1. Introduction
The outbreak and spread of coronaviruses during 2019–2020 have significantly affected social and economic development [
1,
2,
3]. It is possible to reduce the COVID-19 rate via social distancing and lockdowns. Therefore, educational institutes were closed for a longer period, and students faced difficulty to complete their syllabus. This inconvenience leads to digital intervention in education. Many universities started online education using Microsoft Teams, Blackboard, Zoom, and related platforms [
4]. Information and communication technologies (ICT) became a powerful tool that transforms the education sector across the globe. COVID-19 is also responsible for the educational transformation from physical to online [
5].
Online education has become a well-known learning model among students to continue their education in developed and developing countries. For example, universities in the United States (i.e., Harvard University, Ohio State University, Stanford University, and Princeton University) canceled face-to-face teaching classes and moved to online education [
6]. In China, universities shut campuses, moved to online teaching, and offered more than 5000 courses within two weeks. For instance, Zhejiang University (ZJU) introduced an online teaching hub “Learning at ZJU” which involved 570,000 visits, and the live streaming app “DingTalk ZJU” involved 300,000 learners [
7]. Turkey also adopted the online teaching method [
8,
9].
The popularity of online learning and training has been increasing worldwide. It reduced the spatial and temporal problems of conventional education. Online learning is advantageous for students due to learning opportunities and online material at their houses [
10]. There has been a rapid increase in online platforms and online courses/resources during the past three years. Currently, distance education has become a rapidly growing form of education [
11]. The expected increase in the value of the Learning Management System (LMS) will be 18.44 billion USD by 2025 compared to 5.05 billion USD in 2016, which showed a 15.52% growth in the value of the global LMS. It can increase access to education and training, improve learning quality, and reduce costs [
10].
In Pakistan, it is difficult for most institutes to manage and start online education. Many government institutes were not able to go online due to scarcity of resources. However, different institutes tried their best to provide continued education to their students [
12]. In Pakistan, the role of distance education is vital for the provision of access to obtain higher education. The Virtual University of Pakistan, a federal government university established in 2002, aims to give educational opportunities to those unable to continue traditional education. The Virtual University of Pakistan uses modern ICT to provide quality education [
13].
Due to COVID-19, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) directed the universities to use the LMS for online classes. The HEC established the National Knowledge Bank to provide online access to educational materials such as syllabuses, curriculums, links to digital libraries, lists of textbooks, lesson plans, exam questions, video lectures, assignments, and quizzes through LMS [
14]. The HEC guided the universities to consult with the Virtual University of Pakistan to obtain technical support for the LMS, including administration, tracking, documentation, reporting, and transmission of educational courses, development or learning programs, and training programs. A student can access the digital content by using the login and password. After signing in, a student can access course content, recorded video lectures, notice boards, assignments, educational content, grades, and fee details [
15].
Students can use a computer, laptop, smartphone, iPad, and other electronic devices for online education. The use of information technology helps deliver instruction and content to the students. Online education needs the instructor’s time for the development of the course. After the development of a course, the instructor can reply to students’ queries by email and involvement in discussion boards, mark assignments, and regularly update the online course. There are different formats of online education, such as online learning management systems (LMS). Online education includes blogs, chatrooms, discussion boards, podcasts, wikis, video lecture, learning objects, web conferencing, and wireless mobile devices. However, it is challenging for educators to keep in touch with advanced technologies and use new teaching techniques to attain more student engagement [
16]. The use of new educational technologies is beneficial for students and professors. In online teaching, a course is conducted using the internet, and online courses become valuable for students who cannot enroll in full-time conventional education. Online education showed different benefits for society [
17].
Online education is considered an alternative teaching method, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, student satisfaction with online education is a growing concern. Satisfaction of students is an important indicator of academic quality [
18]. Student satisfaction is a subjective perception of students about the success of a learning environment [
19].
Yet, studies that examine the impact of online teaching on students are limited and lack consensus. Thus, it is also required to assess online education students’ learning satisfaction. Therefore, this study makes three main contributions. First, it assesses the role of computer and internet knowledge in the learning process. Second, this study highlights the significance of tutors and reading material in the learning process. Third, it extends the literature by considering the development of an LMS and its benefits in the learning process, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Brief Literature Review
Online education is a cost-effective, flexible, and self-pacing way of learning that increases the access of students to resources [
20]. Different studies examined the factors that influenced students’ satisfaction with e-learning [
21]. Patrinos and Shmis [
9] showed the impact of COVID-19 on the education system of Central Asia and Europe. Many countries introduced precautionary measures in education systems such as the temporary closing of educational institutions. However, China ensures the continuity of the educational process by introducing electronic textbooks and online courses. Many countries in Central Asia and Europe also directed their education department to close their educational institutions. Online education in Central Asia and Europe depends upon the availability of online content, devices, and internet connectivity at home. The students who have financial resources can afford computers and multiple devices, but poor students can hardly afford such devices and internet connections. If the situation closer to educational institutes lasts for months, then it is required to start online education by (a) ensuring the equipment and internet connectivity for vulnerable students, (b) improving the connectivity of schools, and (c) improving the financing of digital educational content.
According to Khaliq [
8], South Korea will switch to online education for its students who have been at home because of COVID-19. In South Korea, the Ministry of Education declared the start of online lessons for students up to high school by 9 April 2020. The new academic session, scheduled to start in March 2020, was delayed due to the pandemic for five weeks. Turkey also adopted the online teaching method due to this outbreak. Abdalla [
6] reported that universities in the United States canceled classes and switched to online education due to COVID-19. The closure of educational institutions was observed in those states which are hardest hit by COVID-19 such as New York, California, and Washington. Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, directed their students to stay at home, and they are now engaged in virtual teaching. Princeton University, New Jersey, announced that the courses, seminars, and lectures would be moved online. Stanford University, California, and Ohio State University also stopped face-to-face teaching.
Kornpitack and Sawmong [
18] assessed the factors influencing student satisfaction in Thailand. Different significant factors were performance expectancy, learner interaction, actual use, and behavioral intention. Satyawan et al. [
22] reported the success of Undiksha E-Learning COVID-19 in Indonesia. The concentration of students was 96% (paying attention to lectures) with the use of Undiksha E-Learning. Similarly, the understanding of learning material was 88%, and the motivation of students in online learning was 77%. Iqbal et al. [
23] studied the experiences and perceptions of students considering different aspects of online learning in Pakistan. The participants showed concerns about the quality of online instructions and the lack of institutional support. Moreover, barriers to online education were electricity crises, inappropriate study environments, and internet issues. However, most of the students were satisfied with online classes. Mohammed et al. [
21] explored the factors behind students’ satisfaction with online education during the pandemic in Malaysia. Results showed four significant factors behind students’ satisfaction such as (a) system quality, (b) instructor’s performance, (c) student factors, and (d) course evaluation.
5. Discussion
Traditional teaching methods engage intelligent students as well as students having difficulty learning. However, e-learning is an effective tool, which is helpful for teachers due to several benefits (a) accessibility, (b) time-saving, (c) cost-effectiveness, (d) better connection, (e) better parent–teacher communication, (f) efficiency, (g) flexibility, (h) innovation, and (i) passion-based learning [
41]. Universities with better infrastructure are successful at implementing E-Learning. The literature shows that there are many influential factors behind the success of learning management systems such as access to electricity, internet connection, economic status, and ICT skill according to Mohammadi et al. [
42]. The impact of LMS was positive on learning satisfaction, which implies that universities should successfully develop their LMS to implement online education, especially during emergencies. In Albania, there was a positive connection between LMS self-efficacy and students’ satisfaction [
19]. Similarly, the impact of the instructor and course material is positive which is the driver of learning satisfaction. The satisfaction of students is higher in the presence of high-quality connections with instructors. Timely feedback from teachers is important in the absence of face-to-face learning [
18]. The knowledge of computers and the internet is important to increase learning satisfaction. Iqbal et al. [
23] also mentioned that the satisfaction level was higher for learners who had good knowledge of educational tools and technologies. According to Kornpitack and Sawmong [
18], ICT is essential to conduct online education. The level of student satisfaction was positively related to the utilization of effective educational tools, student–teacher communications, course content, and presentation skills of instructors [
23]. A well-established internet connection is needed for the success of online learning. Thus, the government should provide an internet connection to students at discounted rates.
6. Conclusions and Policy Implications
The increase in the spread of coronaviruses was observed worldwide, which significantly affects social and economic development. Educational institutes were closed for a longer period, and students faced difficulty to complete their syllabus. The government adopted a policy of “suspending classes without stopping learning” to continue education activities. However, student satisfaction with online education is a growing concern. Satisfaction of students is an important indicator of academic quality. Therefore, this study investigated the influencing factors behind the learning satisfaction of students. The LMS had a greater path coefficient (0.489), which indicates the role of LMS in the increase in learning satisfaction. Development of LMS at the institutional level is recommended to continue the learning process in off-hours/lock-down, especially during COVID-19. The instructor and course material ranked second (0.261), which implies that the quality of an instructor and course material also acts as a driver to increase learning satisfaction. Therefore, it is required to enhance the quality of the course material continuously. It is also vital that the instructor should be up to date with modern learning technologies. Computers and the internet have a key role in the learning process, especially in the recent era. Thus, the government should ensure internet connectivity, especially in rural areas. The student in the rural area had traveling difficulties and could not meet the living expenses in a city. Therefore, the government should provide subsidies for an internet connection to students, especially in rural areas. Moreover, as the findings of this work are intuitive with greater policy insights, regarding the infrastructure especially the learning–teaching one to be phased out to cater needs of the students located remotely. This option can have multiple benefits: attracting students to advanced stages of education, creating interest and a sense of responsibility both for teaching and learning through maintenance of track and progress with the support of online teaching gadgets and software, and improving efficiency both on the part of students and teachers through improved communication, recall, and feedback mechanisms. Nevertheless, the bottlenecks such as power and connection outages need to be given due consideration through the availability of alternative energy provision. In the case of Pakistan, the system of online education in the aftermath of the peak COVID-19 pandemic has effectively taken its course and is now being featured in different ways of linkages among academia, industry, and stakeholders.
This research has some limitations due to a shortage of time and space. First, it assesses the effectiveness of online education by considering students across Pakistan. There is heterogeneity in the online education system across several universities or institutions. Thus, future studies should perform a comparison of online education by selecting different educational institutes in Pakistan. Second, this study assesses the impact of only three selected constructs on learning satisfaction. Therefore, future studies should add more latent constructs to the path-coefficients estimation.