Physical (In-Class) Versus Virtual (Online) Education at Tertiary Level in Pakistan –Perceptions, Experiences and Suggestions

During  the  COVID-19  era,  education  switched  from  physical  (in-class)  to  virtual  (online) education as a temporary solution to the pandemic. However, online education, which though was not a new phenomenon inthe world of education, began strengthening its roots. It was acknowledged by educators of all the disciplines as another way of imparting education. They found it extremely useful because  as  it  enabled  them  explore  the  world  of  education  outside  of  theirgeographical  boundaries. This study explored the experiences of the students regarding virtual classes and took their suggestions to  improve  the  quality  of  online  education.  The  students  were  selected  from  two  undergraduate programs of a private sector university in Karachi using convenient sampling method. The participants’ responses  revealed  that  they  had  mixed  feelings  of  confusion,  worry,  excitement,  happiness,  and shock.  Similarly,  they  faced  a  lot  of  problems  like  technical  glitches,  lack  of  trainingfor  teachers  for virtual teaching, clash in the deadlines of various assignments, inaccessibility of the teachers, and lack of screening process of the teachers for marking assignments and projects and unclear instructions. It was  concluded  that  virtual  teaching  will  continue  and  considering  the  information  and  discoveries  of this research there are many elements that ought to be viewed as compulsory for smooth execution of online classes.  It was concluded that neither the country, nor our educational institutions are ready for this  rapid  change.  Both,  the  government  and  the  academia,  need  time  to  observe,  adapt,  and incorporate the changes accordingly.