Learner-content interaction in e-learning- the moderating role of perceived harm of COVID-19 in assessing the satisfaction of learners

Envisioning learning sans interaction is absurd. Interaction plays a pivotal role in the efficacy and effectiveness of the present-day blended learning systems. Learner-content interaction contributes predominately towards the successful realization of the expected learning outcomes. In order to satisfy the learners and to impart them quality knowledge and education, e-learning content comprising of excellent learning and website content is of paramount importance. In the present COVID-19 outbreak challenging times the significance of e-learning system development and its application is much more pronounced. To gauge this, the study aims to examine the relationship between learner-content and the e-learning quality to determine the impact of e-learning quality on learners’ satisfaction under the moderating effect of perceived harm due to COVID-19. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data from 435 graduate and undergraduate management students (International and national) in Indian Universities. Findings indicate statistically significant relationships between the e-learning content and e-learning quality and; e-learning quality and the students’ satisfaction. The perceived harm has an insignificant moderating effect on students’ satisfaction. The results of the study further depict that the quality of e-learning has a significant positive relationship with the students’ satisfaction, and this relationship is not affected by the threat of being infected on the campus during the pandemic of COVID-19. To achieve the learners’ satisfaction, the institutions should strive for rendering the e-learning content of supreme quality. The mediating role of e-learning quality between content and students’ satisfaction is also established to be a significant one.