BARRIERS TO WEB-BASED EDUCATION

Introduction Web-based Education is fast emerging as an important avenue in the Teaching Learning Scenario. It is also predicted to be the future of ICT pedagogy. Online learning with the help of the Web is a recent trend that is completely changing the way education is transacted worldwide, inside as well as outside the classroom. It is fast permeating into the transaction of regular courses through mediums of MOOCs, Swayam, NPTEL, etc. Significance The success of these initiatives and effective implementation of these Web-based Education programs, it is necessary to first of all, identify the barriers to web based education. This will help in the adoption of measures which will help to minimize barriers and maximize access to web-based education. Objective To identify the Barriers to Web-Based Education. Methodology A survey was conducted to identify the barriers to Web-based Education. There are a number of barriers in implementing Web-Based Education. Rogers (2003) and Ely (1990, 1999), created a model for evaluation of innovations. Their model has seven components: Resources, Infrastructure, People, Policies, Learning, Evaluation, and Support, whose Mnemonic is RIPPLES. Each of the seven components has been further elaborated upon into 5 subcomponents and used to study barriers to Web-Based Education. Findings The percentage level of barrier in web based education was found to be as follows : Resources =48.8%, Infrastructure = 85%, People = 72.4%, Policies= 80%, Learning= 66%, Evaluation=77.2%, and Support= 76.6%.