Exploring the Online Learning Methodologies Used and its Benefits to the LIS Postgraduate Students and Research Scholars in Universities in Karnataka State

Abstract

Online education become more popular and almost all students of higher education are aware of online learning tools. This study mainly focuses on the various methodologies used in online learning by library and information science (LIS) research scholars and postgraduate students in the Karnataka state universities. Further, this study investigated the educational, cultural, and behavioural benefits perceived from online learning and how different universities benefited from student-teacher engagement in online learning. The study adopts a quantitative research design and uses a structured questionnaire. The researcher personally visited the university departments to collect data and Google Forms are also utilised. A total of 458 responses were received from research scholars (24%) and postgraduate students (76%). The study used appropriate statistical tests to analyse the collected data. Study results highlight that Google Meet is a highly preferred learning platform, followed by YouTube and Zoom. The use of presentations in online education is a highly used method (88.4%) and live classes and social media/email communication are highly utilised methods. Improved digital creativity and quality of presentation in online learning are the top educational benefits, communication and access to information are the top cultural benefits, and the use of common sense, muting audio and video are the top behavioural benefits. Skill enhancement and critical thinking improved through student-teacher engagement in online learning. Even though this study is limited to LIS learners, study results may be helpful for teachers, LIS departments, educational institutions, universities, and higher educational bodies to understand online learning needs.