, illustrative, easily comprehensible, and
in manageable modules such as units and blocks;
4. Self Learning Materials provides adequate mechanism for the
learners to provide feedback on their understanding of the subject;

20. THANK YOU