Online education is proliferating fast for its many advantages, cost-effectiveness being one of the prime reasons. The most recent pandemic situation around the world has made it a serious and an urgent need. While there is a general agreement that online education is as good as face-to-face or better, except for some dissenting views, there is no literature available that can inform on the minimum essentials for achieving learning outcomes in online learning modality. This Major paper presents a synthesis of the latest studies on the most studied variables having significant effect on the online learning outcomes to extract the factors as ‘necessary and sufficient’ for a successful and satisfying online learning experience. This Major paper includes the resources on the school as well as post-secondary level online learning (thought there is extremely little empirical research available at K-12 level). The paper also finds intricate nature of these variables and mediators that are mutually reinforcing and creating synergy towards improved learning outcomes
