Modern technologies have given us the possibility to enhance outcomes in almost every field of our life, even in educational system it gave us new online learning mode, which was used widely during the Covid-19. However, after it was questioned about its efficiency, leading to a comparison with traditional face to face learning mode. It is proposed that while online learning provides better flexibility and convenience by creating better learning environment, offline gives better academic outcomes and student engagement. Determining better learning method improves educational process, therefore the issue perfectly aligns with the 4th Sustainable Development Goal – quality education. Moreover, SDG4 emphasizes inclusive education, which can be achieved through online learning, for example rural students can connect and study now wherever they are.
The question about effectiveness of online and offline learning arose during Covid-19 pandemic, when massive school shutdowns led to a transition from traditional to remote education. Online mode is defined as learning via digital devices using internet in various types of environments and offline learning is a traditional face-to-face interaction with a teacher in a classroom (Dhawan, 2020). Regarding students' academic outcomes, only a few resources based on practical methods have analysed the difference between online and offline learning modes, showing deficiency in materials to study (Senthil & Susobhan, 2022).
During Covid – 19 there were massive school shutdowns worldwide, affecting 1.6 billion students from over 190 countries globally, forcing them to leave schools. These closures cause catastrophe in education, putting at risk of dropping out about 24 million schoolers and making 100 million children illiterate in reading (UNESCO, 2023d). To prevent following disasters in education, transition from the traditional learning to online was made. For efficient learning, online mode offers materials at any time and from any location with wide search opportunities and abundant interactivity (Senthil & Susobhan, 2022). However, online learning does not always show high efficiency in education due to some factors, related to low interactivity, engagement, lack of discipline and so on (You et al., 2021). Therefore, new issue about comparing what is more effective between online and offline learning should be discussed and analysed, as this has direct impact on future education.
New learning mode caused a lot of discussion regarding educational effectiveness and comparison with traditional mode. It is essential to find the truth, as during quarantine children in difficulty to read rose sharply to 584 million, increasing by more than 20% (UNESCO, 2023c). As 8.2 target of SDG8 – “Decent Work and Economic Growth” states, economic productivity is achieved by innovations and technological advancements, hence it is required to know what better option for education is. Moreover, online learning requires some budget for devices, thus preventing low- and middle-income students from the educational process. It was found that learning gap could rise from 53% to 70%, because during COVID-19 online learning couldn’t replace fully traditional education (UNESCO, 2023b), controversial to the 4th SDGs statement. Specifically in Kazakhstan, 1.21 million students have Internet access, but the speed of the Internet influence badly the effectiveness of online learning (UNICEF, 2023). Moreover, the Internet speed and location across Kazakhstan also restricts teachers’ ability to conduct online lessons effectively, emphasizing inequality in education between urban and rural scholars (Amirova et al., 2023).
