The issue of launching online education at Dhaka University has been discussed for the last few days. That is normal. Due to this unwarranted closure the students are being heavily affected. The problem is that the impact of these three months is not limited to just three months as the public universities have been closed for almost three months. Its effects are longer and deeper. Moreover, we do not know or predict when this situation will end.
In this situation, there is a kind of pressure on public universities to launch online education activities from different quarters.
However, we need to do some ground level assessment before introducing online education in public universities. In today's article, I am presenting some such information to you.
I admit at the outset that I have collected all the information used in this article on my own initiative with the help of class representatives of different years. Neither the university nor my respected Psychology department is directly involved in this information and writing. So I am fully responsible for the statements and information that I am publishing in this article.
Thinking on a very small scale, I first tried to understand what our students need to introduce online learning. With some online sessions and talking to experts, I realized that students need the following materials for online learning.
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1. Smart Devices: Smart phones, laptops, tabs or desktops
2. Internet connection: Broadband or mobile data
3. Email Address: Gmail
4. Mobile connection: Grameen, Robi, Banglalink, Airtel or Teletalk
5. Internet costs
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Now I have tried to understand from the point of view of information, what is the condition of our students? Do they have the tools they need to start learning online? Well! Are students able to take online classes? Will you be able to take online classes if you support those who are not able to do it now? What is the status of the mobile network where they are? Are they under 2G, 3G or 4G network?
I would like to present to you the information obtained from the survey conducted among 421 honors level students of the Department of Psychology.
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Yahoo !!! All our 421 students have their own mobile number (SIM). 54% of them are Grameen Phone subscribers; Robi has about 18 per cent, Banglalink 15 per cent, Airtel 8 per cent and Teletalk 7 per cent students.
About 90 percent of the area where the students are located is under 3G or 4G network (3G 50.63 percent and 4G 36.95 percent). The remaining 10 percent of the area is under the 2G network.
Of the areas where our students live, 46 per cent have good network, 22 per cent have satisfactory network and 31 per cent have poor network.
The good news is, all of our students have their own emails. Of which 98.81 percent are Gmail accounts. The rest use Yahoo's mail account.
Almost all of these 421 Psychology students (98.61 percent) also have Facebook accounts. There are only five students who do not have a Facebook account.
Now let's talk about smart devices. About 97 percent of students have smart phones with smart devices with RAM ranging from 2 GB to 16 GB. The remaining 3 percent (12) students do not have a smart phone.
About 36 percent of our 421 students have laptops, desktops or tabs. On the other hand, 64 percent of the students do not have such a device. About 44 percent of students have broadband connection at home. On the other hand, 56 percent of households do not have a broadband connection.
Are our students able to attend online classes? In response to this question, it was found that about 87 percent of students are able to participate in online classes. The rest (13 percent) are not able to take part in online classes right now.
Do students need any help to attend online classes? In response to this question, 78 percent of the students said that they do not need help. The remaining 22 percent said there was a need.
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What kind of help is needed? The first thing that comes up in response to this is: they need low cost data packages. Second, the development of mobile networks is needed. Third, they need smart devices. With some logistical support such as good quality headphones, microphones, etc. came up. Fourth, the benefits of off line video recording that can be viewed later have come up. Fifth, some students mentioned financial aid.
Also mentioned are technical training, psychological support and textbooks for online classes.
This! I am not commenting here based on the information mentioned. I just presented the information to you.
I think such information is very important when deciding whether Dhaka University will start online classes.
We can create a database by collecting information from all our students. That database will then show us the way. That information will guide you through the possibilities and limitations of starting an inclusive online education as a whole. Only then can we plan how we will deal with those weaknesses.
Md. Selim Hossain, Assistant Professor of Psychology, DU