Economics of time: Advantages of e-learning in proportion to the time utilized and the tradeoff between work and studies

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic created a disruption of the educational system. The transition to e-learning in a state of emergency involved breaching barriers and challenges for both faculty and students. In the current study, we examine the opinion of students on the advantages of e-learning, in a systemic, multi-institutional perspective. Based on 1,859 respondents from several academic institutions, we employed a mixed methods research, combining quantitative and qualitative techniques. The findings show that variables related to time saving significantly affect the preference for e-teaching. In contrast, money-saving variables were not found to be significant. Reduction in travel time was found to be the most important dimension involved in the preference for e-teaching, followed by the convenience of studying from home and lesson recordings. These measures emphasize the advantages of digitization in the modern era and the option of perceiving learning as a consumer product that does not require physical presence. Globalization has facilitated e-commerce with no geographical barriers, from the convenience of one’s home or organization, together with a significant reduction in time required. However academic institutions are lagging in this regard. The COVID-19 era has raised the need for the academic establishment to adapt to the new reality and the advantages of technological modernization in the 21st century.