Abstract:
Technology integrated teaching and learning has become very common now a day.
Still, in this modern life, there are many students who face difficulties continuing their higher
education due to several hindrances. This research attempts to find out these challenges for
which the students are facing trouble to continue their higher studies in Bangladeshi private
universities. In addition to that, this research also focuses on the practical implications of
blended learning in terms of putting online virtual classroom along with the traditional faceto-
face classroom instruction. To do so, the researcher has taken interviews of university teachers, university
students, different academic stakeholders such as: corporate organizations, mobile operators,
banks, NGOs, consultancy firms, and housekeepers. 10 private universities of Bangladesh
were selected randomly to collect teachers and students interview. The teachers who take
masters courses were selected for the interview and students were selected from those
teachers’ graduation classes. In total 10 teachers and 101 students were interviewed based on
interview questions. However, participants of the other organizations and housekeepers were
selected according to the convenience of the researcher. Three participants from each of the
organizations and three housekeepers were interviewed based on interview questions. These
collected data were analyzed based on two theories: socio-constructivism and dual code
theory, and one model: blended learning model. The analyzed data are tabulated and
explained in descriptive manner. The findings suggest that, though there is a need of online virtual class, participants
are not in favor to demolish the face-to-face instruction. Infact, they prioritize the face-to-face
instruction more over online virtual class. However, study shows that the implementation of
online virtual class would help learners to overcome the barriers in the way of the higher studies and decrease the number of drop outs from higher studies of Bangladesh. Not only the
learners, but the study also sheds the importance of blended learning over the organizations
where these students are working. It is evident that if the learners are given the relaxed
solution for their study then the organization where they are working gets benefited. Thus,
this study is important for the teachers, students, authorities and other stakeholders to evident
the practical implications of blended learning and to decide the further steps to implement it
in the private universities of Bangladesh.
Description:
This thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MA in English Language Teaching of East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh