The effects of online learning on the academic performances of students during the COVID-19 pandemic media dependency, uses, and gratifications perspective: A comparative study in Afghanistan and Turkey

The global pandemic caused by the novel Coronavirus resulted in the closure of businesses to limit the spread through person-to-person contact. All educational institutions across the globe also closed the physical model of learning with an abrupt shift towards the online medium to sustain the educational performance of the students. However, this radical shift was equipped with a myriad of benefits as well as challenges specifically for underdeveloped countries with low socioeconomic strata and limited access to digital technologies. In this regard, this thesis is aimed to assess the effects of online learning on students' academic performance during the COVID19 pandemic with a specific focus on Afghanistan and Turkey. To compare the perspectives of the academic performance of Afghan and Turkish students, a quantitative research method has been proposed where primary data was collected from 400 participants (200 Afghan and 200 Turkish students) through a close-ended survey questionnaire which was assessed through a statistical tool, namely SPSS. This study mainly found that there is a considerable difference in attitude, perceived impact, and satisfaction with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic among Afghan and Turkish students.