Digital Learning in Developing Asia in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Statistical Approach

COVID-19 has shut down all educational institutions worldwide and drastically changed learning to a Digital platform. Digital-Learning is a new model for many students. Generally, technological platforms are used for communication and recreation. But, now, it is vastly used for educational purposes. Thus, this study investigated the student perception of the digital learning model and teaching practices in Sri Lanka and Malaysia. An exploratory survey design was used for this comparative study. Data was collected via Google forms scattered through WhatsApp and E-mail to Sri Lanka and Malaysia State University students. A random sampling technique was used to collect the data from 610 respondents and analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics were used to find out the association. Results of the study showed that smartphones and Computers/Laptops are used in Sri Lanka and Malaysia, respectively. Sri Lankan students experience a poor internet connection than Malaysia. Monthly expenditure and internet bills increased due to E-learning in both countries. Digital-Learning before COVID-19 was less experienced in Sri Lanka. Zoom and Google classroom are widely accessed in Malaysia, while Zoom and VLE/Moodle are accessed in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan students agreed that lecturers provided more prompt feedback on assignments than Malaysian students. Most of the students agreed that the session’s contents met their expectations in both countries. Around half of the students mentioned that they responded quickly to their queries.