Parents’ Perception Towards Online Education

Due to COVID-19 pandemic educational institutions of Bangladesh was forced to shut down and had no option but to operate online education for the continuation of education by maintaining social distancing. As an important stakeholder of children‟s education, parents played an influential role for supporting students‟ online education during the crisis moment. However, despite numerous benefits of online education for the continuation of learning it is comparatively newer concept for many of the parents in Bangladesh. This study was an attempt to explore parents‟ perception of online education through different factors. A total of 350 parents were asked regarding the online education and its usefulness in the context of global crisis by using a survey. A descriptive statistic is used to analyze the responses of the parents and the results indicated that parents were overall satisfied with the introduction and application of online education during the pandemic. However, parents claimed lack of digital devices and ability to use technology, poor or unstable internet connection, physical absence of teacher/instructor, lack of assessment and poor self-regulation are the barriers of online education. Moreover, parents considered that traditional learning is preferable to online learning.


INTRODUCTION
According to Mohamad et. al. (2022), education has experienced a significant transformation, with the exponential growth of online learning, in which instruction is mostly or completely provided remotely via digital platforms and this transition has significantly impacted students, educators, and parents. According to Asgari et. al. (2021), the online education is no not only a new concept to many teachers, students, parents and educators, in addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced an unprecedented and global need to explore online teaching-learning opportunities within the entire field of education. Online education is not only about the integration of technology in education which can replace teachers and physical presence in educational institutions with the technological gadgets. Online education rather is a process through which education and learning of students can be made easier with the help of technology by keeping the existing school setup. Therefore, students are able to learn new things. Moreover, online education or e-learning is incorporated as an essential part of student learning alongside the existing traditional education (Abdallah, 2018).
Online education refers to the use of the internet and technology to facilitate classroom teaching learning and interactions. Online education or e-learning is useful to enhance the educational experience through the use of computer-communications technology keeping in mind to the fact that face-to-face experience is still required (Bristol, 2005).

The world health organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) as pandemic in
March 2020 (WHO, 2020). As a result, many counties have to forcefully shutdown and limited their regular activities which included the education sector. Closure of the educational institutions was imposed in order to disrupt the transmission of the deadly virus by creating social distance among students, parents, teachers and related stakeholders (UNESCO, 2020). Bangladesh, among one of the many countries, affected by the corona virus had also taken the same strategy to obstruct the transmission of Covid-19 pandemic. In response, the government of Bangladesh has introduced the application of online education during the closure of educational institutions to support and continue the teaching learning process.
The concept and practice of online education is increasing and receiving more popularity among the students, parents and teachers after the spread out of Covid-19. According to the experts, this method of online teaching learning can minimize the risk of transmission of the covid-19 virus. Online education works as a way of interaction among teachers, students, and parents. Lee and Owens [Ludji & Marpaung, 2021] mention some advantages of online learning which includes universal access, easy to use, multimedia content which are more attractive and can facilitate user learning from different learning styles.
Online education is not only about the integration of technology in education which can replace teachers and physical presence in educational institutions with the technological gadgets. Online education rather is a process through which education and learning of students can be made easier with the help of technology by keeping the existing school setup. Therefore, students are able to learn new things. Moreover, online education or e-learning is incorporated as an essential part of student learning alongside the existing traditional education (Abdallah, 2018).
Online education refers to the use of the internet and technology to facilitate classroom teaching learning and interactions. Online education or e-learning is useful to enhance the educational experience through the use of computer-communications technology keeping in mind to the fact that face-to-face experience is still required (Bristol, 2005).
Online education has transformed the traditional manner of imparting education to students. The emergence of online education has improved and made the process of learning simpler, easier, and effective, unlike the traditional method based on using chalk and board (Kowalski, 2010). According to Fox & Patterson (2013), the quality of student learning through online education has improved in several manners as it is flexible and adaptable in nature and therefore, replaced traditional teaching methods over the past decade.
The modality of online education along with the use of visual graphics develop positive attitude among the learners towards educational courses and programs which increases the interest level and motivates the learners to perform with improved ability and competitiveness, retaining information for longer time (Wang & John, 2013). According to Schacht (2010), online education provides an opportunity to the students to communicate through chats, online forums and sharing their progress on digital platforms which is appreciated by students.
Parents" play a vital role in students learning, academic achievement and overall development process.
Parents" involvement and supervision is required to have a positive impact on students learning and development (Johanisa et. al., 2021). Extensive research has shown that students achieve more in school when their parents are involved in their education (Chen, 2021). Research shows that when parents are involved in their children"s education, children are more engaged with their school work, and achieve better learning outcomes (Bempechat,1992).
Parents" engagement in students" online learning is equally important like traditional learning. Zhang (2021) described the role of parents has transformed as "parent as teacher" and highlighted the positive role of parental engagement in children"s online learning. Zheng (2021) also explained that parents" attitude towards their children"s online education heavily rely on the fact that on what extent it enhances their children"s academic achievement. Parents" role should be different in online schooling or education unlike the face-to-face schooling system. To make the online education successful, parents should work together with the child and teacher to create a routine, connect the child with the teacher regularly, perform the role of "encourager" and keep connection with the teacher.
According to Sedibe & Fourie (2018), parental support improves students' development and is vital to their academic performance. Parents need to be aware of their needs during the online learning process. Valcke et al. (2010) argued that, parents are required to manage their children's activity while using information and communications technology (ICT), as it significantly impacts their children's learning, outcomes, and motivation. According to (Abdel-Maksoud, 2019), parents" perception of online learning can be determined through three factors: what drives the parents to let their children to use it, how satisfied were parents while they found their children using online education, and what kind of barriers occurred in implementing online education.

Objective of the study
Parents across the world perform the role of "primary educator" responsible for providing instruction to their children and monitoring their progress. Bangladeshi parents are not exception to this, therefore their perceptions towards online education can add a new dimension to online education system. Dong et. al., (2020) mentioned that "parents" beliefs and attitudes about the role and potential of online learning for young children can influence the quality and quantity of online learning, opportunities, and learning experiences children receive at home"". Therefore, the study intended to know the concept of "online education" among parents" and how they perceive the role online education for their children"s learning during the covid-19 pandemic. Besides, efforts were made to identify the influence of age group and gender of the child on parents" perception towards online education. The study was guided by the following research questions: 1. What perception parents have towards online education?
2. What extent the online education worked as an alternative of face-to-face education?
3. What is the impact of online education on children"s learning? 4. What extent the age group of the child influence parents" attitudes towards online education?

METHODS
This study followed the quantitative approach of research. In this study, a survey questionnaire was developed to collect data from the targeted samples. The respondents of the study were the parents of the children who were actively taking part in the online education.

Instruments of Data Collections
The main focus of the study was to understand Bangladeshi parents" perception towards online education. To do so, the instrument for data collection has been adopted from Lubis & Lubis (2020), Abdel-Maksoud (2019) and Zhang (2021) with some modification. Total 30 items were used to understand the perception of the parents towards online education. The question items were measured on "Likert scale" used range from 1 to 5 (with response options as strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, and strongly agree). A total of 500 questionnaires was distributed to the parents of primary school, secondary school, and higher secondary and university students. As there was no compulsion for the respondents to participate in this study, only 350 responses returned from the parents.

Data analysis
In the analysis of the data collected, descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviations, frequencies and percentages were used for individual items. Data from questionnaire have been presented in narrative form. Data were analyzed by using SPSS. The quantitative data have been shown in tables in terms of percentages of total response. Tables were formulated and data were interpreted. Table 2 shows there are 30 items of the questionnaire used in this study. A Likert-type scale applied in the questionnaire used from 1 to 5 (with response options as strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, and strongly agree). Then, the Pearson Correlation was used by calculating the value correlation coefficient between each item and the total item to determine the validity of the instrument (Lubis & Osman, 2015).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Besides, the study also tests the reliability of the instrument by using Cronbach Alpha (α) score for each item. Cronbach"s Alpha (α) values are classified based on their reliability classification index. The instrument can be categorized as very good reliability if the value is more than 0.9, then if the value obtained is between 0.8 to less than 0.9, then it can be said to have good reliability. The determination of instruments can be categorized as having quite good reliability if it has a value between 0.7 and 0.8, However, if the value of alpha (α) is between 0.6 or less than 0.7 then the instrument can still be used even if it is not good, and if it is less than 0.6, then it is considered as a poor instrument (Hair Jr et al., 2016). Can also be used as alternative and after-school tutoring programs for reducing families" financial burden such as tutoring fee 3.25 3.84 4.20 3.69 Table 3 presents the difference in perception about online learning among the parents of different level. According to the table, parents of higher secondary and university students demonstrated higher mean scores for the statements related to the parents" perception about online learning followed by secondary level and primary level. Parents of higher secondary and university students mostly agreed with the statements in this section and opined that online learning is an innovative modern practice in education and it creates opportunity for the students to continue education during any crisis moment along with diversified leaning content and personalized learning. Therefore, the online education could be used as an alternative and after-school program for the students. However, parents of primary level and secondary level children opined different views about online learning and the useability with a comparative low mean score.   Figure 2 shows that 30.6% respondents strongly agreed, 52.8% respondents agreed, 2.8% of the respondents disagreed with the statement "Online Learning is an inevitable innovative modern trend in education." Among the total respondents, 13.9% of the respondents remained neutral. The mean score for this statement was 4.11. 38.9% of the respondents strongly agreed, 55.6.% respondents agreed, 5.6% of the respondents disagreed with the statement "Online Learning creates and provides opportunities for students to continue education during pandemic period." The mean score for this statement was 4.28.
The figure further reveals that 33.3% of the total respondents were strongly agreed, 52.8% of the total respondents were agreed, and 5.6% of the respondents were disagreed with the statement "Students can use, reuse and revisit the recorded teaching content at any time and in any places." However, 8.3% of the total respondents were neutral with the given statement and mean sore was 4.14.
Similarly, the above figure (figure 2) also shows that 13.9% of the total respondents were strongly agreed, 69.4% were agreed, and only 2.8% of the respondents were disagreed with the statement "Online learning is diversifying learning content and personalized learning." Among the total respondents, 13.9% of the respondents remained neutral and the mean score for this statement was 3.94.
The figure also shows that among the total respondent, 13.9% of the total respondents strongly agreed, 58.3% agreed, 11.1% respondents disagreed and only 2.8% of the respondents strongly disagreed with the statement "Online learning Can also be used as alternative and after-school tutoring programs for reducing families" financial burden such as tutoring fee." Among the total respondents, 13.9% of the respondents remained neutral and the mean score for this statement was 3.69.  Table 4 shows the mean difference in perception on driving factors of online learning among the parents of different level students. According to the table, parents of higher secondary and university students responded with higher mean scores for the statements related to the parents" perception on driving factors of online learning. Parents of higher secondary and university students agreed with the statements in this section and opined that their children can easily access and understand the learning materials without any obstacles through online learning during the pandemic and they found their children happy while involved in online learning. Parents of higher secondary and university students also opined that online learning is useful to develop the technological competence of students and it improves their communication skills. Parents also shared that online learning helped the students to continue with their learning schedule as it did not stop education during pandemic time. However, parents of secondary level children responded with low mean score for the statements pertained to the driving factors of online learning followed by the parents of primary level children. Yet, the mean score for "Online Learning is more beneficial than traditional learning in school for my child" shows that parents from all category opined alternatively about the statement.

Figure 3. Parents perception on driving factors of online education
According to the figure 3, majority of the respondents (75%) agreed with the statement "My child can understand the learning material even though the learning process is carried out using Online Learning during the pandemic". Moreover, 8.3% respondents strongly agreed, and 2.8% of the respondents disagreed with the statement. However, 13.9% of the respondents remained neutral. The mean score for this statement was 3.89.
11.1% of the respondents strongly agreed, 50% respondents agreed, 11.1% of the respondents disagreed and 5.6% strongly disagreed with the statement "My child feels happy when he/she learns by using Online Learning." Yet, 22.2% of the respondents remained neutral and the mean score for this statement was 3.50.
Furthermore, the figure reveals that 19.4% of the total respondents strongly agreed, 55.6% of the total respondents agreed, and 16.7% of the respondents were disagreed with the statement "My child can easily My child can understand the learning material even though the learning process is carried out using Online… My child feels happy when he/she learns by using Online Learning.
My child can easily get the learning resources while using Online Learning.
My child can fully concentrate while learning by using Online Learning. Similarly, the figure 3 highlights that 11.1% of the total respondents were strongly agreed, 38.9% were agreed, 33.3% of the respondents disagreed and only 2.8% of the respondents strongly disagreed with the statement "My child can fully concentrate while learning by using Online Learning." Among the total respondents, 13.9% remained neutral and the mean score for this statement was 3.22.
The figure also shows that among the total respondent, 30.6% of the total respondents strongly agreed, 55.6% agreed, and only 2.8% of the respondents disagreed with the statement "My child can develop technological competence while he/she use Online Learning." Besides, 11.1% of the respondents remained neutral and the mean score for this statement was 4.14.
The figure reveals that 25% respondents strongly agreed, 50% of the total respondents agreed and 13.9% respondents oppose the statement "Online Learning can help improve my child's communication skills." Nevertheless, 11.1% of the total respondents were neutral with the given statement and the mean score for this statement was 3.86.
The above figure shows that 27.8% of the total sample respondents strongly agreed, 61.1% agreed, and 5.6% respondents opposed with the statement "Online Learning can help to arrange my child's learning schedule during the pandemic." The table also showed that 5.6% of the total respondents were neutral with the given statement with 4.11 mean score for the statement.
However, for the statement "Online Learning is more beneficial than traditional learning in school for my child", majority of the parents (44.4%) disagreed and strongly disagreed (25%). Yet, 11.1% respondents strongly agreed, 8.3% respondents agreed and 11.1% were neutral with the given statement. The mean score for the statement was 2.36.
22.2% of the respondents strongly agreed, 61.1% respondents agreed, and 5.6% disagreed with the statement "Online learning does not stop my child"s education during pandemic time". Yet, 11.1% of the respondents remained neutral and the mean score for this statement was 4.0. Online Learning to others to use". However, the mean score for the statements "I feel comfortable and confident when my child participates in Online Learning" and "Overall, I am satisfied while my child is using Online Learning" was high for the parents of secondary students. On the other hand, parents of primary level children responded with low mean score for the statements pertained to the satisfaction measurement of parents about online learning.

Figure 4. Parents Satisfaction about online learning
The figure 4 shows that 25% of the total respondents strongly agreed, 55.6% agreed, and 2.8% respondents opposed with the statement "Online Learning is contributing to the personal development of my child." The figure also showed that 16.7% of the total respondents were neutral with the given statement with a 4.03 mean score for the statement.
Moreover, for the statement "Through Online Learning my child is able to develop technical skills", majority of the parents (58.3%) agreed and strongly agreed (30.6%). However, only 5.6% respondents disagreed and 5.6% were neutral with the given statement. The mean score for the statement was 4.14.
22.2% of the respondents strongly agreed, 41.7% respondents agreed, 16.7% parents disagreed and 2.8% strongly disagreed with the statement "I feel comfortable and confident when my child participates in Online Learning". Yet, 16.7% of the respondents remained neutral and the mean score for this statement was 3.64.
Similarly, the figure highlights that 19.4% of the total respondents were strongly agreed, 52.8% were agreed, 8.3% of the respondents disagreed and only 2.8% of the respondents strongly disagreed with the statement "I would recommend this Online Learning to others to use." Among the total respondents, 16.7% remained neutral and the mean score for this statement was 3.78.
The figure also shows that among the total respondent, 16.7% of the total respondents strongly agreed, 47.2% agreed, 2.8% parents disagreed and 2.8% of the respondents strongly disagreed with the statement "Overall, I am satisfied while my child is using Online Learning." Besides, a huge number of parents 30.6% remained neutral and the mean score for this statement was 3.72. Table 6 explains the difference in parents" perception about the barriers of online learning among the parents of different level. According to the table, parents of higher secondary and university students mostly thought that the Internet connection is a barrier for their child to access Online Learning and lack of assessment is a problem in online learning compared to the other parents group. On the other hand, parents of secondary students thought the lack of child's ability to use various types of technology is a barrier for him/her to use online learning along with lack of digital devices and the physical absence of mentor and instructor in online learning. In addition, parents from the secondary level students also opined that poor self-regulation is a vital issue in online learning as they responded with a high mean score for this statement compared to the other parents group.  The physical absence of a mentor/instructor is a concern for my child to use Online Learning 3.75 3.79 3.00 3.67 Poor self-regulation is an issue for my child in online learning 3.25 3.47 3.00 3.33 The figure 5 shows that 11.1% respondents strongly agreed, 52.8% respondents agreed and 30.6% of the respondents disagreed with the statement "The lack of my child's ability to use various types of technology is a barrier for him/her to use Online Learning." The mean score for this statement was 3.44.
27.8% of the respondents strongly agreed, 41.7% respondents agreed, 16.7% of the respondents disagreed and 2.8% strongly disagreed with the statement "The lack of digital devices is a barrier for my child to use Online Learning." Among the total respondents, 11.1% remained neutral. The mean score for this statement was 3.75.

Figure 5. Barrier of online learning according to parents
The figure further reveals that 22.2% of the total respondents were strongly agreed, 47.2% of the total respondents were agreed, and 5.6% of the respondents were neutral with the statement "The Internet The Internet connection is a barrier for my child to access Online Learning.

Lack of assessment (formative and summative) is a problem for my child's learning
The physical absence of a mentor/instructor is a concern for my child to use Online Learning.
Poor self-regulation is an issue for my child in online learning Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree connection is a barrier for my child to access Online Learning." However, 22.2% disagreed and 2.8% of the total respondents strongly disagreed with the given statement and mean sore for the statement was 3.64.
Similarly, the above figure (figure 5) also shows that 19.4% of the total respondents were strongly agreed, 47.2% were agreed, and 13.9% of the respondents were disagreed with the statement "Lack of assessment is a problem for my child"s learning." Among the total respondents, 19.4% remained neutral and the mean score for this statement was 3.72.
The figure also shows that among the total respondents, 27.8% of the total respondents strongly agreed, 27.8% agreed, and 16.7% of the respondents disagreed with the statement "The physical absence of a mentor/instructor is a concern for my child to use Online Learning" Among the total respondents, 27.8% of the respondents remained neutral and the mean score for this statement was 3.67.
Moreover, for the statement "Poor self-regulation is an issue for my child in online learning", majority of the parents (50%) agreed and strongly agreed (5.6%). However, 5.6% respondents strongly disagreed, 16.7% disagreed and 22.2% were neutral with the given statement. The mean score for the statement was 3.33.  Table 7 describes that parent from both higher secondary and university level and secondary level agreed with high mean score for the statement "Online teaching is incomparable to face-to-face teaching for my child" compared to the primary level parents. Parents from primary and secondary level show high mean score for the statements "There is no teaching and learning atmosphere in online education", "Online education makes my child addicted to electronic devices", "Learning outcome in face-to-face classroom better than online education" and "Online education doing harm to eye-sight and mental development of the children". Hence, parents from the primary and secondary students thought online education is less effective than face to face education which is contrary to the opinion of higher secondary and university level parents. Figure 6 shows that 27.8% of the total respondents strongly agreed, and 44.4% agreed with the statement "Online teaching is incomparable to face-to-face teaching for my child." However, 8.3% parents disagreed and only 2.8% strongly disagreed with the statement. The figure also showed that 16.7% of the total respondents were neutral with the given statement with a 3.86 mean score.
Moreover, for the statement "There is no teaching and learning atmosphere in online education", majority of the parents (61.1%) disagreed and only 2.8% strongly disagreed. However, 11.1% respondents strongly agreed, 19.4% parents agreed and 5.6% were neutral with the given statement. The mean score for the statement was 2.75.
Furthermore, 36.1% of the respondents strongly agreed, 27.8% respondents agreed, and 5.6% remained neutral with the statement "Online education makes my child addicted to electronic devices". Yet, 25% of the respondents opposed and 5.6% strongly opposed with the statement and the mean score for this statement was 3.64.

Figure 6. Skeptical factor of online learning according to parents
Similarly, the figure highlights that 41.7% of the total respondents were strongly agreed, 27.8% were agreed, 22.2% of the respondents disagreed and only 2.8% of the respondents strongly disagreed with the statement "Learning outcome in face-to-face classroom better than online education." Among the total respondents, 5.6% remained neutral and the mean score for this statement was 3.83.
The figure also shows that among the total respondent, 27.8% of the total respondents strongly agreed, 36.1% agreed and 16.7% of the respondents disagreed with the statement "Online learning doing harm to eye-sight and mental development." Besides, 19.4% remained neutral and the mean score for this statement was 3.75.
According to Kong (2018), the accomplishment of online learning depends on parental involvement.
Eysenck (2014) (cited in Lubis & Lubis, 2020) argued that parents" control on their children is crucial while using technology. In addition, their roles for supporting to their children is a considerable factor for the successful implementation of online learning. In simple, parents attention can help to improve students" performance in using online learning. Therefore, Abdallah (2018) thought that parents" perception of online learning usage is important factor to be noticed. (2007), students whose parents are highly engaged in teaching learning process and building cooperative relationship with students have experienced higher achievement than their peers with lower parent-childeren and teacher-parent relationship. From the findings of the study, it has been discoursed by the parents that online learning is an inevitable innovative modern trend in education which created and provided opportunities for students to continue education during pandemic period.

According to Hughes & Kwok
Parents have agreed that online education has the advantages to enhance their children"s technological skill and contribute to personal development of the children. They opined that their children felt happiness when they participate in online education and learning resources are much easier for the children to get while using online learning. Moreover, online education is also helpful to improve their child's communication skills and did not stop child"s education during pandemic time. Yet, they felt less confident to replace traditional face-to-face education with online education. The findings also exposed few barriers in implementing online education during COVID-19 pandemic.
The lack of digital devices (cellphones, smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc.) and the lack of child's ability to use various types of technology was identified as one of the main obstacles. Besides, poor or unstable internet connection, issues with uninterrupted electricity supply, physical absence of teacher/instructor, lack of assessment and poor self-regulation were also identified as impediments.
The study revealed parents" level of satisfaction on online education and students" overall development. Parents were satisfied about the introduction of online education during the pandemic crisis and acknowledged the role of online education for continuing the education. Although parents were recommending online education to others, they expressed dissatisfaction in the proposal to use online education as a replacement for traditional face-to-face learning. However, parents assumed online education may and can be used as a supportive initiative of the traditional education and after-school tutoring program.
Findings also showed that parents of different age group children have perceived the role of online education differently. Parents from the higher secondary and tertiary level opined that online learning is innovative and creates more opportunity for the students with diversified leaning content and personalized learning, online learning is useful to develop the technological competence and improves communication skills. In contrast, parents from primary and secondary level thought online education makes the child addicted to electronic devices and is less effective than face to face education as there is physical absence of teacher or instructor.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, online learning is considered relatively new idea for both parents, students and educators in Bangladesh compared to the traditional form, face-to-face learning. Online learning has recently been widely used for educational purposes because of Covid-19. Therefore, everyone requires to adopt with this approach of learning to ensure education purposes are continued and served.