Adaptability to e-Learning: Report of the Online Survey Among the Students of Goa University

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Foreword

Academic institutions have been facing an unforeseen and unprecedented situation caused by the spread of COVID-19 Pandemic. Social Distancing was advised by the governments to avoid the spread of the contagion whereby the classroom

teaching and travel of students were curtailed. Goa University was no exception to this.

Our university was thinking of adopting e-learning as a solution to tide over the situation and to reach out to students.

At this juncture, the university Library thought of surveying the students to verify whether the proposal of e-learning would be feasible. The Hon. Vice-Chancellor has permitted without any hesitation. We approached the students for their opinion through an online survey, and the result of the survey is presented here as a report.

We at the University Library are thankful to Prof. Varun Sahni, Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Y.V. Reddy, Registrar, Deans of Schools and Faculties, Heads of Departments, and all the

students participated in the survey. We also would like to thank Dr Murari Tapaswi for his inputs. We hope this will form a basis for the policy decisions at the University and Government.

Thank you, everyone.

For University Library

Dr. Gopakumar V.

(University Librarian)

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Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Objectives of the Study 3

3. Methodology 3

4. Profile of respondents 4

4.1 Faculty-wise distribution of respondents 5 4.2 Gender-wise distribution of respondents 6 4.3 District of Residence of participants 6 4.4 Distribution of respondents based on Taluka 8

5. Availability of Electricity 10

6. Access to Internet 11

7. Availability of connectivity 11

8. Internet service providers 13

9. Mode of connection to the Internet 15

10. Gender-wise preference on Mode of connection to Internet 16 11. Satisfaction over speed of Internet 17 12. Satisfaction over speed of Internet (ISP-wise) 18 13. Satisfaction over speed of Internet (Nature of locality-wise) 19 14. Satisfaction over speed of Internet (Taluka-wise) 20

15. Spending for getting connected 22

16. Mean spending on Internet connection (Gender-wise) 23 17. Mean spending on Internet connection (Service provider-wise) 23 18. Gadgets used to access the Internet (Faculty-wise) 24

19. Favorite Operating System 26

20. Favorite browser 27

21. Favorite Search Engine 28

22. Social media usage among the respondents. 29

23. Familiarity with bank transactions 32

24. Favorite payment App 33

25. Familiarity with MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) 34

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26. Attending Online tests 36

28. Awareness of Learning Management Systems 38

29. Attendance in Online seminars 39

30. Perception towards the present challenge 39

31. Findings 46

32. Conclusion 44

33. Suggestions 45

Appendix

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List of Tables

Table 1. Number of responses (Department-wise) 4 Table 2. Gender-wise distribution of respondents (Faculty-wise) 6 Table 3. District of Residence of Respondents (Faculty wise) 7 Table 4 Category of locality (Faculty-wise) 9 Table 5 Availability of electricity (Faculty-wise) 10 Table 6 Whether connected to Internet (Faculty-wise) 11 Table 7 Availability of connectivity (Taluka-wise) 12 Table 8 Internet Service Provider (Faculty-wise) 14 Table 9 Mode of connection to the Internet (Faculty-wise) 15 Table 10 Mode of connection to the Internet (Gender-wise) 16 Table 11 Satisfaction over speed of Internet (Faculty-wise) 17 Table 12 Satisfaction over speed of Internet (Service provider-wise) 18 Table 13 Satisfaction over speed of Internet (Taluka-wise) 21 Table 14 Average spending on Internet connection (faculty-wise) 22 Table 15 Mean spending on Internet connection 24 Table 16 Instrument used to access the Internet (Faculty-wise) 24 Table 17 Instrument used to access the Internet (Gender-wise) 25 Table 18 Operating System in the Laptops of respondents 26 Table 19 Favorite search engine (Faculty-wise) 28 Table 20 Use of Social Media Instagram (Faculty-wise) 30 Table 21 Use of Social Media WhatsApp (Faculty-wise) 31 Table 22 Familiarity with bank transactions (Faculty-wise) 33 Table 23 Preferred payment App (Faculty-wise) 33 Table 24 Familiarity with MOOC Courses (Faculty-wise) 35 Table 25 Reason for not joining a MOOC Course (Faculty-wise) 36 Table 26 Attending online tests (Faculty-wise) 37 Table 27 Supplementing information from the Internet 38 Table 28 Familiarity with Moodle LMS (Faculty-wise) 39 Table 29 Mindset towards e-learning method (Faculty-wise) 40

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iv Annexure

Table 30 Respondents tabulated based on Department and gender i Table 31 Respondents tabulated based on Taluka (Gender wise) ii Table 32 Satisfaction over speed of Internet (Taluka-wise) iii Table 33 Satisfaction over speed of Internet connection iv Table 34 Mean spending on Internet (Nature of locality-wise) iv Table 35 Size of RAM in laptops owned by the respondents iv Table 36 Hard Disk capacity of the laptops owned by respondents v Table 37 Availability of additional storage devices v Table 38 Nature of Operating System in the Laptops (Faculty-wise) v Table 39 Use of Social Media Twitter (Faculty-wise) vi Table 40 Involvement in online collaborative projects (Faculty-wise) vi Table 41 Instances of sharing files with friends over Internet vii Table 42 Requirement of training for e-learning (Faculty-wise) vii List of figures

Figure 1 Faculty-wise distribution of respondents 5 Figure 2 District of Residence of participants 7 Figure 3 Distribution of respondents based on Taluka 8 Figure 4 Availability of connectivity (District - wise) 12 Figure 5 Satisfaction over speed of Internet 20 Figure 6 Average spending on Internet connection (Gender-wise) 23 Figure 7 Use of Social Media Facebook (Faculty-wise) 29

Figure 8 Social media usage compared 32

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1 1. Introduction

There is an unprecedented change in the education sector across the world due to COVID 19 pandemic. This pandemic situation has paved the way for the distinctive rise of e-learning.

Now, we are witnessing exponential growth in the online content being created on the World Wide Web to reach out to the

learners. This very challenging period also tested the preparedness of educational institutes to facilitate online learning. The sudden development pushed the educational institutes to include instructional technology as one of their utmost infrastructural priorities to reach out to the learners.

Post lockdown period, a new model of learning is expected to emerge.

The educational institutes of developing as well as

developed countries are facing one or other challenges to manage the teaching and learning processes when the classrooms are shut. Presently, the video conferencing applications and allied online tools are throwing a lifeline to the educational institutes.

Post lockdown period, the educational institutes ought to plan

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out and act seriously as to how they would use the technology and at what level as the situation of perpetual dependency on the technology has already emerged.

Another significant aspect is that the mainstream

educational institutes that relied entirely on classroom-based teaching are inevitably in urgent need to explore the possible alternatives. Classroom teaching is a powerful approach for teaching and learning processes; however, now there is an

increased demand and necessity for an alternative option to the same. Therefore it is imminent for educational institutes to embrace technology and gradually shift their teaching and learning activities online. This would be the need of the hour as in the present situation, one has to resort to internet technology either to facilitate education or to learn.

Taking serious note of the ongoing trend, Goa University intended to prepare for catering online education by avoiding complete dependency on classroom teaching. Therefore, recently, Goa University, in principle, decided to go for an online mode of education in the forthcoming academic year.

It is important to note that such a move should be an acceptable solution for the students who join the university.

They should have uninterrupted connectivity with sufficient speed and gadgets good enough to attend the sessions. It becomes inevitable to check the infrastructure availability at both the ends and bridge the gap by devising a strategic plan for facilitating online education.

With these assumptions, Goa University Library approached the Hon. Vice-Chancellor and expressed its

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voluntary assistance in conducting a feasibility study by

surveying students to understand the ground realities and thus chart a strategic and robust blueprint for initiating online mode.

The Hon. Vice-Chancellor approved the proposal.

This exclusive report is the outcome of the survey of students of Goa University on the “Adaptability to e-learning.”

2. Objectives of the Study

The primary objectives of the study are the following.

1. To assess the adaptability of PG students of Goa University to e-learning.

2. To find out the quality of connectivity available to PG students of Goa University.

3. To evaluate the quality of gadgets available with the PG students of Goa University.

4. To recommend strategies to improve methods to reach students considering the emergency.

3. Methodology

The study was conducted through an online survey. A structured questionnaire was prepared, and it was administered among 30 students as a pilot study. Through this pilot, the errors in the questionnaire could be identified. Then it was administered over the internet among the students of Goa

University. First emails were forwarded through concerned heads of departments and after two weeks as the response was low, the questionnaire was transmitted from the library to all library registered student users. We received 553 responses, which is scattered among all the departments and good enough to identify problems are positives and to draw generalizations. The analysis of the data and the generalizations are provided in the following sections.

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4. Profile of respondents

Table 1. Number of responses (Department-wise)

Department Frequency Percent

Chemistry 104 18.8

Physics 48 8.7

Computer Science and

Technology 43 7.8

Botany 41 7.4

Library and Information

Science 30 5.4

Commerce 29 5.2

Biotechnology 27 4.9

Economics 23 4.2

History 23 4.2

Zoology 23 4.2

Mathematics 16 2.9

IMBA 15 2.7

International Relations 15 2.7

Konkani 14 2.5

MBA 14 2.5

Microbiology 12 2.2

Electronics 11 2.0

Political Science 9 1.6

English 7 1.3

Marathi 7 1.3

Marine Science 6 1.1

Philosophy 6 1.1

French 5 .9

Earth Science 4 .7

Portuguese 4 .7

Sociology 4 .7

Hindi 3 .5

Marine Biotechnology 3 .5

MFS 3 .5

Women Studies 3 .5

Marine Microbiology 1 .2

Total 553 100.0

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5 4.1 Faculty-wise distribution of respondents

It can be seen from figure 1 that 40% of the respondents were from the Natural Sciences faculty. This mainly consisted of 104 respondents from Chemistry 48 from Physics and 43 from Computer Science and Technology Department.

Figure 1 Faculty-wise distribution of respondents The Life Sciences and Environment faculty and Social Sciences faculty contributed equally with almost 21% each. The language and literature faculty was the lowest represented with 40 respondents, which makes up 7% of the total of 553

respondents. Commerce and Management studies provided 11%

of the total sample which is 61 respondents.

4.2 Gender-wise distribution of respondents

A gender-wise analysis of the respondents is provided in Table 2. We know that the majority among Goa University

students are girls, and it has its reflection among the samples of respondents too. Almost 68% of the sample consisted of female PG students of Goa University.

222, 40%

117, 21%

113, 21%

61, 11%

40, 7%

Natural Sciences

Life Sciences & Environment Social Sciences

Commerce and Management Studies

Language & Literature

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6 Table 2. Gender-wise distribution of respondents (Faculty-wise)

Faculty Gender

Total Female Male

Commerce and

Management Studies 34 27 61

55.70% 44.30% 100.00%

Language &

Literature 33 7 40

82.50% 17.50% 100.00%

Life Sciences &

Environment 91 26 117

77.80% 22.20% 100.00%

Natural Sciences 137 85 222

61.70% 38.30% 100.00%

Social Sciences 80 33 113

70.80% 29.20% 100.00%

Total 375 178 553

67.80% 32.20% 100.00%

The Language and Literature faculty had the most significant proportion of female respondents viz. 82.5%. The smallest percentage was from the Natural Sciences faculty viz.

61.7%.

4.3 District of Residence of participants

The state of Goa has two districts; North Goa and South Goa. The distribution of students among these two districts is presented in Figure 2.

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Figure 2 District of Residence of participants

It can be seen that the majority from the sample were from North Goa. As many as 232 Female and 135 male students were from North Goa. The University being in North Goa makes it easy for students from North Goa. This is also the overall picture of the university.

Table 3. District of Residence of Respondents (Faculty wise) Faculty

District of Residence in

Goa Total

North Goa South Goa

63.50% 36.50% 100.00%

76.10% 23.90% 100.00%

Life Sciences &

Environment

79 38 117

67.50% 32.50% 100.00%

39 22 61

63.90% 36.10% 100.00%

Language & Literature 22 18 40

55.00% 45.00% 100.00%

Total 367 186 553

66.40% 33.60% 100.00%

232

143 135

43 0

50 100 150 200 250

Female Male

Number of participants

Gender

North Goa South Goa

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The faculty-wise analysis also reveals that in all of them, the majority hailed from the North Goa district. Only in the case of the Language and literature, the percentage is comparably low (55%). As much as 76.10% of the Social Sciences faculty hail from North Goa.

4.4 Distribution of respondents based on Taluka

The State of Goa has 12 Talukas spread in two districts.

The students of Goa University hail from all these talukas. An analysis of the data based on the Talukas where the students live is presented in Figure 3.

Figure 3 Distribution of respondents based on Taluka

(North Goa in Yellow and South Goa in green)

In the figure, those given in Yellow color are from North Goa and those in Green color are from South Goa. A maximum number of students are from Tiswadi Taluka (114) followed by Bardez (112). The Salcette Taluka has 80 students, which is the only taluka that comes in the first six. As much as 66.20% of the

114 112

80

56

42 42 35

23 21

12 9 7

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Number of respondents

Talukas

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respondents come from the five talukas listed, namely Tiswadi, Bardez, Ponda, Bicholim and Pernem. Hence it can be

generalized that the majority of students of Goa University are from the North Goa district and they belong to the Talukas mentioned earlier.

It would be good to look into the character of the locality where the students live. Hence it was asked to know whether the area they live could be characterized as rural or urban. The data derived are presented in Table 4.

Table 4 Category of locality (Faculty-wise) Faculty Category of locality

Total

Rural Urban

29 32 61

47.50% 52.50% 100.00%

Language &

Literature

22 18 40

55.00% 45.00% 100.00%

Life Sciences &

Environment

61 56 117

52.10% 47.90% 100.00%

64.00% 36.00% 100.00%

67.30% 32.70% 100.00%

Total 330 223 553

59.70% 40.30% 100.00%

Table 4 reveals that the majority of the students are from rural areas. The opinion of students is based on their perception and cannot be attributed to any authority categorization.

However, it will give us an idea regarding the infrastructure for communication available in those areas.

As much of 59.70% of the respondents opined that the place of their living is rural. Only in the case of Commerce and

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Management faculty, the majority say that they belong to the urban region.

5. Availability of Electricity

Electrical power is an essential component in the working of communication systems. It was asked to participants to tell whether they have electricity in their homes. Goa is a state where almost all areas are provided with electrical connections.

Hence the expected result was 100% affirmative answer. But it was found that in the case some students they don’t have electricity in their homes.

Table 5 Availability of electricity (Faculty-wise) Faculty Availability of electricity

Total

Yes No

61 0 61

100.00% 0.00% 100.00%

Language &

Literature

40 0 40

100.00% 0.00% 100.00%

Life Sciences &

96.60% 3.40% 100.00%

99.10% 0.90% 100.00%

Total 546 7 553

98.70% 1.30% 100.00%

Table 5. reveals that seven students out of the entire sample say they don’t have electricity at their homes. This

includes four students from the life sciences, two students from the Natural Sciences and one from the Social Sciences faculty.

Otherwise, 98.70% of the respondents had a power connection at their houses. This is a positive aspect as electricity connection is a basic need when we think of online education.

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11 5. Access to the Internet

The next attempt was to understand how many of the respondents were already connected to the Internet. The

responses received are tabulated and presented in the form of Table 6. The table reveals that 94.2% of the respondents were already connected to the Internet. This again is a positive aspect when we consider the provision of e-learning scenario.

Among all the faculties, the Language and Literature faculty has the highest percentage of students who were connected to the Internet. As many as 11 students of natural Sciences faculty and ten students of the Life Sciences and Environment faculty don’t have internet connection presently.

Including such students under the umbrella of e-learning will require support from the Government.

Table 6 Whether connected to the Internet (Faculty-wise) Faculty Whether connected to the

Internet Total

Yes No

Commerce and

91.8% 8.2% 100.00%

97.5% 2.5% 100.00%

Life Sciences &

Environment

107 10 117

91.5% 8.5% 100.00%

95.0% 5.0% 100.00%

95.6% 4.4% 100.00%

Total 521 32 553

94.2% 5.8% 100.00%

7. Availability of connectivity

The majority of the students opined that they are connected to the Internet. But when we consider e-learning continuous connectivity should be available at their places of

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residence. The data collected on this aspect is tabulated and placed in Figure 3.

Figure 4 Availability of connectivity (District - wise) Figure 4 reveals that 112 respondents don’t have internet available in their area. They include 76 from the North Goa district and 36 from the South Goa district. It is 20% of the respondents who opined that they don’t have Internet

connectivity in their place. This is a matter of grave concern. A micro-level analysis of this is possible if the data is analyzed based on talukas. The availability of connectivity based on talukas is presented in Table 7.

Table 7 Availability of connectivity (Taluka-wise) Taluka of

Residence

Do you have Internet

connectivity in your place? Total

No Yes

Bardez 23 89 112

20.50% 79.50% 100.00%

Bicholim 11 31 42

26.20% 73.80% 100.00%

Canacona 3 9 12

25.00% 75.00% 100.00%

Dharbandora 2 5 7

28.60% 71.40% 100.00%

Mormugao 6 29 35

17.10% 82.90% 100.00%

North Goa, 76

North Goa, 291

South Goa, 36

South Goa, 150

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

No Yes

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Pernem 11 31 42

26.20% 73.80% 100.00%

Ponda 12 44 56

21.40% 78.60% 100.00%

Quepem 5 18 23

21.70% 78.30% 100.00%

Salcette 16 64 80

20.00% 80.00% 100.00%

Sanguem 1 8 9

11.10% 88.90% 100.00%

Sattari 4 17 21

19.00% 81.00% 100.00%

Tiswadi 18 96 114

15.80% 84.20% 100.00%

Total 112 441 553

20.30% 79.70% 100.00%

Table 7. gives a clear picture of the availability of the Internet in various regions of the State of Goa. Mostly in the talukas in the periphery of the state are having poor

connectivity. According to the responses received Dharbandora taluka is found to be having poor connectivity. Pernem is the second taluka found with less connectivity. Bicholim and Canacona were also found to be less connected. These are remote areas with less population density and hence Internet Service Providers will lack the infrastructure to give continuous and quality connectivity. However, 79% of the respondents have opined that they have connectivity in their area is a good sign.

8. Internet service providers

The data on the Internet service provider from whom the students were getting connected to the Internet was collected and is presented in Table 8. The analysis is based on the faculty to which they belong. The Jio, BSNL, AirTel and Vodafone are the significant players in Goa in providing Cellular Phone and Internet data services. They offer prepaid and postpaid

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connections with a minimum of 1 GB data connectivity. Agencies like the EthernetXpress are providing a Broadband connection through dedicated Optical cables. BSNL also provides

connectivity over the telephone lines.

The analysis of the data shows that 42% of the

respondents were connected to the Internet through the Jio connection. The next most significant stakeholder is Vodafone with a 20.30% subscriber base from the respondents. The state- owned BSNL has only 11% subscribers among the respondents.

Local Broadband has very few subscribers only as the majority of the respondents use mobile phones for accessing the Internet.

Table 8 Internet Service Provider (Faculty-wise) Internet

Service Provider

Faculty

Total Commerce

and Management

Studies

Language

&

Literature

Life Sciences

&

Environment

Natural Sciences

Social Sciences

Airtel 4 0 10 12 7 33

6.60% 0.00% 8.50% 5.40% 6.20% 6.00%

Vodafone 10 8 26 41 27 112

16.40% 20.00% 22.20% 18.50% 23.90% 20.30%

BSNL 6 8 9 32 6 61

9.80% 20.00% 7.70% 14.40% 5.30% 11.00%

Jio 27 19 41 98 47 232

44.30% 47.50% 35.00% 44.10% 41.60% 42.00%

Local Broadband

5 0 5 6 4 20

8.20% 0.00% 4.30% 2.70% 3.50% 3.60%

Any other 9 5 26 33 22 95

14.80% 12.50% 22.20% 14.90% 19.50% 17.20%

Total 61 40 117 222 113 553

100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

The Jio connection offers 1 GB data and Internet telephony for cheaper rates, and hence it is an attraction among the youth.

They mostly use this to get connected to social networking sites.

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15 9. Mode of connection to the Internet

There are different ways of getting connected to the internet.

Data was collected on people’s choices about the method of connection. Table. 9 gives clarity on the same.

It can be seen here that majority, i.e. 80.8% of the respondents, connect to the internet through their mobile devices. The next popular mode is a dedicated Wi-Fi connection at home. 12.8%

use this mode. Whereas only 4% use a Broadband connection.

Respondents from Language and literature faculty were found to be using Wi-Fi connection at their homes. As much as 25% of them and 19.7% of respondents of Commerce and Management Studies use Wi-Fi as a connection means for getting connected with the Internet.

Table 9 Mode of connection to the Internet (Faculty-wise)

Faculty

Mode of connectivity

Total Dedicated

Wi-Fi to home

Through mobile

device

ADSL Broadband

over Existing

Phone Lines

Any other

Commerce and

Management Studies

12 47 2 0 61

19.7% 77.0% 3.3% 0.0% 100.0%

Language &

Literature

10 29 0 1 40

25.0% 72.5% 0.0% 2.5% 100.0%

Life Sciences &

Environment 11 100 3 3 117

9.4% 85.5% 2.6% 2.6% 100.0%

Natural Sciences 26 178 14 4 222

11.7% 80.2% 6.3% 1.8% 100.0%

Social Sciences 12 93 3 5 113

10.6% 82.3% 2.7% 4.4% 100.0%

Total 71 447 22 13 553

12.8% 80.8% 4.0% 2.4% 100.0%

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The number of 80.8% of the respondents using mobile devices for accessing the Internet is a serious factor that can negatively affect the process of e-learning. The extent of

Interactivity using mobile devices is comparably limited with that of a desktop or laptop. This has to be seriously considered while e-learning is started. The Government of Goa provides laptops to students on completion of 12^th standard from the last many years under the Cyber Scheme. Even then, the respondents resort to mobile devices due to the advantages of mobility and compactness. But it should be ensured that they do have laptops when the e-learning system is in effect.

The gender-wise preference for the mode of access to the internet was analyzed and is presented in the forthcoming section.

10. The gender-wise choice on Mode of connection to the Internet The vast majority of respondents are using mobile devices to access the Internet. Hence such a significant change is not expected in the case of gender-based analysis. The data on it is presented below in Table 10.

Table 10 Mode of connection to the Internet (Gender-wise)

Gender

How are you connected to the Internet?

Total Dedicated

Wi-Fi to home

Through mobile

device

ADSL Broadband

over Existing

Phone Lines

Any other

Female 48 307 13 7 375

12.8% 81.9% 3.5% 1.9% 100.0%

Male 23 140 9 6 178

12.9% 78.7% 5.1% 3.4% 100.0%

Total 71 447 22 13 553

12.8% 80.8% 4.0% 2.4% 100.0%

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The above table shows that gender-wise also the

preferences for mode of connection are the same as the previous table. 81.9% of female respondents and 78.7% of male

respondents connect to the internet through mobile devices.

12.8% female and 12.9% male respondents use Wi-Fi to connect to the internet.

11. Satisfaction over the speed of the Internet

The speed of connectivity is a vital factor for any online activity. So this factor was taken into consideration and data was collected and the data is presented in Table 11.

The data shows that there is much unhappiness when it comes to the speed of the Internet. 74% of the respondents were unsatisfied with the speed of the internet. This ratio is more or less the same across different disciplines. Only 26% of

respondents were found to be satisfied with the speed of the internet. This is a significant problem to be tackled when we think of classes transmitted over the Internet.

Table 11 Satisfaction over the speed of Internet connection (Faculty- wise)

Faculty

Satisfaction over the speed of Internet

connection Total

Satisfied Unsatisfied Commerce and

Management Studies

16 45 61

26.2% 73.8% 100.0%

30.0% 70.0% 100.0%

Life Sciences &

Environment

27 90 117

23.1% 76.9% 100.0%

25.2% 74.8% 100.0%

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29.2% 70.8% 100.0%

Total 144 409 553

26.0% 74.0% 100.0%

Streaming audio and video requires better connectivity.

Moreover, when many people start using the bandwidth available with the networks lot of congestion is likely to happen. As such speed of connectivity becomes a crucial factor in the success of e-learning and teaching.

12. Satisfaction over the speed of Internet (ISP-wise)

Data was collected related to satisfaction on the speed of the internet among the respondents within each service provider.

Table 12 shows the satisfaction level among the respondents.

The majority of the respondents who use different service providers were found unhappy when we take them together. But when we take the service providers individually, it can be seen that respondents using Local Broadband dealers are satisfied over the speed of the connection. This forms 55% of the users of Broadband. Dedicated broadband connections always have good speed and the services are still satisfactory.

Table 12 Satisfaction over the speed of the Internet (Service provider-wise)

Internet Service Provider

Are you satisfied with the speed of the

connection? Total Satisfied Unsatisfied

Airtel 14 19 33

42.40% 57.60% 100.00%

BSNL 21 40 61

34.40% 65.60% 100.00%

Jio 62 170 232

26.70% 73.30% 100.00%

Vodafone 15 97 112

13.40% 86.60% 100.00%

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Local Broadband dealer 11 9 20

55.00% 45.00% 100.00%

Any other 21 74 95

22.10% 77.90% 100.00%

Total 144 409 553

26.00% 74.00% 100.00%

Airtel and BSNL are found to be better players as42.40%, and 34.40% of the respondents having those connections were happy with the speed of the internet compared to other service providers. Even though Jio was opted by many as their service provider, the satisfaction level for its rate is average. Only

26.70% of the respondents having those connections were happy with its speed.

13. Satisfaction over the speed of the Internet (Nature of locality- wise)

Data was collected based on the locality of the respondents where they use the internet. The parameters used for segregating the localities were Rural and Urban. The data collected is

analyzed and shown in Figure 6.

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Figure 5 Satisfaction over the speed of the Internet (Nature of locality-wise)

When it comes to satisfaction over the speed of the Internet, based on the area of residence, the data shows that both Rural and Urban users have almost similar satisfaction levels. It can be seen that only 23.3% of the respondents from Rural areas were happy, and only 30% of the respondents of urban regions were pleased over the speed of the Internet.

14. Satisfaction over the speed of the Internet (Taluka-wise) Talukas of Goa was also taken as a parameter to assess the satisfaction level over the speed of the Internet. All 12 talukas were taken into consideration and data was analyzed.

Following Table 13. shows the spread of opinion on the speed of the Internet across talukas.

It can be seen that in none of the 12 talukas, the majority of the respondents were satisfied concerning the speed of the

Rural, 77

Rural, 253

Urban, 67

Urban, 156

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Yes No

Opinion on speed of Internet

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Internet. We can see that from among the respondents hailing from Tiswadi and Salcette as much as 32.55% of respondents were satisfied with the speed of the internet. Though more or less the situation is the same across all talukas when it comes to

Table 13 Satisfaction over the speed of the Internet (Taluka-wise)

Taluka

Are you happy with the speed of the

connection? Total

Yes No

Bardez 26 86 112

23.2% 76.8% 100.0%

Bicholim 9 33 42

21.4% 78.6% 100.0%

Canacona 2 10 12

16.7% 83.3% 100.0%

Dharbandora 0 7 7

0.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Mormugao 10 25 35

28.6% 71.4% 100.0%

Pernem 11 31 42

26.2% 73.8% 100.0%

Ponda 14 42 56

25.0% 75.0% 100.0%

Quepem 4 19 23

17.4% 82.6% 100.0%

Salcette 26 54 80

32.5% 67.5% 100.0%

Sanguem 0 9 9

0.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Sattari 5 16 21

23.8% 76.2% 100.0%

Tiswadi 37 77 114

32.5% 67.5% 100.0%

Total 144 409 553

26.0% 74.0% 100.0%

Dharbandora none i.e., 0% of the respondents from that Taluka using the internet were satisfied with the speed of connectivity. It

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can be seen from Table 13 that those talukas away from the city proper are all having problems with speed. Some examples are Canacona, Pernem, and Sanguem.

15. Spending on getting connected

Getting connected to the Internet is not free. One has to pay for Internet services. Data was also collected concerning how much money the respondents spend per month on Internet

connection on an average. Table 14. gives a clear picture of spending patterns.

Table 14 Average spending on Internet connection per month (faculty-wise)

Faculty Average

(in Rs) Number Std. Deviation Commerce and

Management Studies 404 60 409.029

Language & Literature 384 40 261.396 Life Sciences &

Environment 326 117 212.615

Natural Sciences 325 221 216.520

Social Sciences 410 112 634.759

Total 355 550 366.243

We can see from Table 14. that on average respondents spend Rs. 355 per month for an internet connection. This is a little higher in the case of the students under the faculties Social Sciences and Commerce and Management studies. Natural

Sciences and Life Sciences faculty students were found to be spending comparatively fewer amounts on an average.

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23 16. Mean spending on Internet connection per month (Gender- wise)

Gender-wise analysis of the data was done about average expenditures in Internet connection. The analysis is presented in Figure 7

Figure 6 Average spending on Internet connection per month (Gender-wise)

It can be seen from the table above that on average female respondents spend Rs 362 and male respondents spend Rs. 340 on an average per month on the Internet connection. The

difference in spending on getting connected to the Internet is not much more significant when we consider Gender as a factor.

17. Mean spending on Internet connection per month (Service provider-wise)

We have already seen that many service providers in the state provide Internet Services. A look into the expenditure on

Female, 362

Male, 340

325 330 335 340 345 350 355 360 365

Average spending for getting connected

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getting connected based on these service providers is presented in Table 15.

Table 15 Mean spending on Internet connection per month Service Provider Mean (Rs) Number Std.

Deviation

Airtel 322.58 33 215.403

Vodafone 280.56 112 131.737

BSNL 620.34 61 280.254

Jio 278.14 229 163.849

Local Broadband 474.5 20 363.05

Any other 445.62 95 725.829

Total 355.32 550 366.243

It can be seen that among the service providers listed, BSNL users spend the most per month on an average. They pay Rs 620.34 on an average. This is followed by users of Local Broadband Dealer which is Rs 474.5. The rates of the state owned BSNL seems to be very high and majority of the respondents were unhappy with the speed also.

While analyzing the spending pattern on internet connection, the locality of respondents was also taken into

consideration. The respondents from rural area spend Rs 355.55 per month on an average and the respondents from urban area spend on an average Rs 354.98 on internet connection.

18. Gadgets used to access the Internet (Faculty-wise)

You need a device to get connected to the internet like a computer system or a mobile device. In the present time most of the people use either laptop or mobile for the same. The data on the gadgets used was collected and is presented in Table 16.

Table 16 Instrument used to access the Internet (Faculty-wise)

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25 Faculty

Instrument used to access the Internet

Total Laptop Mobile

Both laptop

and Mobile

Others Commerce and

Management Studies

2 31 28 0 61

3.3% 50.8% 45.9% 0.0% 100.0%

Language &

Literature

2 24 13 1 40

5.0% 60.0% 32.5% 2.5% 100.0%

Life Sciences &

Environment

4 68 44 1 117

3.4% 58.1% 37.6% .9% 100.0%

Natural Sciences 7 145 70 0 222

3.2% 65.3% 31.5% 0.0% 100.0%

Social Sciences 6 74 32 1 113

5.3% 65.5% 28.3% .9% 100.0%

Total 21 342 187 3 553

3.8% 61.8% 33.8% .5% 100.0%

The data in above table shows that mobile is the most popular device used to access internet. Thus 61.8% of the respondents use mobile whereas only 3.8% of the respondents say they use only laptop to access Internet. Use of both laptop and mobile is done by 33.8% of the respondents.

As much as 65.60%of females and 53.90% of males were using mobile phones only to access the internet. Similarly, 31.50% of females and 38.80% males use mobile phones along with laptops to access the internet. This illustrates that almost 90% of the respondents uses the mobile phone for accessing the internet. (See Table 17)

Table 17 Instrument used to access the Internet (Gender-wise) Instrument used to access the

Internet

Gender

Total Female Male

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Both laptop and Mobile 118 69 187

31.50% 38.80% 33.80%

Laptop 9 12 21

2.40% 6.70% 3.80%

Mobile 246 96 342

65.60% 53.90% 61.80%

Others 2 1 3

0.50% 0.60% 0.50%

Total 375 178 553

100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

19. Favorite Operating System

Operating system is the interface between man and

machine. Windows, Linux etc. are the Operating system mostly used in computers. The data on the favorite Operating system is presented as Table 18.

Table 18 Operating System in the Laptops of respondents

Faculty

Operating System in the Laptops of the respondents

Total Linux Windows Any other

Commerce and Management

Studies 0 59 2 61

Language &

Literature 0 37 3 40

Life Sciences &

Environment 0 114 3 117

Natural

Sciences 13 204 5 222

Social Sciences 2 104 7 113

Total 15 518 20 553

In majority cases the Operating System used was windows.

Very few were found using Linux (15 out of 553).

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27 20. Favorite browser

Browser is the webpage interface helping a computer user to access the World Wide Web. The data on the favorite browser is presented as Table 19.

Table 19. Favorite browser (Faculty-wise)

Name of browser

Faculty

Total Commerce

and Management

Studies

Language

&

Literature

Life Sciences

&

Environment

Natural

Sciences Social Sciences

Chrome 56 32 104 187 92 471

11.90% 6.80% 22.10% 39.70% 19.50% 100.00%

Microsoft Edge

1 2 3 5 2 13

7.70% 15.40% 23.10% 38.50% 15.40% 100.00%

Internet Explorer

3 5 2 12 8 30

10.00% 16.70% 6.70% 40.00% 26.70% 100.00%

Mozilla Firefox

1 0 5 14 5 25

4.00% 0.00% 20.00% 56.00% 20.00% 100.00%

Any other

0 1 3 4 6 14

0.00% 7.10% 21.40% 28.60% 42.90% 100.00%

Total 61 40 117 222 113 553

11.00% 7.20% 21.20% 40.10% 20.40% 100.00%

The table reveals that 471 out of the 553 were using chrome browser. The next choice was internet Explorer for 30

respondents. Other browsers were used only by a few respondents.

Chrome is found to be the most used browser among the respondents.

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28 21. Favorite Search Engine

Search engines are the most used tools on the net. They send robotic software to the webpages on the net, collect data and index it. While searching the search engine provides the list of web pages related to the search term based on relevance and the algorithm used by the search engine. Present-day search engines offer more services beyond searching the WWW. The response to the question of the favorite search engine is tabulated in Table 20.

Table 19 Favorite search engine (Faculty-wise) Faculty

Which is your favorite search

engine? Total

Google Bing Any other Commerce and

Management Studies

60 1 0 61

98.40% 1.60% 0.00% 100.00%

Language & Literature 40 0 0 40

100.00% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00%

Life Sciences &

Environment

114 2 1 117

97.40% 1.70% 0.90% 100.00%

Natural Sciences 216 2 4 222

97.30% 0.90% 1.80% 100.00%

Social Sciences 113 0 0 113

100.00% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00%

Total 543 5 5 553

98.20% 0.90% 0.90% 100.00%

As expected, Google remains the most favorite search engine, with 98.20% of respondents opining that they use it.

Google provides lots of services beyond searching the World Wide Web, and hence it remains as an unchallenged service on the net. The Gmail, Google Drive services are all making Google Search Engine a companion for everyday life. The account in

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Google allows you 15 GB Space on the net free of cost along with Gmail and the cloud office facility in Google Drive.

22. Social media usage among the respondents.

Facebook is one of the widely used social networking sites.

It provides a platform to interact with friends, share photos and videos, access news portals and make and send live videos.

Hence it is a sought after Social Networking platform among all.

The data on the use of Facebook is presented in Figure 7.

It can be seen that the majority are not using Facebook.

From no faculty, we can find the majority of people using Facebook.

Among 61 respondents of Commerce and Management faculty, only 29 are using Facebook. Similarly, 19 out of 40 from Language and Literature faculty, 52 out of 117 from Life

Sciences and Environment faculty use Facebook. In the case of

29 32

19 21

52

65 90

132

55 58

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Yes No

Commerce and Management Studies Language & Literature

Life Sciences &

Environment Natural Sciences

Social Sciences

Figure 7 Use of Social Media Facebook (Faculty-wise)

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Natural Sciences Faculty, the difference is still more significant with 90 out of 222 only were using Facebook.

In the case of the Social Sciences faculty, the numbers are almost similar. As such, it can be inferred that Facebook is not a preferred Social Networking site among the students of Goa

University.

Table 20 Use of Social Media Instagram (Faculty-wise) Faculty Do you use Instagram?

Total

Yes No

Commerce and

11.50% 88.50% 100.00%

10.00% 90.00% 100.00%

Life Sciences &

11.10% 88.90% 100.00%

9.00% 91.00% 100.00%

11.50% 88.50% 100.00%

Total 57 496 553

10.30% 89.70% 100.00%

Instagram is another social networking site used by many for sharing pictures and memes. The data in Table 21 shows that only 10.30% of the respondents only were using Instagram.

Instagram remains the unsought networking site among the students of Goa University.

The presence of PG Students of Goa University on Twitter is also meager. As much as 10.30% of the respondents only were

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using Twitter. A faculty wise analysis does not show much difference in the usage of Twitter.

WhatsApp is another advanced messaging service and Social Networking platform. This has got a huge fan base as it is speedy and the interface is simple. The data on the usage of WhatsApp has been analyzed and is presented in the form of Table 21.

Table 21 Use of Social Media WhatsApp (Faculty-wise) Faculty

Do you use

WhatsApp? Total

Yes No

Commerce and Management Studies 46 15 61

75.40% 24.60% 100.00%

85.00% 15.00% 100.00%

Life Sciences & Environment 107 10 117 91.50% 8.50% 100.00%

92.30% 7.70% 100.00%

84.10% 15.90% 100.00%

Total 487 66 553

88.10% 11.90% 100.00%

The data reveals that WhatsApp is the most sought after Social Networking platform. As much as 88% were found using WhatsApp. The number of people using Facebook was 245 out of 553, which is only 44.3% of the sample, which means Facebook as a Social Networking site has lost its luster

A figure comparing the preferred Social Networking sites is provided in Figure 8. It shows that WhatsApp is the most used Social Networking site. Then comes Instagram and as third only

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comes Facebook. Twitter is not still a favorite medium for the youth on the campus.

Figure 8 Social media usage compared 23. Familiarity with bank transactions

After demonetization, online bank transactions were

promoted in India by the government itself. Lot many mobile and online applications came into existence. Hence it was evident that the students of Goa University also should be familiar with these. However, to have an understanding of their familiarity with online bank transactions, data was collected. It is presented in Table 22. Bank Transaction is an online activity that also requires digital literacy.

The data reveals that 67.53% of the respondents were familiar with online bank transactions. The data shows that the majority (67.50%) of respondents were familiar with online bank transactions. But finding 32.50% of the respondents not familiar with the online bank transactions is a pointer towards the digital divide. Respondents from Commerce and Management Studies were better with 80.30% of them were aware of online bank

Facebook, 245

WhatsApp, 487

InstaGram, 344

Twitter, 57

FACEBOOK WHATSAPP INSTAGRAM TWITTER

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transactions. Whereas it is deplorable in the case of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Faculty of Language and Literature.

Table 22 Familiarity with bank transactions (Faculty-wise)

Faculty

Do you make bank transactions over the

net? Total

Yes No

Commerce and

Management Studies

49 12 61

80.30% 19.70% 100.00%

57.50% 42.50% 100.00%

Life Sciences &

68.40% 31.60% 100.00%

72.10% 27.90% 100.00%

54.00% 46.00% 100.00%

Total 373 180 553

67.50% 32.50% 100.00%

24. Favorite payment App

There are many applications now available for doing bank transactions, like Google Pay, Bhim, Pay TM, Yono etc. The Govt. of India also was promoting the usage of online transactions. The Institutions were asked to move towards online transactions.

Table 23 Preferred payment App (Faculty-wise) Faculty Which payment App are you using?

Total Google

Pay Bhim PayTM Yono Any other Commerce and

Management Studies

31 3 5 4 18 61

50.80% 4.90% 8.20% 6.60% 29.50% 100.00%

Language &

Literature

19 1 6 1 13 40

47.50% 2.50% 15.00% 2.50% 32.50% 100.00%

Life Sciences &

Environment

54 3 12 4 44 117

46.20% 2.60% 10.30% 3.40% 37.60% 100.00%

Natural Sciences 103 4 24 6 85 222

46.40% 1.80% 10.80% 2.70% 38.30% 100.00%

Social Sciences 35 3 16 9 50 113

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34 31.00% 2.70% 14.20% 8.00% 44.20% 100.00%

Total 242 14 63 24 210 553

43.80% 2.50% 11.40% 4.30% 38.00% 100.00%

Data on the favored online banking app was collected, and the analysis is presented as Table 23.

The study reveals that 240 (43.80%) of the respondents were using Google pay. The PayTM, which was the first app that came to India, is favored by 63 (11.40%) of respondents. Bhim and the app from SBI, the Yono, were liked by only a few of the respondents. Some respondents would be using the online interfaces of concerned banks.

Google Pay is the most favored payment app among the respondents. The app provides rewards for payments, and the UPI process is straightforward.

25. Familiarity with MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) have become a convenient method of learning many things when you are away from the campus. There are many platforms for MOOCs like the Coursera, Khan Academy, Udemy, and the Indian platform Swayam. Goa University has accepted to adopt the certificates obtained for specific courses from Swayam for adding credits to the courses they undertake in the university. A question was asked to know about the familiarity of respondents regarding and the data is presented in Table 26.

The data reveals that only 25.30% of the respondents were familiar with the MOOC platform. Even though the addition of credits has been allowed by the university, the student

community has not accepted the MOOC as a method of

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additional learning. But there could be reasons for these situations.

Table 24 Familiarity with MOOC Courses (Faculty-wise)

Faculty

Have you used any of the e-learning

portals/MOOCs? Total

Yes No

Studies 16 45 61

26.20% 73.80% 100.00%

20.00% 80.00% 100.00%

Life Sciences &

Environment

28 89 117

23.90% 76.10% 100.00%

28.80% 71.20% 100.00%

21.20% 78.80% 100.00%

Total 140 413 553

25.30% 74.70% 100.00%

The respondents form Natural Sciences Faculty were found to be more involved in MOOCs but their number is only 64

which is 28.80% from among the 222 respondents of the faculty.

It was also asked why they did not join the MOOCs. There were pre-defined answers given to these questions. The answers available to them were;

1. Poor internet connection at my place.

2. Poor infrastructure like Laptop mobile devices etc.

3. I am not good at managing technology.

4. I can’t bear the cost of the internet.

5. Any other (for open answers).

The responses were tabulated and presented in Table 25.

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36 Table 25 Reason for not joining a MOOC Course (Faculty-wise) Reason for not

joining a MOOC Course

Studies

Language

&

Literature

Life Sciences

&

Environment

Natural Sciences

Social

Sciences Total Poor internet

connection at

my place 31 16 59 97 53 256

Poor

infrastructures like laptop and mobile devices I have

6 3 15 15 12 51

I am not good at managing technology

2 5 13 10 7 37

I can’t bear the cost of

Internet 3 2 0 6 6 17

The analysis reveals that 256 out of 553 have a complaint they don’t have a proper internet connection at their place. As many as 51 respondents mentioned poor infrastructure as a reason. It was interesting to note that 37 respondents believed that they were not good at managing technology. As many as 17 opined that they couldn’t bear the cost of the internet.

26. Attending Online tests

Many agencies conduct their selection testa through online means. If the students have undertaken any such tests, it will be a pointer to the fact that the university also could take up online examinations. The data collected on this aspect is analyzed and presented in Table 26.

The analysis reveals that the number of people who

attended online tests is almost equal. This is nearly 50% in the case of the Faculty of Life Sciences and Environment and, in the

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case of the Faculty of Natural Sciences. However, in the case of the faculty

Table 26 Attending online tests (Faculty-wise)

Faculty

Have you answered any online

tests? Total

Yes No

Commerce and

Management Studies

23 38 61

37.7% 62.3% 100.0%

42.5% 57.5% 100.0%

Life Sciences &

Environment

60 57 117

51.3% 48.7% 100.0%

50.9% 49.1% 100.0%

47.8% 52.2% 100.0%

Total 267 286 553

48.3% 51.7% 100.0%

of Commerce and Management studies, the percentage is only 37.7%.

27. Internet as a source of information to support learning The Internet has opened up lots of sources of information.

Supplementary information for education is available for students which many of them use to get clarity on specific topics. YouTube itself is a treasure home of excellent learning videos. But the question is how much the students depend on the internet for supplementary information for their learning.

The analysis of the data regarding this concept is presented in Table 27.

The majority of the students use the internet for supplemental information. As much as 75.40% of the

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respondents were affirmative. The respondents from the faculty of Life Sciences and Environment were the largest group among all mentioned

Table 27 Supplementing information from the Internet for studies (Faculty-wise)

Faculty

Do you use any information on the Internet to enhance

classroom teaching? Total

Yes No

Commerce and

73.80% 26.20% 100.0%

72.50% 27.50% 100.0%

Life Sciences &

83.80% 16.20% 100.0%

73.00% 27.00% 100.0%

73.50% 26.50% 100.0%

Total 417 136 553

75.40% 24.60% 100.0%

that they use the internet for supplementary information.

Respondents of all other faculties were 73%. Whereas in the case of undertaking collaborative projects, the majority of them did not have any experience. As much as 28.6% only were

affirmative to say that they had used the internet for collaborative projects. (Table 40 in Appendix)

The experience of students in sharing files over the internet is another aspect that will point to their digital library. The data shows that 86.10% of them have shared files over the internet.

More than 92% of the respondents of the Life Sciences Faculty have done it. (Table 41 in Appendix)

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39 28. Awareness of Learning Management Systems

There are many LMS (Learning Management Systems) available in the market. Moodle is an open-source free LMS.

Some of the departments of the university were using this for the last three to four years. Hence data was collected on the

experience of students regarding the use of Moodle LMS. The analysis is presented in the form of Table 28.

Table 28 Familiarity with Moodle LMS (Faculty-wise) Faculty

Are you familiar with Moodle and been a part of it during

any formal education? Total

Yes No

Commerce and

Management Studies

25 36 61

41.00% 59.00% 100.0%

27.50% 72.50% 100.0%

Life Sciences &

89.70% 10.30% 100.0%

36.00% 64.00% 100.0%

37.20% 62.80% 100.0%

Total 263 290 553

47.60% 52.40% 100.0%

The responses differ from various faculties. As much as 89.70% of students from Natural Sciences were affirmative about the use of Moodle. Whereas all others were below 40%, It can be ascertained from this analysis that the use of Moodle as an LMS is not that usual with the departments other than those in the faculty of natural sciences.

29. Attendance in Online seminars

Online seminars have become familiar to academics more after the Pandemic. Several such events were happening every day. However, a question was asked to the participants whether

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they have attended any such online webinars or discussions.

The data collected revealed that only 29.7% of the sample only had attended such programs. This number is abysmal in the case of Natural Sciences and language and literature faculty. As much as 24.80% of respondents of natural Science faculty and 25% of language and literature faculty have attended webinars respectively.

30. Perception of the present challenge

The perception of respondents towards facing the present scenario as a challenge and to continue with education, they were given choices as to accept the e-learning method or Drop- out from schooling. Social distancing and the threat of contagion are likely to be a threat to classroom education to a great extent.

In that situation, e-learning is the only alternative. It is good to note that majority of the respondents were ready to take up the challenge. It means they also understood the severity of the current situation. The infrastructure at both ends of the channel of education will be essential when the students come up and ready to accept online education.

Table 29 Mindset towards e-learning method (Faculty-wise) Faculty

Readiness to face the

challenge Total

Accept the

challenge Drop out Commerce and

Management Studies

49 12 61

80.30% 19.70% 100.00%

Language &

Literature

30 10 40

75.00% 25.00% 100.00%

Life Sciences &

82.90% 17.10% 100.00%

86.00% 14.00% 100.00%

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82.30% 17.70% 100.00%

Total 460 93 553

83.20% 16.80% 100.00%

The analysis shows that 83.20% of the respondents were ready to accept the challenge. Except for the faculty of language and literature, more than 80% of the respondents were prepared to take the challenge.

83.20% of the respondents have answered that they may require guidance and training while going to the e-Learning method.

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31. Findings

The analysis of the data collected from the online

questionnaire revealed specific facts that will be useful when the university is trying to implement e-learning and evaluation for the postgraduate courses on the campus.

The majority of the students studying in the university are from the North Goa District. The student’s population is mostly from the Tiswadi, Bardez, Salcette and Ponda Talukas. These four Talukas make up 64.5% of the students and the other 8 talukas have only 34.5%. As much as 67.8% of the students were females. This female gender domination is visible in all faculties and departments. This percentage is highest in

language and literature faculty (82.50%) and lowest in commerce and management studies faculty (55.70%). According to the respondents, 59.70% of them come from rural areas.

Electricity is inevitable for the working of electronic gadgets. As much as 98.7% of the respondents had power in their homes. As many as 521 (94.2%) opined that they have access to the internet and 79.74% have agreed that there is internet connectivity available in their area. Taluka like

Dharbandora, Bicholim and Pernem, has regions where Internet connectivity is comparatively not available.

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Jio remains the most favored internet service provider. The next one is Vodafone. The state-owned BSNL has only 5.3%

Subscribers.

The majority (80.8%) of the respondents get connected to the Internet through their mobile devices. Dedicated Wi-Fi is available only in the case of 12.8% of the respondents. This will be a drawback when we think of providing e-Learning because mobile devices are not suitable for e-learning and constant use could become a health issue too.

The majority (74%) of the respondents were unsatisfied with the speed of the Internet. The respondents were dissatisfied with the speed of the internet from Jio (73.30%) and Vodafone (86.6%), the most sought after internet service providers. As much as 65.60% of the BSNL subscribers were satisfied with the speed of the connection. It can be inferred that other attractive features retain the fan base for Jio and Vodafone even though they are slow.

The speed of the internet when analyzed based on the nature of the locality of the respondents also reveals that the majority of the respondents, who were unsatisfied with speed reside in the rural areas (253 out of 409). The internet speed in rural areas is relatively slow and will be enough to access social networking sites.

A Taluka wise assessment on the speed of the internet shows that Dharbandora, Sanguem, Cancona, and Quepem are talukas with slower connectivity.

It was found that one student spends on an average Rs.

Three hundred fifty-three per month to get access to the

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internet. Students of social Sciences Faculty are paying at the rate of Rs. 410 and Commerce and Management Studies spend Rs. 404. The lowest was the students of Natural Sciences faculty with Rs.325 per month. Female students spend Rs.362 per

month and male students Rs. 340/-.

A service provider based analysis on the spending shows that the users of Jio are spending the least at the rate of Rs. Two hundred seventy-eight per month and Vodafone at the price of Rs. 280 per month.

The monthly spending by users of BSNL is to the tune of Rs.620/- per month. From this, it can be inferred that the students are happy with the relatively slow connections of Jio and Vodafone due to less money they need to spend.

As much as 61.8% of students use the mobile phone to get connected, and 33.8% of students use both mobile and laptop.

Only 3.8% of the respondents use laptops to access the Internet.

This will be a severe constraint for e-learning.

The most preferred social Media Platform among students was found to be WhatsApp. Instagram and Facebook come in second and third positions. As many as 487 students were using WhatsApp. Whereas for Instagram, it is 344 and for Facebook, it is 245.

As much as 67.50% of the students were familiar with online bank transactions. This is very low in the case of the students of the Faculty of Language and Literature and the Faculty of Social Sciences.