Two Years of Hybrid Education in Romania: A Comparative Overview of the Students’ Expectations for the Online Educational Platforms

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the high infection rates, in some periods, a hybrid or totally online educational system was used. In both types of fully online and hybrid educational processes, the need for online educational platforms arose. This research aims to provide a comparative overview of the expectations for these platforms using the responses of two successive generations of students as input by applying the Kano methodology. Furthermore, this article performs a Fong test as a relevance check to identify the features for which the Kano analysis results are statistically significant. The results of the analysis show that the expectations of students are more related to the features that describe their access to administrative resources and the technical-related features. This can be explained through a permanent need, independent of the chosen educational system (i.e., face-to-face, fully online, or hybrid) and their field of study. The use of virtual reality (VR) technology in creating laboratory experimental lessons is identified as the only possible mechanism, from the proposed features in the engagement category, to keep students engaged during periods when fully online and hybrid educational processes are needed.