A Study of Attitude and Perception of Students Towards Distance Education of Undergraduate and Graduate Students
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Abstract
Distance education has played a role in changing conventional aspects of higher education globally. The present study examines various attitudes and perceptions of Indian undergraduate and graduate students regarding distance education in distance learning settings considering flexibility, access to technology and learning satisfaction, and institutional support. Although the context of the research is India, the article relates the development of distance education in Russia with focus on management and business studies. In all, this work, with the help of a structured survey with responses from 500 university students across South India uncovers the important differences in perception with respect to gender, academic levels as well as urban and rural backgrounds. Results indicate that flexibility and affordability have a positive influence on the attitude toward e-learning while content quality and interactive learning have negative ones. Integrating global trends with indigenous practices in higher education, the study furthers the understanding of best practices across cultures for developing efficient distance and digital learning models by contrast between the transition that India undertook and the contemporary Russian higher education practices. The implications are especially geared towards business and management institutions that aspire to provide sustainability through distance education.