Management students' perspective and preferences towards

flexible learning during COVID-19 pandemic in India

Aakriti Singh1,
Rahul Dhaigude2,
Gagan Rajendra Mandavkar3
1
MBA, Student, Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Symbiosis International
(Deemed University), Pune, India
2
Faculty at Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Symbiosis International (Deemed
University), Pune, India
3
MBA student at Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Symbiosis International
(Deemed University), Pune, India

ABSTRACT
The (World Health Organisation) WHO declared Coronavirus (COVID-19) as a global health
emergency in January which has impacted different sectors around the globe. The education
sector in India as well as around the world is no exception as the current health crisis and
lockdown regulations disrupted the educational learning system. Nevertheless, educational
institutions have slowly acclimatized to digital learning platform to minimize the impact of
pandemic on education. Even the Post Graduate students in India have also moved to the
virtual mode of learning. Accessible technologies have made it possible for the students to
step gradually to flexible learning. Flexible learning is learner centred giving independence
and encouraging flexibility in the time, place, evaluations, certification, and location of the
study, interactions. It has benefited students by offering different choices for learning: online
learning, MOOCs, experiential learning, enhanced customization of degree programs and
also provided the global learning platforms and options to the students.
AIM: - The aim of this research is to analyse the importance of technological advancement
and the movement towards flexible learning among the management students. This examines
the factors which are satisfying the management student in respect of flexible learning
approach as a pre-requisite during COVID-19 pandemic.
METHODOLOGY: - A self-administered online questionnaire was drafted on Google forms
and was sent to various management students. The research is based on methods of
quantitative analysis from the students doing MBA. The survey data is mainly based on the
perception of management students towards flexible learning methodology for the purpose of
self-development and active learning in times of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in India.
Independent sample T-test determines a significant difference between the people having /
non-having past virtual mode learning towards the flexible learning methodology and course
outline.
RESULT: - A total of 244 management students responded the questionnaire out of which
maximum were in the age group of 23-26 (68.4%) highlighting the professional degree
students. As per analysis, 167 (68.4%) have used/attended the virtual learning platform.
Management students in India believed that increase in knowledge (77.45%) was the most

1
important motivator for participating in flexible and active learning. The Cronbach’s alpha
was calculated to be 0.872 which shows good consistency among the questions related to
flexible learning methodology. Factor analysis gives five factors: resources, content, delivery,
time and pedagogy, in terms of dimensions of flexibility.
KEYWORDS: COVID-19, flexible learning, virtual learning, education, management
students, coronavirus.

1. INTRODUCTION
The highly contagious disease known as Coronavirus has spread across the globe not only
affecting human society but also the economic cycle. This infectious disease has rattled all
the businesses and the fear has even extended to the educational sector. To contain the spread
of the virus the world has been put under the lockdown including educational institutions.
This has affected all the learners ranging from school going children to postgraduate students.
The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the closing of schools in 188 nations, impacting
more than 1.5 billion children and 63 million primary and secondary teachers globally,
according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics {Rana2020}. This pandemic has led to a
situation of uncertainty regarding the reopening of institutions. The Ministry of Human
Resources Development (MHRD) has created various arrangements including online portals,
educational channels through direct to home TV, radios to continue the learning of the
students {Jena2020}.
In India, during the five lockdown phases imposed by the government, no relaxation was
given to academic institutions across the country in carrying out the traditional educational
practices {JENA2020a}. The pandemic has raised the pressure on the higher qualified
graduates. The Universities are closed and many of the semester-end exams at colleges have
been postponed. The change from a classroom environment to the electronic framework has
been a problem for institutions. Universities have started looking at the education system
from a dynamic perspective. To curb this loss on student education on a long-term basis,
there has been a drastic change in the mode of learning. Higher education including a number
of disciplines has been hindered a lot by the virtual mode of learning. This has reduced the
experiential learning mode among the students and also has affected the one on one
interaction with the teachers. Management college students are no exception to this. Learning
being a continuous process and to remain unaffected there is a total shift from traditional
learning to the virtual learning one of the largest educational experiments {Lall2020}. This
generation of students possess the ability to gather information and learn quickly. The
learning approach needs to be systematic, methodical and learner centric to create relatedness
between students and developing learning outcome {Joan2013}. This pandemic and
lockdown period has caused the educational institutions to remain closed temporarily but has
provided an opportunity to enhance students learning perspective through a technologically
collaborated system. A lot of management educational associations and universities are
collaborating with multiple groups of people such as government driven education bodies,
education as well as technology providers (Zoom meets, Microsoft teams, google meets,
etc.), in order to continue the teaching practices by adopting digitization {Jadhav2020}.

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One such practice and approach to learning is Flexible Learning. Lee and McLoughlin (2010)
defined flexible learning as a “set of educational approaches and systems concerned with
providing learners with increased choice, convenience, and personalization to suit their needs.
In particular, flexible learning provides learners with choices about where, when, and how
learning occurs, by using a range of technologies to support the teaching and learning
process” {Huang2020}. It has provided a balanced pragmatic and personal flexibility
learning approach to management students. It has promoted a self-reliance during this
pandemic period and built confidence among the students. It has helped the students to reach
out to the global educational platforms to improve their individualized learning. ‘Flexible
Learning is a set of educational philosophies and systems, concerned with providing learners
with increased choice, convenience, and personalisation to suit the learner. In particular,
flexible learning provides learners with choices about where, when, and how learning occurs.
Sometimes it also referred to as personalized learning {Joan2013}.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
In this pandemic situation the flexible learning gave a friendly learning environment to the
management students. This platform has provided learner's choices using several instructional
approaches, such as lectures with tutorials, independent study, discussion, seminar groups,
debates, student-led discovery approaches and educational gamification {Huang2020}. It has
helped the students get enthusiastic, motivated, and improved the learning quality. Flexible
learning has given a wide range of opportunities to connect with ongoing opportunities.
Students are able to apply three learning theories which are Connectivism, Constructivism
and Engagement {Huang2020}. The Flexible learning has provided the students with various
authenticated material. Students are using various methods for flexible learning like Blended
learning, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), Experiential learning {Huang2020}.
Many educational institutional have started using various technology platforms for different
ways of learning. This has helped the institutions to provide continuous and uninterrupted
learning during the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Learning engagement in a context of self-
determined learning requires the satisfaction of a sense of autonomy {Lan2020}. “Flexible
learning is an alternative to the face-to face teaching model traditionally associated with
higher education” Cybinski & Selvanathan (2005, p. 252) {Ferdinand-James2015}. The
faculty involvement has been a challenge in this flexible mode of learning. But the developed
and the structured course outline has helped both the instructor and the students to dedicate
their time to learning. Successful flexible learning is technologically driven which leads to
better subject knowledge and advanced IT capabilities which are important for management
students who are joining the workforce {Drennan2005}.
The management students have now started a web based leaning skill to encounter to the
recent changes happening all over. For higher education the expression 'flexible' is sometimes
combined with terms such as 'teaching,' 'delivery' and ' learning’ {Benckendorff2007}. It has
provided students to learn in holistic view and use their own parameters to learn new subjects
or topics. The word embraces the idea of individuality and self-direction in studying, which
suggests that students are motivated individually and socially to achieve and learn
{Benckendorff2007}. The use of flexible learning is often correlated with the concepts like e-
learning, open learning, distance learning or blended learning {Muller2019}. Many

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universities have started the use of dynamic learning platforms for management students to
increase their knowledge base. There have been some problems faced by the students in the
flexible learning approach, but it has not impacted the students much. It was highlighted in
the studies that deficiencies such as the vulnerability of the online educational system,
instructor inexperience, knowledge gap, a complex home environment has a minor impact on
the learning {Ali2020}. The Virtual learning environment allows management students to
create a world of learning experience through interaction, simulation, and collaboration
making it an immersive environment {Basilaia2020}.
The adaptive learning approach can be applied at different levels, including teaching and
learner management, organizational management and institutional management
{Huang2020}. According to a ministry survey report, the Ministry of Human Resource
Development (MHRD), Government of India, which was conducted on higher education
found that there are 993 universities, 39931 Colleges and 10725 standalone institutions listed
on their portal, which contribute to education and has been affected during this pandemic
{JENA2020a}. COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions have paved way for digital
learning and has forced the education institutions to incorporate technology to another level
for student-faculty and student-student interaction to happen in a smooth manner in lines of
traditional classroom learning {Thomas2012}. Every system has its advantages and its
disadvantages. To make this learning student-centric, learning needs to be transferred in a
constructive and functional manner. Online learning is described as learning experience in
synchronous or asynchronous environments using various devices with internet connectivity
where students can interact with teachers anywhere {Dhawan2020} . Various dimensions
have been defined to focus on the flexibility at teaching and learner management level. Some
of them that can be mentioned are time, content, delivery, pedagogy, resources, support, etc.
The category of time dimension can be elaborated to the tempo for a learner through the
course, time flexibility due to course outline and structured planning for assessments. Content
dimension is basically providing a scope for personalized learning, approach to the topic,
ways of learning through different activities, etc. the dimension of delivery caters for the ease
of understanding of a topic and the mode on which learning is carried out {Thomas2012}.
Students learn in various ways, some of them prefer visual studies while others prefer textual
material studies, some are self-motivated active learners, while others are dependent on
others, some prefer engaging in the group learning {Thomas2012}. The methods of obtaining
knowledge and keeping the continuous learning objective as per one’s convenience, also
points out the access for quality resources. The management institutions in India are
promoting a learning with the optimal utilization of technology to minimize the gap between
the learners and education during this COVID-19 pandemic {Abbasi2020}.

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: -
The study involves to highlight the perception of management students towards the virtual
platform learning to provide active and convenient learning (flexible learning) in light of the
coronavirus pandemic and lockdown period in India. The research is based on methods of
quantitative analysis and the data type is primary data. Online Google form was created and
floated to known networks of MBA students through social media platforms. The
questionnaire seeks to find the factors which motivates students to participate in flexible

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learning during the COVID-19 scenario. The second section of the questionnaire focusses on
getting responses from students on the level of agreement for the set of statements related to
methods in virtual mode of learning as compared to the traditional mode of learning, time
management of students and approach towards flexible learning. To measure the student
perspectives towards these statements, the respondents were asked to rate on a 4-pointer
Likert scale (1= Strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=agree, 4=Strongly agree). IBM SPSS
Statistics 25 was used to analyse the data received as per responses. To understand the
demographic (gender, age group, past experience of Virtual learning and Preference of
Gadget/device for virtual classes) of the respondents, frequency analysis was done. In order
to determine how closely related the 19 statements are, reliability test was done. The value
for Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to bring out the consistency in the statements. In order to
check whether there are any differences in the respondent’s past experience of virtual
learning with respect to these 19 statements, independent sample T-test has been performed.
Factor analysis is done to extract the important factors towards the dimensions of flexibility.
4. FINDINGS:
In this study a total of 244 management students responded the questionnaire. Table (1)
reveals the demographics of the participants along with past experience of virtual learning
and preferences of the devices used for virtual classes. Out of the entire population of study,
94 were female and 150 were male. The maximum respondents were from the age group 23-
26 (68.4%) followed by the students belonging to age group 20-22 (15.2%). From the data
collected, the study populations reported that 167 students (68.4%) have prior experience of
virtual learning. The study also reveals that out of the total population 48.4% students
preferred to use only laptops followed by 21.7% students using both mobiles and laptops for
the virtual classes. Fig. 1 indicates the motivator factor for the management students to
participate in the flexible learning. "Increase in knowledge skills" (77.45%) was the most
important motivator for the students participating in the virtual learning. Around (53.68%) of
the students were inclined towards E-learning because of having interest in topics. The study
revealed that (43.31%) were interested in flexible learning because of "Certificate for
successful completion" as a motivator factor. It also showed that "Required by college
professor" factor did not motivate many of the students for the active learning rather students
were motivated because of "Employment".

5
The reliability test was done for checking the internal consistency of all 19 statements which
are related to the perception of students towards flexible learning as an active learning
methodology to enhance growth with respect to the dimensions of flexibility. The Cronbach’s
alpha was 0.872 which shows good reliability and the statements are closely related (see
Table 2).

The frequency and the percentage for each of the 19 statements rated on a four-point scale
were calculated. Most of the students (N=126,51.6%) indicated that the course provided
flexible learning and helped them in understanding the subject and topic better. Many of the
students (N=104,42.6) believed that the course gives them freedom to customize on subjects.
It appeared that nearly half of the students (N=124,50.8%) believed that learning practice is
self-directed and students (N=121,49.6) are able to support their learning because of lecturers
making good use of the web. It was found that students (N=120,49.2%) liked active learning
because of the high-quality resources provided by the lecturers for easy understanding of the
topic. There was a mixed feeling among the students(N=92,37.7) that use of jargon used by
the lecturers had hampered the learning and understanding of the topic. It reflected that some
of the students agreed to have convenience in virtual learning and have helped them in
understanding the subject better, but few of them agreed that traditional learning is more
convenient. Nearly half of the student (N=118,48.4) showed that the course provides them
flexibility in assessment and evaluating academic programmes. It appeared that most of the

6
students (N=88,36.1) found it difficult to organize time for team work and for the group
study. It indicated that nearly half of the students (N=112,45.9) found that the course outline
is in a structured manner and students (N=110,45.1) prefers to give group assessment for
sharing knowledge. Many students (N=116,47.5) believed that there is transparency in the
course to provide progress on subjects for self-monitoring. There was a neutral feeling among
the students for the study material shared by the lecturer are sufficient to understand the
subject. Most of the students (N=115,47.1) believed that OER (Open Educational Resources)
has enhanced their learning. Nearly half of the students (N=116,47.5) agreed to the fact that
virtual learning creates lack of interaction between the learners and facilitators. There was a
balanced believe among the students that they utilize time in prior learning before the actual
session(N=103,42.2). Student strongly agreed to the fact that (N=103,42.2) flexible learning
has created balance between the work, study and social life. Many students (N=99,40.6)
agreed that their course provides flexibility for other skill development activities for
professional growth.

4.1. Independent sample T-test:

The independent sample T-test is performed for analysing whether there is a contrast of
respondent’s attitude having past virtual learning experience with respect to the 19 statements
governing flexible learning. The null hypothesis is that there is no significant difference in
the respondent’s past experience of virtual learning with respect to the 19 statements and the
alternate hypothesis is that there is a significant difference in the respondent’s past experience
of virtual learning with respect to the 19 statements. Table (3) gives us the descriptive
statistics for the two groups along with the mean and standard deviation of the various
statements. From the table we can say that, there is a significant difference between people
having prior experience of virtual learning and people not having a prior experience of virtual
learning towards: provision of flexible learning in the course and understanding of the topic
(p=.000 & p=.001); personalized learning for students (p=.012 & p=.013); practice of
learning is self-directed (p=.004 & p=.007); provision of high quality resources by lecturers
for a better understanding of the topic (p=.019 & p=.029); flexibility in assessment pattern
and evaluation of academic programmes (p=.004 & p=.007); structured course outline for
time flexibility (p=.016 & p=.018); better learning from Open Educational Resources (p=.002
& p=.004); flexible learning balances work, study and social life (p=.014 & p=.013);
engagement in other skill development activities because of flexible course outline (p=.004 &
p=.005). This significant difference can be attributed to the fact that students having prior
experience of the virtual platform are very much accustomed to the system, instructions to be
followed, how to get full advantage of the virtual learning classes, proper adoption to the
approach of online blended learning and are able to manage and adapt to the course timeline.
For the remaining set of statements, the null hypothesis is getting accepted and hence there is
no significant difference in the student’s prior experience on virtual based learning with
respect to the flexible learning pedagogy.

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 Table 3. Group Statistics & Independent Sample T-test
Type in
Any past Significance

experience of Std. Std. Error (2-tailed)

Virtual learning? N Mean Deviation Mean

1. My course provides flexible learning and helps me to understand the Yes 167 3.42 .604 .047 .000

subject/topic better. No 77 3.10 .661 .075 .001

2. My course gives freedom for customization on subjects (personalized learning Yes 167 3.23 .821 .064 .012

for students). No 77 2.95 .826 .094 .013

3. The practice of learning is self- directed. Yes 167 3.47 .692 .054 .004

No 77 3.17 .834 .095 .007

4. Lecturers provide high quality resources (podcasts, Open educational Yes 167 3.19 .702 .054 .019

resources, videos etc.) for easy understanding of the topic. No 77 2.95 .841 .096 .029

5. Lecturers make good use of the web to support my learning. Yes 167 3.26 .687 .053 .179

No 77 3.13 .784 .089 .201

6. Lecturers use of jargon hinders my learning and understanding of the topic. Yes 167 2.90 .920 .071 .968

No 77 2.91 .846 .096 .967

7. Virtual learning is more convenient than traditional classroom learning. Yes 167 2.56 1.117 .086 .227

No 77 2.38 1.113 .127 .227

8. Lectures held on virtual platform help me to understand my subjects better. Yes 167 2.78 .927 .072 .060

No 77 2.53 .981 .112 .066

9. I find it difficult to organize time for team-work and collaboration among the Yes 167 3.00 .938 .073 .918

students for group study. No 77 2.99 .851 .097 .915

10. My course provides flexibility in assessment pattern and evaluation of Yes 167 3.22 .723 .056 .004

academic programmes. No 77 2.92 .823 .094 .007

11. My course outline is designed in a structured manner to enhance time Yes 167 3.29 .729 .056 .016

flexibility. No 77 3.04 .768 .088 .018

12. I prefer to give group assessments as they are very effective way of sharing Yes 167 3.26 .713 .055 .662

k2wledge and to enhance learning. No 77 3.22 .700 .080 .660

13. My course is transparent towards progress on subjects for self-monitoring to Yes 167 3.12 .805 .062 .792

promote active learning. No 77 3.09 .764 .087 .788

14. Online study materials shared with me by lecturers are sufficient to understand Yes 167 2.94 .942 .073 .250

the subject. No 77 2.79 .908 .103 .244

15. I believe that OER (Open Educational Resources) courses enhance my learning. Yes 167 3.38 .646 .050 .002

(Ex.- Freely available licensed resources, interactive mini-lessons and simulations, etc.) No 77 3.08 .791 .090 .004

16. Virtual learning creates lack of interaction between learners and facilitators. Yes 167 3.25 .839 .065 .904

No 77 3.26 .894 .102 .906

17. I utilize my time in prior-learning for better understanding of the topic before Yes 167 3.05 .880 .068 .498

the actual sessions. No 77 2.97 .794 .091 .482

18. Flexible learning in curriculum creates balance between work, study and family Yes 167 3.31 .827 .064 .014

commitments. No 77 3.03 .794 .091 .013

19. My course gives flexibility for other skill developments activities for professional Yes 167 3.26 .843 .065 .004

growth. No 77 2.91 .906 .103 .005

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4.2. Factor analysis:

The KMO measure of sampling adequacy tells us whether the responses given are adequate
or not. The appropriateness of factor analysis is shown by a high value of KMO statistics.
The value of KMO statistics is measured out to be 0.864 and comes under acceptance region
of the factor analysis model. Bartlett’s test of sphericity is conducted to negate the hypothesis
that correlation matrix is an identity matrix. The existence of identity matrix places a question
on the correctness of factor analysis. By getting the significance value of (0.000), which is
less than (0.05), we are rejecting the hypothesis. The Chi-square value comes out to be
1578.024 with the degree of freedom 171 (see Table 4).

The Communalities table tells the measure of variance a component shares with the other
components taken into consideration of the factor analysis model. This table consists of initial
communalities, which is by default considered as 1.000 and the extracted communalities.
Values which are comparatively smaller are to be removed and not considered for factor
analysis (see Table 5).

9
The total variance explained table (see Table 6) gives the Eigen Values. It consists of three
sub-groups i.e. initial eigen values, extraction sums of squared loadings and rotation sums of
squared loadings. The Eigen value gives the degree of variance in a component taken into
consideration that will be associated with a factor. As per study, there are only five factors
having the eigen value more than (1). All these five factors taken together accounts for
59.739% of the total variance.

10
Rotated component matric is the rotated version of the component matrix for the ease of
interpretation as well as to get a simple structure for grouping the components. Component
matrix gives the extracted values generated which are called loadings. Higher the value of the
loading, the factor contributes more to the component. There is a requirement of rotation
because the originally unrotated factors are difficult to interpret. ‘Varimax procedure’ is used
for rotation here. The column here gives the factor loading for each component towards a
particular factor (see Table 7). The cut-off point for the absolute value is kept at (0.6).
From Table 7., the rotational component matrix gives us,
 Lecturers provide high quality resources, effective use of web for learning, OER
(Open Educational Resources) courses enhance my learning, understanding
topic by flexible learning are having high loading on factor 1.
 Transparency for self-monitoring to promote active learning, flexibility in
assessment of academic programmes, flexibility for other skill developments
activities for professional growth, enhancement of learning by group assessments
are having high loading on factor 2.
 Virtual learning is more convenient than traditional classroom learning, better
understanding on virtual platform are having high loading on factor 3.
 Difficulty in managing time for group-work, use of jargons hinders learning,
virtual learning creates lack of interaction between learners and facilitators are
having high loading on factor 4.
 Self-directed learning is having high loading on factor 5.
Based on the factor analysis, the five factors for this study in terms of dimensions of
flexibility are as follows: Resources, content, delivery, time and pedagogy.

5. DISCUSSION:
The primary purpose of this study was to examine the management student’s perception
towards the flexible learning during this COVID-19 pandemic. It showed that a majority of
the students had prior experience of virtual learning and many students were able to cope up
with the technological advancement towards management learning. As per analysis, there are
five factors that motivated the students to develop productivity and adapt to an effective way
of learning. These made convenient for the management students to strengthen their skills,
and able to design their programmes flexibly.
5.1. Resources
The students were having successful learning because of the use of high-quality resources
(like use of videos, podcasts etc). There are various courses which are developed by different
agencies like SWAYAM and MOOCs (Ataizi, 2005; the Ministry of human resource
development, 2020) {Lall2020}. This made it easier for them to grasp the topic effectively,
and they were able to structure their topics depending on their academic interest. The
innovative learning platform enhanced the analytical skills helping them in better
understanding of the subjects. It presented a very instructive video to explain the realistic
application of the concepts to different case studies. Students get all the tools which are
actually practiced in the real world of industries. OER (Open Educational Resources) projects

11
opportunities for flexible, active, efficient and quality learning resources and is constantly
widening its presence across the country {Hylen2012}.
5.2. Content
This factor has satisfied the management student’s learning by providing transparency to the
students in terms of the selection as well as evaluation or assessment. The wide range of
topics and subjects available helped the students to learn and earn critical thinking skills.
Self-monitoring helped to push the students into the successful learning framework. The
transparency makes easy for the students to get timely and immediate feedback on the
decisions. There is a maintained record for the students on the active learning. The students
are able to make modification in the programmes allowing them to have sequential growth.
Students need to be conscious of their own personality patterns, because that would help
them recognise their strengths and limitations and adjust their courses to the demands of
various learning requirements (Sadler-Smith & Smith, 2004) {Thomas2012}.
5.3. Delivery
The study revealed that standard of delivery gives satisfaction to the students in the active
learning. Virtual learning offers students a massive benefit as a student can study anywhere,
at any time Carnevale, 2000; Dutton et al., 2002) {Lall2020}. The students made use of the
virtual environment because it gave them flexibility in the delivery mode. It helped the
students to interact with the lecturers on the special discussion forum to understand the
subject much better. It helped the students to download the study materials remotely and have
easy understanding. In order to have academic consistency, the college/the course providers
should provide the course outline detailing to the learners in an electronic medium
{Sahu2020}.
5.4. Time
The study showed that it provided the time versality to the students. It specified that working
in collaborative group online course without rearranging the schedule for everyone as one
would do in traditional classroom learning, was convenient. Petrides (2002) It was convenient
to work in an online course in collaborative groups without rearranging the schedule for
everyone as one might do in the conventional classroom {T2020}. However, the findings
revealed that the students found it challenging in team work and difficult to collaborate with
the students for the group study. There is some time lapse in understanding of the technical
words used by the lecturers. There is lack of engaging in the lecture and the participation of
the students are also less as compared to the traditional classroom. Hugget (2014) explained
the importance of interaction frequency in online classes {T2020}. He found that there was a
lack of time in getting answers immediately to the queries asked by the students {T2020}.
5.5. Pedagogy
Always working graduates and making a home responsibility from online can be largely
advantageous method of learning as this gives them more flexibility timetable they can adapt
and learn from. (Mansour and Mupinga, 2007) {Lall2020}. The self-regulated factor was one
of the main motivators for the students to lean towards the flexibility learning. It has
increased student self-management by tackling many strategic issues {Webster2018}. The
students are able to provide more time for self-understanding. They are getting an overview

12
of the strategies followed in the real business world. It has provided flexibility to the students
to learn at their own pace and understand the concepts and objectives clearly. The UK based
Education Endowment Foundation found the important thing is to help learners think more
clearly about their own learning by setting targets, tracking and assessing own progress (EEF,
2017) {Webster2018}. This factor helped the student to do their self-analysis.

CONCLUSION:
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic the requirement of social distancing measure
has changed the learning environment to online platforms. The study revealed about various
factors which are motivating the students to prefer flexible learning approach. It has helped
students to eradicate all the barriers in the process of learning. The flexible learning has given
students wide range of freedom to learn and understand the subject. The study showed
positive results from the students in terms of active learning. It has provided students to learn
in a holistic way. But the study also showed some drawbacks among the students for the use
of flexible learning. It has provided students to learn in an innovative approach and
understand the criticality of any subject matter. The findings also revealed that students have
shown positivity towards the learning during COVID-19 pandemic. It has given a lot of
advantage based on convenience, delivery mode, resources and the contents provided to the
students. The students should engage themselves in the flexible learning in order to enhance
their knowledge base and are able to work in the corporate world with greater success. There
is also a need for students to acclimatize themselves with the technological advancement to
gain exposure to the learner’s interest and eagerness. Hence, the study concluded that there is
some negative as well as positive effects of flexible learning on the students.

LIMITATIONS:
The study was completely focused on the management students and their perspective towards
flexible learning by the virtual mode of learning in these crucial times of coronavirus and
lockdown period. Furthermore, the study was only designed in consideration of the student’s
perception and no analysis was conducted to understand the perception of lecturer.

FUTURE SCOPE:
Due to the ongoing coronavirus health crisis, many other disciplines of education have been
affected and the practice of imparting education has hindered. Holding this in mind, the study
can be broadened to multiple streams of education and a large portion of students, in order to
understand the thoughts and perception by equipping an active way of learning for the
professional growth and self-development of learners. As the pandemic period continues, it is
important for the various education administrations and universities to maintain an effective
as well as an interactive way of learning for the convenience of both learner and lecturer.

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e-learning during covid-19 at a private medical college. Pakistan Journal of Medical
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