GALGOTIAS BUSINESS SCHOOL

Acceptability of Multimedia Web-Based Instructional System in Indian Management Education - An Empirical Study

Debarshi Mukherjee

[ Abstract]
Traditional face-to-face and e-learning systems of education have survived to work as two different paradigms. Management education requires value creation for its stake holders and in Indian context it has not been able to deliver the best and has seen intermittent use of technology in existing pedagogy as an auxiliary component. The paper presents findings of a study conducted on students, teachers of management education and people from corporate in India and tried to test empirically the scope of imbibing factors of e-learning pedagogy through multimedia web-based instructional system in existing traditional system of education in Indian management education. It has been observed that a blend of both is possible and imbibing factors of e-learning pedagogy in teaching and evaluation is a preferred choice.

Keywords: E-Learning, Blended Learning, WBIS, Online Evaluation, Management Education.

[ Introduction]
The inception of management education is about eight decades old. It has now been able to turn management education as a genuine and distinct discipline rooted in scientific research methodology (McFarland, 1960). Apart from business it has reoriented and redefined itself into the dimensions of social ethics and digital technology. The sixty year old Indian management education, had to face quite a few critical reviews accompanied with recommendations of improvement specially relating to pedagogy and infrastructure (Bowonder B & Rao S L, 2004). An accreditation body named All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) oversees management institutions in India in both public and private sectors as well as in its distance education format which is offered by several institutions. The adoption of distance mode of education appears to have happened in management discipline without differentiating it from other disciplines in social sciences. The distance mode of education follows the traditional classroom and blackboard based teaching on a very limited scale, only to be supplemented by elaborate printed course material. The concept of e-learning and associated pedagogical models remains unimplemented in higher education scenario in India across all disciplines. Electronic learning (e-learning) has received wide acceptance in all levels of education i.e., pre primary, primary, secondary, higher and tertiary education either in the form of pure online or blended learning format (Gi-Zen Liu, Gwo - Jen Hwang, 2009). There are various devices like computers and other mobile devices like smart phones, personal digital assistance (PDAs) orchestrate real time two way wireless communications among users. The manifestation of huge acceptance has been identified with features like subjectivity of content and complete absence geographical restrictions for the users. When learner centric pedagogy honours user's autonomy of learning, the efforts lead to higher

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learning gain (Czerniewicz, 2008). Biglan (1973a, 1973b) identified three dichotomies in higher education: practicality (Pure/applied); paradigm development (Hard/soft); and object of study (Life/non -life). Each of this identified subject types requires specialized mix of scholarly, professional and practical content. The management education has been organized with adjustment of the three components in various institutions across the globe. Some more dimensions had to be incorporated by the institutions offering management education in e-learning mode. The recipients of e-learning education primarily pick up a course on the basis of its degree of flexibility, provisions of learner autonomy and of course certain economic factors. Learner's choices as well as several cognitive factors have played an important role in design of e-learning curriculum for all courses (Bouchard, 2009). The learner autonomy includes such components like online assignment submission, content search across websites and online examination. The web based delivery mechanism is often mixed with traditional classroom teaching and evaluation and it has the distinction of providing asynchronous mode of delivery. The advent of web 2.0 has added to this flexibility by enabling a personalized learning environment as well as group collaborations in the form of wiki, blogs, chats etc. If used for task based learning, this has the potential of becoming an important tool for informal scholarly education. The e-learning incorporates a motivation for self - direction and further exploration and therefore the chances of it becoming a passive mode of learning are very unlikely (McLoughlin, Lua, 2001 in Haverila et al, 2009). While designing the curriculum one has to focus at the objective behind the study programme as it should be meaningful because research has shown that people utilize their newly acquired skills in the workplace within a range of 10% - 30% (Thompson et al, 2003). Although the effectiveness of pedagogy depends upon many other factors than the curriculum like behaviour of learner and teachers still attention to be given the pedagogy (Baldwin et al, 1988). Higher education demands maturity in the pupils hence mere technology intervention might not suffice the purpose unless collaborative learning takes place in the form of debate, discussion threads and other forms of peer group learning (Salmon, 2002). Works of Jonassen (1995) suggest that in order to foster meaningful & effective learning environment one must consider the following criteria i.e., constructive, collaborative, complex, active, conversational, contextual, intentional, reflective. Activeness identifies with the quality of a student being responsible for his/ her learning & ensures active participation. Constructiveness identifies with the quality of a student being able to integrate his/ her existing knowledge with new knowledge or information. Collaborative learning is fostered by peer group learning where benefits derived from each other through sharing of information. Intentionality factor identifies with the quality of a student attempting to achieve a cognitive goal. Students carry a tendency to oversimplify problems and that retains them their level of thinking at a lower level and that tendency should be discarded and that criterion has been identified as complexity (Jonassen, 1995). Conversation identifies with peer group learning. Contextual clarity refers to the learning through knowledge dissemination of real life situations rather memory based learning. The students should be able to articulate their acquired knowledge under reflecting criterion. E-learning gets situational advantage of access provision to knowledge building content prepared by experts such as MIT open courseware programme run by MIT USA has made suitable portions of its curriculum available online free of cost. A loose estimate of present e-learning market potential tells us that it is worth more than thirty eight billion dollars. A Sloan Foundation report suggest that between 2004 - 2009 enrolment for fully online programmes have increased at a rate of 12% - 14% each year in post secondary education alone compared to approximately 2% increase in overall enrolments. Ambient Insight research in its research claimed that 44% of post secondary students in USA were taking some or all parts of their education through online medium and the number might just increase to 81% 2014. The above data cites the rapid growth of e-learning as a medium of instruction in post secondary system in USA. Instructional systems aim to support and partially automate the instructional process on a subject field, which might concern, for example, a course, a seminar or even a series of lectures. From a different perspective, these systems intend to satisfy certain instructional needs for a subject domain, which have surfaced mainly because of the advances in research and technology, the emergence of the information society and the globalization of markets. Internet and the World Wide Web, because of their potential, in advancing interactivity between learners and tutors, in offering flexibility concerning the way of learning, and in providing easy, one-stop maintenance and reusability of resources. Hence MWBIS talks about integrating multimedia tools with WBIS for better visual appeal and better learning gain.

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The world of higher education is perceiving sea change as the advent of e- learning technology driving the entire gamut of higher education sector in a realm of new learning format in terms of technology augmentation and a whole new learning experience. For a student of management education interactive e-learning technologies have many promises to keep. The capabilities of these technologies should accommodate and provide access to the following namely; locally unavailable study material in digital format, searching facilities, interactive simulation games, personalized information and guidance tools for better learning experience, communication facilities to engage discussion threads with peer group, facilities to support differently-abled learners and data analysis tools. As the new technologies are being developed and updated at regular intervals perfect e-learning technology is just like hitting a moving target. For example, the above mentioned capabilities and promises may be altered once we start experiencing 3G mobile phones as a programme delivery tool influencing our behavior. The success of any set of technologies is determined by the level of acceptance among the students. The technological impact on learning experience may be studied under following factors: Cultural, where students are comfortable with existing e-learning technologies, as they have had experiences of previous use of products same or similar nature. Intellectual, where students find a whole new engagement through online interaction. Social, where students take greater responsibility of self learning through online social networking platform. Practical, where students find a platform of knowledge sharing across a network inviting maximum participation, thus making it suitable for flexible and self paced learning. Over the last century the educators have been talking about the paradigm shift in higher education and the realization of the same. It could be perceived in the reference frame of the development of e-learning pedagogy. Although, e-learning could have been the silver bullet solution for all types of higher education, but for the continuous development of the array of learning expectation have made the job a little difficult. In the context of higher education and technology intervention, researchers have developed various models some of which could be worth mentioning here as those models are relevant for management education. Lewis Elton (1999) has drawn a distinction between hierarchical and cybernetic models of governance. He has analyzed strategies for innovation and change in higher education. He opined that the hierarchical model of governance is a top - down approach whereas cybernetic approach is bottom - up with network structure. Hence embracing a right innovative model of governance would require right balance between the two. Demos (2004) corroborated this opinion when he identified the hierarchical model as 'mechanistic state' contrary to the cybernetic model which is 'adaptive state'.

[ Research Hypotheses]
Today Indian management education requires systems to create values for its stake holders by enhancing its capabilities to reconfigure them instead of a static blue print. Every system thrives for knowledge management which essentially leads up to continuous innovation. Hence adaptive learning must be exploited in conjunction with 'generative learning' which gives us the capacity to create something new. On the basis of review of literature the following hypothesis has been postulated: H1: Imbibing factors of e-learning pedagogy will not have any distinct influence in Indian management education system as compared to Traditional system Pedagogic concerns for a student centric framework will determine the why, what and how of technology imbibitions in the learning system. The percentage of technology intervention to be used in conjunction with formal class room lectures is very critical as technology overtures may ruin the effectiveness of the system. Further, students across India represent diverse background in terms of education, exposure and culture. Hence, beaming them with universal and unambiguous learning content would always be a research question as the some portions of the right mix of formal and e-learning pedagogy have to be dealt locally for better percolation and assimilation of knowledge.

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Research Design Giving due consideration to the research objective, the nature of the study is descriptive and exploratory. The research hypothesis has been mandated by extensive literature review that finally resulted in a structured questionnaire as data collection instrument.

Data Collection To meet the research objective, both primary and secondary sources of data were used. Primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire from Academicians and students of Management studies across various specializations in both Government and private academic institutions and from corporate who are either responsible for training function or involved in the development process of e-learning programmes or someway connected to or aware of e-learning pedagogy across industries . The respondents i.e., teachers of management subjects, students -of two year full-time postgraduate management curriculum and people from industry were selected through stratified random sampling. A pilot survey was conducted to measure the effectiveness and appropriateness of the questionnaire with ten respondents including teachers, students and corporate. The study brings forth a pan India perspective with representation from major Indian cities like Delhi & NCR, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and smaller cities like Lucknow, Roorkie and Mangalore. Abroad cities like Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Sharja (UAE) also have been covered.

Pilot Study To determine actual sample size a random pilot study was carried out with 30 respondents. The geography of the pilot study has been restricted to Delhi and NCR only. Using probabilistic sampling method of confidence interval approach the paper got 222samples for study. In confidence interval approach sample size n= (Z) 2/ e2 where Z is confidence level, ? is the standard deviation and e is allowable error of this estimate. The paper estimates the sample size at 90 percent confidence level with 10 percent allowable error level. After giving due consideration to the responses generated out of the structured questionnaire, a final draft of the questionnaire was prepared for survey.

Contact Method The respondents were approached personally, telephonically and through mails.

Sampling Plan Sample Element (as well as Sample Unit): The samples for the purpose of study are: Academicians: Faculty members teaching in Business Management programme, responsible for curriculum development and content design with minimum three years of overall experience. Students: Students pursuing two years full - time Post Graduate Management programme and are the final year of their programme. Students with previous work experience have been preferred. Corporate: People from industry who are directly or indirectly associated with development, selling of e-learning applications or involved in training function.

Sampling Procedure Stratified Random sampling procedure was followed in the study. Since the objective was to gather a pan India perspective hence respondents were classified in terms of experience (for teachers), maturity (for students, as it was expected after completion of one year) and domain knowledge (for people from industry).

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Sample Profiles Samples collected from various cities all across India from different educational institutes both Government and private, imparting management education. Inclusion criterion for academicians was minimum three years of overall work experience in academics. Second category of samples was collected from students of two year fulltime Management curriculum studying in both Government and private institutes. Inclusion criterion for students was one year of completed management education i.e., students those who are studying in their second year can be the respondent. Third category of sample was collected from people from industry related or involved in the development, use, selling of e-learning applications or involved in training function. Inclusion criterion was professional exposure to e-learning environment.

Sample Descriptors Sample Size (N = 221) Area Percentage of respondents Sampling Method Inclusion Criteria

Academicians 70 Major Indian cities 31.67 Random and Stratified Sampling Minimum three years of overall work experience

Students 137 Major Indian cities 61.99 Random and Stratified Sampling One year of completed management education

Corporate 14 Major Indian cities 6.33 Random and Stratified Sampling Professional exposure to e-learning environment

Table 1: Sample Profiles

Data Analysis and Presentation MS Excel 2007 and SPSS (version 16) is used for tabulation and data analysis and various graphs are used for data presentation.

Analysis The study has been conducted to identify the gaps existing in present pedagogy of management education in its formal structure. Hence, the survey demanded responses from experienced people from academia and corporate with due exposure in curriculum development and program delivery. The average experience of Academicians have been recorded at 13.60 years and for Corporate it has been 9.43 years which is quite significant meeting the inclusion criteria with due diligence, whereas the same in case of students was 0.39 years. Since, previous work experience for students was a preferred criterion and not a compulsory one, hence that also meet inclusion criterion as all of them are in their second or final year of their respective programme. Academicians include various designations which include Senior Professors, Professors, Associate Professors, Assistant Professors, Senior Lecturers and Lecturers. Corporate include designations including Software Architect, Business Development Managers, Senior Project Managers, Project Director, Senior Account Director and Executive. Hence, by virtue of their respective positions the above two entities justify their validity in the research. The study has been aimed to capture pan India representation, hence distribution of samples identify with this objective as it has succeeded in attracting responses from various parts of India, at least major cities. The chart below showcases geographic dispersion of samples and their respective percentages in terms of total population.

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This distribution is city wise clusters (Figure 1).

Others 7%

NCR 27%

Bangalore 44%

New Delhi 8%

Kolkata 14%

Figure 1: Sample Distribution Bangalore represents highest percentage of responses (44%) followed by NCR (National Capita Region includes Greater Noida, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon) with 44% of total responses. Kolkata & New Delhi represent 14% and 8% of total responses respectively while others cater to the remaining 7% of the total responses. Others include cities like Ahmadabad, Hyderabad, Indore, Roorkie, Mangalore, Lucknow, Chennai, Mumbai and abroad cities like Dhaka and Sharjah. Hence, the distribution of samples justifies its claim of representing a pan India perspective of Management Education. Since the study aims to investigate the structure of management education system and tries to classify them as per given definitional standards. Majority of the respondents (76%) found that the structure of management education imparted in academic institutes and organizations are Formal in nature, whereas second category of people (12%) identified it to be Informal and third category of respondents (12%) found it to be Mixed mode or Hybrid i.e., admixture of Formal and Informal (Figure 2).

Mixed 12% Informal 12% Formal 76%

Figure 2: Structure of Management Education in India

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This observation identifies with the notion that in India, management education has been institutionalized in the academic institutes as a formal structure; still, the desired output to bridge the knowledge gap remains a distant dream. The fundamental aspects of management education delivered in a formal way have been proven incomplete and inefficient in many ways which eventually demands a new pedagogy to come in to supplement it. Hence, e-learning pedagogy is the next best solution to cater to the educational needs. Although, there have been not many people who have experienced complete e-learning environment still there is tremendous scope of e-learning to foster management education. In order to investigate the scope of MWBIS in imparting management education, the study has received an overwhelming response where 75% of overall respondents have voted in favour (Figure 3).

Cant say 6%

No 19%

Yes 75%

Figure 3: Would MWBIS Become an Important Learning Tool? Although respondents at group level almost echoed the overall response where Academicians, Students and respondents from corporate recoded their feedback at 74%, 75% and 79% respectively indicating that certain level of awareness already exists thus is creating a demand for an alternate pedagogy to bridge the void left by traditional classroom teaching. Now that the study has questioned the requirement of an alternative pedagogy to supplement traditional classroom teaching and got replied positively, it poses another serious question that whether our students are ready to embrace the change. Majority of overall respondents (64%) replied positively and that has also been echoed at group level also with Academicians (63%), Students (64%) and Corporate (71%). Though it has been recorded by the respondents that inclusion of MWBIS in the existing pedagogy of formal education is a welcome idea but the magnitude of its use may cause few repercussions. The question poised here contests the quality of involvement of teachers and students fostering a healthy academic environment for knowledge sharing. The paradigm shift from traditional to e-learning made the respondents a bit wary thus merely 51% ended up positively whereas 31% replied negatively and 18% could not answer. The revelation is in line with the observations made in chapter 1 and 2 where intermittent use of technology in education has been practiced widely, however adopting it in formal curriculum did not find many takers. Interesting revelations has been found if we could sink at group level where respondents from Academicians have voted positively with 57% indication the layer of experience gone behind this decision whereas Students are in dichotomy with only 49% replying positively showing their inexperience. People from corporate replied negatively to this proposition majorly (46%) also shows their inexperience in curriculum development and pedagogy for formal education.

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[ Findings]
A paired sample T- test was conducted compare the difference in group mean of traditional (TFGM) and elearning form of learning (ELFGM) There was a significant difference between ELFGM (M = 4.97, SD = 2.07) and TFGM (M = 3.28, SD = 1.68) environment; T = 12.52, p<0.001. A single factor ANOVA was conducted to test the preference of communication medium i.e., e-learning or traditional which would determine the success of MWBIS. The preference for medium of communication influences the learning and would determine the success of MWBIS, F (5, 1301) = 5.56, p < 0.001 Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected and the inference is that imbibing factors of e-learning pedagogy will distinctly influence in Indian management education system as compared to Traditional system. However, considering the mean, it can be stated that terminal examinations have proximity towards traditional pattern as both Term End Examination and Annual Examination have mean 1.40 and 1.45 respectively which are closest to 2 i.e., offline evaluation compared to other evaluation modes. Hence, it can be opined that evaluation mode should be a mix of both formats suiting the requirements of Indian perspective. Rationale of Selecting Evaluation Modes Two important observations have surfaced from this study that for within term or year examinations which includes class tests, mid-term tests online is the preferred mode of evaluation. Second observation is that for final examinations offline mode is the preferred mode. Now from Table 6, we can observe that respondents (25.07%) find online mode is easier to manage and as such examinations are linked to student's continuous growth, monitoring becomes convenient. The importance of these evaluations is relatively low as compared to final examinations. Another important issue is of online mode being cost effective (25.66 %) in terms of low paper and time consumption. Additionally, online mode in MWBIS brings along a structured format of evaluation which makes it a comprehensive system (21.28 %). Reasons for selection online mode of evaluation (N = 343) Easy and convenient in terms of availability, accessibility, evaluation, processing and managing data of student's performance and also track interaction between faculty and students Cost effective in terms of saving paper and time Accurately structured standardized secured comprehensive evaluation system with wide range of topics and variety of questions receives high students' satisfaction Fast data transmission with immediate error detection and feedback of assessment Innovative and creative way of learning through technology as it provides with better visual appeal and transparency in the system Others Table 6: Reasons for Selection of Online Evaluation Mode Now, in case of second observation (Table 7) the offline mode of evaluation has been preferred as respondents have linked it with psychological development of one student. Majority of the respondents (20.53 %) have identified with the fact. Certain fine behavioural aspects which constitute a significant portion of management education cannot be measured online with precision (20.00%). Additionally, traditional mode brings in a personal touch (18.42%) which again creates seriousness (7.89 %) in the environment. It would be interesting to note that, beyond academic issues, it has been highlighted that technology infrastructural bottleneck (11.58%) is one of the major constraints in adopting online evaluation (10.00%) which in turn hinder the organizations to adapt online mode. % 25.07 25.66 21.28 13.41 8.16 6.41

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Reasons for selecting non-online(traditional) mode of evaluation (N = 191) Personal development through improvement of creativity, understanding, assessments, writing and communication skills with a sense of responsibility and integrity Face to face interactions and individual attention in the class help teachers to understand finer things about students Every knowledge & skill can't be tested online at least one test should be this which will test the preparedness, learning and subjectivity of knowledge & experience with precision authentically As most of the universities are not offering the online test due to funds or infrastructure bottleneck in terms of low computer penetration and literacy Adaptability is a constraint towards online evaluation system as people are used to traditional system as it is proven and reliable Leaves an impact on students' mind and high involvement as the ambience of the examination hall brings in seriousness Others Table 7: Reasons for Selecting Non-Online Evaluation Mode

% 20.53 18.42 20.00 11.58 10.00 7.89 11.05

Hence, we can very well opine that given adequate technology infrastructure online mode of evaluation can positively influence the learner's behaviour and effectively improve learning gain. The study above identifies with the fact that there is a need to restructure the present evaluation pattern i.e., neither pure online nor pure traditional rather a blended format should be worked out. The structure of the same may be as shown in Table 8. Evaluation Pattern Online mode Traditional mode Examinations Internal evaluation Final Term end examination

Table 8: Preferred Evaluation Mode and Exams Categories

[ Conclusion]
Majority academicians with 15 or more years of experience opposed the idea e-learning when it was a welcome idea for the students and corporate (Yushau, 2006)). The skepticism regarding adopting e-learning pedagogy might have come up due to limited practice or exposure to technology tools. Teachers with less than 15 years of experience, Students and people from corporate have responded positively showing their inclination towards imbibing technology tools in their curriculum. Lack of enthusiasm among senior academicians may create a digital divide between the students and teachers deterring access to the knowledge. This issue is of paramount importance hence needs to be addressed with gravity. Respondents highlighted one critical issue of knowledge sharing. It has also been found that creation of an inter-institutional knowledge repository consisting of data regarding institutional research, teaching tools, course curriculum and subsequent content etc., (Boezerooy,

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2006) would facilitate the students across different parts of India to stay connected over a global private shared knowledge network. Researchers also in turn can benefits from the captive knowledge (Prtichard (ed.), 2002). While working on this research assignment one of the main objectives was to identify the gaps in present structure of management education and developing a model of education bridging those gaps subsequently. During the course of descriptive statistical analysis and hypotheses testing few important findings surfaced. Present teaching pedagogy is not fulfilling the learning requirements of the students and the level of satisfaction is also low among the corporate. Respondents welcomed the idea of e-learning pedagogy and higher focus on peer group learning as present system does not encourage this feature. The aspect of perceived ease of use and embracing technology mediation received higher foothold in the minds of the respondents. (Dasgupta, Granner, Mcgarry, 2002).

[ Limitations]
Although the study adds to previous work done web based instructional system, it primarily focuses on acceptance and usefulness of multimedia web based instructional system in management education in Indian context. The revelations from this study points at few crucial corners. More research in this area would determine suitability of any specific technology. With the emergence of different market situations globally management education also needs to respond to such changes with different array of curriculum. Hence, it is very important to ascertain the dimensions of curricula need to be offered to the students to remain competitive. The study was conducted with a certain number of respondents (N = 222). Although the sample size is comparable with previous researches done in this filed, future studies should consider larger sample size to have better projection.

[ References]
Baldwin, T. T., Ford, J. K. (1988). Transfer of Training: A Review and Directions for Future Research, Personnel Psychology, 41, 1, 63-105. Biglan, A. (1973a). "The characteristics of subject matter in different academic areas", Journal of Applied Psychology, 57(3), pp. 195-203. Biglan, A. (1973b). "Relationships between subject matter characteristics and the structure and output of university departments", Journal of Applied Psychology, 57(3), pp. 204-213. Bowonder B & Rao S L (2004), Management Education in India: Its Evolution and some contemporary issues, All India Management Association, Excel Books. Retrieved from www.aima-ind.org/pdf/ Director_Conclave_9_Paper.pdf on 15 September 2010. Boezerooy P, (2006). E-learning strategies of higher education institutions, ISBN 90-365-2376-1 Bouchard, P, (2009). "Some Factors to Consider When Designing Semi-Autonomous Learning Environments" Electronic Journal of e-Learning Volume 7 Issue 2 , (pp93 - 100 ), available online at www.ejel.org Czerniewicz L, (2008). "Distinguishing the Field of Educational Technology." The Electronic Journal of e-Learning Volume 6. Dasgupta S, Grammer M, Mcgarry N, (2002). User acceptance of e-collaboration technology: an extension of technology acceptance model., Group Decision and Negotiation; 11, 2; Psychology Module pg. 87 Elton Lewis, (1999). New ways of learning in higher education: Managing the Change, Tertiary Education and Management 5, 207 - 225, Jonassen, D.H. (1995). Supporting communities of learners with technology: A vision for integrating technology with learning in schools, Educational Technology, Vol. 35, No. 4, pp 60-63.

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McFarland D E, (1960). The Emerging Revolution in Management Education, The Journal of the Academy of Management, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 7-15, Academy of Management. Available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/ 254611 McLoughlin, C, Luca, J, (2001). Quality in online delivery: what does it mean for assessment in e-learning environments? The 18th Annual Conference of the Australasian for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education December 9-12. http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/melbourne01/pdf/papers/mcloughlinc2.pdf Pritchard G E (Ed.), (2002). Improving learning with information technology: report of a workshop, ISBN 0-309-50845-6, National Academic Press. Retrieved from http:\\www.nap.edu/catalog/10352.html. Salmon, G, (2002). E-tivities. The Key to Active Online Learning, Kogan Page, London. Thompson, D. E., Brooks, K., Lizarraga, E. S. (2003). Perceived Transfer of Learning: From the Distance Education Classroom to the Workplace, Assessment & Education in Higher Education, Vol.28, No.5, pp539-547 Yushau B, (2006). The Effects of Blended E-Learning on Mathematics and Computer Attitudes in Pre-Calculus Algebra, The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast, ISSN 1551-3440, Vol. 3, no.2, pp. 176-183.

[ Acknowledgement]
To write this article some of the references have been taken from Mukhopadhyay D, (2011) A Strategic Blended Model for Indian Management Education: Using Multimedia Instructional System, LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, Germany. Required permissions have been taken.

[ Author Profile]
Dr. Debarshi Mukherjee, Associate Professor - IT area, Galgotias Business School, Greater Noida Email: debarshi@galgotiasbschool.in

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