‘Effectiveness of Offline e-learning on Students’ Academic

Performance and IT Competence”

By, Abdul Matin Sheikh

Abstract
E-education is an offline e-learning project which was established in Bangladesh
in 2010. The project has been serving poor but meritorious and talented students from
rural areas of Bangladesh who passed grade XI (locally known as intermediate or H.S.C).
The project aim is to empower poor students through ensuring Quality Education. E-
education believes to break poverty trap or cycle, quality education and ICT knowledge
can act in meaningful way. As a result, e-education is providing quality education to
meritorious and talented students from rural setup. Under the project service students
receive e-learning training for university admission preparation. The training module is
fully ICT based. Students learn lessons from quality DVD lectures: developed by and
recorded from skilled teachers in pertinent subjects from renowned school and college.
The project mainly provides service to social science and commerce background students
because comparatively poor students choose these disciplines as medium of study as well
as education cost in these discipline is comparatively lower than science. In addition, it is
generally believed that students of science background are from comparatively rich
family. However, DVD lectures are provided to students through multimedia class room
using computer and projector.
Since 2010, around 2000 students have been benefitted from the service directly
and many others have been benefitted indirectly. After receiving service and passing
university entrance exam, many students are currently studying different prestigious
public universities of Bangladesh such as University of Dhaka, University of Jagannath,
University of Chittagong, University of Rajshahi and son on. From successful students
above 200 students are studying these prestigious universities and above 1500 students
are studying at national university which is the largest public university of Bangladesh in
terms of students’ affordability (e-education success track record 2010-2015). These
success history inspired e-education service providers to work in greater extend to bring
more disadvantaged students under the service. E-education believes that ensuring quality
education and ICT knowledge for poor students could be one of the strong remedial paths
for them to break poverty trap and enter into descent life.
But, due to financial limitation and accommodation shortage, e-education does
not provide direct ICT training to students but tries to arrange class and contents based on
ICT tools like DVD, computer, projector etc. which requires minimal IT knowledge to
use. Due to come from poor household, many students receive first experience of these IT
tools at e-Education. E-Education decided to provide offline e-learning to inspire and to
 create consciousness among students about multi-dimensional use of ICT especially in
education. E-education believes, If ICT based education is provided to students, it can
serve both purposes: in the one side, students can receive quality lessons from expert and
skill teachers and prepare themselves for future success, on the other side, they can earn
IT knowledge and enhance their IT competence due to frequent use of IT tool during
university admission preparation period which can help them to acquire good academic
results and to show better IT performance than the students who did not receive such
training.
However, beside year to year evaluation, a mega evolutionary study has been
conducted by Kyoto and Tokyo University of Japan1 on the basis of data collected from
2010-2014. The findings of that study show that the students who receive e-education
service, their probability of passing university entrance examination are 36 percent higher
than those who did not receive services (Kono H., Sawada Y. and Shonchoy S. A. 2015).
They used Randomized Control Trial model (RCT) to evaluate the project. Likewise, the
present study is the sequence of that study.
The current study differs with the previous study in various stands e.g. 1. in terms
of evaluation phase: previous study shows the effect of e-education before university
admission of students but the present study is intended to evaluate the students’
performance after university admission. 2. Previous study focuses on the success rate of
students in university admission test but the current study focuses on students’
performance at academic level. 3. Sample population (Treatment Group and Control
Group) of the previous study were under intensive care of e-education for six months but
this facility is not applicable after university admission but regular communication has
been maintained with them for the current study purpose. To conduct this study, it has
been assumed that there is not only impact of e-education (offline) on students to success
in university entrance examination but also further effect on students’ academic
performance during university life because e-Education believes students receive quality
training during university preparation period. Therefore, there should have reflection of
that quality training in their academic performance also. In Addition, due to ICT based
training, many students get first exposure about ICT tools like computer, DVD, Projector,
Multimedia Class Room, Internet etc. during preparation and their multi-dimensional use
in education. This opportunity is not available to those students who receive service from
traditional Prep Schools. Therefore, it has been assumed that e-Education service
receivers should stay forward compare to non e-Education students. To conduct field
survey, data has been collected from 2012 batch of e-education because in that year e-
education literally got popularity to students. Though hundreds of students wished to
avail e-education service in that year, only 300 students were selected for the service
because of shortage of resources and another 300 were selected as control group. In that
year, a good number of students succeeded in university entrance examination. These
students are currently studying at third years for honors degree. So, important information
e.g. CGPA, study time etc. has been collected for only two years.
1
Kyoto and Tokyo University of Japan supported e-Education for the year 2012-2014
 However, though many factors influence a student’s academic performance and
IT competence/friendliness, but the current study selected study hours, class attendance,
CGPA as academic performance, and frequency of IT tools use in academic purpose,
engagement in various offline and online activities like web browsing, online study
materials reading etc. The current study consciously avoided such factors which has
little/indirect relation with academic performance and IT performance such as financial
condition, family members, subject of study etc. to avoid complexity. Nonetheless, it
generally assumed that there should a reflection of quality training of e-education on
students’ academic performance and IT competence/friendliness.  So, anyone can
criticize the findings because there is no direct relation between e-education and students’
academic activities. To avoid exaggeration and to reach to the near of truth, regular
communication has been maintained with students from e-education to keep their track
record since their admission in universities. However, though the current study also tried
to use RCT model to conduct the study and field works’ evaluation, but, some aspects of
the model has not been followed meticulously because of limitation of knowledge.
To present findings simple data table and graph has been used in most of the case.
Few regressions have been run to see significance of e-Education service on students’
academic performance and IT competence. As mentioned earlier, the current study
considers Students’ CGPA, Class Attendance, Library work and IT tool use in academic
purpose as indicators of academic performance and frequency of IT tools, skill in various
software and hard ware use as indicators of students’ IT competence. 
However, the findings of current study show that, in aggregate, students from TG
is clearly doing better academic result than CG students. TG means CGPA is 0.212467
point higher than CG students. Similarly, they also spend more time in studying by using
IT tools than CG students. The means study hours of TG students are 0.292573 point
higher than CG students. The findings also show that TG students’ performance in class
attendance and library work is lower than CG students because findings shows that they
spend more time in doing private tuition and part time job compare to CG students.
Therefore, is has been found that there is significant effects of offline e-learning
on students’ academic performance. Moreover, in terms of IT friendliness/competent of
student, findings shows mixed results. Study found that TG students spend more time in
web browsing, e-book reading, online study materials reading, online journal reading,
online newspaper reading and social networking than CG students. Our findings show
TG has 2% more probability to use mobile without internet, 27% more probability
of mobile with internet, 23% more probability of using computer without internet.
The group who are using computer with internet having 9% higher tendency to be
in control group. In comparison of cell phone and computer use, TG students use
more computer and computer related software than CG students. In case of IT
knowledge like OS set up, software installation, graphic design etc. TG students
dominate over control group students though the number of sample students are very few
who knows about it. In compare to cell phone and computer use, TG students use more
computer and computer related software than CG students. On the other hand, CG
students use more mobile and mobile phone related software. In terms of cell phone and
computer use in academic purpose with and without internet. TG group spend
comparatively more time than CG students in case of computer use with and without
internet and cell phone use without internet. Likewise, CG spend more time in cellphone
use than TG both with internet. It is noteworthy here, only computer was the medium of
e-education service. Therefore, it can be said, there is a significant effect of e-education
on students’ academic performance but, in case of IT competence, study shows mixed
results but it has some demonstrational and motivating effect on students IT knowledge
desire though the number are very few.