Impact of Online Courses in Business Education in Higher Education System: A Qualitative Case Study Approach

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Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to explore how people gain chance in online business education, who has an administrative role in their profession and differ on levels of skills social skills, motivation, and satisfaction. This study probe how soft skills elements result online business education, favorable outcome in teaching environment. The Data has been collected from variety of different sources through video-recorded interviews and written comments found interviews using a social network. Samples include students, teacher, and professionals. Online programs have a rise in student registration in recent years. The institutions of higher education have interests in offering quality online programs to meet the request. Online program has interviewed and observed to look over their perceptions to convenience and encouragement in online learning and their plan for improving the quality of the online program. Online learning experience has viewed effective collaborate experiences as valuable for preparing them for grow of worldwide business environment at the same time it also served as a key challenge to their learning in the online environment. Students’ suggestions for improving the quality of program are discussed as well.

The data has been collected from different sources depth interviews was conducted. In qualitative analysis NVivo 10 software has been used. Much ability has been used for the evidence of different themes of the study such as Coding Nodes, Word Tree, Word Tag Clouds, Project Map, and Tree Map.

Keywords:

Case Study, Higher Education, Massive Online Course, Motivation, Nvivo, Online Learning, Soft Skills, Satisfaction, Social Skills, Self-Regulation

Introduction:

Education is the most important because it is a part of our life. Education is the major factor for the personal, social and economic development of the nation. Education is important to live with happiness and success. Education authorizes minds that will be able to design good thoughts and ideas.

Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow (Anthony J.D Angelo). The online business education has experienced a dramatic change due to the rapid development of technology, globalization, and business model innovation over the past decades (Golem, 2000; Marques, 2013; Robles, 2012). The important point online courses that soft skills can be unique as personal qualities, attributes, or the level of commitment, and such skills would set one apart from other individuals who have similar skills and experience. In Pakistan, five major online universities have variety of courses online. Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today Malcolm X (1879) Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.

The Virtual University is another major university in Pakistan that offers online courses. It was establish in 2002. For the first time in history, the Virtual University launches online computer technology courses. These courses in fields of business and management are offered.

Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) said that Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

UET is degrees in M.Sc. Applied Chemistry, Physics and, Mathematics. The universitys aim is to provide education in remote areas provide an opportunity for skill students all around the nation, and to facilitate job employers in gaining higher educational qualifications thus to increase the learning rate of Pakistan.

Without the routine structures of a traditional class, people may get lost or confused about course activities and deadlines. Trainer may not always be accessible when students are studying or need help. Slow Internet connections are also today problem.

Today people are facing competition all over the world. A major objective of online business education is to prepare during job for the workplace and to adapt the environment. Mostly people cannot do online business education due to job description.

The online education has been started In Pakistan for its students are Comsats University. It was establish in 2002. The online courses provide by Comsats University are BS in information technology, Diploma in arts, Diploma in engineering subjects, Business administration and management, and Postgraduate programs in mathematics.

Allama Iqbal Open University, established in 1974, offers an online degree at low-cost rates to students. It was the first organization in Pakistan to offer the online degree. The university has provided online courses in all subjects including science, literature, arts, and politics.

One of the senior and largest universities in Pakistan is University of Peshawar. The university offers long-distance education chance to students in Pakistan. The programs provide by the University of Peshawar are BS programs in computer sciences, Postgraduate programs, and Business administration. The present study aims to identify online consequences. This study has different segments: the first part discusses the introduction, the second component describes the review of literature, the third segment explains research problem along with research objectives of the study, the fourth part shows conceptual framework, the fifth portion describes research methodology, the sixth section shows the findings of the study and it the last section conclusion and recommendations have been discussed.

Literature Review:

Online business education learning a limited amount of direct interaction with the teacher. Recent data suggest that more than 30 percent of educators believe online learning improve student performance and learning outcomes.

Todays business community calls for sharp, problem-solving graduates. As a result, the business education community is under growing pressure to engage in significant programmatic reforms. Accordingly, business schools are increasingly relying on the online learning model as a vehicle to meet these challenges. In general, these skills are described as, personality traits, goals, character, motivations and preference. Nevertheless, not only in the United States but also many employers around the world report the job candidates lack soft skills needed to fulfill their job duties and responsibilities (The value of soft, 2015).

Moss & Marroquin (2010) it is also important for the students to develop and push self-regulated strategies from learning and moderately transfer the concept of learning into real-life skills.

Another advantage of online business education refers to the fact that online business education access easily anywhere cope with thousands of students that try to join discussions. Perrault (2004) conduct an important point to the table label that the soft skill can be special as personal standard or the level of dedication these skills aside from other individual have the same experience & skills.

Online learning should be seen as a complement and add-on of classical forms of learning. Not even the best online course can fully restore the personal contact with a teacher, or the human relationships that develop in a group. So, regular classes should be replaced with online learning.

Anthony & Garner (2016) Leman (2013) the skills such as aim position, time management, make a policy itself, stimulation, and the person position within a particular group in the area of education.

Research objectives

The objectives of the study are:

  • To identify the benefits did you found of online education.
  • To explore these online courses helped you in improvements of your skills and in your job.
  • To discover people choose online study rather than going physically to any institute.
  • To describe online courses affordable as compared to institutions.

Conceptual Model of the Study:

Figure 1 shows the conceptual model for this study. This model shows that online business education cannot be replaced by the online business education system. The model also shows that these results of online business education can be difficult.

Consequence for Organization

P1

Online Higher Business Education

Employee Privilege

P2

P3 Upgrade Current Job

Figure 1. Conceptual Model

1. Research methodology:

4.1 Nature of Research

The research study is exploratory and qualitative in nature and based on interpretivism paradigm because the purpose of this study to explore different consequences of online business education in Pakistan. Case study method has been employed in this study.

4.2 Sample characteristics

The sample includes people who are living in Pakistan. The data collected by teacher, students, and professionals.

4.3 Data Collection Methods

Six face-to-face interviews of online business education students, professionals & teacher have been conducted of 5-10 minutes. Two different methods have been employed for the collection of data in this study. Firstly, data has been collected from people living in Pakistan teachers, students, and professional workers through video recording interviews in narrative form because open-ended questions regarding the consequences of online business education have been asked. Secondly, written comment-based interviews have been conducted using a social network of FaceBook. NVivo 10 N Capture Option has been used for the collection and arrangement of written comment-based interviews. Using NVivo 10 N Capture Option data have been used in this study.

Data Analysis Methods

Data Analysis Procedure Case study strategy has been used for the in-depth analysis of the online business education. Using NVvio 10 software different techniques have been used for the qualitative data analysis such as coding & thematic analysis, word tag clouds, word tree, and treemap. However, the methodology for applying different techniques using NVivo depends on the researchers who are applying different techniques. Many techniques have been used for the validation of different themes of the study such as Coding Nodes, Word Tree, Word Tag Clouds, and TreeMap. Data has been analyzed in different phases: first of all recorded data has been transcribed into textual form, then different themes have been identified from the textual data, after that all related textual data has been coded into different related themes. This study also used word tree map and world tag clouds for collecting more evidences for the strength and validity of different themes.

Tree Map Analysis of Online Business Education

Tree Map shows the importance and the worth of each theme of the study. Treemap (figure 2) shows the online business education in different phases of education. In online education system: Easy Access, Most Convenient, Less Expensive, Reasonable, Repeat Anytime, Improve Personality, Cost-Effective, Affordable, have been found as Employee Privilege. Similarly, Time-Saving, Improve Skills, Upgrade, Smoot, Passion, Increase Communication, Creative Mind, have been the part of Upgrade the Current Job. They have the Consequences of Organization, Competition, Innovations, Resources, Tight Scheduled, Beneficial, Improve Skills, Objectives, and Scope and Complete Awareness have been found in Organization. Those element factors in the big regions are more important as compared to small region.

Easy Access.

The empirical evidence as mentioned above, its clear that easy access is the second most important factor. In online business education easy access save your time and cost. As one Respondent said that:

  • Online Business Education has been increase is easy access to anywhere anytime just open with your login (R1)
  • The easy accessible for everyone and make exam center in similar cities and they save tour time (R2)
  • The easy access for because of my job timing so this is most convenient way to get skills & knowledge for a busy schedule person (R3)

There are benefits of online course for many students, and Im one of them its easy to access anywhere anytime just with your login id thats all you need, its save time and also good for those students who cant attend lectures due to this personal problems.

Affordable

The empirical evidence as mentioned above, its clear that affordable is the second most important factor. Would specify one price affordable for any specific course and would never increase it, and rest of same convenience attracts clients simple.

  • The price as affordable for employee for any specific course and would never increase it, and the rest of same convenient attracts clients (R1)
  • These online courses are usually affordable and have to spend less money as compare to other courses have to spend less money (R2)

Affordable for those students they have less resources and important for job promotions. They read any time when you time is available.

Time-saving

The empirical evidence as mentioned above, its clear that time-saving is the first most important factor. In online business education the save your time & money. Because busy scheduled its difficult with your job. As one Respondent said that:

  • The online courses save time because the access anywhere not physically attend the classs simple login and read any time (R1)
  • I foundtime-savingvicost-effectivetive and easy to find resources related to these courses and manage easily with job (R2)
  • Theo online courses save time, low cost and not disturbance of other students and easily to adjust the time of class (R3)
  • Main advantage I found is its time saving, easy to manage time and less expensive (R4)
  • The main advantage of online courses is repeat 100 of time and easily understands the trainer point of view and discusses other group fellow (R5)

There are benefits of online courses for many students, and Im one of them, its easy to access anywhere anytime just with your login id thats all you need, its time saving its also good for those students who cant attend lectures due to their personal problems or etc. and the most of important and beneficial what I think is that you can repeat 100 times if you couldnt understand anything and nothing will going to be missed like lectures.

Most Convenient

The empirical evidence as mentioned above, its clear that time convenient is the third most important factor. In online business education the save your time & money. Because busy scheduled its difficult with your job. As one Respondent said that:

  • The online courses most convenient for job holder the manage at the same time study & job and not take regular classes to cover up (R1)
  • The bust schedule now a days everybody work hard to support the family and compulsory for upgrade your job (R5)

I personally realize that I couldnt make time to attend the regular classes in any institution because of routine work so this is the most convenient way to get skills & knowledge for a busy schedule person. The choose the online courses the routine is so much hectic.

Improving Skills

The empirical evidence as mentioned above, its clear that the improving skills are the third most important factor. In online business education the upgrade your job. Because busy scheduled its difficult with your job. As one Respondent said that:

  • The helped me in improving skills speaking, reading and listening skills now a days major factor to improve the skills if we stay in organization and upgrade your job (R2)
  • The online courses the will improve someone skills and give satisfaction in your work job (R5)

The improving skills to see annual performance analysis to recognize areas we need to improve. Position yourself to be accountable, improve your skill set, and continually learn by setting personal benchmarks and reviewing them regularly. Learning leads to a better quality of life, improve confidence and personal development, and affect our life in a positive way.

Not Physical Attend

The empirical evidence as mentioned above, its clear that the not physical classes regular they just learn online website are the fourth most important factor. In institution regular attend the class as compared to online. Respondent said that:

  • The online courses most convenient for job holder the manage at the same time study & job and not take regular classes to cover up (R1)

With almost three million students currently registered in fully online programs and six million taking at least one online course as part of their degree, online education has clearly become vogue higher education alternatives. The regular improving reputation of online learning helped fuel its expansion, as initial skepticism faltered in the face of evidence showing that online learning can be just as successful as face-to-face education.

Findings of the study

Word Tag Clouds Figure 3 shows Word Tag Clouds which shows the size of different words according to their frequencies of repetition in textual data. Words having more frequency show their big size. In figure 3, Word Tag Clouds shows different unrelated words such as annoying, yeah, cost 100 these words are not the themes of the study.

In the phase of second-word tag clouds word which have been unrelated into stop word list and then word tag clouds skills has been applied in figure 4, word clouds theme show different themes of the study as always, client, night, daily, choose, 100, pay, become, facing, lack, good, every, drawbacks, even, after.

Word Tree Analysis

Online word is the key word for this study. Therefore, using text search query a word tree has been explored for the word: online. In figure 5, word tree of online shows the different pattern of talks of respondents of the study. By reading line-by-line data where the word online has been used, the study observed the meaning of online business education in this study. Figure 5 Word Tree of the word Online

Time word is the other keyword for this study. Therefore, using text search query a word tree has been explored for the word: Time. In figure 6, word tree of Time shows the different pattern of talks of respondents of the study.

Conclusion and Discussions

Using a traditional method of case study research this study was aimed to identify the online business education system in organization, employee privilege, and current job upgrade. Online education have a variety of institute provide different courses online in Pakistan. For the collection of data, interviews has been conducted (students, employees, professionals) earlier time appointments were taken for the smooth conduct of interviews. Six interviews were recorded using video recording device.

All qualitative data has been examine using the popular software; NVivo a product of QSR International Australia. They have clear objective & scope, and complete awareness of courses which provided in institution. The study identified in organization easy access, affordable, improving personality, and most convenient, reasonable, less expensive, access anywhere, reduce expense. Different Employee privilege, tight schedule, innovations, competition, beneficial, resources, reverent material. In upgrade current job, time-saving, improve skills, upgrade, smooth, passion, managing notes, creative mind, not physically attend the classes of institution, and increase communication.

General Recommendations

This study presents different recommendations to those institution where online courses are provided. They give some suggestions to improve more the quality of online courses.

  1. Firstly the trainer guidelines is provide when a students face difficulty if any lecture they easily contact with teacher the set time for meeting.
  2. The university website is access easily not internet problem the improve the quality of online business education.
  3. Student and teacher at least set one meeting within the month and communicate and resolve the problem easily which we have issued.
  4. Lecture will be easily access the students just login your computer and repeat 100 of times in any issue in lecture to understand

References

  1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pS1472811718302854ii/
  2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563218305703
  3. https://www.sciencedirect.com/search?qs=higher%20online%20business%20education&show=25&sortBy=relevance&origin=home&zone=qSearch
  4. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352340918315324
  5. https://www…com/science/sciencedirectarticle/pii/S095965261930424X
  6. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042816310138
  7. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S147281171830168X
  8. https://www.researchsnipers.com/5-universities-in-pakistan-offering-online-degree/

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