




































American International Journal of Social Science Research 

Vol. 6, No. 2; 2021 

ISSN 2576-103X   E-ISSN 2576-1048 

Published by CRIBFB, USA 

1 

 

CHALLENGES IN DISTANCE LEARNING DURING THE 

PANDEMIC SITUATION OF CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19): A 

PERSPECTIVE FROM BANGLADESH  

 

 
Md. Shahidul Islam 

Divisional Officer 

Service Engineering Division 

Bangladesh Forest Research Institute, Chittagong, Bangladesh 

E-mail: engr.shahidul.islam@gmail.com 

 

Md. Shahnur Azad Chowdhury 

Associate Professor  
Department of Business Administration 

Int'l Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh 

E-mail: tipu_iiuc@yahoo.com 

 

Sultana Akter 

Assistant Professor 

Department of Business Administration 

Int'l Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh 

E-mail: sa_maya@rocketmail.com 

 

A. B. M. Yasir Arafat 

Lecturer 

Department of Computer Science and Engineering 

Int'l Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh 

E-mail: abmya89@yahoo.com 

 

Md. Kazi Golam Azam 

Assistant Professor 

Department of Business Administration 

Int'l Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh 

E-mail: mdkgazam@iiuc.ac.bd 

 

 

ABSTRACT 

The purpose of the study is to identify the socio-psychological challenges that influence the 

distance learning education performance to be recognized and evaluated in the COVID-19 

pandemic situation to develop the planning and utilization strategy for smooth and high-quality 

online uninterrupted teaching and learning environment in the future. A systematic random 

sampling survey method is used to collect information from 100 respondents on a ten-point Likert 

scale (1 = Least significant and 10 = Most significant to the factor of online learning). The survey 



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response data were collected from online class experienced teachers and students (masters and 

graduate) from business school and science and engineering school of Int'l Islamic University 

Chittagong, Bangladesh (longitude 91.720902539062 and Latitude 22.495181427788) in the 

March-April 2021. Descriptive analysis, factor analysis, and structural equation model are used 

from the collected survey data by using IBM SPSS Statistics 20 and IBM SPSS AMOS 22 software 

to identify factors that have a significant influence on performance. The study result shows that 

personal factor, task assignment factor, and course factor have significant positive contribution 

and technical factor has a significant negative contribution to the performance in the online 

education. But perceive factor and social factor have no significant contribution to the 

performance in online education. 

 

Keywords: Internet in Education, Online Class, Policymaker, Socio-Psychological Challenge. 

 

JEL Classification Codes: I21, C38, C12. 

 

INTRODUCTION 

The effect of the Covid 19 crisis has affected the educational practices of approximately 150 

million students around the world. All of these students are on the verge of joining the job market 

after completing their studies in a short period of time. The abrupt halt in all of these students' 

educational progress has put a strain on their emotional, economical, social, personal, and physical 

well-being. Furthermore, the entire educational system has come to a halt, posing the most 

significant danger to the nation's future. The simplest and most common solution to this issue is to 

move to an online education system. Our country's leadership, as well as the Ministry of Education, 

have taken sufficient positive steps in this regard. In the midst of this crisis, the online education 

system has provided students hope and has become a viable educational option. Despite the fact 

that many have questioned its quality and compared it to the physical structure, it has provided an 

opportunity to consider the topic more deeply. However, today's learners all over the world are 

searching for a versatile education format that can be accessed at any time and from any place. 

Online learning opportunities are in high demand, particularly among a group of learners who face 

specific challenges, and education providers are responding positively (Schrum & Hong, 2002). 

In all countries and institutions, the standard and popularity of online education vary. Learning 

and teaching styles, as well as personal encouragement and infrastructure, are all important factors 

in ensuring a smooth online teaching experience. Some colleges and universities have been able 

to show effective online teaching delivery (Fredericksen et al., 2000). Despite some challenges, 

online teaching and learning provide a solution to an inevitable issue. After the outbreak of the 

coronavirus, educational institutions at all levels around the world have had to shut down their 

usual face-to-face distribution systems on campus. Some colleges and universities perform 

research programs online, while others do not. Many that are actively performing research 

activities online are confronted with a number of issues. Especially in developing countries, where 

information technology is not yet widely available and the internet is not easily accessible from 

anywhere and by anyone. Both students and instructors may have disadvantages, and both may 

face difficulties in continuing online classes. The usage and acceptance of the internet are rising 

by the day, suggesting a brighter future for online teaching and learning (Muilenburg & Berge, 

2005). As a result, the obstacles that students face must be recognized and evaluated in order to 

establish a plan for smooth and high-quality online teaching and learning. 

 



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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 
Education is a major sector for every nation. Learning can’t be interrupted for maintaining 

continuous development. Digitization has been initiated in every sector of the country. So, 

education should also deserve attention for being digitized. It has become emergent to run online 

education in the current situation of COVID-19 as there are no other alternatives. As this is a new 

experience so there are a lot of limitations to the online education system. To make it fruitful a 

long way to travel in his line with necessary modifications by identifying the challenges. This 

study attempts to explore the possible challenges in online education. 

 

To conduct the study successfully, the following objectives has been identified: 

 To give an overview of the current situation of online education in Bangladesh 

 To explore the challenges in the field of online education in Bangladesh 

 

 

LITERATURE REVIEW 

Continuation of disasters creates the necessity of using technologies that helps to cope up with the 

change (Meyer & Jones, 2011) particularly  Communication technologies such as e-learning tools 

(Tull, 2017). The coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a disaster for human living systems in the 

whole world mostly affected the economic system, health care system, and education system. The 

following review of literature states the changing pattern, tools for the digital education system, 

challenges, and finally some suggestions for the improvement of the online education system. To 

control the transmission of COVID-19, Staying home and strong Lockdown strategies have been 

adopted (Sintema, 2020) and these strategies were implemented nationally from 1 August 2020 

(Palden, 2020).  Almost all governments of countries around the world have introduced similar 

goals like imposing strict lockdown,  restricting immigration, social/physical distancing,  and 

avoidance of on-campus face-to-face learning (Gonzalez et al., 2020). Moreover, Globalization, 

privatization, and liberalization of education have significantly worsened because of the confined 

program relating to academic activities and restricted mobility among the countries during this 

pandemic (Mishra et al., 2020). During the lockdown, teachers are instructed to teach through 

online learning platforms (Abidah et al., 2020). The immediate shift of physical classrooms into 

e-classrooms has changed the pedagogical approach of educators in order to cope with changed 

situations and new market conditions. Institutional adaptability with online education at a massive 

level becomes more concern irrespective of quality education during this hurdle time period 

(Carey, 2020). To satisfy the unprecedented demand, faculty members made a change in their 

courses in short order with negligible formal training, and on the other hand, students have affected 

through various ways like problems in learning new technology, loss of internship, locational 

disadvantage, etc. (Govindarajan & Srivastava, 2020). Furthermore, The forced shift of the 

education system requires capacity improvement of information technology due to the introduction 

of automation, machine learning, and the development of artificial intelligence (Krishnamurthy, 

2020). Online learning may be defined as gaining learning experience in a variant environment by 

using mobile phone and laptop devices connecting with the instructor through the internet from 

anywhere in the world (Singh & Thurman, 2019). Again, online learning is known as open 

learning, web-based learning, m-learning, blended learning, etc. which assures common efficiency 

of learning through computer devices that connect teacher and students from any place by internet 

(Cojocariu et al., 2014). Before the pandemic, most of the institutions use face to face learning 

approach within campus area but the eruption of COVID-19 divert conventional method into the 



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digital method in our education system which incorporates online lecture, online examination, 

teleconferencing, digital open books, and almost all interaction at virtual environments 

(Strielkowski, 2020; Kumar, 2020). Moreover, the education environment experienced the use of 

Online platforms like Zoom, Google classroom, and other virtual learning platforms along with 

various social media such as Messenger, Whatsapp, we-chat, Telegram, etc. for the first time 

(Pokhrel & Chhetri, 2021). There are some benefits of the online education system, (Means et al., 

2013) claim that online learning might be more fruitful than the traditional approach of learning. 

Again, students from distant locations can easily connect with minimal cost and time. However, 

online education becomes challenging for the economically disadvantaged group as socio-

economic conditions are not the same for all learners in society (Pokhrel & Chhetri, 2021). Most 

of the students rely on android mobile facing tremendous problems from remote access due to poor 

internet connectivity, depression anxiety, and lack of proper learning environment (Kapasia et al., 

2020), and learners with hearing-impaired face challenges while using e-learning (Manzoor, 

2020). Moreover, learners from third world countries face challenges in the suddenly changed 

education system as it requires to cope up with limited technical infrastructure, academic 

incompetency, and finally limited. Therefore, effective and efficient use of resources is crucial to 

continue education during a pandemic. Dhawan (2020) suggested that institutional focus goes to 

better use of technology with low cost in maintenance and procurement along with internet speed, 

access to the internet, security feature, available laboratories, and improvement in digital literacy. 

Some educational models like a model for educational emergencies treatment (MEET) for 

managing and restoring educational operations (Karalis, 2020) as well as holistic teacher education 

systems (Zhu & Liu, 2020)  are advocated for better support in the present and future teaching at 

the time of the similar type of natural disasters like COVID-19 pandemic. 

Hence, Bangladesh is facing COVID-19 pandemic and passing through the shifted 

education system, so it requires research on a new education system which also supported by an 

above review of literature that will help smother management and distribution of education in an 

equal manner at present and future. 

 

Digital Bangladesh 

For the first time, the present government has adopted a plan to build a digital Bangladesh by 2021. 

the independence of Bangladesh was gained in 1971 through a bloody war, the half-century of its 

independence is being marked in 2021 and that is why it has touched all of us to dream of taking 

our beloved motherland to a special place during this time. So, the word digital Bangladesh has 

not become just a word. The government and the people of this country have all taken a big 

initiative to make it a reality. Bangladesh has currently gained the 57th position in the world to 

launch Bangabandhu Satellite 1 from the Kenedy Space Center in the United States at 2.14 pm on 

May 11, 2018. However, the word digital Bangladesh was not just used as a computer-ready 

country. It is much more comprehensive. Digital Bangladesh means to create a modern Bangladesh 

using information and communication technology. The goal of Digital Bangladesh is to implement 

the country's commitment to education, health, employment, and poverty alleviation using all 

kinds of technologies. To reach this goal, it is very important to change our old mentality and think 

positively and innovatively. The keyword behind Digital Bangladesh is to ensure democracy, 

human rights, transparency, accountability, and justice for the people of the country and to make 

maximum use of technology for them. Its ultimate goal is to improve the quality of life of all types 

of people of all classes. The government has emphasized four specific issues for the 

implementation of Digital Bangladesh such as human resource development, people's 



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involvement, civil services, and the use of information technology in daily life. As compared to 

many other countries in the world, Bangladesh has started the work of expansion of information 

technology late. So, Bangladesh stays far behind many other countries. Although in the past the 

importance of information and communication technology was not properly realized, now it is 

becoming very important. With the connection of submarine cable, it is now possible to provide a 

high-speed internet connection in our country. Due to the interest of the government, information 

technology infrastructure has started to develop in the country. Many Initiatives have been taken 

to provide internet service to remote areas by laying fiber-optic lines across the country. Even a 

decade and a half ago, the number of telephones in this country was negligible. Now it can be said 

without hesitation that every adult in this country has a phone at their hand. Adults have phones at 

their fingertips. Information service centers have been set up at the union level, post offices in 

remote areas have been converted into e-centers and mobile money orders have been provided. 

The Union Information Center, as well as the District Information Cell and the National 

Information Cell, is a major addition to the country's infrastructure. Work is being done regularly 

for registration of admission tests, knowing the results of public examinations, or buying train 

tickets through the mobile telephone. This look is proof of the fact that information and 

communication technology lessons have been added in schools and colleges. Computer science is 

being taught in colleges and universities of the country. The young generation of the country is 

building their own companies besides giving jobs to various software companies and a large 

number of young people are strengthening the economy of the country by outsourcing on a 

personal level. 

The date of 12th May 2018 is very important for us. On this day, Bangladesh, as the 57th 

country in the world, launched its own satellite 'Bangabandhu Satellite-1' into space. In this, the 

country went one step further in the implementation of Digital Bangladesh. Using satellite will 

benefit education, medicine, agriculture, weather forecasting as well as Bangladesh's economic 

progress. The satellite can also be used for television services and national security. A new level 

will be added to the management of natural disasters anywhere in Bangladesh. In addition, due to 

the use of information and communication technology due to Bangabandhu Satellite, along with 

saving foreign currency, a large amount of foreign exchange income will also be possible. With 

this breakthrough in information technology, let no one think that we have already reached our 

goal - this is not true at all. In this way, we have a long way to go. Since most of the people in our 

country live in villages, the first step in building a digital Bangladesh is to bring these rural people 

under the purview of information and communication technology services. That is why now 

Bangladesh Government have to build a huge infrastructure to get the full benefits of information 

technology. In this case, skilled manpower is needed. The quality of education in schools, colleges, 

and universities needs to be enhanced and more students need to be trained in information and 

communication technology. E-governance should ensure transparency in all matters. The new 

generation needs to be encouraged to harness their innovative potential. There needs to be 

coordination between the university and the information and communication technology industry. 

Only then can we build a real digital Bangladesh. 

 

Education System in Bangladesh During COVID-19 

COVID-19, which carries the coronavirus, was first reported in late 2019 in China's Wuhan 

Province. Due to the rapid spread of the disease around the world, the WHO declared the March 

11, 2020, global epidemic. Outbreaks appear to be exacerbated in Bangladesh. According to 



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statistics there were confirmed cases of 787K, recovered 729K, and death cases 12310 as of 

22.05.2021 in Bangladesh. 

The disease is mainly spread by coughing, sneezing, and touching infected patients within 

3 feet. As a result, it is very important to maintain social distance to get rid of this disease. The 

Bangladesh government has taken enough steps in this regard. 

The time we are passing through the Covid crisis is a great challenging issue. Covid is 

forcing people to enter the virtual world and people are gradually getting used to the virtual world. 

For example, people are going to online health care without going to the doctor for medical 

services. In this way, moving from shopping to e-commerce, schooling to distance learning, and 

socialization to social distance is better for us due to the corona situation. Adapting to such a big 

change is a big challenge over the world. 

Bangladesh has a broad education system consisting of 38.6 million students were 3.6 

million in pre-primary, 18 million in primary, 13 million in secondary, and 4 million in tertiary 

level. According to the year 2018, 0.17 million educational institutions are ranging from primary 

to tertiary level, including 0.13 million primary schools. The economic growth of the country is 

integrally associated with strong educational achievement and learning outcomes and skills 

development. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed 1.6 billion children and youth out of school in 193 

countries which is almost 90% of total enrolled students. Due to the rapid spread of the Corona 

epidemic worldwide, the Bangladesh government imposed a lockdown on the entire country from 

march 17, 2020. About 38.6 million students stopped their studies as the educational institution 

was closed for more than a year. It also resulted in the suspension of all primary school first-term 

examinations across the country, as well as the postponement of the Higher Secondary School 

Certificate (HSC) Examination (Grade 12/equivalent terminal exam) for the academic year. The 

country's learning and human capital growth are likely to suffer short-, medium-, and long-term 

consequences, if school closures and disruptions continue. As a result, the government of 

Bangladesh recognizes the importance of planning for and reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic in 

Bangladesh's educational system. Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, major impacts on 

education in Bangladesh are as follows: 

 Incomplete learning due to discontinuation 

The academic progress of students would be disrupted due to long time absent from 

physical schooling. The overall scenario is affecting the school, college, or university 

yearly planned activities in the worst-case scenario, which could result in a one-year gap 

for all students. 

 Creating problem of assessment 

Because of the pandemic, physical learning programs and planned tests will be temporarily 

suspended, making it more difficult to increase learning outcomes or even sustain the 

number of students who achieve grade-level competencies. Simultaneously, authorities and 

teachers would struggle to find an appropriate alternative for national evaluations, given 

the lack of learning due to institutional closures and other factors. 

 Faulty method for evaluation 

During the covid 19 periods, some institutions try to start a virtual education system for 

adult students. Although conducting classes through various difficulties but no expected 

policy for evaluation has developed till now. 

 Un-uniform learning system 

Students from educated and wealthy families tend to be able to continue their education at 

home because they have access to computer technology, the internet, and other resources. 



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This problem creates a learning gap between those students who do not have access to 

those services. 

 The rate of dropout students is increasing 

The anticipated global economic crisis caused by the pandemic, as well as its severe effect 

on household income, would increase the dropout rate, especially among girls and those 

from low-income or disadvantaged families. 

 Creating depression in students who are going to have completed degrees 

Students are suffering from depression and inferiority due to endless future uncertainty, 

they are mostly helpless to begin a new life career without finishing their degrees. On the 

other hand, they have to depend on the other of the family members. 

 More difficulties for poor and rural student 

These types of students are deprived of necessary digital opportunities such as 

smartphones, laptops, 4G networks, high costly internet, etc. This is also a new difficulty 

that poor and rural students don't know how to use android mobile efficiently. There are 

no available facilities for wireless internet connection i.e. Wi-Fi with low cost. As a result, 

students are dropping dawn in various level of education and also losing interest for next 

higher study. In an analysis of the Daily ProthomAlo there a greater increasing rate of 

forced child girl marriage in the rural area. 

 

HYPOTHESIS 

Hypothesis 1 

Personal challenge has no significant effect on the Performance of online learning. 

 

Hypothesis 2 

Perceived challenge has no significant effect on the Performance of online learning. 

 

Hypothesis 3 

Task assignment challenge has no significant effect on the Performance of online learning. 

 

Hypothesis 4 

Technical challenge has no significant effect on the Performance of online learning. 

 

Hypothesis 5 

Social challenge has no significant effect on the Performance of online learning. 

 

Hypothesis 6 

Course challenge has no significant effect on the Performance of online learning. 

 

METHOD 

To study the challenge of online class during coronavirus (COVID-19) a survey questionnaire was 

developed from literature review and experience of authors. The developed survey questionnaire 

is pre-tested with 10 respondents and necessary corrections and modifications are made to finalize 

the final questionnaire. Now the finalized questionnaire is distributed to 100 respondents for the 

reply. In this research, data were collected on a questionnaire survey in the form of a ten-point 

Likert scale ranging from 1 = Least significant to Performance of online learning and 10 = Most 

significant to Performance of online learning. Data collection for this study began on the date 20 



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March 2021 and ended on the date 22 April 2021 from Int'l Islamic University Chittagong, 

Bangladesh (longitude 91.720902539062 and Latitude 22.495181427788). The responses were 

coded in IBM SPSS Statistics 20 and IBM SPSS AMOS 22 software after necessary correction 

and modification for further analysis. The qualification of respondents for collected data is 25 

Intermediates, 49 graduates, and 26 Masters. The intermediate qualification respondents are now 

the student of graduate, the graduate qualification respondents are now the student of masters and 

master’s qualification respondents are now the teachers. All the respondents are directly involved 

in online classes during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic situation. A systematic random 

sampling method is used to select respondents from 83 business schools and 17 from science and 

engineering schools. Among the respondents 63% use smartphones, 14% personal computers, 14% 

laptop, and 9% tablet for an online class. Most of the respondents (79%) use zoom for group 

communication. The rest of the respondents use Social networks (8%), WhatsApp (7%), and 

Google classroom (6%). In the survey response data was collected from Metropolitan/ Divisional 

city (54%), District town (18%), Upazila/ Thana/ Equivalent (22%) and Village area/ Rural are 

(6%). The material used in online education is an online class (51%), PDF lecture (30%), online 

book (10%), and Educational website (9%). The descriptive analysis of values of each response 

variable is calculated. Factor analysis is conducted with all the response variables to classify them 

into challenge factors. Then Structure Equation Model (SEM) is developed to identify factors that 

are significant to performance. 

 

RESULT AND DISCUSSION 

The descriptive analysis of values for each response variable is calculated and shown in Table 1. 

 

Table 1. Descriptive analysis of response variables 

 

Serial 

No. 

Description of Questionnaire Variable 

Name 

Min Max Mean Standard 

Deviation 

1. Performance of online learning      

a. Performance of teaching Perform1 1 10 6.48 1.899 

b. Performance of instructor Perform2 1 10 6.05 1.690 

c. Performance of learning Perform3 1 10 6.42 1.804 

d. Performance of student Perform4 3 10 6.16 1.581 

e. The flexibility of class time Perform5 1 10 6.33 1.776 

f. Quality of learning Perform6 3 10 6.19 1.587 

2. Personal challenge      

a. Digital literacy PersonCh1 1 10 6.60 1.959 

b. Software facility PersonCh2 1 10 6.64 2.067 

c. Hardware facility PersonCh3 1 10 6.49 1.883 

d. Self-motivation PersonCh4 1 10 6.50 1.872 

e. Acceptability PersonCh5 1 10 6.55 1.930 

f. Adaptability PersonCh6 1 10 6.55 1.930 

3. Perceived challenge      

a. Lack of common learning goal PerceiveCh1 1 10 6.51 2.809 

b. Lack of feedback from the 

teacher 

PerceiveCh2 1 10 6.53 2.736 



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Serial 

No. 

Description of Questionnaire Variable 

Name 

Min Max Mean Standard 

Deviation 

c. Lack of feedback from a 

classmate 

PerceiveCh3 1 10 6.64 2.939 

d. Lack of time to participate PerceiveCh4 1 10 5.67 2.511 

e. Lack of individual 

accountability 

PerceiveCh5 1 10 6.38 2.722 

f. Misunderstanding of the topic PerceiveCh6 1 10 6.53 2.743 

g. Off-topic discussion PerceiveCh7 1 10 5.74 2.389 

4. Task assignment challenge      

a. Lack of assessment task, quiz TaskCh1 1 10 5.98 2.502 

b. Lack of effective counseling TaskCh2 1 10 5.98 2.357 

c. Lack of open discussion TaskCh3 2 10 5.99 2.298 

d. Lack of face-to-face group 

study 

TaskCh4 2 10 6.09 2.336 

e. Lack of concentration TaskCh5 2 10 6.11 2.339 

f. The large class makes class 

noisy 

TaskCh6 1 10 6.10 2.509 

g. Time management problem TaskCh7 1 10 6.05 2.293 

5. Course curriculum challenge      

a. Conceptual theoretical subjects 

with critical thinking 

CourseCh1 1 10 7.22 2.130 

b. Theoretical subjects with a lot 

of discussions 

CourseCh2 1 10 6.64 2.484 

c. Subjects with big mathematical 

problems 

CourseCh3 1 10 7.55 2.204 

6. Technical challenge      

a. Mobile network TechnCh1 1 10 5.81 2.304 

b. Internet speed TechnCh2 1 10 5.67 2.693 

c. Cost of device TechnCh3 1 10 5.59 2.594 

d. Load shading TechnCh4 1 10 6.43 2.716 

7. Social challenge      

a. Anxiety regarding social 

acceptance 

SocialCh1 1 10 6.33 2.270 

b. Anxiety regarding family’s 

financial crisis 

SocialCh2 1 10 6.28 2.261 

c. Anxiety regarding own future 

and career 

SocialCh3 1 10 7.06 2.335 

d. Anxiety regarding the global 

crisis 

SocialCh4 1 10 7.01 2.443 

 

From the above descriptive analysis table, it is observed that the mean with a standard 

deviation of Performance of online learning variable value varies from 6.05 to 6.48 ± 1.581 to 

1.899, for Personal Challenge variable value varies from 6.49 to 6.64 ± 1.872 to 2.067, for 

Perceived challenge variable value varies from 5.67 to 6.64 ± 2.389 to 2.939, for Task assignment 



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challenge variable value varies from 5.98 to 6.11 ± 2.293 to 2.509, for Course Curriculum 

challenge variable value varies from 6.64 to 7.55 ± 2.130 to 2.484, for Technical challenge variable 

value varies from 5.59 to 6.43 ± 2.304 to 2.716 and for Social Challenge variable value varies from 

6.28 to 7.06 ± 2.261 to 2.443. As the mean value and standard deviation value vary with 

overlapping each other, so factor analysis is conducted to test the questionnaire and to classify the 

questionnaire into challenge factor and the result is shown in Table 2. 

 

Table 2. Factor analysis of response variables 

 

 Rotated Component Matrix  

Factor Variable 

Name 

Component Cronbach's  

Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Alpha 

Personal  PersonCh5 .955       0.990 

Challenge PersonCh2 .949        

 PersonCh3 .946        

 PersonCh4 .944        

 PersonCh6 .938        

 PersonCh1 .925        

Perceived  PerceiveCh3  .935      0.955 

Challenge PerceiveCh1  .919       

 PerceiveCh6  .918       

 PerceiveCh2  .913       

 PerceiveCh7  .832       

 PerceiveCh4  .830       

 PerceiveCh5  .703       

Task  TaskCh1   .947     0.960 

assignment TaskCh2   .942      

Challenge TaskCh7   .933      

 TaskCh3   .913      

 TaskCh4   .828      

 TaskCh6   .819      

 TaskCh5   .811      

Performance  Perform4    .926    0.966 

of online  Perform2    .911     

Learning Perform6    .902     

 Perform1    .894     

 Perform5    .892     

 Perform3    .887     

Technical  TechnCh3     .849   0.871 

Challenge TechnCh2     .809    

 TechnCh4     .759    

 TechnCh1     .683    

Social  SocialCh1      .891  0.904 

Challenge SocialCh2      .890   

 SocialCh3      .603   



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 Rotated Component Matrix  

Factor Variable 

Name 

Component Cronbach's  

Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Alpha 

 SocialCh4      .600   

Course  CourseCh2       .821 0.838 

curriculum  CourseCh1       .766  

Challenge CourseCh3       .598  

 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.  

Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. 

 

 a. Rotation converged in 6 iterations.  

From the above factor analysis table, it is observed that the response variables are classified 

into seven groups based on the survey response values. The Cronbach's Alpha value of Personal 

challenge is 0.990, the Perceived challenge is 0.995, Task assignment challenge is 0.960, 

Performance of online learning is 0.966, Technical challenge is 0.871, Social challenge is 0.904, 

and Course challenge is 0.838. So, the collected survey response data and its classification of 

challenge factors are reliable and consistent (Cronbach's Alpha value > 0.7). In the factor analysis, 

the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy value is 0.784 (significance level 0.000). 

So, we can apply factor analysis for dividing the response variable into seven different factors. 

From Table 2, the factor leadings for Personal challenge is 0.925–0.955, Perceived challenge is 

0.703–0.935, Task assignment challenge is 0.811–0.947, Performance of online learning is 0.887–

0.926, Technical challenge is 0.683–0.849, Social challenge is 0.600–0.891 and Course challenge 

is 0.598–0.821. It is observed that all factor loadings are greater than 0.400, which expresses that 

all measurements for each factor have good reliability. Based on the factor analysis result, a 

structural equation model is developed (Figure 1). 

 
Figure 1. Structure Equation Model of online class challenge 



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From the above structure equation model, the factor leadings for Personal challenge is 

0.969–1.080, Perceived challenge is 0.564–1.082, Task assignment challenge is 0.633–1.000, 

Performance of online learning is 0.668–1.000, Technical challenge is 1.000–1.665, Social 

challenge is 0.592–1.000 and Course challenge is 1.000–1.152. All the factor loadings are very 

high and significant (p < 0.05). The error variance for Personal challenge, Perceived challenge, 

Task assignment challenge, Performance of online learning, Technical challenge, Social challenge, 

Course challenge, and Performance are 0.072 to 0.348, – 0.082 to 4.995, 0.130 to 3.417, – 0.050 

to 0.878, 0.868 to 3.754, 0.016 to 3.615, 1.606 to 2.280 and 2.794 respectively. The covariance 

values are – 0.253 to 3.130, which are also significant (p < 0.05). In the model, χ2/df is 1.617 

(which is < 3), comparative fit index (CFI) value is 0.942 (which is > 0.9), Incremental fit index 

(IFI) is 0.942 (which is > 0.9), Tucker Lewis index (TLI) is 0.936 (which is > 0.9), Root Mean 

Square Error of Approximation is 0.79 (which is < 0.08). So, every index meets the standards of 

the survey and the model is a well-fitted model. 

The path coefficient of Personal challenge to Performance of online learning is 0.219 (p = 

0.024). Hypothesis 1 is rejected. So, the Personal challenge factor has a positive significant effect 

on the Performance of online learning. 

The path coefficient of a Perceived challenge to Performance of online learning is – 0.018 

(p = 0.802). Hypothesis 2 is accepted. So, the Perceived challenge factor has no significant effect 

on the Performance of online learning. 

The path coefficient of the Task assignment challenge to Performance of online learning is 

0.140 (p = 0.041). Hypothesis 3 is rejected. So, the Task assignment challenge factor has a positive 

significant effect on the Performance of online learning. 

The path coefficient of Technical challenge to Performance of online learning is – 0.469 

(p = 0.004). Hypothesis 4 is rejected. So, the Technical challenge factor has a negative significant 

effect on the Performance of online learning. 

The path coefficient of Social challenge to Performance of online learning is 0.053 (p = 

0.503). Hypothesis 5 is accepted. So, Social challenge has no significant effect on the Performance 

of online learning. 

The path coefficient of Course challenge to Performance of online learning is 0.383 (p = 

0.004). Hypothesis 6 is rejected. So, the Course challenge factor has a positive significant effect 

on the Performance of online learning. 

 

CONCLUSION 

The purpose of the study is to identify the factors that influence the performance of online 

education in Bangladesh. In this study, it is observed that the personal challenge factor, task 

assignment challenge factor, and course challenge factor have a significant positive contribution 

to the performance challenge factor in online education. Moreover, the technical challenge factor 

has a significant negative contribution to the performance challenge factor in online education. 

But perceive challenge factor and social challenge factor have no significant contribution to the 

performance challenge factor in online education. Hence the result finding may be utilized in the 

planning and utilization strategy of Government, University, College, and school teachers and 

students in the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the future to improve the performance of online 

education. Hence the researchers have a great opportunity to do more research to overcome these 

challenges to improve the efficiency of distance learning education in the pandemic situation. 

 

 



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