essay online learning during covid 19

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• Published: 25 January 2021

Online education in the post-COVID era

• Barbara B. Lockee 1  

Nature Electronics volume  4 ,  pages 5–6 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

139k Accesses

213 Citations

337 Altmetric

Metrics details

• Science, technology and society

The coronavirus pandemic has forced students and educators across all levels of education to rapidly adapt to online learning. The impact of this — and the developments required to make it work — could permanently change how education is delivered.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the world to engage in the ubiquitous use of virtual learning. And while online and distance learning has been used before to maintain continuity in education, such as in the aftermath of earthquakes 1 , the scale of the current crisis is unprecedented. Speculation has now also begun about what the lasting effects of this will be and what education may look like in the post-COVID era. For some, an immediate retreat to the traditions of the physical classroom is required. But for others, the forced shift to online education is a moment of change and a time to reimagine how education could be delivered 2 .

Looking back

Online education has traditionally been viewed as an alternative pathway, one that is particularly well suited to adult learners seeking higher education opportunities. However, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has required educators and students across all levels of education to adapt quickly to virtual courses. (The term ‘emergency remote teaching’ was coined in the early stages of the pandemic to describe the temporary nature of this transition 3 .) In some cases, instruction shifted online, then returned to the physical classroom, and then shifted back online due to further surges in the rate of infection. In other cases, instruction was offered using a combination of remote delivery and face-to-face: that is, students can attend online or in person (referred to as the HyFlex model 4 ). In either case, instructors just had to figure out how to make it work, considering the affordances and constraints of the specific learning environment to create learning experiences that were feasible and effective.

The use of varied delivery modes does, in fact, have a long history in education. Mechanical (and then later electronic) teaching machines have provided individualized learning programmes since the 1950s and the work of B. F. Skinner 5 , who proposed using technology to walk individual learners through carefully designed sequences of instruction with immediate feedback indicating the accuracy of their response. Skinner’s notions formed the first formalized representations of programmed learning, or ‘designed’ learning experiences. Then, in the 1960s, Fred Keller developed a personalized system of instruction 6 , in which students first read assigned course materials on their own, followed by one-on-one assessment sessions with a tutor, gaining permission to move ahead only after demonstrating mastery of the instructional material. Occasional class meetings were held to discuss concepts, answer questions and provide opportunities for social interaction. A personalized system of instruction was designed on the premise that initial engagement with content could be done independently, then discussed and applied in the social context of a classroom.

These predecessors to contemporary online education leveraged key principles of instructional design — the systematic process of applying psychological principles of human learning to the creation of effective instructional solutions — to consider which methods (and their corresponding learning environments) would effectively engage students to attain the targeted learning outcomes. In other words, they considered what choices about the planning and implementation of the learning experience can lead to student success. Such early educational innovations laid the groundwork for contemporary virtual learning, which itself incorporates a variety of instructional approaches and combinations of delivery modes.

Online learning and the pandemic

Fast forward to 2020, and various further educational innovations have occurred to make the universal adoption of remote learning a possibility. One key challenge is access. Here, extensive problems remain, including the lack of Internet connectivity in some locations, especially rural ones, and the competing needs among family members for the use of home technology. However, creative solutions have emerged to provide students and families with the facilities and resources needed to engage in and successfully complete coursework 7 . For example, school buses have been used to provide mobile hotspots, and class packets have been sent by mail and instructional presentations aired on local public broadcasting stations. The year 2020 has also seen increased availability and adoption of electronic resources and activities that can now be integrated into online learning experiences. Synchronous online conferencing systems, such as Zoom and Google Meet, have allowed experts from anywhere in the world to join online classrooms 8 and have allowed presentations to be recorded for individual learners to watch at a time most convenient for them. Furthermore, the importance of hands-on, experiential learning has led to innovations such as virtual field trips and virtual labs 9 . A capacity to serve learners of all ages has thus now been effectively established, and the next generation of online education can move from an enterprise that largely serves adult learners and higher education to one that increasingly serves younger learners, in primary and secondary education and from ages 5 to 18.

The COVID-19 pandemic is also likely to have a lasting effect on lesson design. The constraints of the pandemic provided an opportunity for educators to consider new strategies to teach targeted concepts. Though rethinking of instructional approaches was forced and hurried, the experience has served as a rare chance to reconsider strategies that best facilitate learning within the affordances and constraints of the online context. In particular, greater variance in teaching and learning activities will continue to question the importance of ‘seat time’ as the standard on which educational credits are based 10 — lengthy Zoom sessions are seldom instructionally necessary and are not aligned with the psychological principles of how humans learn. Interaction is important for learning but forced interactions among students for the sake of interaction is neither motivating nor beneficial.

While the blurring of the lines between traditional and distance education has been noted for several decades 11 , the pandemic has quickly advanced the erasure of these boundaries. Less single mode, more multi-mode (and thus more educator choices) is becoming the norm due to enhanced infrastructure and developed skill sets that allow people to move across different delivery systems 12 . The well-established best practices of hybrid or blended teaching and learning 13 have served as a guide for new combinations of instructional delivery that have developed in response to the shift to virtual learning. The use of multiple delivery modes is likely to remain, and will be a feature employed with learners of all ages 14 , 15 . Future iterations of online education will no longer be bound to the traditions of single teaching modes, as educators can support pedagogical approaches from a menu of instructional delivery options, a mix that has been supported by previous generations of online educators 16 .

Also significant are the changes to how learning outcomes are determined in online settings. Many educators have altered the ways in which student achievement is measured, eliminating assignments and changing assessment strategies altogether 17 . Such alterations include determining learning through strategies that leverage the online delivery mode, such as interactive discussions, student-led teaching and the use of games to increase motivation and attention. Specific changes that are likely to continue include flexible or extended deadlines for assignment completion 18 , more student choice regarding measures of learning, and more authentic experiences that involve the meaningful application of newly learned skills and knowledge 19 , for example, team-based projects that involve multiple creative and social media tools in support of collaborative problem solving.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, technological and administrative systems for implementing online learning, and the infrastructure that supports its access and delivery, had to adapt quickly. While access remains a significant issue for many, extensive resources have been allocated and processes developed to connect learners with course activities and materials, to facilitate communication between instructors and students, and to manage the administration of online learning. Paths for greater access and opportunities to online education have now been forged, and there is a clear route for the next generation of adopters of online education.

Before the pandemic, the primary purpose of distance and online education was providing access to instruction for those otherwise unable to participate in a traditional, place-based academic programme. As its purpose has shifted to supporting continuity of instruction, its audience, as well as the wider learning ecosystem, has changed. It will be interesting to see which aspects of emergency remote teaching remain in the next generation of education, when the threat of COVID-19 is no longer a factor. But online education will undoubtedly find new audiences. And the flexibility and learning possibilities that have emerged from necessity are likely to shift the expectations of students and educators, diminishing further the line between classroom-based instruction and virtual learning.

Mackey, J., Gilmore, F., Dabner, N., Breeze, D. & Buckley, P. J. Online Learn. Teach. 8 , 35–48 (2012).

Google Scholar  

Sands, T. & Shushok, F. The COVID-19 higher education shove. Educause Review https://go.nature.com/3o2vHbX (16 October 2020).

Hodges, C., Moore, S., Lockee, B., Trust, T. & Bond, M. A. The difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning. Educause Review https://go.nature.com/38084Lh (27 March 2020).

Beatty, B. J. (ed.) Hybrid-Flexible Course Design Ch. 1.4 https://go.nature.com/3o6Sjb2 (EdTech Books, 2019).

Skinner, B. F. Science 128 , 969–977 (1958).

Article   Google Scholar  

Keller, F. S. J. Appl. Behav. Anal. 1 , 79–89 (1968).

Darling-Hammond, L. et al. Restarting and Reinventing School: Learning in the Time of COVID and Beyond (Learning Policy Institute, 2020).

Fulton, C. Information Learn. Sci . 121 , 579–585 (2020).

Pennisi, E. Science 369 , 239–240 (2020).

Silva, E. & White, T. Change The Magazine Higher Learn. 47 , 68–72 (2015).

McIsaac, M. S. & Gunawardena, C. N. in Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology (ed. Jonassen, D. H.) Ch. 13 (Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1996).

Irvine, V. The landscape of merging modalities. Educause Review https://go.nature.com/2MjiBc9 (26 October 2020).

Stein, J. & Graham, C. Essentials for Blended Learning Ch. 1 (Routledge, 2020).

Maloy, R. W., Trust, T. & Edwards, S. A. Variety is the spice of remote learning. Medium https://go.nature.com/34Y1NxI (24 August 2020).

Lockee, B. J. Appl. Instructional Des . https://go.nature.com/3b0ddoC (2020).

Dunlap, J. & Lowenthal, P. Open Praxis 10 , 79–89 (2018).

Johnson, N., Veletsianos, G. & Seaman, J. Online Learn. 24 , 6–21 (2020).

Vaughan, N. D., Cleveland-Innes, M. & Garrison, D. R. Assessment in Teaching in Blended Learning Environments: Creating and Sustaining Communities of Inquiry (Athabasca Univ. Press, 2013).

Conrad, D. & Openo, J. Assessment Strategies for Online Learning: Engagement and Authenticity (Athabasca Univ. Press, 2018).

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

School of Education, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

Barbara B. Lockee

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara B. Lockee .

Ethics declarations

Competing interests.

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Lockee, B.B. Online education in the post-COVID era. Nat Electron 4 , 5–6 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-020-00534-0

Download citation

Published : 25 January 2021

Issue Date : January 2021

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-020-00534-0

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

This article is cited by

A comparative study on the effectiveness of online and in-class team-based learning on student performance and perceptions in virtual simulation experiments.

BMC Medical Education (2024)

Leveraging privacy profiles to empower users in the digital society

• Davide Di Ruscio
• Paola Inverardi
• Phuong T. Nguyen

Automated Software Engineering (2024)

Growth mindset and social comparison effects in a peer virtual learning environment

• Pamela Sheffler
• Cecilia S. Cheung

Social Psychology of Education (2024)

Nursing students’ learning flow, self-efficacy and satisfaction in virtual clinical simulation and clinical case seminar

• Sunghee H. Tak

BMC Nursing (2023)

Online learning for WHO priority diseases with pandemic potential: evidence from existing courses and preparing for Disease X

• Heini Utunen
• Corentin Piroux

Archives of Public Health (2023)

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed education forever. This is how 

With schools shut across the world, millions of children have had to adapt to new types of learning. Image:  REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo{-webkit-transition:all 0.15s ease-out;transition:all 0.15s ease-out;cursor:pointer;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;outline:none;color:inherit;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:hover,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-hover]{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:focus,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-focus]{box-shadow:0 0 0 3px rgba(168,203,251,0.5);} Cathy Li

Farah lalani.

.chakra .wef-9dduvl{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-size:1.25rem;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-9dduvl{font-size:1.125rem;}} Explore and monitor how .chakra .wef-15eoq1r{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-size:1.25rem;color:#F7DB5E;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-15eoq1r{font-size:1.125rem;}} Education, Gender and Work is affecting economies, industries and global issues

.chakra .wef-1nk5u5d{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;color:#2846F8;font-size:1.25rem;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-1nk5u5d{font-size:1.125rem;}} Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:, education, gender and work.

• The COVID-19 has resulted in schools shut all across the world. Globally, over 1.2 billion children are out of the classroom.
• As a result, education has changed dramatically, with the distinctive rise of e-learning, whereby teaching is undertaken remotely and on digital platforms.
• Research suggests that online learning has been shown to increase retention of information, and take less time, meaning the changes coronavirus have caused might be here to stay.

While countries are at different points in their COVID-19 infection rates, worldwide there are currently more than 1.2 billion children in 186 countries affected by school closures due to the pandemic. In Denmark, children up to the age of 11 are returning to nurseries and schools after initially closing on 12 March , but in South Korea students are responding to roll calls from their teachers online .

With this sudden shift away from the classroom in many parts of the globe, some are wondering whether the adoption of online learning will continue to persist post-pandemic, and how such a shift would impact the worldwide education market.

Even before COVID-19, there was already high growth and adoption in education technology, with global edtech investments reaching US$18.66 billion in 2019 and the overall market for online education projected to reach $350 Billion by 2025 . Whether it is language apps , virtual tutoring , video conferencing tools, or online learning software , there has been a significant surge in usage since COVID-19.

How is the education sector responding to COVID-19?

In response to significant demand, many online learning platforms are offering free access to their services, including platforms like BYJU’S , a Bangalore-based educational technology and online tutoring firm founded in 2011, which is now the world’s most highly valued edtech company . Since announcing free live classes on its Think and Learn app, BYJU’s has seen a 200% increase in the number of new students using its product, according to Mrinal Mohit, the company's Chief Operating Officer.

Tencent classroom, meanwhile, has been used extensively since mid-February after the Chinese government instructed a quarter of a billion full-time students to resume their studies through online platforms. This resulted in the largest “online movement” in the history of education with approximately 730,000 , or 81% of K-12 students, attending classes via the Tencent K-12 Online School in Wuhan.

Have you read?

The future of jobs report 2023, how to follow the growth summit 2023.

Other companies are bolstering capabilities to provide a one-stop shop for teachers and students. For example, Lark, a Singapore-based collaboration suite initially developed by ByteDance as an internal tool to meet its own exponential growth, began offering teachers and students unlimited video conferencing time, auto-translation capabilities, real-time co-editing of project work, and smart calendar scheduling, amongst other features. To do so quickly and in a time of crisis, Lark ramped up its global server infrastructure and engineering capabilities to ensure reliable connectivity.

Alibaba’s distance learning solution, DingTalk, had to prepare for a similar influx: “To support large-scale remote work, the platform tapped Alibaba Cloud to deploy more than 100,000 new cloud servers in just two hours last month – setting a new record for rapid capacity expansion,” according to DingTalk CEO, Chen Hang.

Some school districts are forming unique partnerships, like the one between The Los Angeles Unified School District and PBS SoCal/KCET to offer local educational broadcasts, with separate channels focused on different ages, and a range of digital options. Media organizations such as the BBC are also powering virtual learning; Bitesize Daily , launched on 20 April, is offering 14 weeks of curriculum-based learning for kids across the UK with celebrities like Manchester City footballer Sergio Aguero teaching some of the content.

What does this mean for the future of learning?

While some believe that the unplanned and rapid move to online learning – with no training, insufficient bandwidth, and little preparation – will result in a poor user experience that is unconducive to sustained growth, others believe that a new hybrid model of education will emerge, with significant benefits. “I believe that the integration of information technology in education will be further accelerated and that online education will eventually become an integral component of school education,“ says Wang Tao, Vice President of Tencent Cloud and Vice President of Tencent Education.

There have already been successful transitions amongst many universities. For example, Zhejiang University managed to get more than 5,000 courses online just two weeks into the transition using “DingTalk ZJU”. The Imperial College London started offering a course on the science of coronavirus, which is now the most enrolled class launched in 2020 on Coursera .

Many are already touting the benefits: Dr Amjad, a Professor at The University of Jordan who has been using Lark to teach his students says, “It has changed the way of teaching. It enables me to reach out to my students more efficiently and effectively through chat groups, video meetings, voting and also document sharing, especially during this pandemic. My students also find it is easier to communicate on Lark. I will stick to Lark even after coronavirus, I believe traditional offline learning and e-learning can go hand by hand."

These 3 charts show the global growth in online learning

The challenges of online learning.

There are, however, challenges to overcome. Some students without reliable internet access and/or technology struggle to participate in digital learning; this gap is seen across countries and between income brackets within countries. For example, whilst 95% of students in Switzerland, Norway, and Austria have a computer to use for their schoolwork, only 34% in Indonesia do, according to OECD data .

In the US, there is a significant gap between those from privileged and disadvantaged backgrounds: whilst virtually all 15-year-olds from a privileged background said they had a computer to work on, nearly 25% of those from disadvantaged backgrounds did not. While some schools and governments have been providing digital equipment to students in need, such as in New South Wales , Australia, many are still concerned that the pandemic will widenthe digital divide .

Is learning online as effective?

For those who do have access to the right technology, there is evidence that learning online can be more effective in a number of ways. Some research shows that on average, students retain 25-60% more material when learning online compared to only 8-10% in a classroom. This is mostly due to the students being able to learn faster online; e-learning requires 40-60% less time to learn than in a traditional classroom setting because students can learn at their own pace, going back and re-reading, skipping, or accelerating through concepts as they choose.

Nevertheless, the effectiveness of online learning varies amongst age groups. The general consensus on children, especially younger ones, is that a structured environment is required , because kids are more easily distracted. To get the full benefit of online learning, there needs to be a concerted effort to provide this structure and go beyond replicating a physical class/lecture through video capabilities, instead, using a range of collaboration tools and engagement methods that promote “inclusion, personalization and intelligence”, according to Dowson Tong, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent and President of its Cloud and Smart Industries Group.

Since studies have shown that children extensively use their senses to learn, making learning fun and effective through use of technology is crucial, according to BYJU's Mrinal Mohit. “Over a period, we have observed that clever integration of games has demonstrated higher engagement and increased motivation towards learning especially among younger students, making them truly fall in love with learning”, he says.

A changing education imperative

It is clear that this pandemic has utterly disrupted an education system that many assert was already losing its relevance . In his book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century , scholar Yuval Noah Harari outlines how schools continue to focus on traditional academic skills and rote learning , rather than on skills such as critical thinking and adaptability, which will be more important for success in the future. Could the move to online learning be the catalyst to create a new, more effective method of educating students? While some worry that the hasty nature of the transition online may have hindered this goal, others plan to make e-learning part of their ‘new normal’ after experiencing the benefits first-hand.

The importance of disseminating knowledge is highlighted through COVID-19

Major world events are often an inflection point for rapid innovation – a clear example is the rise of e-commerce post-SARS . While we have yet to see whether this will apply to e-learning post-COVID-19, it is one of the few sectors where investment has not dried up . What has been made clear through this pandemic is the importance of disseminating knowledge across borders, companies, and all parts of society. If online learning technology can play a role here, it is incumbent upon all of us to explore its full potential.

Our education system is losing relevance. Here's how to unleash its potential

3 ways the coronavirus pandemic could reshape education, celebrities are helping the uk's schoolchildren learn during lockdown, don't miss any update on this topic.

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Related topics:

The agenda .chakra .wef-n7bacu{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-weight:400;} weekly.

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

.chakra .wef-1dtnjt5{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-flex-wrap:wrap;-ms-flex-wrap:wrap;flex-wrap:wrap;} More on Health and Healthcare Systems .chakra .wef-17xejub{-webkit-flex:1;-ms-flex:1;flex:1;justify-self:stretch;-webkit-align-self:stretch;-ms-flex-item-align:stretch;align-self:stretch;} .chakra .wef-nr1rr4{display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;white-space:normal;vertical-align:middle;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:0.75rem;border-radius:0.25rem;font-weight:700;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;line-height:1.2;-webkit-letter-spacing:1.25px;-moz-letter-spacing:1.25px;-ms-letter-spacing:1.25px;letter-spacing:1.25px;background:none;padding:0px;color:#B3B3B3;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;}@media screen and (min-width:37.5rem){.chakra .wef-nr1rr4{font-size:0.875rem;}}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-nr1rr4{font-size:1rem;}} See all

5 steps towards health equity in low- and middle-income countries through tailored innovation

Melanie Saville

May 29, 2024

The world must invest in oral health, plus other top health stories

Shyam Bishen

Why health ministers must be at the forefront of global healthcare processes

May 28, 2024

How AI, robotics and automation will reshape the diagnostic lab of the future

Ranga Sampath

How health data collaboration can help unlock inclusive healthcare

Laura Heinrich and Antonio Spina

May 27, 2024

Africa’s cancer burden is taking its toll on women and girls: A new coalition hopes to accelerate progress

Amira Ghouaibi and Emily Fitzgerald

Click through the PLOS taxonomy to find articles in your field.

For more information about PLOS Subject Areas, click here .

Loading metrics

Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

The sudden transition to online learning: Teachers’ experiences of teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic

Contributed equally to this work with: Elham Goudarzi, Shirin Hasanvand

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Student Research Committee, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Social Determinants of Health Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran

Roles Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

¶ ‡ SR and MA also contributed equally to this work.

Affiliation Clinical Education Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

• Elham Goudarzi, 
• Shirin Hasanvand, 
• Shahin Raoufi, 
• Mitra Amini

• Published: November 16, 2023
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0287520
• Peer Review
• Reader Comments

Introduction

The sudden transition from face-to-face teaching to virtual remote education and the need to implement it during COVID-19 initially posed specific challenges to educational institutions. Identifying and understanding teachers’ experiences pave the way for discovering and meeting educational needs. This study explored faculty members’ teaching experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Materials and methods

The qualitative descriptive design via conventional content analysis was used. It was conducted from January 13, 2020, to May 10, 2022. In-depth interviews (online and in-person) of ten faculty members, three managers, and one staff from Lorestan University of Medical Sciences were conducted. They were purposefully selected with maximum variation. Simultaneously with data collection, analysis was performed using the approach Graneheim and Lundman proposed (2004). Lincoln and Goba’s criteria were used to obtain the study’s rigor.

Six categories emerged from the data: education in the shadow of the crisis, Challenges related to the teaching-learning process, Blurred boundaries between personal and professional lives, Positive consequences of e-learning, Trying to deal with the crisis, And dealing with the crisis.

Conclusions

Initially, teachers faced several challenges in the teaching-learning process and even in their personal life. However, with time, the actions of the teachers and the managers caused an increase in the quality of education. However, planning and foresight are needed in developing countries, including Iran, to appropriately face and optimally manage similar crises and move towards blended learning.

Citation: Goudarzi E, Hasanvand S, Raoufi S, Amini M (2023) The sudden transition to online learning: Teachers’ experiences of teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. PLoS ONE 18(11): e0287520. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0287520

Editor: Muhammad Arsyad Subu, School of Health Binawan: Universitas Binawan, INDONESIA

Received: September 7, 2022; Accepted: June 7, 2023; Published: November 16, 2023

Copyright: © 2023 Goudarzi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: All interview files are available from figshare, https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.23599155.v1 .

Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Abbreviations: F2F, Face-to-face; ICT, Information and communications technology

In late December 2019, a new subvariant of COVID-19 appeared in Wuhan, China, spreading rapidly worldwide [ 1 ]. The transmission rate of the virus and the subsequent pandemic were so significant that in the first month of 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a state of emergency [ 2 ]. The first Iranian coronavirus case was officially announced in Qom on February 19, 2020 [ 3 ].

This global pandemic affected all areas of human life, including medical education [ 4 ], and disrupted face-to-face(F2F) learning worldwide. That is, F2F learning was suspended at medical universities, particularly in third-world countries, where the sudden change in educational planning was an inevitable consequence of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic [ 5 ]. Insufficiency of resources and poor infrastructure severely damaged low-income countries [ 6 ]. In response to the closure of education, UNESCO recommended using distance education programs and related educational platforms by educational institutes to benefit from distance education and minimize any disruption in the learning-teaching process [ 7 ].

Distance education is a planned type of education where teaching and learning occur in different environments [ 8 ]. In recent years, the development of distance education has significantly contributed to promoting learning-teaching quality and expanding educational justice [ 9 ]. Certain advantages and disadvantages can be attributed to distance education. Its benefits include the feasibility of teaching regardless of time and place, cost-effectiveness [ 10 ], non-necessity of physical attendance [ 11 ], the existence of a variety of choices [ 12 ], saving time [ 10 ], studying simultaneously with working [ 12 ], and the development of participatory and independent types of learning [ 13 ]. Moreover, high probability of lack of concentration, the need for complex technology [ 12 ], reduced social interactions [ 14 ], unstable internet connection [ 13 ], the inability to comprehend and interpret students’ facial expressions, and inability to hold practical and laboratory meetings are also among the disadvantages of distance education [ 6 ].

One important change after the campus closure was the transition from face-to-face universities to virtual universities to prevent the spread of COVID-19 [ 15 ]. In countries such as Italy, Spain, China, the USA, and even Brazil, distance learning has been widely used during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in medical education [ 16 ]. The use of distance education commenced in Iran with the emergence of the coronavirus. Although distance education was initially presented to students irregularly using social media, Iranian universities gradually adopted a systematic version of distance education using a centralized system of learning management according to the instructions issued by educational authorities. However, this system did not turn out to be an ideal one. Students and faculty members faced challenges such as slow internet speed, limited cyberspace to upload e-content, and reduced teacher-student interactions [ 17 ].

As was indicated in a study on the challenges encountered by faculty concerning distance education, a flawed organizational culture or the lack of a culture of working with e-learning tools such as computers, and the failure to train faculty members about how to operate these tools were also among the essential barriers to efficient distance education. Furthermore, lack of equipment, slow internet speed, lack of sufficient cyberspace for uploading educational materials, being time-consuming and costly, and ignoring the intellectual property rights, such as unauthorized copying of the content and violation of copyright principles in the cyberlearning environment were other challenges raised by the participants [ 13 ]. In another study that focused on the experiences of teachers about distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic, many students expressed their concerns about losing contact with their peers, separation from academic communities, hardware and software inconveniences, lack of a quiet environment, and a separate room at home to attend virtual classes, lack of access to libraries and resources, and deprivation from clinical and laboratory activities. Faculty members complained about increased responsibility and workload and emphasized the necessity of having access to comprehensive mental health services that should be provided for both themselves and students [ 18 ]. In Marek et al. (2021) study, faculty who converted classes to remove learning during COVID-19 experienced much higher workloads and tension than in F2F classes [ 19 ].

A systematic review showed that fewer studies had been conducted in remote emergency teaching or e-learning during the Covid-19 pandemic [ 15 ]. Few studies, especially quantitative, have been conducted in Iran, and faculty members’ experiences have yet to be investigated. This issue is a significant gap because it cannot be supposed that these experiences are similar to those in different cultural and social contexts. Thus, considering the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and its adverse effects on education worldwide, the disruption of teaching-learning processes in universities and teachers, and students’ unpreparedness, it seems necessary to investigate teachers’ experiences and deal with distance education. Such an investigation can contribute to the identification of the facilitators of and impediments to distance education if the COVID-19 pandemic persists or similar crises emerge. Thus, this study explored the teachers’ teaching experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This qualitative study used a conventional content analysis from January 13, 2020, to May 10, 2022, to describe the professor’s teaching experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Content analysis is a study method for forming replicable and proper inferences from data to their context. It provides knowledge, new insights, a manifestation of facts, and a practical action guide. The aim is to acquire a condensed and comprehensive description of the phenomenon, and the result of the analysis is concepts or categories depicting the phenomenon. Conventional content analysis is used when there are no previous studies or research literature about the phenomenon, or it needs to be more cohesive. Researchers do not utilize predetermined categories. Rather, it lets categories and category labels flow from the data [ 20 ].

Participants and data collection

Participants included ten faculty members, three administrators, and one staff of the Department of Education affiliated with Lorestan University of Medical Sciences (Western Iran). Participants were selected by purposeful and maximum variation sampling(gender, marital status, work experience, having experience in e-learning, specialty). Inclusion criteria were willingness to participate in the study and share their experiences.

The data were gathered through unstructured in-depth F2F or electronic interviews by the first author under the supervision of the second author. Since the second author was a faculty, the first author took responsibility for the interviews. However, the second author supervised the interviews because of his experience in qualitative research.

Due to the absence of some faculty members in the university, particularly at the beginning of the study, the interviews were conducted mainly electronically using either telephone or Adobe Connect video-conferencing software and later in person under health protocols. Also, F2F interviews were conducted with the participants’ consent at their workplaces.

The interviews began with questions: "Could you please let us know about your teaching experiences since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic? What challenges did you face? How did you manage your class?" The participants were further investigated by answering probing questions such as "Could you explain more?" and "Could you please give an example?". The interviews were done individually and lasted an average of 20 to 50 minutes.

The data were recorded on a digital audio recorder. Field observations complemented the interviews. Sampling continued until data saturation when the collected data confirmed the previous data. Data saturation occurred after the 12th interview. To make sure two more interviews were conducted. Overall, 14 interviews were conducted with 14 participants. All the participants volunteered to participate in the study, and no one refused. The time and the place of the interviews (F2F) were arranged with the participants.

Data analysis

The data analysis was conducted simultaneously by collecting data using the approach proposed by Granehim and Lundman(2004) with the following phases: 1) immediate transcription of interviews, 2) listening to them to obtain a general perception, 3) identification of significant parts and initial codes(the label of a meaning unit), 4) classification of similar initial codes in broader categories (creating categories), and 5) determination of the hidden content in the data [ 21 ]. Hence, after listening to the interviews, they were transcribed and read several times. In the next phase, the significant units were identified and coded. We consider a meaning unit as words, sentences, or paragraphs containing dimensions about each other through their content and context. The condensed meaning units were abstracted and labeled by a code. Subsequently, the codes were classified using a constant comparison technique, identifying differences and similarities, and subcategories were identified. Finally, the findings were compared, and categories were determined. Data analysis was carried out using the MAXQDA 10 software.

Ethics approval and the consent to participate.

The present study was conducted under the Declaration of Helsinki. The code of ethics was also obtained from the Ethical Committee of the Vice-Chancellery for Research and Technology affiliated with Lorestan University of Medical Sciences (Code: I.R.LUMS.REC.1399.242). Providing the necessary explanations about the research objectives, we obtained written informed consent from all the participants. The subjects were allowed to record audio. The first author kept the recorded files in a locked file to ensure the security of the data.

Guba and Lincoln’s (1994) criteria, i.e., credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability, were used to ensure the trustworthiness of the data. Participants with experience in the studied phenomenon were selected to increase the credibility of the data. The researcher’s prolonged engagement and contact with participants (more than one year) were also considered. Moreover, more than one of the authors (the first and second authors) participated in the data analysis. Member-checking was also used. An attempt was made to improve data transferability by describing the participants’ culture, context, and characteristics. The audit trail approach and maximum variation were used to ensure transferability. People with an experience in qualitative research (Outside researchers) evaluated the data analysis process to ensure the findings were consistent.

The intercoder rater is a scale of the agreement between multiple coders about how similar data should be coded [ 22 ]. An inter-coder reliability analysis using Cohen’s Kappa statistic was conducted to determine consistency between coders. Cohen’s Kappa coefficient of agreement s was 0.871.

Fourteen participants participated in this study. Table 1 provides information about the participants.

• PPT PowerPoint slide
• PNG larger image
• TIFF original image

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0287520.t001

The qualitative interviews extracted 1215 initial codes, 28 subcategories, and six main categories. Table 2 presents subcategories and categories extracted from the interviews.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0287520.t002

Category 1: Education in the shadow of the crisis

University closures necessitated the pursuit of distance education. Nevertheless, many faculty members and administrators thought they faced a temporary crisis. Thus, no significant measure was taken at the onset of the crisis. According to one of the participants, upon the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was maintained that the disease would disappear soon. Hence, no intense action was taken in the first month.

1.1. The idea of being temporary.

Many teachers thought the crisis was temporary, so no particular action was taken early. One of the participants said: ”The disease would disappear soon , so no special action was taken in the first month of the disease”(P1) .

1.2. Being unpredictable and uncertainty.

During this period, the teaching-learning process fluctuated, and faculty members were undecided. Moreover, some hospital wards were closed due to a lack of patients, decreased days of student internships, and a reduced variety of hospital cases. One of the participants said: "In the first months of the crisis , we underwent extremely unpleasant experiences and did not know what to do in that situation . On the one hand , we were worried about the students . On the other hand , we had to reduce , for example , the number of internship days . Furthermore , there were almost no patients in the wards because people were full of fear and panic" (P2) .

1.3. Educational confusion.

The sudden transition in education from F2F to distance education confused teaching and reduced the quality of teaching. As one of the participants mentioned: "Timely preparing all the educational content for students was another challenge for us . Inevitably , this preparation was prone to delay . I can assert that 99% of the faculty members could not provide the educational content for distance education without delay in the first semester following the COVID-19 pandemic because all the courses were offered to students within the distance education framework" (p9) .

1.4. Life insecurity.

Despite the widespread use of distance education in universities, some institutions face particular challenges. Medical students need to take internships in clinical settings. The fear of contracting the disease and the insecurity of life left many educators and administrators with moral and professional challenges. Some clinical faculty members were dealing with the threats posed by COVID-19 in hospitals. Moreover, concerns about the spread of the disease adversely affected the quality and quantity of clinical sessions. As one of the faculty members said:

" in this period , the stress and tension were caused by the COVID-19 pandemic rather than teaching . I feel stressed out every time I attend class , but this time the stress was caused by the question of death or survival . " (p8)

Another said:

"We were exposed to a death threat when we attended the hospital to teach students in this environment . " Every day there were several confirmed COVID-19 cases in the hospital . I remember I contracted the coronavirus the day after examining a confirmed COVID-19 patient (P13) .

1.5. Teachers’ concerns about the failure to learn from students.

Some faculty members expressed concerns about students’ failure to learn practical courses and the subsequent weakening of students’ fundamental and practical knowledge and skills. One of the Midwifery faculty members stated: "I was supposed to teach a 7th-semester student who has never been present in either a cesarean surgery or natural childbirth event in the hospital . This student will graduate in the following semester . I wonder if she can perform her duties as a hospital staff (p12) .

Category 2: Challenges related to the teaching-learning process

There were several challenges regarding interpersonal interactions, assessment, network connection, and educational materials development in the teaching-learning process.

2.1. Decreased quality of interpersonal interactions.

The lack of inclusive participation and direct interactions between teachers and students adversely affected the quality of education. A female faculty member said:

"Interactions , eye contact , and in any case , some emotional-psychological factors between teachers and students are eliminated in distance education" (P4) . "The main problem we had with e-Learning was that we were not in touch with students , and they did not have the opportunity to visit us " (P8) .

2.2. Authentication challenge.

Classroom management is complex in online classes due to the physical absence of teachers, particularly in large classes.

"Coordination of the class time with students was one of the problems I encountered in distance education . Normally , students are expected to attend the class on time following our announcement of the class time . However , some students failed to attend the class on time" (p5) . "It is difficult to coordinate all students in a virtual classroom" (p9) . Another faculty member stated that "it is hard to control a class with a large population" (p12) .

One of the significant concerns of faculty members was the problem of student identification and teachers’ uncertainty about the presence of students in online classes. Some faculty members could not ensure the students’ full-time presence in online classes: "I do not know if the person taking the test is the student or someone else . Thus , identity verification is a major problem . " (p1)

2.3. Assessment challenges.

One of the challenges for faculty members during this period was the limitation in preparing the test questions. They had to prepare new questions at the end of every semester due to the possibility of question leaks: "Students had the chance to take screenshots of questions , which means that the questions could not be reused , and the faculty members had to redesign the questions at the end of every semester . " (p1)

Many faculty members considered students’ copying of one anothers’ homework, cheating, and negligence of ethical principles in preparing their assignments among the disadvantages of distance education: "Concerning the disadvantages of distance education , I can safely assert that the most notable shortcoming of this type of education was the inaccurate assessment of students’ knowledge . It is unclear who is taking the test . Is it the student , a friend , or someone who has been paid to take the test ? " (p1) .

Obtaining unrealistic grades by cheating on each other and copying the answers to questions from the internet has led to a decline in the quality of education and the impossibility of distinguishing between intelligent and weak students. As one of the faculty members mentioned, "A student with the overall average of grades that ranged from 14–15 has now the overall average of 19 ! Does it mean that all of them have become geniuses ? What has happened ? They are indeed cheating ! " (p3) .

2.4. Depreciation of teachers’ equipment.

One of the requirements of distance education is to provide suitable hardware equipment. Some faculty members complained about the depreciation of equipment and personal computers due to frequent transportation to the university and their continuous use because of the lack of a proper hardware system to hold classes. "The teachers had to use their equipment . Many of us did not have access to the necessary audio-visual equipment at the university" (p2) .

2.5. Teachers’ low skills and knowledge of ICT.

Due to the critical situation, teachers were forced to use distance education, while many were unfamiliar with virtual education technologies. This issue caused confusion and confusion in their minds. One of the professors said:

“Professors have a problem with producing content , and how to upload it ? ” What exactly is this learning management system ? Many professors do not know the system either” (p3) .

One o f the managers also confirmed this issue and said:

“In the beginning , we had many problems because maybe 99% of our users were people who had not used the learning management system before this space and were not familiar with it . ” (p11)

2.6. Teachers’ resistance to a sudden change in the teaching strategy.

Some faculty members resisted this abrupt change in the teaching strategy: "At the beginning of using Navid website (our native learning management system) , initially our colleagues and then students resisted the use of this system" (p2) .

Another faculty member stated that;

"The use of distance education had already commenced before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic , but most faculty members refused to teach within the framework prepared for distance education . They did not want to trouble themselves . Since they did not use the Navid LMS before the emergence of the crisis caused by the coronavirus , they needed help to cope with it during the crisis . They do not perform their tasks adequately . Every week , they were called to be reminded of their tasks (p3) .

2.7. Network connection issues.

The preparation of adequate infrastructure and the equipment required for communication and internet connection is highly significant in the development of distance education.

"The lack of a high-speed internet connection was a significant problem adversely affecting this type of education . Another faculty member complained about the inconveniencies related to uploading the educational content , which was time-consuming that sometimes took several hours" (p7) . "Moreover , low-speed internet at the university forced us to participate in online classes at home , where we had access to high-speed internet" (p4) .

2.8. Insufficient support.

Many faculty members complained about the lack of full-time support, a fundamental task of I.T. men. Hence, technical problems that were not resolved aggravated the situation: "They did not respond to our hardware and software questions . " (p6) .

2.9. The challenges in developing e-content.

Faculty members were not skillful in ICDL. Thus, they were not familiar with content development technologies. The ultimate consequence was the production of non-standard content. Moreover, the lack of a quiet environment at home to record audio made it difficult for them to produce the content. One of the faculty members with previous experience in e-learning said: "The teachers experience problems producing and uploading the content" (p3) .

A male faculty member who had twins said: " I need a quiet room to produce the content at home , but I have twins who are almost one year old . The loud sound of their crying and playing was an obstacle to content production" (p12).

2.10. Weaknesses in the implementation of practice-oriented training.

Practical courses are highly significant in medical universities. However, due to the closure of universities, only theoretical courses were offered to students. Consequently, laboratory and clinical courses were not offered regularly. Furthermore, no standard simulators or special clinical and laboratory training tools existed. "The difficulties with distance education aggravate fields of studies with many practical units , such as nursing , medical operating room technology , laboratory sciences , and medicine . Students’ attendance in class is necessary for several of the courses of these fields , and the use of simulators cannot efficiently meet the requirements of practical courses" (P3) .

2.11. Students and teachers’ misuse of distance education.

From the faculty members’ perspective, students refused to attend online classes on time, participate attentively in the classes, study the electronic content on time, and do homework under various pretexts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Students prefer to have a classmate receive educational materials from their teachers to share them with them in the groups they create on social media networks such as WhatsApp and Telegram" (p2) . "Skyroom (a Persian version of Adobe Connect) could be an efficient software for distance teaching , but most students found different pretexts to justify their absence in online classes . They would claim that the teacher’s voice is not clear , the video is frequently interrupted , our internet connection or the power has failed" (p8) .

Unfortunately, there was no reliable monitoring system to evaluate faculty members’ performance in the teaching-learning process, and this disadvantage caused several irregularities.

"Some faculty members do not take e-learning seriously . The teacher , for instance , uploads a file while there is no content in the uploaded file" (p3) . Some faculty members uploaded only three files for a two-credit course , while they were expected to prepare and upload at least 12 files (p6) .

3. Blurred boundaries between personal and professional lives

According to the faculty, e-learning was time-consuming. It increased their workloads and interfered with their professional and personal roles. The faculty members said e-content development during the COVID-19 pandemic was time-consuming.

3.1. Time-consuming distance education.

content development during the COVID-19 pandemic was time-consuming and required time and energy, especially since the professors were not skilled enough. Some problems most professors mentioned were teacher involvement during non-office hours, time-consuming voicing of files, or re-voicing content due to hoarseness during voicing. “If normally , I would check the slide a quarter of an hour before I go to class and leave , but not now ! I would have to spend several hours now، Files and audio , that one and a half or two hours of my session now took four times that time” (p2)

Another English teacher said, "To prepare the file , I had a series of problems . I had to write the whole text of the book in English or scan it and convert it into a file in PowerPointFor each lesson , for example , I prepared 20 slides , each of which I had to write six to seven English lines; the interval when I was recording the sound was very difficult , meaning that I could , for example , mispronounce the word myself" (p12)

One of the professors of epidemiology said: "For example , I used to voice the complications of Quid on the files , and because the disease was unknown , I also talked about COVID , and then when we went forward , we saw that the risk factors for this disease had changed . The rate of change has changed , then the conversations have become old , and , for example , the prevention method has changed , and now we have to do this new-sounding file again . It was not that we had to leave the same file every semester; we had to update these files every time , which was time-consuming” (p9) .

3.2. Increase workload.

With the virtualization at once, the professors’ workload increased significantly, development of standard content Increased the workload of the university’s e-learning department; responding to faculty problems was one of the issues that multiplied the workload of faculty and staff.

One of the professors in charge of developing internship programs said:

“It used to be that we had to put a program on the site from the beginning of the semester , but I can tell you that we wrote maybe 7 to 8 programs in the previous semester , and that put a lot of my work and that of my co-worker into the realm of bed and education” . (p2) " As I said , we used to see students in class , but now we have to be online 24 hours and constantly answering to students , which caused us to devote much family time to this work " (p6) .

3.3. Interference between work and nonwork roles and family restrictions.

The full-time presence of teachers at home and the introduction of virtual education led to role interference, resulting in changes in expectations and dissatisfaction among family members. Many professors confirmed this issue. This role interference was especially evident for teachers with younger children. " Now our work problems have been brought to the family , both child and spouse . My child has been arguing with me many times in the virtual classroom because I said I am the head of the virtual classroom . He does not know his childish needs , But I have to be responsible because my work environment is one with home , which has diminished our mother’s and my wife’s roles" (p6) .

On the other hand, gathering family members at home due to corona restrictions caused noise and congestion in the home environment. They led to a lack of focus and increased psychological pressure on teachers to produce content and hold online classes. This issue led to restrictions on family members, such as forcing children to remain silent. Consider deleting some family plans.

One of the teachers who had a young child said,

“I will never forgive myself . I beat my children ،Because it happened in the middle of the sound; they suddenly entered the room and argued or , for example , asked a question " (p7) “When one’s work environment becomes one with the living environment , many restrictions are created for the family . For example , I had to silence the whole family during class hours،The child should not watch the movie while the house was a space for rest , but because I had a virtual class or recorded content , for example , the noise of the environment was very annoying , and it made me put some restrictions on my family” (p6) “It was challenging , the family was distraught , that is , I had to tell the family to go to that room , and I would have the file in another room” (p12) .

4. Positive consequences of e-learning

4.1. flexibility..

Despite the difficulties experienced and explained by the majority of the teachers, a few of them mentioned the benefits of e-learning. Flexibility is one of the features of e-learning. More precisely, the implementation of distance education does not depend on time and place. Moreover, it does not require a particular physical space shared by students and the teacher. Confirming the issue of flexibility in distance education, one of the faculty members said:

"The most important advantage of distance education is that we can save time because many students who normally reside in dormitories no longer have to travel long distances to attend the campus . We can coordinate and hold classes at any time" (p5) "A remarkable advantage of e-learning is the chance peculiar to students employed in an organization . Many of our students who were employees during this period could benefit from e-learning and keep their jobs" (p7) .

Moreover, although the faculty members encountered several challenges faced by distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic, this crisis and the consequent abrupt alteration in the education system forced the teachers who were negligent of e-learning to turn to this type of education, and to some extent performs their tasks willingly. One of the teachers confirmed the positive impact of the compulsory experience of distance education: "Distance education had positive effects on us . That is , we would never be involved in distance education if the COVID-19 pandemic did not force us to carry out our tasks at home within the framework of e-learning . E-learning turned out to be highly beneficial . We learned how to use software" (p2) .

4.2. Facilitation of educational processes.

"If the COVID-19 crisis had not emerged , it might have taken ten years to reach this point , and we would have had to carry out a seven-year mission in four to five months . Thus , in this respect , the COVID-19 pandemic might have been beneficial in this respect" (p7) . "We had to learn how to use certain software , and I think it was a great chance for us" . (p4)

4.3. Cost reduction.

Faculty members’ experiences revealed that virtualization of education reduces the costs of holding workshops and conferences and provides students with accommodation and food. As one of the administrators mentioned in this regard: "University expenses have significantly decreased . No longer was any fund allocated to routine services such as transportation , dormitory maintenance , and cooking , as well as serving food for students due to the closure following the aggravation of the crisis . Only a few students were still in dormitories to pursue their internship" (p5) .

5. Trying to deal with the crisis

5.1. using social media as a learning tool..

Faculty members were unfamiliar with the university’s learning management system at the onset of the coronavirus crisis. Hence, they used social media messaging applications to continue their teaching task and prevent interruption. One educational administrator stated, "Due to the unpredictability of the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic , it was first decided that the faculty members revise their PowerPoint files for a few sessions and send them to students via social media messaging applications or emails" (p1) .

5.2. Targeted empowerment of faculty members.

After familiarizing, teachers and students with the learning management system, several workshops and short-term courses were held to empower them. One of the teachers who were not competent in producing e-content said: "Although the preparation of standard educational content by faculty members was an educational challenge , the difficulties and problems of content preparation decreased following the participation of the faculty members in the training workshops held by the Education Development Center (EDC) of the university" (p5) .

5.3. Strategies for classroom management.

Faculty members used various tricks to improve their class management following the alleviation of the COVID-19 crisis. They emphasized dividing the students in crowded classes into two groups, giving two distinct types of tests, setting periods for homework, giving appropriate and case-based questions, and using new teaching methods such as an online flipped classroom.

"I tell the students that although the Navid LMS has a forum , Skyroom classes are live . Moreover , Skyroom provides us with a forum too . The cameras are connected within the framework of Skyroom , and we can see each other and share laptop screens" (p10) . "I tried to design the questions so that they would not cheat . I would give them cases so that only those who study the sources pass the exam . I gave exams with conceptual questions" (p14) .

5.4. Strategies for assessment management.

To have a realistic and authentic assessment, some faculty members asserted that learners’ assessment should not be limited to summative assessment. Furthermore, formative assessments and various assignments during the semester should be considered. "I think student assessment should be carried out primarily during the semester and with the assignments they are given" (p1) .

6. Beyond dealing with the crisis

According to the faculty members and administrators, this crisis was beneficial in preparing higher education institutions for future crises. The COVID-19 pandemic foregrounded the significance of e-learning in educational institutions.

6.1. Readiness to respond to future crises.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic imposed tremendous pressure on all aspects of society, including public health, specific potentials were gradually utilized to alleviate the coronavirus crisis. Consequently, the crisis was turned into appropriate educational opportunities. Several advantages can be attributed to the crisis management procedure during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pervasiveness of virtual education, the familiarity of teachers with various educational software, their capability to respond to future crises, and the development of specific strategies by the faculty members to guarantee the continuity of education by teachers are significant advantages. One of the teachers who were not familiar with educational software said: "Virtual education was good in this era because it introduced us to different software anyway" (p2) . "

6.2. Search and discover solutions to strengthen the continuity of virtual education.

Following the improvement in faculty members’ capabilities in e-learning, their readiness to respond to future corona-like crises was also improved. If similar problems arise and e-learning becomes necessary, they will no longer have the concerns of previous crises. They can be more prepared to deal with and manage it.

"The experience of e-learning during the COVID - 19 pandemic contributed to our readiness to respond to similar crises in the future . " (p7) . "I started an e-learning course to prepare myself for similar crises because I thought it would not be our last experience in the coming years , and other similar issues are likely to occur in the future . If crises like coronavirus arise , we will hold classes virtually " (P2) .

With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education suffered a great shock and, ultimately, an unexpected and unpredictable crisis worldwide, particularly in Iran. As a result, educational institutions were not ready to face this crisis, and the inevitable consequence was the emergence of education challenges.

In this study, the faculty members stated that they were initially unfamiliar with e-learning. This lack of familiarity and unpreparedness led to stress and mental confusion. Shenoy et al. (2020) and Aliyyah et al. (2020) reported similar instructors’ experiences in their studies. The instructors who participated in these studies stated that they also were exposed to mental confusion at the beginning of the virtualization of education. However, they reported their relative satisfaction over time [ 23 , 24 ].

On the other hand, the faculty members expressed concerns about the students’ learning disabilities and the challenges related to the practical course. This issue was reported in the study by Salmani (2021) in a category entitled Students’ superficial learning as a Challenge in E-learning in the COVID-19 Pandemic [ 25 ]. In another study, the low quality of virtual education compared to F2F teaching and students’ superficial learning have been dealt with [ 26 ].

Other challenges from instructors’ perspectives were raised consistent with previous studies. One of the primary challenges of e-learning based on the faculty members’ experiences was their resistance to e-learning. Some faculty members did not believe in the efficacy of e-learning, which was consistent with the findings of the study conducted by Mohi et al. (2020) [ 27 ]. One of the reasons for faculty members’ resistance to e-learning is that they are accustomed to traditional teaching. For years, they have preferred conventional teaching methods negligent of diversification or development of new methods of e-learning [ 28 ]. If the benefits of e-learning are emphasized, and faculty members become aware of this issue, as noted in the study by Mishra et al. (2021), they will be more motivated to teach [ 6 ].

The lack of high-speed internet bandwidth for preparing and uploading educational content led to faculty members’ dissatisfaction with this type of teaching. Moreover, the lack of standard infrastructure and suitable hardware and software equipment were among the challenges encountered by other faculty members in this period. Using personal equipment led to the depreciation and multiple repairs of these devices. Rezaei et al. conducted a study reporting the challenges encountered by faculty members (2020). They stated that most teachers’ cell phones were obsolete, and their laptops were primarily outdated [ 29 ]. The lack of suitable infrastructure was reported in many studies, particularly in developing countries [ 30 , 31 ]. Teachers called for the support of experienced staff and experts concerning educational technologies and e-content production. Consistent with the present study, Dawn (2019) has pointed out the significance of teachers’ familiarity with e-learning technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 32 ]. Hence, the availability of a technical support team is essential for successfully developing an e-learning system and resolving the faculty members’ problems. Investing in human resources and their training is a significant issue for the development of e-learning [ 31 ].

An essential part of the data indicated challenges related to the suspension practical and laboratory courses. In their study, Sam et al. (2020) also mentioned suspending clinical education activities to reduce disease transmission and decrease patient hospitalization [ 32 ]. This issue is fundamental. Many students may miss the opportunity to acquire communication and technical skills due to reduced internship periods, academic and laboratory activities, and the lack of standard tools for practical courses. Onyema et al. (2020) also cite the limited access to physical and laboratory facilities as an adverse effect of e-learning [ 26 ].

According to many teachers, the reduction in interpersonal interactions, the lack of F2F interactions, and the consequent delay in providing the students with feedback caused the faculty members and students not to know each other’s abilities. In a similar study, the lack of proper communication between students and faculty members and their failure to provide their students with appropriate feedback was mentioned as teaching challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 33 ]. According to De Oliveira et al. (2020), feedback difficulty in identifying students’ strengths and weaknesses is sometimes due to the lack of modern communication between teacher and student [ 34 ].

Another study referred to the lack of efficient interactions in virtual education as the main negative feature of this type of education [ 35 ]. Thus, interactions between teachers and students and timely feedback are central to the success of the educational process.

Student identification was one of the challenges stated by faculty members to be reported in the present study. Similarly, Agarwal MS et al. (2020) reported that many faculty members were uncertain about students’ presence in the virtual classroom. The lack of accurate authentication tools was an obstacle to ensuring students’ presence in virtual classrooms [ 36 ], which was consistent with the findings of this study. In the study by Lau et al. (2020), a defect in the evaluation of students by faculty members due to the lack of proper assessment tools was referred to as one of the most critical challenges of e-learning [ 37 ]. Other studies confirm that teachers can not guarantee that students are not cheating in electronic exams.

Moreover, it is impossible to ensure that the participant in the test is a student or someone else. Thus, the lack of proper assessment tools is one of the main problems of e-learning [ 28 ]. Virtualization of education also led to various kinds of abuse by some students and faculty members, consistent with the study by Agarwal et al. (2020) [ 36 ].

During this period, after overcoming the initial challenges of the COVID-19 crisis, the teachers’ experience in the field of virtual education and how to manage virtual classes increased, which led to the use of a variety of strategies for optimal classroom management and electronic assessment, including variation in teaching methods, keeping the class enjoyable to students, student participation in discussions, randomization of questions, and giving conceptual and challenging questions. These strategies contribute to motivation enhancement in students to participate in virtual classes [ 24 ]. Moreover, being satisfied with a single assessment method reduces the validity of the assessment, and it is essential to use multiple assessment methods instead of summative assessment [ 35 ].

One of the most critical points related to teachers’ experiences during this period was performing the teaching-learning task at home and blurring the boundaries between their personal and professional lives, which is consistent with Abedini et al. (2020) [ 38 ]. The home environment is not designed for academic activities. Hence, family members’ involvement at home causes overlapping roles and dissatisfaction. A similar study indicated that with the full-time presence of teachers at home, family members’ perceptions of the role of teachers changed. They expected teachers to perform the assigned functions alongside family members [ 39 ]. Teachers’ workload was increased according to teachers’ experiences, which was also confirmed in the study [ 40 , 41 ].

Despite the many disadvantages and challenges of virtual education, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, some advantages can be attributed to this educational approach, such as independence about time and place, reduced costs, the possibility of studying and working simultaneously and saving time. These advantages were reported in the study by Mukherjee et al. (2021) [ 39 ]. Alterations in the attitude of teachers toward e-learning and adaptation to it was one of the main advantages and the main factor facilitating the educational process during the COVID-19 pandemic. Taghizadeh et al. asserted that the crisis was a blessing for faculty members. The teachers who were not interested in e-learning became familiar with various educational software [ 37 ].

Furthermore, the experience gained by faculty members has enabled them to deal with similar crises in the future. Vershitskaya et al. (2020) showed that following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, faculty members maintained that e-learning should not be ignored when the COVID-19 crisis is over. Instead, they asserted that it should be used as a supplement to F2F education [ 41 ].

Managers’ attitudes were also considered in addition to the perspectives of faculty members in the present study, which could be considered a strength. However, the lack of students’ opinions concerning e-learning was one of the limitations of this study. The researchers who conducted the present study are teachers. Thus, their assumptions might have biased their interpretations of the data. Consequently, we tried to validate the data analysis by recognizing and ignoring the irrelevant assumptions. Also, Mixed methods studies are suggested to understand e-learning problems in the post-covid era better.

These findings suggest that teachers must become trained the most proficient in e-learning and technology-enhanced learning, and this capability should continue. Special attention should be paid to open educational platforms. The use of e-learning as a response to covid has been accepted and continued. The place of learning in educational institutions should be reviewed. Support infrastructures for instructors and students should be provided. Managers and educational leaders should be encouraged and guided toward adaptive educational design.

At the beginning of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, due to many reasons, including the resistance of teachers and learners to this approach and the lack of necessary infrastructure, the design and implementation of virtual education faced challenges. The teachers had many problems, such as weakness in class management, interference of roles, and even family restrictions. However, with time, the redoubled efforts of the teachers and the management of multiple roles by them, strengthening their knowledge in distance learning and e-content creation, and more participation in e-learning caused an increase in the quality of education. However, planning and foresight are needed in developing countries, including Iran, to appropriately face and optimally manage similar crises and move towards blended learning.

Acknowledgments

This research was conducted within the framework of an MSc thesis. We want to thank all the participants.

• View Article
• Google Scholar
• 10. Garland VE. From digital exclusion to digital inclusion for adult online learners. Advanced Methodologies and Technologies in Modern Education Delivery: IGI Global; 2019. p. 345–55.
• PubMed/NCBI

March 13, 2020

Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic

What do we gain and what do we lose when classrooms go virtual?

By Yoshiko Iwai

Watchara Piriaputtanapun Getty Images

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

I woke up an hour late Wednesday morning, and by the time I had thrown on a sweatshirt, prepared my glass of Emergen-C, and logged onto Zoom , my class had been going on for 15 minutes. The night before I had taken cough syrup for my seasonal cold, and this was the first day my school switched to virtual instruction. Over the course of the three-hour workshop, I noticed my puffy eyes on the panel of faces and became self-conscious. I turned off my video. I became distracted with the noise of sirens outside and muted my speaker, only to then realize: by the time you’re done muting-and-unmuting, the right moment to join the conversation has already passed. I found myself texting on my computer, stepping away to make coffee, running to the bathroom, writing a couple e-mails, and staring at my classmate’s dog in one of the video panels. I don’t think my experience is unique; I imagined similar situations playing out in virtual offices and classrooms across the world.

In the aftermath of the World Health Organization’s designation of the novel coronavirus as a pandemic on March 11, universities across America are shutting down in an attempt to slow its spread. On March 6, the University of Washington took the lead , canceling all in-person classes, with a wave of universities across the country following suit: University of California, Berkeley, U.C., San Diego, Stanford, Rice, Harvard, Columbia, Barnard, N.Y.U, Princeton and Duke, among many others .

This shift into virtual classrooms is the culmination of the past weeks’ efforts to prevent COVID-19 from entering university populations and spreading to local communities: cancellation of university-funded international travel for conferences , blanket bans on any international travel for spring break, canceling study-abroad programs, creating registration systems for any domestic travel.

On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing . By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

Columbia University, which I now attend virtually, moved all classes online starting on March 11. The following morning, president Bollinger declared that classes would be held virtually for the remainder of the school year, and suspended all university-related travel; both international and domestic. The pandemic has affected over 114 countries, killing over 4,000 and shows no sign of abating, leading to chaos in university administration and among students. I find myself obsessing over my family in Japan, especially my mother, whose lung cancer puts her at particular risk. Cancellations are affecting future students as well—admitted students’ events, open houses, and campus tours are all being canceled to minimize contagion.

The quick turn to platforms like Zoom is disrupting curricula, particularly for professors less equipped to navigate the internet and the particularities of managing a classroom mediated by a screen and microphone. I had professors cancel class because they had technical difficulties, trouble with WiFi, or were simply panicked over the prospect of teaching the full class over the new platform. With university IT services focusing efforts on providing professors with how-to webinars on using online platforms, individual student needs for these same services have been placed on hold.

While the initial shift online has created a flurry of chaos, there are benefits to a virtual classroom. Especially in a place like New York, students can continue participating in discussion sections and lectures without riding the subway for an hour, avoiding the anxiety of using public transit or being in other incubators like classrooms, public bathrooms and cafeterias. Students can “sit in” on a class while nursing a common cold or allergies that come with the season, but which can make students a target of serious threats or violence—particularly racialized harassment for Asians. I have found immense relief in not having to pay for Lyfts to campus, avoiding side-eyes for my runny nose or using the little remaining hand sanitizer I have left after holding subway poles. In some situations, online teaching may not even affect student behavior or learning. Studies have shown that medical students learn and perform equally in live versus recorded lectures, and these results are reassuring at a time like the COVID-19 outbreak.

However, the reality is that some subjects are much harder to transfer online. A biochemistry or introductory economics lecture is easier to teach virtually than a music or dance class. The creation of a film or theatrical production requires physical bodies in close proximity. Even in my creative writing workshop, responding to a colleagues’ memoir about her mother’s death is hard to do without looking her in the eye. The screen creates an emotional remove that makes it difficult to have back-and-forth dialogue between multiple people, and it’s almost impossible to provide thoughtful feedback without feeling like you’re speaking into a void.

Over the last few decades, online learning in higher education has been studied extensively. Online MBA programs are on the rise, perhaps unsurprising for a field that often requires virtual conferencing and remote collaboration. Universities now offer online master’s programs to accommodate full-time work and long commutes, or to circumvent the financial barriers of moving to a new location with family. Online bachelor’s degrees are offered by a growing number of schools: Ohio State, University of Illinois Chicago, University of Florida, Arizona State, Penn State and many more. The benefits are the same: classes can be taken anywhere, lack of commute offers more time for studying or external commitments, and the structure is more welcoming to students with physical disability or illness. And yet, online learning hasn’t threatened the traditional model of in-person learning.

A large part of this can be attributed to accountability . Online classes require significantly more motivation and attention. I found it difficult to focus on a pixelated video screen when I could browse the internet on my computer, text on my phone, watch TV in the background, have one hand in the pantry, or just lay comfortably in my bed. The problem, too, is that webinar technology doesn’t quite live up to the hype. Noise and feedback—rustling papers, ambulances, kettles, wind—make it impossible to hear people talk, and so everyone is asked to mute their microphones.

But muting your audio means you can’t jump into a conversation quickly. The “raise hand” function often goes unnoticed by teachers and the chat box is distracting. Sometimes the gallery view just doesn’t work, so you’re stuck staring at your own face or just two of your eighteen classmates. It also means another hurdle for those who hesitate to speak up, even in the best of circumstances. It means you’re just one click away from turning off your camera and being totally off the hook. In an online class over the summer, I once watched a woman—who forgot her camera was still on, though she was muted—vacuum her entire kitchen and living room during a seminar.

In a recent New York Times article, columnist Kevin Roose wrote about his experience working from home while quarantined after COVID-19 exposure. Roose, once a remote worker, cites studies that suggest remote employees are more productive , taking shorter breaks and fewer sick days. But he also writes extensively about the isolation and lack of productivity he feels: “I’ve realized that I can’t be my best, most human self in sweatpants, pretending to pay attention on video conferences between trips to the fridge.” He notes that Steve Jobs, who was a firm believer in in-person collaboration and opposed remote work, once said, “Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions. You run into someone, you ask what they’re doing, you say ‘Wow,’ and soon you’re cooking up all sorts of ideas.”

In educational settings, creativity is arguably one of the most important things at stake. The surprises and unexpected interactions fuel creativity—often a result of sitting in a room brushing shoulders with a classmate, running into professors in a bathroom line, or landing on ideas and insights that arise out of discomfort in the room. This unpredictability is often lost online.

In the essay “Sim Life,” from her book, Make It Scream, Make it Burn , Leslie Jamison writes about the shortcomings of virtual life: “So much of lived experience is composed of what lies beyond our agency and prediction, beyond our grasp, in missteps and unforeseen obstacles and the textures of imperfection: the grit and grain of a sidewalk with its cigarette butts and faint summer stench of garbage and taxi exhaust, the possibility of a rat scuttling from a pile of trash bags, the lilt and laughter of nearby strangers’ voices.”

Classrooms offer these opportunities for riffs and surprise, and a large part of being a student is learning to deliver critique through uncomfortable eye contact, or negotiating a room full of voices and opinions that create friction with your own. When I Zoomed into class from my apartment, I missed being interrupted by classmates who complicated my ideas about a poem or short story. I missed being in workshop and bouncing ideas off of each other to find the best structure for a piece. I missed handwritten critiques, and felt limited in Word: no check pluses, no smiley faces, “Wow” feels flat when it’s not handwritten in the margins, and "Great" feels sarcastic in 10-point Calibri. I was frustrated that I could sleep in because online class meant I could wake up five minutes before class and pretend like I’d been ready all morning.

The COVID-19 pandemic will likely continue presenting challenges beyond those that come up in the course of routine virtual education. Even if this viral spread subsides, or a vaccination becomes readily available, the shift from online classes back to in-person learning may create disruptions of its own—adjusting back to higher standards of accountability, weaning off of phone-checking habits, and transferring comments back to hard copies instead of digital notes. Hopefully, these phases of trouble shooting can provide universities, professors and students the opportunity to practice adaptability, patience and resilience. And hopefully, these experiences will serve as preparation for future challenges that come with the next epidemic, pandemic and other disaster.

For now, I am trying to not look at myself in the gallery of faces, stop being distracted by my expressions, resisting the impulses to check my phone or e-mail, or at least recognize these urges when they arise.

Read more about the coronavirus outbreak  here .

Remote Learning During COVID-19: Lessons from Today, Principles for Tomorrow

"Remote Learning During the Global School Lockdown: Multi-Country Lessons” and “Remote Learning During COVID-19: Lessons from Today, Principles for Tomorrow"

WHY A TWIN REPORT ON THE IMPACT OF COVID IN EDUCATION?

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education in over 150 countries and affected 1.6 billion students. In response, many countries implemented some form of remote learning. The education response during the early phase of COVID-19 focused on implementing remote learning modalities as an emergency response. These were intended to reach all students but were not always successful. As the pandemic has evolved, so too have education responses. Schools are now partially or fully open in many jurisdictions.

A complete understanding of the short-, medium- and long-term implications of this crisis is still forming. The twin reports analyze how this crisis has amplified inequalities and also document a unique opportunity to reimagine the traditional model of school-based learning.

The reports were developed at different times during the pandemic and are complementary:

The first one follows a qualitative research approach to document the opinions of education experts regarding the effectiveness of remote and remedial learning programs implemented across 17 countries. DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT

WHAT ARE THE LESSONS LEARNED OF THE TWIN REPORTS?

• Availability of technology is a necessary but not sufficient condition for effective remote learning: EdTech has been key to keep learning despite the school lockdown, opening new opportunities for delivering education at a scale. However, the impact of technology on education remains a challenge.
• Teachers are more critical than ever: Regardless of the learning modality and available technology, teachers play a critical role. Regular and effective pre-service and on-going teacher professional development is key. Support to develop digital and pedagogical tools to teach effectively both in remote and in-person settings.
• Education is an intense human interaction endeavor: For remote learning to be successful it needs to allow for meaningful two-way interaction between students and their teachers; such interactions can be enabled by using the most appropriate technology for the local context.
• Parents as key partners of teachers: Parent’s involvement has played an equalizing role mitigating some of the limitations of remote learning. As countries transition to a more consistently blended learning model, it is necessary to prioritize strategies that provide guidance to parents and equip them with the tools required to help them support students.
• Leverage on a dynamic ecosystem of collaboration: Ministries of Education need to work in close coordination with other entities working in education (multi-lateral, public, private, academic) to effectively orchestrate different players and to secure the quality of the overall learning experience.
• FULL REPORT
• Interactive document
• Understanding the Effectiveness of Remote and Remedial Learning Programs: Two New Reports
• Understanding the Perceived Effectiveness of Remote Learning Solutions: Lessons from 18 Countries
• Five lessons from remote learning during COVID-19
• Launch of the Twin Reports on Remote Learning during COVID-19: Lessons for today, principles for tomorrow

This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser. To learn more about cookies, click here .

Shaping the Future of Online Learning

Published may 22, 2024.

If you’ve been enrolled in any educational course or postsecondary educational program since 2020, chances are you’ve witnessed the rise in online learning firsthand .

The COVID-19 global pandemic shuttered storefronts, theaters, and classrooms alike, causing major disruptions in how goods and services were delivered. As consumers adopted Instacart for their grocery needs and streamed new blockbuster movies from the comfort of their living rooms, students needed an innovative way to bring their classes home. A year into the pandemic over 60% of all undergraduate students were enrolled in at least one online course , with 28% exclusively enrolled in online courses, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

There are other reasons for the widespread adoption, including accessibility. Rural and international students who may be far removed from traditional educational institutions can now attend Harvard classes anywhere there’s an internet connection. Or, consider working adults seeking to progress or switch careers. Life doesn’t stop for a class, and attending one in-person can be prohibitive. While still challenging, logging into a virtual classroom is far more manageable. Online education is for everyone.

Technological and pedagogical developments have helped online learning progress beyond the days of discussion boards and essay uploads. Now, students can enjoy a multimedia educational experience that is rooted in the latest research, all while participating in the community of their “virtual campus”.

If you’re one of the millions of learners who have experienced online education, you might be interested to learn where it’s going next. At Harvard Online, the question, “what is the future of online learning?” guides an ongoing conversation that drives us everyday.

In this blog, we sat down with Catherine Breen , Managing Director of Harvard Online. With more than two decades of senior executive leadership at Harvard University and oversight of Harvard Online, Breen has an invaluable perspective on the future of online learning, and the exciting role Harvard Online is playing in bringing the future into the present. 

Catherine Breen, Managing Director of Harvard Online, in a team meeting.

Harvard Online (HO): How has the online learning landscape evolved in recent years? 

Catherine Breen (CB): At the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown, there was a massive escalation in demand for online learning. Demand began to recede slowly as the months wore on and by late 2022, it started to level out. But we observed two big changes: Internally, the demand for Harvard Online content was still almost three times higher than pre-pandemic. Externally, in reaction to the demand surge, there was significant and rapid growth of new online course offerings and companies that purveyed varying types of digital products.    

HO: What is shaping the future of online learning today? 

CB: Because of the rapid and massive shift to online that occurred around the globe in the spring of 2020, the landscape changed permanently. There are many things shaping the future but here are just a few that I can see from my perspective:

• Increased adoption of online learning across all ages and levels of education: Everyone expanded their online course catalogs; new companies and offerings sprung up everywhere.
• Greater tech investment across organizations and industries: Organizations are investing more time, money, and effort into technology infrastructure, tools, and platforms to support online learning and participants in these courses.
• New pedagogical methods to bridge the gap between traditional and novel learning methods: Instructors have adapted their teaching methods for online, hybrid, and blended environments.
• Enhanced accessibility to quality education and learning experiences: Efforts have been made to improve access for students of all types, abilities, geographies, and backgrounds so that everyone can participate effectively.    

HO: What are the remaining challenges that online learning faces? 

CB: While these changes have improved the online learning experience, challenges remain, including addressing the digital divide, maximizing student engagement, and refining the quality of online courses.

The pandemic accelerated the adoption of online learning and its impact will likely continue to shape higher education for many years to come.  

HO: How does online learning contribute to Harvard's mission of promoting accessibility and inclusion in education, especially for learners who may not have traditional access to higher education?

CB: Online learning levels the playing field for learners in many ways.

Most students think that a Harvard-quality education is out of reach, for a variety of reasons. With online courses, however, learners from around the country and the world can take courses with Harvard instructors at their own pace at a more affordable price point.

Our online courses also typically incorporate a range of multimedia elements, allowing students with different learning styles to flourish. We also ensure that our online learning experiences are accessible to all learners, including those with disabilities. This commitment to inclusivity aligns with the broader goals of promoting equitable access to education.

Lastly, our online courses often include discussion forums and virtual communities where learners can connect and collaborate. This allows for interactions among students from diverse backgrounds and experiences, fostering a sense of belonging and inclusion.  

It’s clear that online learning has a lot to offer everyone, and it’s only getting better. In our next blog in this series, we’ll hear more from Cathy on how institutions can implement online learning modalities effectively. 

If you missed the first blog in this series detailing the future of online learning, you can check out the first blog here . To learn more about Harvard Online, explore our fully online course catalog here .

Related Blog Posts

Uniref brings harvard courses on web programming to syrian refugees.

Harvard Online is proud to provide access to education and experiences that help communities thrive.

Harvard Online in Your Workplace: Elevate Your Team's Professional Development

At Harvard Online we understand the value of an educated and skilled workforce.

A Decade of Innovation: Online Learning at Harvard

We are always asking, “What does the future look like for teaching and learning?”

• Reference Manager
• Simple TEXT file

People also looked at

Mini review article, distance learning in higher education during covid-19.

• 1 Department of Pedagogy of Higher Education, Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Kazan, Russia
• 2 Department of Jurisprudence, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Moscow, Russia
• 3 Department of English for Professional Communication, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
• 4 Department of Foreign Languages, RUDN University, Moscow, Russia
• 5 Department of Medical and Social Assessment, Emergency, and Ambulatory Therapy, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, Russia

COVID-19’s pandemic has hastened the expansion of online learning across all levels of education. Countries have pushed to expand their use of distant education and make it mandatory in view of the danger of being unable to resume face-to-face education. The most frequently reported disadvantages are technological challenges and the resulting inability to open the system. Prior to the pandemic, interest in distance learning was burgeoning, as it was a unique style of instruction. The mini-review aims to ascertain students’ attitudes about distant learning during COVID-19. To accomplish the objective, articles were retrieved from the ERIC database. We utilize the search phrases “Distance learning” AND “University” AND “COVID.” We compiled a list of 139 articles. We chose papers with “full text” and “peer reviewed only” sections. Following the exclusion, 58 articles persisted. Then, using content analysis, publications relating to students’ perspectives on distance learning were identified. There were 27 articles in the final list. Students’ perspectives on distant education are classified into four categories: perception and attitudes, advantages of distance learning, disadvantages of distance learning, and challenges for distance learning. In all studies, due of pandemic constraints, online data gathering methods were selected. Surveys and questionnaires were utilized as data collection tools. When students are asked to compare face-to-face and online learning techniques, they assert that online learning has the potential to compensate for any limitations caused by pandemic conditions. Students’ perspectives and degrees of satisfaction range widely, from good to negative. Distance learning is advantageous since it allows for learning at any time and from any location. Distance education benefits both accomplishment and learning. Staying at home is safer and less stressful for students during pandemics. Distance education contributes to a variety of physical and psychological health concerns, including fear, anxiety, stress, and attention problems. Many schools lack enough infrastructure as a result of the pandemic’s rapid transition to online schooling. Future researchers can study what kind of online education methods could be used to eliminate student concerns.

Introduction

The pandemic of COVID-19 has accelerated the spread of online learning at all stages of education, from kindergarten to higher education. Prior to the epidemic, several colleges offered online education. However, as a result of the epidemic, several governments discontinued face-to-face schooling in favor of compulsory distance education.

The COVID-19 problem had a detrimental effect on the world’s educational system. As a result, educational institutions around the world developed a new technique for delivering instructional programs ( Graham et al., 2020 ; Akhmadieva et al., 2021 ; Gaba et al., 2021 ; Insorio and Macandog, 2022 ; Tal et al., 2022 ). Distance education has been the sole choice in the majority of countries throughout this period, and these countries have sought to increase their use of distance education and make it mandatory in light of the risk of not being able to restart face-to-face schooling ( Falode et al., 2020 ; Gonçalves et al., 2020 ; Tugun et al., 2020 ; Altun et al., 2021 ; Valeeva and Kalimullin, 2021 ; Zagkos et al., 2022 ).

What Is Distance Learning

Britannica defines distance learning as “form of education in which the main elements include physical separation of teachers and students during instruction and the use of various technologies to facilitate student-teacher and student-student communication” ( Simonson and Berg, 2016 ). The subject of distant learning has been studied extensively in the fields of pedagogics and psychology for quite some time ( Palatovska et al., 2021 ).

The primary distinction is that early in the history of distant education, the majority of interactions between professors and students were asynchronous. With the advent of the Internet, synchronous work prospects expanded to include anything from chat rooms to videoconferencing services. Additionally, asynchronous material exchange was substantially relocated to digital settings and communication channels ( Virtič et al., 2021 ).

Distance learning is a fundamentally different way to communication as well as a different learning framework. An instructor may not meet with pupils in live broadcasts at all in distance learning, but merely follow them in a chat if required ( Bozkurt and Sharma, 2020 ). Audio podcasts, films, numerous simulators, and online quizzes are just a few of the technological tools available for distance learning. The major aspect of distance learning, on the other hand, is the detailed tracking of a student’s performance, which helps to develop his or her own trajectory. While online learning attempts to replicate classroom learning methods, distant learning employs a computer game format, with new levels available only after the previous ones have been completed ( Bakhov et al., 2021 ).

In recent years, increased attention has been placed on eLearning in educational institutions because to the numerous benefits that have been discovered via study. These advantages include the absence of physical and temporal limits, the ease of accessing material and scheduling flexibility, as well as the cost-effectiveness of the solution. A number of other studies have demonstrated that eLearning is beneficial to both student gains and student performance. However, in order to achieve the optimum results from eLearning, students must be actively participating in the learning process — a notion that is commonly referred to as active learning — throughout the whole process ( Aldossary, 2021 ; Altun et al., 2021 ).

The most commonly mentioned negatives include technological difficulties and the inability to open the system as a result, low teaching quality, inability to teach applicable disciplines, and a lack of courses, contact, communication, and internet ( Altun et al., 2021 ). Also, misuse of technology, adaptation of successful technology-based training to effective teaching methods, and bad practices in managing the assessment and evaluation process of learning are all downsides of distance learning ( Debeş, 2021 ).

Distance Learning in a Pandemic Context

The epidemic forced schools, colleges, and institutions throughout the world to close their doors so that students might practice social isolation ( Toquero, 2020 ). Prior to the pandemic, demand for distance learning was nascent, as it was a novel mode of education, the benefits and quality of which were difficult to judge due to a dearth of statistics. But, in 2020, humanity faced a coronavirus pandemic, which accelerated the shift to distant learning to the point that it became the only viable mode of education and communication ( Viktoria and Aida, 2020 ). Due to the advancements in digital technology, educators and lecturers have been obliged to use E-learning platforms ( Benadla and Hadji, 2021 ).

In remote education settings for higher education, activities are often divided into synchronous course sessions and asynchronous activities and tasks. In synchronous courses, learners participate in interactive and targeted experiences that help them develop a fundamental grasp of technology-enhanced education, course design, and successful online instruction. Asynchronous activities and tasks, on the other hand, include tests, group work assignments, group discussion, feedback, and projects. Additionally, asynchronous activities and tasks are carried out via interactive video-based activities, facilitator meetings, live webinars, and keynote speakers ( Debeş, 2021 ).

According to Lamanauskas and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė (2021) , ICT should be attractive for learners. Additionally, student satisfaction with ODL has a statistically significant effect on their future choices for online learning ( Virtič et al., 2021 ). According to Avsheniuk et al. (2021) , the majority of research is undertaken to categorize students’ views and attitudes about online learning, and studies examining students’ perspectives of online learning during the COVID-19 epidemic are uncommon and few. There is presently a dearth of research on the impact on students when schools are forced to close abruptly and indefinitely and transition to online learning communities ( Unger and Meiran, 2020 ). So that, the mini-review is aimed to examining the students’ views on using distance learning during COVID-19.

In order to perform the aim, the articles were searched through ERIC database. We use “Distance learning” AND “University” AND “COVID” as search terms. We obtained 139 articles. We selected “full text” and “Peer reviewed only” articles. After the exclusion, 58 articles endured. Then content analyses were used to determine articles related to students’ voices about distance learning. In the final list, there were 27 articles ( Table 1 ).

Table 1. Countries and data collection tools.

In the study, a qualitative approach and content analyses were preferred. Firstly, the findings related to students’ attitudes and opinions on distance learning were determined. The research team read selected sections independently. Researchers have come to a consensus on the themes of perception and attitudes, advantages of distance learning, disadvantages of distance learning, and challenges for distance learning. It was decided which study would be included in which theme/s. Finally, the findings were synthesized under themes.

Only 3 studies ( Lassoued et al., 2020 ; Viktoria and Aida, 2020 ; Todri et al., 2021 ) were conducted to cover more than one country. Other studies include only one country. Surveys and questionnaires were mostly used as measurement tools in the study. Due to pandemic restrictions, online data collection approaches were preferred in the data collection process.

Students’ views on distance learning are grouped under four themes. These themes are perception and attitudes, advantages of distance learning, disadvantages of distance learning, and challenges for distance learning.

Perception and Attitudes Toward Distance Learning

Students’ attitudes toward distance learning differ according to the studies. In some studies ( Mathew and Chung, 2020 ; Avsheniuk et al., 2021 ), it is stated that especially the students’ attitudes are positive, while in some studies ( Bozavlı, 2021 ; Yurdal et al., 2021 ) it is clearly stated that their attitudes are negative. In addition, there are also studies ( Akcil and Bastas, 2021 ) that indicate that students’ attitudes are at a moderate level. The transition to distance learning has been a source of anxiety for some students ( Unger and Meiran, 2020 ).

When the students’ satisfaction levels are analyzed, it is obvious from the research ( Gonçalves et al., 2020 ; Avsheniuk et al., 2021 ; Bakhov et al., 2021 ; Glebov et al., 2021 ; Todri et al., 2021 ) that the students’ satisfaction levels are high. In some studies, it is pronounced that the general satisfaction level of the participants is moderate ( Viktoria and Aida, 2020 ; Aldossary, 2021 ; Didenko et al., 2021 ) and low ( Taşkaya, 2021 ).

When students compare face-to-face and online learning methods, they state that online learning has opportunities to compensate for their deficiencies due to the pandemic conditions ( Abrosimova, 2020 ) and but they prefer face-to-face learning ( Gonçalves et al., 2020 ; Kaisar and Chowdhury, 2020 ; Bakhov et al., 2021 ). Distance learning is not sufficiently motivating ( Altun et al., 2021 ; Bozavlı, 2021 ), effective ( Beltekin and Kuyulu, 2020 ; Bozavlı, 2021 ), and does not have a contribution to students’ knowledge ( Taşkaya, 2021 ). Distance education cannot be used in place of face-to-face instruction ( Aldossary, 2021 ; Altun et al., 2021 ).

Advantages of Distance Learning

It is mostly cited advantages that distance learning has a positive effect on achievement and learning ( Gonçalves et al., 2020 ; Lin and Gao, 2020 ; Aldossary, 2021 ; Altun et al., 2021 ; Şahin, 2021 ). In addition, in distance learning, students can have more resources and reuse resources such as re-watching video ( Önöral and Kurtulmus-Yilmaz, 2020 ; Lamanauskas and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė, 2021 ; Martha et al., 2021 ).

Distance learning for the reason any time and everywhere learning ( Adnan and Anwar, 2020 ; Lamanauskas and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė, 2021 ; Todri et al., 2021 ). There is no need to spend money on transportation to and from the institution ( Lamanauskas and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė, 2021 ; Nenakhova, 2021 ). Also, staying at home is safe during pandemics and less stressful for students ( Lamanauskas and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė, 2021 ).

Challenges and Disadvantages of Distance Learning

Distance learning cannot guarantee effective learning, the persistence of learning, or success ( Altun et al., 2021 ; Benadla and Hadji, 2021 ). Students state that they have more works, tasks, and study loads in the distance learning process ( Mathew and Chung, 2020 ; Bakhov et al., 2021 ; Didenko et al., 2021 ; Nenakhova, 2021 ). Group working and socialization difficulties are experienced in distance learning ( Adnan and Anwar, 2020 ; Bozavlı, 2021 ; Lamanauskas and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė, 2021 ). The absence of communication and face-to-face interaction is seen a disadvantage ( Didenko et al., 2021 ; Nenakhova, 2021 ).

It is difficult to keep attention on the computer screen for a long time, so distance-learning negatively affects concentration ( Bakhov et al., 2021 ; Lamanauskas and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė, 2021 ). In addition, distance education prompts some physical and psychological health problems ( Kaisar and Chowdhury, 2020 ; Taşkaya, 2021 ).

Devices and internet connection, technical problems are mainly stated as challenges for distance learning ( Abrosimova, 2020 ; Adnan and Anwar, 2020 ; Mathew and Chung, 2020 ; Bakhov et al., 2021 ; Benadla and Hadji, 2021 ; Didenko et al., 2021 ; Lamanauskas and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė, 2021 ; Nenakhova, 2021 ; Taşkaya, 2021 ; Şahin, 2021 ). In addition, some students have difficulties in finding a quiet and suitable environment where they can follow distance education courses ( Taşkaya, 2021 ). It is a disadvantage that students have not the knowledge and skills to use the technological tools used in distance education ( Lassoued et al., 2020 ; Bakhov et al., 2021 ; Didenko et al., 2021 ).

The purpose of this study is to ascertain university students’ perceptions about distant education during COVID-19. The study’s findings are intended to give context for developers of distant curriculum and higher education institutions.

According to Toquero (2020) , academic institutions have an increased need to enhance their curricula, and the incorporation of innovative teaching methods and tactics should be a priority. COVID-19’s lockout has shown the reality of higher education’s current state: Progressive universities operating in the twenty-first century did not appear to be prepared to implement digital teaching and learning tools; existing online learning platforms were not universal solutions; teaching staff were not prepared to teach remotely; their understanding of online teaching was sometimes limited to sending handbooks, slides, sample tasks, and assignments to students via email and setting deadlines for submission of completed tasks ( Didenko et al., 2021 ).

It is a key factor that student satisfaction to identify the influencers that emerged in online higher education settings ( Parahoo et al., 2016 ). Also, there was a significant positive relationship between online learning, social presence and satisfaction with online courses ( Stankovska et al., 2021 ). According to the findings, the attitudes and satisfaction levels of the students differ according to the studies and vary in a wide range from positive to negative attitudes.

According to the study’s findings, students responded that while online learning is beneficial for compensating for deficiencies during the pandemic, they would prefer face-to-face education in the future. This is a significant outcome for institutions. It is not desirable for all students to take their courses entirely online. According to Samat et al. (2020) , the one-size-fits-all approach to ODL implementation is inapplicable since it not only impedes the flow of information delivery inside the virtual classroom, but it also has an impact on psychological well-being because users are prone to become disturbed.

In distance learning, students can have more resources and reuse resources such as re-watching videos. So, distance learning has a positive effect on achievement and learning. Alghamdi (2021) stated that over the last two decades, research on the influence of technology on students’ academic success has revealed a range of good and negative impacts and relationships, as well as zero effects and relationship.

The result also shows that distance education prompts some physical and psychological health problems. Due to the difficulty of maintaining focus on a computer screen for an extended period of time, remote education has a detrimental effect on concentration. There is some evidence that students are fearful of online learning in compared to more traditional, or in-person, in-class learning environments, as well as media representations of emergencies ( Müller-Seitz and Macpherson, 2014 ).

Unsatisfactory equipment and internet connection, technical difficulties, and a lack of expertise about remote learning technology are frequently cited as distance learning issues. Due to the pandemic’s quick move to online education, many schools have an insufficient infrastructure. Infrastructure deficiency is more evident in fields that require laboratory work such as engineering ( Andrzej, 2020 ) and medicine ( Yurdal et al., 2021 ).

Conclusion and Recommendation

To sum up, students’ opinions and levels of satisfaction vary significantly, ranging from positive to negative. Distance learning for the reason any time and everywhere learning. Distance learning has a positive effect on achievement and learning. Staying at home is safe during pandemics and less stressful for students. Distance education prompts some physical and psychological health problems such as fear, anxiety, stress, and losing concentration. Due to the pandemic’s quick move to online education, many schools have an insufficient infrastructure. Future researchers can investigate what distance education models can be that will eliminate the complaints of students. Students’ positive attitudes and levels of satisfaction with their distant education programs have an impact on their ability to profit from the program. Consequently, schools wishing to implement distant education should begin by developing a structure, content, and pedagogical approach that would improve the satisfaction of their students. According to the findings of the study, there is no universally applicable magic formula since student satisfaction differs depending on the country, course content, and external factors.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

This manuscript has been supported by the Kazan Federal University Strategic Academic Leadership Program.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Abrosimova, G. A. (2020). Digital literacy and digital skills in university study. Int. J. High. Educ. 9, 52–58. doi: 10.5430/ijhe.v9n8p52

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Adnan, M., and Anwar, K. (2020). Online learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic: students perspectives. J. Pedagog. Soc. Psychol. 1, 45–51. doi: 10.33902/JPSP.2020261309

Akhmadieva, R. S., Mikhaylovsky, M. N., Simonova, M. M., Nizamutdinova, S. M., Prokopyev, A. I., and Ostanina, S. S. (2021). Public relations in organizations in sportsman students view: development of management tools or healthy and friendly relations formation. J. Hum. Sport Exerc. 16, 1272–1279. doi: 10.14198/jhse.2021.16.Proc3.43

Akcil, U., and Bastas, M. (2021). Examination of university students’ attitudes towards e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic process and the relationship of digital citizenship. Contemp. Educ. Technol. 13:e291. doi: 10.30935/CEDTECH/9341

Aldossary, K. (2021). Online distance learning for translation subjects: tertiary level instructors’ and students’ perceptions in Saudi Arabia. Turk. Online J. Distance Educ. 22:6.

Google Scholar

Alghamdi, A. (2021). COVID-19 mandated self-directed distance learning: experiences of Saudi female postgraduate students. J. Univ. Teach. Learn. Pract. 18:014. doi: 10.53761/1.18.3.14

Altun, T., Akyıldız, S., Gülay, A., and Özdemir, C. (2021). Investigating education faculty students’ views about asynchronous distance education practices during COVID-19. Psycho Educ. Res. Rev. 10, 34–45.

Andrzej, O. (2020). Modified blended learning in engineering higher education during the COVID-19 lockdown — building automation courses case study. Educ. Sci. 10:292.

Avsheniuk, N., Seminikhyna, N., Svyrydiuk, T., and Lutsenko, O. (2021). ESP students’ satisfaction with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in ukraine. Arab World Engl. J. 1, 222–234. doi: 10.24093/awej/covid.17

Bakhov, I., Opolska, N., Bogus, M., Anishchenko, V., and Biryukova, Y. (2021). Emergency distance education in the conditions of COVID-19 pandemic: experience of Ukrainian universities. Educ. Sci. 11:364. doi: 10.3390/educsci11070364

Beltekin, E., and Kuyulu, İ (2020). The effect of coronavirus (COVID19) outbreak on education systems: evaluation of distance learning system in Turkey. J. Educ. Learn. 9:1. doi: 10.5539/jel.v9n4p1

Benadla, D., and Hadji, M. (2021). EFL students affective attitudes towards distance e-learning based on moodle platform during the COVID-19 the pandemic: perspectives from Dr. Moulaytahar university of Saida, Algeria. Arab World Engl. J. 1, 55–67. doi: 10.24093/awej/covid.4

Bozavlı, E. (2021). Is foreign language teaching possible without school? Distance learning experiences of foreign language students at Ataturk university during the COVID-19 pandemic. Arab World Engl. J. 12, 3–18. doi: 10.24093/awej/vol12no1.1

Bozkurt, A., and Sharma, R. (2020). Emergency remote teaching in a time of global crisis due to CoronaVirus pandemic. Asian J. Distance Educ. 15:2020.

Debeş, G. (2021). Distance learning in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic: advantages and disadvantages. Int. J. Curr. Instr. 13, 1109–1118.

Didenko, I., Filatova, O., and Anisimova, L. (2021). COVID-19 lockdown challenges or new era for higher education. Propós. Represent. 9:e914. doi: 10.20511/pyr2021.v9nspe1.914

Falode, O. C., Chukwuemeka, E. J., Bello, A., and Baderinwa, T. (2020). Relationship between flexibility of learning, support services and students’ attitude towards distance learning programme in Nigeria. Eur. J. Interact. Multimed. Educ. 1:e02003. doi: 10.30935/ejimed/8320

Gaba, A. K., Bhushan, B., and Kant Rao, D. (2021). Factors influencing the preference of distance learners to study through online during COVID-19 pandemic. Asian J. Distance Educ. 16:2021.

Glebov, V. A., Popov, S. I., Lagusev, Y. M., Krivova, A. L., and Sadekova, S. R. (2021). Distance learning in the humanitarian field amid the coronavirus pandemic: risks of creating barriers and innovative benefits. Propós. Represent. 9:e1258. doi: 10.20511/pyr2021.v9nspe3.1258

Gonçalves, S. P., Sousa, M. J., and Pereira, F. S. (2020). Distance learning perceptions from higher education students—the case of Portugal. Educ. Sci. 10:374. doi: 10.3390/educsci10120374

Graham, S. R., Tolar, A., and Hokayem, H. (2020). Teaching preservice teachers about COVID-19 through distance learning. Electron. J. Res. Sci. Math. Educ. 24, 29–37.

Insorio, A. O., and Macandog, D. M. (2022). Video lessons via youtube channel as mathematics interventions in modular distance learning. Contemp. Math. Sci. Educ. 3:e22001. doi: 10.30935/conmaths/11468

Kaisar, M. T., and Chowdhury, S. Y. (2020). Foreign language virtual class room: anxiety creator or healer? Engl. Lang. Teach. 13:130. doi: 10.5539/elt.v13n11p130

Lamanauskas, V., and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė, R. (2021). Distance lectures in university studies: advantages, disadvantages, improvement. Contemp. Educ. Technol. 13:e309. doi: 10.30935/cedtech/10887

Lassoued, Z., Alhendawi, M., and Bashitialshaaer, R. (2020). An exploratory study of the obstacles for achieving quality in distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Educ. Sci. 10:232. doi: 10.3390/educsci10090232

Lin, X., and Gao, L. (2020). Students’ sense of community and perspectives of taking synchronous and asynchronous online courses. Asian J. Distance Educ. 15, 169–179. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.3881614

Martha, A. S. D., Junus, K., Santoso, H. B., and Suhartanto, H. (2021). Assessing undergraduate students’ e-learning competencies: a case study of higher education context in Indonesia. Educ. Sci. 11:189. doi: 10.3390/educsci11040189

Mathew, V. N., and Chung, E. (2020). University students’ perspectives on open and distance learning (ODL) implementation amidst COVID-19. Asian J. Univ. Educ. 16, 152–160. doi: 10.24191/ajue.v16i4.11964

Müller-Seitz, G., and Macpherson, A. (2014). Learning during crisis as a ‘war for meaning’: the case of the German Escherichia coli outbreak in 2011. Manag. Learn. 45, 593–608.

Nenakhova, E. (2021). Distance learning practices on the example of second language learning during coronavirus epidemic in Russia. Int. J. Instr. 14, 807–826. doi: 10.29333/iji.2021.14347a

Önöral, Ö, and Kurtulmus-Yilmaz, S. (2020). Influence of COVID-19 pandemic on dental education in cyprus: preclinical and clinical implications with E-learning strategies. Adv. Educ. 7, 69–77.

Palatovska, O., Bondar, M., Syniavska, O., and Muntian, O. (2021). Virtual mini-lecture in distance learning space. Arab World Engl. J. 1, 199–208. doi: 10.24093/awej/covid.15

Parahoo, S. K., Santally, M. I., Rajabalee, Y., and Harvey, H. L. (2016). Designing a predictive model of student satisfaction in online learning. J. Market. High. Educ. 26, 1–19. doi: 10.1080/08841241.2015.1083511

Samat, M. F., Awang, N. A., Hussin, S. N. A., and Nawi, F. A. M. (2020). Online distance learning amidst COVID-19 pandemic among university students: a practicality of partial least squares structural equation modelling approach. Asian J. Univ. Educ. 16, 220–233.

Simonson, M., and Berg, G. A. (2016). Distance Learning. In Encyclopedia Britannica. Available online at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/distance-learning (accessed November 14, 2011).

Stankovska, G., Dimitrovski, D., and Ibraimi, Z. (2021). “Online learning, social presence and satisfaction among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic,” in Paper Presented at the Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES) , (Sofia), 181–188.

Şahin, M. (2021). Opinions of university students on effects of distance learning in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic. Afr. Educ. Res. J. 9, 526–543. doi: 10.30918/aerj.92.21.082

Tal, C., Tish, S., and Tal, P. (2022). Parental perceptions of their preschool and elementary school children with respect to teacher-family relations and teaching methods during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Pedagog. Res. 7:em0114. doi: 10.29333/pr/11518

Taşkaya, S. M. (2021). Teacher candidates’ evaluation of the emergency remote teaching practices in turkey during COVID-19 pandemic. Int. J. Progress. Educ. 17, 63–78. doi: 10.29329/ijpe.2021.366.5

Todri, A., Papajorgji, P., Moskowitz, H., and Scalera, F. (2021). Perceptions regarding distance learning in higher education, smoothing the transition. Contemp. Educ. Technol. 13:e287. doi: 10.30935/cedtech/9274

Toquero, C. M. (2020). Challenges and opportunities for higher education amid the COVID-19 pandemic: the Philippine context. Pedagog. Res. 5:em0063. doi: 10.29333/pr/7947

Tugun, V., Bayanova, A. R., Erdyneeva, K. G., Mashkin, N. A., Sakhipova, Z. M., and Zasova, L. V. (2020). The opinions of technology supported education of university students. Int. J. Emerg. Technol. Learn. 15, 4–14. doi: 10.3991/ijet.v15i23.18779

Unger, S., and Meiran, W. (2020). Student attitudes towards online education during the COVID-19 viral outbreak of 2020: distance learning in a time of social distance. Int. J. Technol. Educ. Sci. 4, 256–266. doi: 10.46328/ijtes.v4i4.107

Valeeva, R., and Kalimullin, A. (2021). Adapting or changing: the COVID-19 pandemic and teacher education in Russia. Educ. Sci. 11:408. doi: 10.3390/educsci11080408

Viktoria, V., and Aida, M. (2020). comparative analysis on the impact of distance learning between Russian and Japanese university students, during the pandemic of COVID-19. Educ. Q. Rev. 3:438–446. doi: 10.31014/aior.1993.03.04.151

Virtič, M. P., Dolenc, K., and Šorgo, A. (2021). Changes in online distance learning behaviour of university students during the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak, and development of the model of forced distance online learning preferences. Eur. J. Educ. Res. 10, 393–411. doi: 10.12973/EU-JER.10.1.393

Yurdal, M. O., Sahin, E. M., Kosan, A. M. A., and Toraman, C. (2021). Development of medical school students’ attitudes towards online learning scale and its relationship with E-learning styles. Turk. Online J. Distance Educ. 22, 310–325. doi: 10.17718/tojde.961855

Zagkos, C., Kyridis, A., Kamarianos, I., Dragouni, K E., Katsanou, A., Kouroumichaki, E., et al. (2022). Emergency remote teaching and learning in greek universities during the COVID-19 pandemic: the attitudes of university students. Eur. J. Interact. Multimed. Educ. 3:e02207. doi: 10.30935/ejimed/11494

Keywords : ICT, distance learning, COVID-19, higher education, online learning

Citation: Masalimova AR, Khvatova MA, Chikileva LS, Zvyagintseva EP, Stepanova VV and Melnik MV (2022) Distance Learning in Higher Education During Covid-19. Front. Educ. 7:822958. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.822958

Received: 26 November 2021; Accepted: 14 February 2022; Published: 03 March 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Masalimova, Khvatova, Chikileva, Zvyagintseva, Stepanova and Melnik. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Alfiya R. Masalimova, [email protected]

† ORCID: Alfiya R. Masalimova, orcid.org/0000-0003-3711-2527 ; Maria A. Khvatova, orcid.org/0000-0002-2156-8805 ; Lyudmila S. Chikileva, orcid.org/0000-0002-4737-9041 ; Elena P. Zvyagintseva, orcid.org/0000-0001-7078-0805 ; Valentina V. Stepanova, orcid.org/0000-0003-0495-0962 ; Mariya V. Melnik, orcid.org/0000-0001-8800-4628

This article is part of the Research Topic

The State of E-Learning in Higher Education in the Era of the Pandemic: How do we move Forward?

Challenges of Online Learning During the COVID-19: What Can We Learn on Twitter?

• Conference paper
• First Online: 17 November 2021
• Cite this conference paper

• Wei Quan   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2270-7376 8  

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1485))

Included in the following conference series:

• International Conference on Advanced Research in Technologies, Information, Innovation and Sustainability

1168 Accesses

1 Altmetric

The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing global pandemic. With schools shut down abruptly in mid-March 2020, education has changed dramatically. With the phenomenal rise of online learning, teaching is undertaken remotely and on digital platforms, making schools, teachers, parents, and students face a steep learning curve. This unplanned and rapid move to online learning with little preparation results in a poor experience for everyone involved. Thus, this study explores how people perceive that online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic is challenging. We focus on tweets in English scraped from March to April 2020 with keywords related to the COVID-19 pandemic and online learning. We applied the latent Dirichlet allocation to discover the abstract topics that occur in the data collection. We analyzed representative tweets from the qualitative perspective to explore and augment quantitative findings. Our findings reveal that most challenges identified align with previous studies. We also shed light on several critical issues, including mental health, the digital divide, and cyberbullying. Future work includes investigating these critical issues to enhance teaching and learning practices in the post-digital era.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

• Available as PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

WHO: Who characterizes covid-19 as a pandemic (2020). https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19 . Accessed 11 Mar 2020

White House: Proclamation on declaring a national emergency concerning the novel coronavirus disease (covid-19) outbreak (2020). https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-declaring-national-emergency-concerning-novel-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-outbreak/

All Things Considered: Arkansas governor among the few not to issue stay-at-home order so far (2020). https://www.npr.org/2020/04/06/828303852/arkansas-governor-among-the-few-not-to-issue-stay-at-home-order-so-far

Renner, L.: Education vs. covid-19: the shift to online learning (2020). https://capitolweekly.net/education-vs-covid-19-the-shift-to-online-learning/

Kaplan, A.M., Haenlein, M.: Higher education and the digital revolution: about MOOCs, SPOCs, social media, and the cookie monster. Bus. Horiz. 59 (4), 441–450 (2016)

Google Scholar  

Cleveland-Innes, M.F., Randy Garrison, D.: An Introduction to Distance Education: Understanding Teaching and Learning in a New Era. Routledge (2010)

Meredith, S., Newton, B.: Models of e-learning: technology promise vs learner needs literature review. Int. J. Manage. Educ. 3 (3), 43–56 (2003)

Selwyn, N.: Education and Technology: Key Issues and Debates. Bloomsbury Publishing (2016)

Prasad, P.W.C., Maag, A., Redestowicz, M., Hoe, L.S.: Unfamiliar technology: reaction of international students to blended learning. Comput. Educ. 122 , 92–103 (2018)

Brown, M.G.: Blended instructional practice: a review of the empirical literature on instructors’ adoption and use of online tools in face-to-face teaching. Internet High. Educ. 31 , 1–10 (2016)

Lightner, C.A., Lightner-Laws, C.A.: A blended model: simultaneously teaching a quantitative course traditionally, online, and remotely. Interact. Learn. Environ. 24 (1), 2 (2016)

Rasheed, R.A., Kamsin, A., Abdullah, N.A.: Challenges in the online component of blended learning: a systematic review. Comput. Educ. 144 , 103701 (2020)

Zacharis, N.Z.: A multivariate approach to predicting student outcomes in web-enabled blended learning courses. Internet High. Educ. 27 , 44–53 (2015)

Cheng, G., Chau, J.: Exploring the relationships between learning styles, online participation, learning achievement and course satisfaction: an empirical study of a blended learning course. Br. J. Edu. Technol. 47 (2), 257–278 (2016)

Article   Google Scholar  

Boelens, R., De Wever, B., Voet, M.: Four key challenges to the design of blended learning: a systematic literature review. Educ. Res. Rev. 22 , 1–18 (2017)

Henrie, C.R., Bodily, R., Manwaring, K.C., Graham, C.R.: Exploring intensive longitudinal measures of student engagement in blended learning. Int. Rev. Res. Open Distrib. Learn. 16 (3), 131–155 (2015)

Broadbent, J.: Comparing online and blended learner’s self-regulated learning strategies and academic performance. Internet High. Educ. 33 , 24–32 (2017)

Long, T., Cummins, J., Waugh, M.: Use of the flipped classroom instructional model in higher education: instructors’ perspectives. J. Comput. High. Educ. 29 (2), 179–200 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-016-9119-8

Gopalan, C., Bracey, G., Klann, M., Schmidt, C.: Embracing the flipped classroom: the planning and execution of a faculty workshop. Adv. Physiol. Educ. 42 (4), 648–654 (2018)

Maycock, K.W., Lambert, J., Bane, D.: Flipping learning not just content: a 4-year action research study investigating the appropriate level of flipped learning. J. Comput. Assist. Learn. 34 (6), 661–672 (2018)

Li, C., Lalani, F.: The covid-19 pandemic has changed education forever. This is how (2020). https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-education-global-covid19-online-digital-learning/

Bower, M., Dalgarno, B., Kennedy, G.E., Lee, M.J.W., Kenney, J.: Design and implementation factors in blended synchronous learning environments: outcomes from a cross-case analysis. Comput. Educ. 86 , 1–17 (2015)

Smith, S.: Coronavirus (covid19) Tweets. Kaggle (2020). https://www.kaggle.com/smid80/coronavirus-covid19-tweets

Guerra, J., Quan, W., Li, K., Ahumada, L., Winston, F., Desai, B.: SCOSY: a biomedical collaboration recommendation system. In: 2018 40th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), pp. 3987–3990. IEEE (2018)

Řehůřek, R., Sojka, P.: Software framework for topic modelling with large corpora. In: Proceedings of the LREC 2010 Workshop on New Challenges for NLP Frameworks, pp. 45–50, May 22 2010

Blei, D.M., Ng, A.Y., Jordan, M.I.: Latent Dirichlet allocation. J. Mach. Learn. Res. 3 , 993–1022 (2003)

Röder, M., Both, A., Hinneburg, A.: Exploring the space of topic coherence measures. In: Proceedings of the Eighth ACM International Conference on Web Search and Data Mining, pp. 399–408 (2015)

Mabey, B.: pyLDAvis: Python library for interactive topic model visualization. Port of the R LDAvis Package (2018)

Babvey, P., Capela, F., Cappa, C., Lipizzi, C., Petrowski, N., Ramirez-Marquez, J.: Using social media data for assessing children’s exposure to violence during the covid-19 pandemic. Child Abuse Negl. 116 , 104747 (2021)

Dhawan, S.: Online learning: a panacea in the time of covid-19 crisis. J. Educ. Technol. Syst. 49 (1), 5–22 (2020)

Henderson, E.: Survey reveals significant mental health impact during covid-19 pandemic (2020). https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200702/Survey-reveals-significant-mental-health-impact-during-COVID-19-pandemic.aspx

Gecker, J., Liedtke, M.: AP EXCLUSIVE: US faces back-to-school laptop shortage (2020). https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-ap-top-news-ca-state-wire-technology-lifestyle-01e9302796d749b6aadc35ddc8f4c946

L1ght. Rising levels of hate speech & online toxicity during this time of crisis (2020). https://l1ght.com/Toxicity_during_coronavirus_Report-L1ght.pdf

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Sungkyunkwan University, Jongno-Gu, Seoul, 03063, Korea

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wei Quan .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

Universidad Estatal Península de Santa Elena, La Libertad, Ecuador

Teresa Guarda

Universidade do Minho, Guimarães, Portugal

Filipe Portela

Manuel Filipe Santos

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Cite this paper.

Quan, W. (2021). Challenges of Online Learning During the COVID-19: What Can We Learn on Twitter?. In: Guarda, T., Portela, F., Santos, M.F. (eds) Advanced Research in Technologies, Information, Innovation and Sustainability. ARTIIS 2021. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1485. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90241-4_40

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90241-4_40

Published : 17 November 2021

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-030-90240-7

Online ISBN : 978-3-030-90241-4

eBook Packages : Computer Science Computer Science (R0)

Share this paper

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Springer Nature - PMC COVID-19 Collection

Academic and emotional effects of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic on engineering students

Rosó baltà-salvador.

1 Department of Graphic and Design Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya C, Colom 11, 08222 Terrassa, Spain

Noelia Olmedo-Torre

2 Department of Graphic and Design Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya Av, Eduard Maristany 16, 08019 Barcelona, Spain

Marta Peña

3 Department of Mathematics, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya Av. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Ana-Inés Renta-Davids

4 Department of Pedagogy, Universitat Rovira i Virgili Ctra. de Valls, 43007 Tarragona, Spain

Associated Data

The data and materials that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

The unprecedented situation of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the closure of universities worldwide and has forced the transition to online learning. This exceptional context compels us to understand students' experience with online learning. Previous literature identifies relevant factors that intervene in the online education experience and can affect students' academic development. One of the main concerns is the students' mental health, given the lockdown restrictions under which classes have been conducted. Furthermore, the impact of the prolonged lockdown and the pandemic fatigue on university students and their academic experience is still unclear. This study delves into engineering undergraduate students’ online education experience during the COVID-19 pandemic and its emotional impact across time. With this aim, a questionnaire was distributed to second, third, and fourth-year engineering undergraduate students at two time points, approximately six months apart. The results show significant differences in students' connection with other students and teachers, workspace conditions, and boredom between time points. Besides, the findings indicate significant correlations between academic development and quality of online classes, adaptation of the course, workspace conditions, and connection with other students and teachers, and also between students' emotions and connection with other students and teachers. Finally, the study identifies best practices carried out during online teaching that will be of value for future courses and engineering education beyond the pandemic situation, amongst which those related to effective communication with teachers stand out.

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge in education, leading to the suspension of face-to-face teaching (UNESCO, 2020 ). This change has been particularly challenging in university undergraduate engineering degrees since much of the learning process is based on practical applications, laboratory classes, and direct contact with teachers and other students. Being an exceptional and novel situation, the potential impact of the health crisis and the prolonged lockdown on students' academic development and emotional state is still unknown.

Recent work has identified some variables that intervene in the online education process, such as the correct adaptation of teaching to the online format, including classes, assessment methods, and teacher support (Alnusairat et al., 2020 ; Linh & Trang, 2020 ); the quality of the classes received (Al-Balas et al., 2020 ; Amir et al., 2020 ); the conditions of students' workspace (Gelles et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ); and the connection with other students and teachers (Elmer et al., 2020 ; Radu et al., 2020 ). However, there is a knowledge gap in how these variables are related to students' academic development and whether having been in a prolonged lockdown might have affected them.

Furthermore, educational and psychological research has raised concerns about students' mental health as they have had to suddenly switch to online learning systems and follow classes under lockdown restrictions. Investigations pointed out that students have experienced an increase in stress, anxiety, and depression (Aslan et al., 2020 ; Odriozola-González et al., 2020 ; Saravanan et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ), and have felt some negative feelings intensified, such as fear, worry, or boredom (Aristovnik et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ). Several studies have highlighted the protective effect that the connection with the rest of the academic community can have on anxiety, depression, and stress (Elmer et al., 2020 ; Magson et al., 2021 ; Procentese et al., 2020 ). Although mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic has received much attention in the academic field, studies have focused on analyzing adverse mental states such as depression, stress, or anxiety, but a broader perspective on the emotional state of the students, including a wider range of emotions and considering positive emotions such as calm or trust, is still missing.

Within this context, the present study carried out at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), Spain, investigates how the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown has affected the academic experience of students and their emotional state across time. Two measurements taken six months apart were compared to detect changes potentially caused by a prolonged public health crisis and lockdown, providing new knowledge about pandemic fatigue in university students. Moreover, we assessed the correlations between the variables related to online education and the academic development of students to understand how the change to online teaching may have affected the performance of engineering students. Also, based on Plutchik’s theoretical framework on emotions (Plutchik, 1994 ), a study has been carried out to understand the impact of the pandemic on students' emotional state and how the connection with other students and teachers can help not only to reduce adverse emotions, but also to enhance positive emotions such as calm or confidence. To the best of our knowledge, no prior studies on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on engineering university students have considered such a wide spectrum of emotions and have observed the impact of being in contact with the rest of the academic community on these emotions. Furthermore, our research is novel as it encompasses the different variables involved in online education identified in previous studies, and conducts a longitudinal study to understand the impact of time and pandemic fatigue on these variables and students' academic development. Finally, this investigation identifies best practices carried out during distance teaching that can help improve the online learning experience in engineering studies beyond the pandemic situation.

Understanding the academic and emotional effects of the pandemic on engineering students is essential for several reasons. There is a growing trend for universities to offer online courses. However, in engineering, this transition is still a challenge since traditional engineering studies are based fundamentally on the practical application of scientific and technological principles. The unexpected situation generated by COVID-19 has forced engineering universities to offer their studies online, even for students who would not have proactively chosen to learn online. Therefore, it is an opportunity to analyze students' academic experience in distance engineering studies since they are rarely offered online. This information will contribute to the design of remote engineering courses to make them more accessible. On the other hand, the pandemic's scope during the next few years is unclear, so it is essential to understand its impact on learning to develop support actions for students. Also, all these lessons will be relevant if we face a similar situation that requires the confinement of the population in the coming years.

Impact of COVID-19 on students’ learning experience

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus began in late 2019 and spread around the world rapidly within months (Du Toit, 2020 ; Zhou et al., 2020 ). On March 11th, 2020, The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the public health emergency caused by the new coronavirus an international pandemic. Due to the high transmission rate of SARS-CoV-2, most countries took measures to stop the spread, including the blockade of cities, strict implementation of contact isolation, and strict medical system precaution (World Health Organization, 2021 ). This reduction in population mobility caused higher education institutions to cancel in-person classes and move towards remote learning (UNESCO, 2020 ). In the case of traditional engineering studies, this posed a significant challenge since it is a field in which a large part of the curriculum is based on the practical application of knowledge and relies heavily on face-to-face practical and laboratory classes (Jacques et al., 2020 ). This unexpected change in the teaching format has forced engineering students to adapt to new ways of learning under the conditions of the health crisis, potentially affecting their academic development. Furthermore, while previous research has revealed the impact of online education on those students who proactively chose distance learning, the current pandemic situation allows studying the impact on all students and in degrees that are generally not available online, as it is the case for engineering studies. Due to the exceptional nature of the situation, the effect of online classes derived from the emergence of COVID-19 on students is yet unknown, so work providing empirical data is crucial to understand the scope of its impact and to be able to propose support actions for students.

Although literature is still limited in this regard, several studies have tried to explain the impact of the rapid transition to online models during COVID-19 on students’ academic development. However, the results of these investigations are not homogeneous and show remarkable differences in the results. These variations may be due to the start and end dates of the academic years and school holidays, the timing and impact of the pandemic in each country, and the corresponding measures implemented to manage the health crisis. For example, in some countries face-to-face classes were suspended from the beginning of the pandemic while others were less restrictive and just reduced face-to-face teaching or postponed the beginning of the semester (Gonzalez et al., 2020 ). These contrasts can also be related to other factors like the differences between academic fields, the resources available for students, and the methodologies implemented by teachers during online teaching, among others. This lack of consistency opens the door to new studies that provide complementary evidence which might allow for a better understanding of the impact of online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic on university students from different countries and academic fields.

To study the way in which the lockdown and distance teaching have affected engineering students during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to identify the variables that intervene in the online educational experience. Previous research in psychology and education has identified four relevant constructs in distance education, which have also received attention in studies on remote education in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

First, previous research on online teaching highlighted the courses’ quality as a significant factor in students’ satisfaction and learning (Piccoli et al., 2001 ; Sun et al., 2008 ) and pointed out that the effective switch toward online teaching models is influenced by the perceived quality of the classes (Ibrahim et al., 2013 ). When designing online courses, classes cannot simply be transferred from a face-to-face to an online environment. Content, pedagogy, methodology, and technology need to be adapted for successful online teaching (Aristovnik et al., 2020 ). The quality of online teaching has received considerable attention in studies on the effects of COVID-19 on higher education. In some of the studies conducted during the lockdown, university students reported low satisfaction with the quality of online teaching (Al-Balas et al., 2020 ; Alnusairat et al., 2020 ) and higher learning satisfaction in face-to-face learning than in distance learning (Amir et al., 2020 ; Linh & Trang, 2020 ). According to the UNESCO ( 2020 ), this disaffection with the online classes stems from the fact that the content offered was never designed within the framework of a distance course but instead tried to make up for the absence of face-to-face classes with virtual classes without sufficient preparation. However, the results of other studies showed that students were satisfied with the overall e-learning provided thus far in their university studies (Aristovnik et al., 2020 ; Jacques et al., 2020 ; Puljak et al., 2020 ). More specifically, in a study with a sample that included engineering students, 85% of the respondents indicated that online teaching quality during the COVID-19 pandemic was good or very good (Radu et al., 2020 ). Since the quality of teaching is one of the main constructs in the evaluation of distance teaching, it has been included in this research as a study variable. Also, as there is a lack of consistency in the results of previous studies regarding the satisfaction with the online course’s quality during COVID-19, it is necessary to provide more data from samples of engineering students.

Second, there are considerable differences in results among research regarding specific aspects, such as classes, exams, or teachers’ support, in adaptation to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the results differ across the investigations. On the one hand, previous research reported students’ low satisfaction with the support received from their teachers (Alnusairat et al., 2020 ) and less satisfaction with the classes and assessment methods in distance education compared to classroom learning (Linh & Trang, 2020 ). This low satisfaction with how teaching was adapted to the online format is associated with an increase in the perceived workload (Alnusairat et al., 2020 ; Gelles et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ). Furthermore, Khalil et al. ( 2020 ) pointed out that the issues related to the implementation and quality of online courses can become barriers to the engagement and acquisition of knowledge. On the other hand, there are studies in university settings in which students were satisfied with the teacher support received and the content of their online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic (Jacques et al., 2020 ; Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al., 2020 ). Also, in Puljak et al.’s ( 2020 ) investigation, students reported that the assessment methods and materials used in their classes during the lockdown were tailored to e-learning. Similar to the courses’ quality, current studies show contradictory results regarding student satisfaction on how their courses were adapted to the remote format. Moreover, adaptation to online teaching was a highly discussed construct during the COVID-19 health crisis due to the short time in which classes, evaluation methods, and teachers' support and guidance had to be readjusted to the online format (UNESCO, 2020 ).

Third, another major challenge on distance education are the feelings of isolation and disconnection in online courses due to lack of face-to-face contact with other students and teachers (Mcinnerney & Roberts, 2004 ). Numerous studies prior to the COVID-19 pandemic indicated that interactions with other students and teachers were essential for student satisfaction and played a decisive role in academic development and students’ achievements (Arbaugh, 2000 ; Hong, 2002 ; Mcinnerney & Roberts, 2004 ; Piccoli et al., 2001 ; Sun et al., 2008 ). Hence, when designing online courses, the interaction mechanisms must be considered to offer enriching and thriving learning environments. Concerning the perceived connection with other students and teachers during the lockdown, previous research indicated that students felt less connected with fellow students and teachers than in face-to-face education (Al-Balas et al., 2020 ; Puljak et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ). Overall, university students indicated that they have missed in-person contact with other students and professors during the lockdown (Puljak et al., 2020 ) and that communication has been more complicated than in face-to-face education (Alnusairat et al., 2020 ; Amir et al., 2020 ; Radu et al., 2020 ). In Elmer et al. ( 2020 ) investigation on students enrolled in engineering and natural science programs, students reported fewer study partners and felt significantly more socially isolated. Also, in the study by Tang et al. ( 2020 ) on undergraduate students from engineering majors, almost 70% thought that they had not communicated often with their teachers from the online courses during the pandemic. This lack of contact is worrisome since social contact and socialization routines are part of the daily experience of higher education students and can affect their academic development (UNESCO, 2020 ). In the context of online classes during the pandemic, a greater connection with the community has been related to greater self-efficacy and engagement and lower academic stress (Luan et al., 2020 ; Procentese et al., 2020 ). Connection with fellow students and teachers is one of the variables that has received the most attention in the academic community concerning the experience in online education. Social isolation of students during the pandemic has further increased the importance of this factor and hence, we have included connection with other students and teachers as a variable in this study.

Finally, although it had not received much attention in distance education literature before the pandemic, learning environment conditions, its ergonomics, and access to a quality internet connection are additional and indeed important variables to consider in distance learning. A workspace that does not offer the appropriate conditions represents a risk factor for comfort, well-being, and students’ academic performance (Braat-Eggen et al., 2017 ; Hviid et al., 2020 ; Parvez et al., 2019 ; Zhong et al., 2019 ). The unexpected change to online education due to the COVID-19 pandemic has made researchers and academic staff wonder whether students were prepared to take classes from their home and whether they had an adequate workspace, equipment, and facilities for effective learning. In addition, the lockdown situation has prevented students from going to libraries or study halls and, in many cases, has forced family members to share the spaces of their houses, which might have worsened student workplace conditions by increasing noise and distractions (Driessen et al., 2020 ). In several studies, university students reported that their home has been a distractive environment and mentioned that they were more prone to be interrupted by roommates or family members (Gelles et al., 2020 ; Kyne & Thompson, 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ). Moreover, Realyvásquez-Vargas et al. ( 2020 ) pointed out that environmental factors such as noise, temperature, and lighting had a significant effect on university students’ academic performance during online classes in the pandemic context. These issues were associated with more difficulties in focusing and concentrating while learning (Amir et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ) and can become a barrier to the acquisition of knowledge through online courses (Khalil et al., 2020 ). Another drawback identified in online classes during the pandemic has been inadequate internet access (Al-Balas et al., 2020 ; Alnusairat et al., 2020 ; Amir et al., 2020 ; Aristovnik et al., 2020 ; Kyne & Thompson, 2020 ). Several studies have reported that a significant percentage of university students, especially those from disadvantaged families, have had problems accessing internet services (Aristovnik et al., 2020 ). Due to the unexpected lockdown situation and the rapid transition to online learning, students did not have time to adapt their workspace, which may have had an impact on their academic development. Thus, we included workspace conditions as a variable for this study.

All these factors should be considered when designing online courses to avoid detrimental effects on students’ academic development (Braat-Eggen et al., 2017 ; Hviid et al., 2020 ; Mcinnerney & Roberts, 2004 ; Piccoli et al., 2001 ; Sun et al., 2008 ; Zhong et al., 2019 ). Numerous studies predicted that the change in teaching methods during the pandemic affected students’ academic development and their outcomes, although the results are inconsistent. Some of the studies have shown that confinement had positively affected students’ academic performance and their learning efficiency (Gonzalez et al., 2020 ; Khalil et al., 2020 ). The study by Jacques et al. ( 2020 ) carried out with engineering students showed that distance learning did not reduce students’ performance and that the grades obtained were similar to those expected in face-to-face teaching. Contrarily, previous research revealed that students perceived worse performance upon face-to-face classes being canceled (Aristovnik et al., 2020 ) and showed concerns about the negative impact that the pandemic situation will have on their academic outcomes (Nassr et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ). The study by Hamann et al. ( 2020 ) suggested that students who followed the course entirely online were significantly less likely to be successful than students who also, or exclusively, attended face-to-face courses during the pandemic. Furthermore, Tang et al. ( 2020 ) indicated in their study during the COVID-19 lockdown that students felt generally dissatisfied with the effects of online engineering courses on their learning.

Based on these assumptions, we expect to find a positive correlation between students' academic development with the variables of quality of teaching, adaptation of the classes to the online format, connection with other students and professors, and workspace conditions (Hypothesis 1). Since many of the studies done so far in the context of the pandemic have identified these variables separately, few correlational studies have analyzed their associations and identified the factors that may have had the greatest impact on students' academic development during COVID-19. Knowing how the variables related to the online experience have affected the performance of the students will allow us to identify relevant points that should be considered in the design of online courses. To complement this information, we also identified the best practices carried out by instructors in online teaching during the pandemic that have helped students transition to this new learning environment. This information can help instructors and institutions improve online teaching beyond the pandemic situation. This approach is aligned with the conclusions of Anderson et al. ( 2011 ), which showed that receiving feedback from students about the online lessons is vital to improve the courses offered.

Emotional effects of COVID-19

Studies before the COVID-19 pandemic already reported the negative psychological effects that lockdown can cause on people (Blendon et al., 2004 ). Quarantine is often described as an unpleasant experience for those who suffer it, and can involve uncertainty about the situation and boredom (Brooks et al., 2020 ; Cava et al., 2005 ). It is also associated with significant psychological distress, depressive symptoms, post-traumatic stress, and aversive emotional states such as anger, confusion, anguish, disgust, fear, or nervousness, among others (Brooks et al., 2020 ; Hawryluck et al., 2004 ). In the studies carried out during the COVID-19 lockdown, university students reported negative effects on their mental health and emotions. Generally, students have experienced an increase in their stress, anxiety, and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic (Aslan et al., 2020 ; Odriozola-González et al., 2020 ; Saravanan et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ). Besides, they reported feeling some negative emotions intensified, such as fear, worry, or boredom (Aristovnik et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ).

Despite the proven adverse effects that lockdown can have on people, in cases like a public health emergency due to an infectious disease, imposing measures on the population to stop the spread of such disease is needed. Studying which elements can minimize the negative impact and aversive feelings during isolation are of great importance in this context. Some studies have indicated that contact with the academic community can act as a protector and decrease the negative impact of lockdown on students’ mental health (Elmer et al., 2020 ; Magson et al., 2021 ; Procentese et al., 2020 ). Others have shown that the lack of relationships and connection with other students and teachers is associated with an increase in academic stress (Zurlo et al., 2020 ).

Most studies during the COVID-19 pandemic on the emotional state of university students have only analyzed negative emotional states such as anxiety, stress, or depression. However, there is a lack of research with a more global perspective on the emotional state of university students that also includes positive emotions to study whether these have decreased during the pandemic. In the study of emotions, psychological theories have proposed some dimensions to measure people’s emotional state, although they have hardly been contemplated in studies on the emotional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the best known and widely used is Plutchik’s ( 1994 ) theory, which presents eight emotional dimensions in opposite pairs. Compared with other theories such as Ekman ( 1992 ) or Parrot ( 2001 ), Plutchik’s framework is well-founded in psychological studies, presents a good balance between positive and negative emotions, and offers a broader subset of emotional dimensions (Wang et al., 2019 ), the aforementioned reasons being why it has been used as a reference to measure the emotions of the students in this study.

Based on the results of the previous literature, we hypothesize that there is an association between the perceived connection with other students and teachers and the emotional state of the students, so a greater connection with other students and teachers will be associated with a decrease in negative emotions and an increase in positive emotions (Hypothesis 2).

Effects of pandemic fatigue

One of the great unknowns related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic are the effects of a prolonged lockdown situation. The entire world population has been exposed to a state of exceptionality generated by the COVID-19 pandemic that has required the implementation of invasive measures with unprecedented impact on daily lives. When these measures are prolonged for an extended period of time, it can cause what is known as pandemic fatigue, which is the mental exhaustion caused by a public health crisis and the restrictions derived from it. This state can affect the mental health of those who suffer it, causing boredom, demotivation, alienation, and hopelessness (World Health Organization & Regional Office for Europe, 2020 ). Given the unusual nature of the situation, the literature on the impact of the pandemic and the lockdown implemented is still limited, and there is little evidence to indicate whether the academic and psychological effects of lockdown are greater at the beginning of the pandemic because of the uncertainty of the situation or may become more significant as the pandemic continues due to the feeling of burnout during the prolonged lockdown (Canet-Juric et al., 2020 ). Additionally, most longitudinal studies in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in university students assessed only the psychological impact, so more research is required to analyze the academic impact. As Odriozola-González et al. ( 2020 ) pointed out, more longitudinal studies are needed to analyze the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to draw conclusions about the cause and effect relationships between the variables involved.

In the current literature there is substantial debate about the detrimental effects of pandemic fatigue. In particular, there are two major views: some longitudinal studies supported the theory that adverse effects have intensified as time in lockdown increased and showed significant increments in negative symptoms such as depression, anxiety, or stress (Ausín et al., 2021 ; Cecchini et al., 2021 ; Gopal et al., 2020 ). In contrast, other studies argued that the effects did not increase over time and, in any case, were are greater at the beginning of the pandemic due to uncertainty and fear of the unknown situation (Canet-Juric et al., 2020 ). Regarding this theory, the study by Ramos-Morcillo et al. ( 2020 ) identified two phases as a pandemic progresses. The first is the so-called shock phase, which occurs during the first weeks, and disorientation and mental performance decreases, along with the ability to concentrate. The second is the normalization phase, in which conditions of confinement start to be assimilated, and the new everyday life is normalized. Thus, based on this second theory, we hypothesize that there is an association between time in lockdown and academic experience, and students will have a worst online learning experience at the beginning of lockdown (Hypothesis 3). We also expect an association between the time in lockdown and students’ emotional state, and we hypothesize that negative feelings will be greater at the beginning of lockdown, and positive feelings will be greater as time progresses (Hypothesis 4). Knowing when the impact of a confinement situation or health crisis is greater and which feelings increase over time will help to develop support plans for students and plan corrective measures in similar situations like climate, political, or security crises that can restrict people’s movement and prevent regular university access.

Context of the current study

In the current study carried out at the UPC, we made two measurements at different time points and compared data collected in spring and fall semesters, 2020, to evaluate the effects of prolonged lockdown and pandemic fatigue on the educational experience and emotional state of engineering students. Regarding the restrictions derived from the pandemic in Spain, the first state of alarm was decreed on March 14th, and the free movement of citizens was limited to essential activities resulting in the confinement of the population in their places of residence and the suspension of face-to-face education. Consequently, educational institutions had to switch the teaching to the online format, and many held the classes and academic activities remotely until the end of the course in June 2020. Due to the increase in cases, on October 16th, all face-to-face activity in universities was suspended again, although many higher education institutions had already started the academic year online after the summer. On October 25th, after exceeding half a million infected countywide, the second state of alarm was established to face the pandemic’s second wave. In this case, a curfew was imposed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., and later the population was confined again in their municipalities and social gatherings were restricted.

Participants

The participants of this study were students enrolled in the second, third, and fourth-year of the Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design and Product Development Engineering. First-year students were excluded from the sample due to the short time they had been in engineering studies and the inability to compare the impact of the lockdown on their academic activity with previous courses. All students enrolled in the other three courses were invited to participate, that is, a total of 339 students, 168 at Time 1 (T1) and 171 at Time 2 (T2). The required sample size calculated based on a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of 5% was 181 students for the total sample, 119 for each measurement. Finally, a total of 254 students participated in the study, 122 at T1 and 132 at T2, so the study sample meets the intended size. Participants were self-selected and no incentive was given to students to participate in the study. The protection of personal data was duly taken into account, ensuring that all recipients agreed to receive communications. Both anonymity of the participants and confidentiality of the data to be collected were guaranteed. Data did not include personal characteristics of the students. Table ​ Table1 1 shows the academic year and the conditions in which the participants took the online classes during the pandemic, type of residence and workspace conditions.

Academic course and lockdown conditions of the participants

Due to the exceptional nature of the situation a questionnaire was designed for this study with measures derived from previous literature and adapted to fit the research context. In previous investigations on the impact of online teaching on students' academic experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, these constructs were measured using questionnaires addressed to students. In these questionnaires, students were asked about their perception of the quality of teaching (Al-Balas et al., 2020 ; Alnusairat et al., 2020 ; Amir et al., 2020 ; Aristovnik et al., 2020 ; Linh & Trang, 2020 ; Puljak et al., 2020 ; Radu et al., 2020 ), the adaptation of classes to the online format (Al-Balas et al., 2020 ; Alnusairat et al., 2020 ; Aristovnik et al., 2020 ; Linh & Trang, 2020 ; Puljak et al., 2020 ; Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al., 2020 ), the perceived connection with other students and teachers (Al-Balas et al., 2020 ; Alnusairat et al., 2020 ; Amir et al., 2020 ; Linh & Trang, 2020 ; Puljak et al., 2020 ; Radu et al., 2020 ; Tang et al., 2020 ), their workspace conditions (Al-Balas et al., 2020 ; Amir et al., 2020 ; Driessen et al., 2020 ; Kyne & Thompson, 2020 ; Linh & Trang, 2020 ; Realyvásquez-Vargas et al., 2020 ), and the impact on students' academic development (Al-Balas et al., 2020 ; Aristovnik et al., 2020 ; Linh & Trang, 2020 ; Realyvásquez-Vargas et al., 2020 ; Tang et al., 2020 ). These investigations have been used as a foundation to build the measuring instrument for this study.

The quality of the online classes that students received during the lockdown was assessed with a 4-point scale (1 = Very bad to 4 = Very good). To measure students’ perceptions about the adaptation of the course to the online format, a set of 4 items was designed (α = .76) rated on a 4-point scale (1 = Strongly disagree to 4 = Strongly agree). Students were asked to indicate if the classes and the assessment methods had been adapted correctly to the online format, if they had been able to follow the course correctly, and if they had received the necessary support from teachers. To assess the level of connection that students felt with other students and teachers a set of 4 items was designed (α = .65) rated on a 4-point scale (1 = Strongly disagree to 4 = Strongly agree). Students were asked to indicate if they felt connected with other students and teachers and if they had missed having contact with fellow students and teachers. To measure the workspace conditions, students were asked about the place and the type of room from where they followed the online classes with two multiple-choice questions of three options each (e.g., from a student flat) and an open field. Students also had to indicate if their workspace conditions had been suitable on a 4-point scale (1 = Strongly disagree to 4 = Strongly agree). To determine how students perceived the impact of the switch to online classes on their academic development, they were asked to rate on a 3-point scale (1 = It has worsened to 3 = It has improved) if they believed that their academic development had been affected by online teaching.

To measure the emotions students felt during online classes while they were in lockdown, a measure based on Plutchik’s ( 1994 ) wheel of emotions was designed using a multiple-choice question. Students were asked to select their feelings during the lockdown from 8 options adapted from Plutchik’s classification.

Finally, an optional open question was added in which students could share if there was something that teachers did during the online teaching that helped them especially.

For the present study, students completed the exact same questionnaire at two points, approximately six months apart. The first time the questionnaire was distributed was on June 3rd, 2020 (T1), during the spring semester and almost three months after the first lockdown was established and all classes went online. Consequently, students had a reasonable exposure to the online learning experience and the lockdown to answer the questionnaire. The second measurement was made in the fall semester on November 18th, 2020 (T2), approximately one month after the second state of alarm was decreed and the new lockdown was applied to face the second COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, both measurements were made while students were taking classes online.

The questionnaire, which was anonymous and drawn up using Google Forms, was sent by email together with a motivational letter explaining the purpose of the study. Both times, students had up to 1 week to complete it, and took approximately fifteen minutes to finish. Participants were recruited via email messages sent by the authors of this research and faculty members, and were encouraged to answer all the questions accordingly to their opinions. Before being sent, the questionnaire was submitted to a validation process to identify whether it omitted some question areas, determine whether the questions were clear and well-formulated, and detect possible errors in its preparation.

No outliers were identified, and no missing values were found either since all the questions in the questionnaire were mandatory. Descriptive statistics and frequency analyses were applied to characterize the sample. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used to test the first hypothesis on how the variables related to the online academic experience affected students' academic development. Although the intercorrelations were calculated between all the variables of the online academic experience, the analysis was done using academic development as the independent variable and the variables of connection with other students and teachers, workspace conditions, quality of online classes, and adaptation of the course as dependent variables. To evaluate our second hypothesis about whether the connection with other students and teachers can affect students' emotional state, a Chi-Square Test for Independence was performed using connection with other students and teachers as the independent variable and emotions as the dependent variables. To fulfill the assumption concerning the minimum expected cell frequency, the measure of connection with other students and teachers was transformed into a dichotomous variable combining the negative and positive values, respectively. To assess our third hypothesis on how the time in lockdown affected the academic experience of the students, we performed a Mann-Whitney U Test using the time in which the measurements were made as the independent variable and the variables of academic development, connection with other students and teachers, workspace conditions, quality of online classes, and adaptation of the course as dependent variables. Since the emotion variables were dichotomous, for the fourth hypothesis about how time in lockdown affected the emotional state of the students, a Chi-Square Test for Independence was carried out using the time in which the measurements were taken as the independent variable and the different emotions as dependent variables. In the analyzes, p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant, and the effect size was assessed using Cohen’s ( 1988 ) criteria. For the qualitative data, an abductive methodology was used to identify the codes. First, half of the dataset was analyzed, and a preliminary code list was obtained. Next, the entire dataset was processed with the identified codes, and the rest of the codes emerged from the data iteratively, adding new codes if practices not identified in the preliminary list were found.

Descriptive analyses indicated that about half of the students reported that the quality of the online classes received during the pandemic was bad or very bad (T1 = 54.1%, T2 = 46.2%), and more than a half thought that their academic development worsened during online classes compared to face-to-face classes (T1 = 66.4%, T2 = 68.9%). Also, more than half of the students indicated that their workspace conditions had been adequate, especially at T2 (T1 = 58.2%, T2 = 73.5%). Regarding the single items that compose the variable adaptation of the course variable, over half of the students reported that classes were correctly adapted to the online format (T1 = 57.4%, T2 = 68.2%) and that the evaluation methods were also properly adapted (T1 = 56.6%, T2 = 54.5%). Furthermore, the majority indicated that they had been able to follow the course correctly (T1 = 63.9%, T2 = 78.8%) and had the necessary support from teachers (T1 = 57.4%, T2 = 67.4%). Remarkable differences can be observed between the two time points regarding the 4-items that compose the variable connection with other students and teachers. Students felt less connected to other students and teachers in T2 than in T1 (T1 = 67.2%, T2 = 27.3%; and T1 = 51.6%, T2 = 40.1%; respectively) and the vast majority missed having contact with other students and teachers (T1 = 82.0%, T2 = 95.5%; and T1 = 81.1%, T2 = 91.7%; respectively).

As shown in Table ​ Table2, 2 , the workspace conditions in which students took the online classes improved significantly from T1 to T2 with a small effect size. On the other hand, the perceived connection with fellow students and teachers worsened significantly from T1 to T2 with a medium effect size, so that in T2 they felt less connected with other students and teachers. Although the quality of online classes and the adaptation of the course improved at T2 compared with T1, no significant differences were found.

Descriptive Statistics and Mann-Whitney Test at Time 1 and Time 2

At both times, correlations between academic development and quality of online classes and adaptation to the course were relatively high and positive with a medium effect size (see Table ​ Table3). 3 ). Also, the workspace conditions had a positive significant correlation with academic development with a small effect at T1 and T2. Therefore, those students who perceived a better quality and adaptation of the online classes and had better workspace conditions were those who reported a better academic development. On the other hand, academic development had a significant positive correlation with connection with other students and teachers with a small effect size at T2, the time point when they felt more disconnected with fellow students and teachers.

Intercorrelations for Study Variables at Time 1 and Time 2

The results for the Time 1 sample ( n = 122) are shown above the diagonal. The results for the Time 2 sample ( n = 132) are shown below the diagonal

* p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001

As illustrated in Fig.  1 , the emotions that students felt the most during the lockdown were discouragement (22.6% T1, 23.0% T2), boredom (T1 = 17.5%, T2 = 21.8%), confusion (T1 = 18.3%, T2 = 15.7%), worry (T1 = 15.4%, T2 = 14.3%), and annoyance (T1 = 10.8%, T2 = 10.3%). Contrary, the least common were vigilance (T1 = 8.2%, T2 = 7.3%), calm (T1 = 5.7%, T2 = 6.1%), and trust (T1 = 1.5%, T2 = 1.6%). Regarding the differences between T1 and T2, students felt slightly less worried and confused at T2, although no statistically significant difference was found (X2 (1, N = 254) = 0.12, p = .728, phi = -.030; and X2 (1, N = 254) = 1.13, p = .288, phi = -.075; respectively). Besides, they felt more bored at T2 than T1, with a statistically significant difference (X2 (1, N = 254) = 5.30, p = .021, phi = .153) with a small effect.

Changes in Students’ Emotions between Time 1 and Time 2

As shown in Table ​ Table4, 4 , a significant association with small effect was found between the connection with other students and teachers and the emotions felt by the students, with the exception of boredom, which did not present significant differences. Those students who felt more connected with other students and teachers were more likely to feel calm and trust. Otherwise, those students who felt more disconnected were the ones who felt more worry, confusion, discouragement, annoyance, and vigilance.

Chi-Square Results for Connection with Other Students and Teachers in Students’ Emotions

The open question regarding best practices carried out during the online teaching received 117 responses, 63 from T1 and 54 from T2. From these responses, 21 best practices were identified, plus the “other practices” code (Table ​ (Table5). 5 ). As some answers referred to more than one code, the total number of best practices identified ( n = 182) is greater than the total number of responses. The codes were classified into four categories: communication, classes, course adaptation to the online format, and teachers.

Best Practices in Online Teaching During COVID-19 Lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a global change in educational systems, forcing the transition from face-to-face to online learning due to the restrictions and lockdowns imposed in most countries. This study has examined university engineering students’ academic experience and the emotional impact of online education during the COVID-19 pandemic using a longitudinal approach. The results provide novel information and extend prior research on the impact of distance education during the COVID-19 lockdown on engineering students.

Effects of the prolonged lockdown on students’ learning experience

The majority of students in our sample reported that their academic development worsened during online learning, and a high percentage considered that the online teaching they received was of a bad quality. Therefore, students have perceived a negative impact regarding the change to online teaching during COVID-19 in their academic experience, especially in their academic development and the quality of the teaching they have received. These findings are consistent with some studies on university students during the COVID-19 pandemic regarding the quality of teaching received (Al-Balas et al., 2020 ; Alnusairat et al., 2020 ; Amir et al., 2020 ; Linh & Trang, 2020 ) and the impact on students’ learning outcomes (Aristovnik et al., 2020 ; Nassr et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ; Tang et al., 2020 ). As UNESCO ( 2020 ) has pointed out, this may be because the change towards online learning has been sudden and consequently the content offered in the classes was not designed to be taught in an online course and online classes were given with limited preparation.

Contrary to our hypothesis (Hypothesis 3), there are no significant differences between T1 and T2 regarding the quality of online classes, the adaptation of teaching to the online format, and the academic development of students. However, we observed a slight increase in the perception of the online classes’ quality and the adaptation of the course, though this difference is not statistically significant. These results suggest that although there may have been an improvement in some aspects of teaching, probably due to enhancements introduced by teachers in the subjects after the first months of the pandemic, these have not been enough to make a significant change in students’ perception. On the other hand, our data show significant differences between T1 and T2 on the workspace conditions and the perceived contact with fellow students and professors. The conditions of the workspace have significantly improved as time progressed in lockdown. This result suggests that students, foreseeing that the new course would also be online, prepared their workspace conditions to suit their needs. As UNESCO ( 2020 ) argues, student's expectations differ if they expect to enroll from the beginning in a distance course or a regular course. So, it is relevant that academic institutions inform students in advance on possible changes in teaching, so that they can adapt their expectations and prepare properly. Contrary to what was expected, the perception of connection with other students and teachers is significantly lower at T2, so the feeling of isolation worsens significantly as the time in lockdown passes and online classes become regular. Students who reported having missed the contact with other students at T2 reach 95.5% and with teachers 91.7%. Similarly, previous studies have highlighted the lack of social contact and the feelings of isolation and disconnection during the COVID-19 lockdown (Al-Balas et al., 2020 ; Elmer et al., 2020 ; Puljak et al., 2020 ; Radu et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ). These studies indicate that students have felt less connected to the academic community than in face-to-face teaching (Al-Balas et al., 2020 ; Puljak et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ). Our findings reveal that not only do students feel less connected to their peers and teachers in online learning compared to face-to-face classes, but also that this feeling increases as time in lockdown lengthens. This finding reaffirms the importance of social contact and communication mechanisms in online education and suggests that if these mechanisms are not properly implemented in the online education systems, the lack of social contact and its negative effects on students’ educational experience may get worse (Luan et al., 2020 ; Procentese et al., 2020 ).

The results of this study indicate that the effects of the prolonged lockdown may impact differently on the variables involved in the online educational experience, and raise new hypotheses regarding the impact of a prolonged lockdown. On the one hand, the impact on variables related to pedagogical aspects of online teaching, such as quality and adaptation of the course, may be more negative at the beginning of the pandemic due to the uncertainty of the situation (Canet-Juric et al., 2020 ; Ramos-Morcillo et al., 2020 ). However, these aspects may improve as time passes due to teaching improvements on the online practices and students’ preparation of their workspace environment foreseeing that they will continue the classes remotely (Scull et al., 2020 ). This hypothesis is supported by studies such as Van Nuland et al. ( 2020 ), which indicates that many teachers have been asked, almost overnight, to implement classes remotely in response to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these teachers had no or little prior experience in online teaching and that they lacked the pedagogical content knowledge needed for online teaching. As the pandemic has progressed, teachers and universities have been adapting and have implemented several innovations to improve the online teaching experience of students (Scull et al., 2020 ). On the other hand, the variables related to the social aspects of the academic experience, such as the contact with other students and teachers, may be negatively affected by the feeling of burnout as time in lockdown passes (Ausín et al., 2021 ; Cecchini et al., 2021 ; Gopal et al., 2020 ). As other studies have reported, the lockdown situation has triggered the feeling of isolation and disconnection of students (Al-Balas et al., 2020 ; Puljak et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ), feelings already identified in pedagogical research on the challenges of e-learning (Mcinnerney & Roberts, 2004 ). Understandably, this feeling strengthens while students remain locked in their homes, and as the time without seeing their classmates and teachers increases. Therefore, it will be crucial for academic institutions and faculty members to put mechanisms in place that help students feel connected to each other and to their teachers, such as discussion forums or instant messaging channels (Moorhouse, 2020 ; Rosenberg & Asterhan, 2018 ). The study by Scull et al. ( 2020 ) shares some learnings from universities and teachers that might help strengthen the connection and communication with students during the pandemic, such as providing channels through which they can ask for help or by opening the debate to more personal day-to-day issues to relax the atmosphere and enhance engagement.

In line with what was predicted in our first hypothesis (Hypothesis 1), we find significant relationships between academic development and the rest of the variables related to the online academic experience of students. Specifically, students’ academic development is associated with the quality of the classes received, the adaptation of the courses to the distance format, and the workspace conditions. Also, a positive correlation was found in T2 between students’ academic development and contact with other students and teachers. Previous literature already pointed out the relationship between the variables studied and the academic development of students (Braat-Eggen et al., 2017 ; Hviid et al., 2020 ; Mcinnerney & Roberts, 2004 ; Piccoli et al., 2001 ; Sun et al., 2008 ; Zhong et al., 2019 ). In this line, our results confirm these relationships between the variables under the conditions of a pandemic and lockdown in engineering students. Considering the direction of the correlations, offering students classes of high quality, adapting the class contents, assessing teaching methods properly, and giving support from teachers to the online format relate to a better academic development. Therefore, it is important to offer teachers training and pedagogical tools needed to provide adequate distance teaching (Van Nuland et al., 2020 ). Moreover, having better workspace conditions can enhance students’ academic development. In this regard, academic institutions can ask students about their conditions and offer support, for example, temporarily borrowing computers from the university or granting access to online learning platforms through mobile phones (UNESCO et al., 2020 ).

Furthermore, previous literature has focused on the positive effects that contact with teachers and other students can have on academic development, such as greater self-efficacy and learning engagement, and less academic stress (Luan et al., 2020 ; Procentese et al., 2020 ). Our study suggests that having good connections with other students and teachers is not necessarily associated with academic development (as observed at T1), but if this lack of contact is extended in time (as observed at T2), it may negatively impact students’ academic development. This new finding supports the previous observation that it is necessary to work on the relationships between students themselves and with their teachers in online learning; otherwise, if these connections are lacking, it may have a negative effect on the educational experience and students’ outcomes.

Emotional impact of prolonged lockdown

Students’ most-reported emotions during the lockdown are discouragement, boredom, confusion, and worry, all of them negative emotions. On the contrary, those less prevalent are the positive emotions of calm and trust. Despite previous articles mainly focusing on negative emotions (Aslan et al., 2020 ; Odriozola-González et al., 2020 ; Saravanan et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ), future studies on students’ mental health should also include positive feelings to understand to what extent these decrease due to the pandemic situation. Assessing positive feelings during a public health crisis is essential as it has been shown that positive emotions can help maintain and improve human mental health (Yamaguchi et al., 2020 ). Thus, using a theoretical framework as Plutchik's ( 1994 ), which includes a broad subset of emotional dimensions, can give a more detailed picture of the emotional state of students and can help detect which feelings teachers and academic institutions need to reinforce, such as students' confidence and calm. Based on this information, institutions can work on messages and communications towards their students to counteract the emotional impact and enhance these positive emotions (Heffner et al., 2021 ).

Contrary to what was expected regarding the differences in the emotional state of the students as the lockdown elapses (Hypothesis 2), most emotions do not show significant changes from T1 to T2. However, worry and confusion are less reported in T2. The fact that students feel more concerned and confused at the beginning of confinement is aligned with the phases of the pandemic identified by Ramos-Morcillo et al. ( 2020 ), in which there is a first phase when disorientation prevails due to the novelty of the situation and a second phase as time progresses when the situation is assimilated and normalized. The only emotion that shows a significant increase from T1 to T2 is boredom, a feeling also present in other studies in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (Aristovnik et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ). Although this result is not consistent with our hypothesis, it is aligned with the effect of mental exhaustion and demotivation the WHO ( 2020 ) claims that pandemic fatigue can cause. These results suggest that burnout does not affect all emotional states in the same way, and while some may not increase as time progresses or even decrease, such as worry or confusion, others such as boredom may increase (Canet-Juric et al., 2020 ). This information is relevant for teachers and academic institutions to understand how their students feel in each phase of the pandemic and to adapt the type of support provided at each moment.

In line with hypothesis 4 and the results of prior research (Elmer et al., 2020 ; Magson et al., 2021 ; Procentese et al., 2020 ), the connection with other students and teachers is correlated with students’ emotions. As expected, connection with others acts as a protector and, as the perception of contact with the academic community increases, the negative feelings of worry, confusion, discouragement, annoyance, and vigilance decrease. Besides, it has also been found that contact with fellow students and teachers is positively associated with the feelings of calm and trust, which suggests that social contact is not only a protector against negative emotions, but that it can also enhance positive emotions. Since positive emotions are the least reported by students during the lockdown, it is essential to identify which actions can enhance these emotions to improve students' mood. This finding reinforces the need to create alternative ways to stay in contact, so students can feel more connected with their classmates and teachers. Fostering social contact and communication will improve students’ mental health during online learning in the public health crisis and, as indicated by other studies, even beyond the pandemic situation (Holen et al., 2018 ).

Best practices in online teaching

In addition to validating the hypotheses raised, this study explores best practices carried out by the teaching staff during distance classes that have helped engineering students during online teaching. Although these practices have been identified in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic during the lockdown, they can also be initiatives of interest for regular teaching in university studies or in the design of online courses beyond the pandemic. Concerning the communication between students and teachers, the two most mentioned communication channels are instant messages and emails. Students have highly appreciated those teachers who have opened instant messaging channels such as WhatsApp to communicate with them in a faster and more accessible way. During the classes, the practice that helped students the most was the recording of the online classes allowing students to review them later. Besides, individual or small group video calls with the professor to clarify doubts more closely and in a more comfortable environment were also highly appreciated. Regarding the course adaptation, the two most relevant initiatives have been sharing problems already solved so students have guidelines to self-correct their exercises and sharing support videos with complementary explanations to the subjects’ content. Finally, it was highly appreciated that teachers gave quick answers to students’ questions and that they had a supportive attitude and were attentive to students’ needs. Some students reported on teachers having asked them for feedback to know how they were doing and improve their classes accordingly. Previous research has already highlighted the importance for teachers of receiving feedback from students in order to improve teaching (Anderson et al., 2011 ). The results of our study suggest that the benefits of the feedback are bi-directional, and it is not only helpful for teachers, but also makes students feel heard and valued. Previous research indicates that communication between students and teachers can be more complicated online than in face-to-face teaching (Alnusairat et al., 2020 ; Amir et al., 2020 ; Radu et al., 2020 ). Our study supports this claim, showing that most of the outstanding initiatives have been those practices that allowed students to solve their doubts more efficiently, such as faster communication methods, individual or small group tutoring sessions or having problems already solved in order to self-solve possible doubts autonomously. Although other studies already identified some of the initiatives undertaken by teachers to improve the experience during online teaching (Scull et al., 2020 ), our work collects those practices most valued from the students’ perspective and the ones that have been most helpful for them.

Limitations and future directions

The results of this study should be interpreted in the context of some limitations, which can be addressed in future research.

The study was conducted during an exceptional public health crisis, so it is not easily replicable. Also, the results of this study are influenced by the actions to face the COVID-19 pandemic taken by both the state and local governments and the academic institution in which the study was carried out. The measures adopted by the different countries and universities have differed, adapting them to the possibilities and characteristics of each case (Gonzalez et al., 2020 ). These differences may make the results of this study difficult to extrapolate to other countries or university degrees in which different solutions to the COVID-19 crisis have been implemented. For this reason, while it is expected that some of the results may be of value beyond the pandemic situation, it will be necessary to validate their applicability in other contexts.

Participants of this research were recruited from second, third and fourth year from a specific engineering degree, so the lack of random sampling and the representation of a student population limited to one engineering degree seem to be a limitation in generalizing the results to all engineering studies or all academic courses. As the field of engineering is vast and there are many different specializations, it would be interesting to expand the study and validate the results in other engineering degrees and in other courses. For example, the academic experience of first-year students who have started their studies in a pandemic situation may be different from those students from second, third and fourth year. It would also be interesting to extend the sample to other universities and countries since the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has not been the same everywhere. Furthermore, we have only included students in the study sample and not teachers. Perspectives of teachers regarding the switch to online learning would be valuable and should be explored in future studies. The samples of this study have been treated as independent. However, since it is a longitudinal study, it would be interesting to validate the observations with paired samples to compare the changes between time points on an individual basis.

Regarding the instruments used in the research, one limitation is that we created a new questionnaire for this study. Although the questions are based on previous studies, we could not find a similar questionnaire in the literature that incorporated all the measurements. Also, the reliability value of the scale used to measure the contact with other students and teachers is a bit low (α = 0.65) although Cronbach’s alpha is quite sensitive to the number of items in the scale, and short scales often have low Cronbach alpha values. Future research should validate these results and the instrument used and expand the number of items of the proposed scales to improve the scale’s reliability. Moreover, we did not collect participants’ personal data, such as gender or demographic information to preserve participants’ anonymity and favor the predisposition of students to answer the questionnaire.

As the study was conducted using a questionnaire, the results studied are based on students’ perceptions. However, perceptions do not always match reality. For example, while in our study students indicated that their academic development worsened during online teaching, the study of Jacques et al. ( 2020 ) found no differences between the grades of engineering students in online education and those expected in a face-to-face teaching. Thus, it would be interesting for future research to compare students’ perceptions regarding their academic development with their academic qualifications to validate the impact of the lockdown and distance classes on students’ outcomes. Also, we phrased the questions to collect the opinion of students regarding the majority of teachers and courses. We acknowledge that they may be differences between different teachers and courses that may impact individual experiences. However, we were interested in analyzing overall collective students’ opinion towards the online learning experience.

Despite these limitations, the results of this study offer valuable information on the academic and emotional effects that online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic had on engineering students and raises new hypotheses which can be examined in more detail in subsequent work. Moreover, a more specific analysis can be carried out to know how much of the variance in academic development can be explained by the quality of the classes, the adaptation of the teaching to the online format, the conditions of students’ workspace and the connection with other students and teachers.

Conclusions

The findings of this study highlight that the majority of students were not satisfied with the quality of their online education enforced during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that they believe that it has negatively affected their academic performance. Moreover, students' academic development is correlated with the quality of the teaching, the adaptation of the assignments, workspace conditions, and the contact with other students and professors. Regarding their emotional state, students reported feeling discouragement, boredom, confusion, and worry to a greater extent, and calm and trust to a lesser extent. Except for boredom, all emotions are associated with the connection with classmates and teachers perceived by students, hence the students who have perceived a higher level of connection are those who reported more positive emotions and less negative ones. Additionally, we find significant improvements as time in lockdown elapsed regarding the students’ workspace conditions, while perceived contact with other students and teachers and boredom worsened significantly as the pandemic progressed. These results indicate that it is necessary to consider how the courses should be adapted to the online format since their quality and their correct adaptation will have an impact on the students' academic development. Furthermore, it is essential to work on connection and communication mechanisms among students and between students and teachers since these can improve students’ emotional state. These conclusions, along with the good practices that teachers have carried out during online classes in the pandemic and that we have identified in this study, will hopefully help in the design of future online courses and in the implementation of support plans to improve the student learning experience and their emotional state.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank all the students from the Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design and Product Development Engineering of the UPC who took part in answering the questionnaire and the teachers who facilitated the distribution of the questionnaire.

Authors’ contributions

Conceptualization, R.B.-S.; Methodology, R.B.-S., N.O.-T. and M.P.; Software, R.B.-S and A.-I.R.-D.; Validation, N.O.-T. and M.P.; Formal analysis, R.B.-S and A.-I.R.-D.; Investigation, R.B.-S.; Resources, N.O.-T. and M.P.; Writing—original draft preparation, R.B.-S., N.O.-T., M.P. and A.-I.R.-D.; Writing—review and editing, R.B.-S, N.O.-T., M.P. and A.-I.R.-D.; Supervision, R.B.-S., N.O.-T. and M.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research received no external funding.

Availability of data and material

Declarations.

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

The participants have consented to the submission of the case report to the journal.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Contributor Information

Rosó Baltà-Salvador, Email: [email protected] .

Noelia Olmedo-Torre, Email: [email protected] .

Marta Peña, Email: [email protected] .

Ana-Inés Renta-Davids, Email: [email protected] .

• Al-Balas M, Al-Balas HI, Jaber HM, Obeidat K, Al-Balas H, Aborajooh EA, Al-Taher R, Al-Balas B. Distance learning in clinical medical education amid COVID-19 pandemic in Jordan: Current situation, challenges, and perspectives. BMC Medical Education. 2020; 20 :341. doi: 10.1186/s12909-020-02257-4. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Alnusairat, S., Al Maani, D., & Al-Jokhadar, A. (2020). Architecture students’ satisfaction with and perceptions of online design studios during COVID-19 lockdown: the case of Jordan universities. International Journal of Architectural Research , ahead - of - p . 10.1108/ARCH-09-2020-0195
• Amir LR, Tanti I, Maharani DA, Wimardhani YS, Julia V, Sulijaya B, Puspitawati R. Student perspective of classroom and distance learning during COVID-19 pandemic in the undergraduate dental study program Universitas Indonesia. BMC Medical Education. 2020; 20 :392. doi: 10.1186/s12909-020-02312-0. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Anderson D, Imdieke S, Standerford NS. Feedback Please: Studying Self in the Online Classroom. International Journal. 2011; 4 (1):3–15. [ Google Scholar ]
• Arbaugh JB. Virtual Classroom Characteristics and Student Satisfaction with Internet-Based MBA Courses. Journal of Management Education. 2000; 24 (1):32–54. doi: 10.1177/105256290002400104. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Aristovnik A, Keržič D, Ravšelj D, Tomaževič N, Umek L. Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on life of higher education students: A global perspective. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (20):8438. doi: 10.3390/su12208438. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Aslan I, Ochnik D, Çınar O. Exploring perceived stress among students in Turkey during the covid-19 pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17 (23):8961. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17238961. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ausín B, González-Sanguino C, Castellanos MÁ, Muñoz M. Gender-related differences in the psychological impact of confinement as a consequence of COVID-19 in Spain. Journal of Gender Studies. 2021; 30 (1):29–38. doi: 10.1080/09589236.2020.1799768. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Blendon RJ, Benson JM, DesRoches CM, Raleigh E, Taylor-Clark K. The public’s response to severe acute respiratory syndrome in Toronto and the United States. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2004; 38 (7):925–931. doi: 10.1086/382355. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Braat-Eggen PE, van Heijst A, Hornikx M, Kohlrausch A. Noise disturbance in open-plan study environments: a field study on noise sources, student tasks and room acoustic parameters. Ergonomics. 2017; 60 (9):1297–1314. doi: 10.1080/00140139.2017.1306631. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Brooks SK, Webster RK, Smith LE, Woodland L, Wessely S, Greenberg N, Rubin GJ. The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet. 2020; 395 (10227):912–920. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Canet-Juric L, Andrés ML, del Valle M, López-Morales H, Poó F, Galli JI, Yerro M, Urquijo S. A Longitudinal Study on the Emotional Impact Cause by the COVID-19 Pandemic Quarantine on General Population. Frontiers in Psychology. 2020; 11 :565688. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.565688. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Cava MA, Fay KE, Beanlands HJ, McCay EA, Wignall R. The experience of quarantine for individuals affected by SARS in Toronto. Public Health Nursing. 2005; 22 (5):398–406. doi: 10.1111/j.0737-1209.2005.220504.x. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Cecchini, J. A., Carriedo, A., Fernández-Río, J., Méndez-Giménez, A., González, C., Sánchez-Martínez, B., & Rodríguez-González, P. (2021). A longitudinal study on depressive symptoms and physical activity during the Spanish lockdown. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology , 21 (1). 10.1016/j.ijchp.2020.09.001 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ]
• Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd edn) . Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 10.4324/9780203771587
• Driessen E, Beatty A, Stokes A, Wood S, Ballen C. Learning principles of evolution during a crisis: An exploratory analysis of student barriers one week and one month into the COVID-19 pandemic. Ecology and Evolution. 2020; 10 (22):12431–12436. doi: 10.1002/ece3.6741. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Du Toit, A. (2020). Outbreak of a novel coronavirus. Nature Reviews Microbiology , 18 (3), 123. 10.1038/s41579-020-0332-0 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ]
• Ekman P. An Argument for Basic Emotions. Cognition and Emotion. 1992; 6 (3):169–200. doi: 10.1080/02699939208411068. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Elmer T, Mepham K, Stadtfeld C. Students under lockdown: Comparisons of students’ social networks and mental health before and during the COVID-19 crisis in Switzerland. PLoS ONE. 2020; 15 (7):e0236337. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236337. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gelles LA, Lord SM, Hoople GD, Chen DA, Mejia JA. Compassionate flexibility and self-discipline: Student adaptation to emergency remote teaching in an integrated engineering energy course during COVID-19. Education Sciences. 2020; 10 :304. doi: 10.3390/educsci10110304. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gonzalez T, De la Rubia MA, Hincz KP, Comas-Lopez M, Subirats L, Fort S, Sacha GM. Influence of COVID-19 confinement on students’ performance in higher education. PLoS ONE. 2020; 15 (10):e0239490. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239490. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gopal A, Sharma AJ, Subramanyam MA. Dynamics of psychological responses to COVID-19 in India: A longitudinal study. PLoS ONE. 2020; 15 (10):e0240650. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240650. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hamann K, Glazier RA, Wilson BM, Pollock PH. Online teaching, student success, and retention in political science courses. European Political Science. 2020 doi: 10.1057/s41304-020-00282-x. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hawryluck L, Gold WL, Robinson S, Pogorski S, Galea S, Styra R. SARS control and psychological effects of quarantine, Toronto. Canada. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2004; 10 (7):1206–1212. doi: 10.3201/eid1007.030703. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Heffner J, Vives M-L, FeldmanHall O. Emotional responses to prosocial messages increase willingness to self-isolate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Personality and Individual Differences. 2021; 170 :110420. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2020.110420. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Holen S, Waaktaar T, Sagatun Å. A Chance Lost in the Prevention of School Dropout? Teacher-Student Relationships Mediate the Effect of Mental Health Problems on Noncompletion of Upper-Secondary School. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research. 2018; 62 (5):737–753. doi: 10.1080/00313831.2017.1306801. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hong KS. Relationships between students’ and instructional variables with satisfaction and learning from a Web-based course. Internet and Higher Education. 2002; 5 (3):267–281. doi: 10.1016/S1096-7516(02)00105-7. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hviid CA, Pedersen C, Dabelsteen KH. A field study of the individual and combined effect of ventilation rate and lighting conditions on pupils’ performance. Building and Environment. 2020; 171 :106608. doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.106608. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ibrahim A, Al Kaabi A, El Zaatari W. Teacher resistance to educational change in the United Arab Emirates. International Journal of Research Studies in Education. 2013; 2 (3):25–36. doi: 10.5861/ijrse.2013.254. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Jacques S, Ouahabi A, Lequeu T. Remote Knowledge Acquisition and Assessment During the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy. 2020; 10 (6):120. doi: 10.3991/ijep.v10i6.16205. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Khalil R, Mansour AE, Fadda WA, Almisnid K, Aldamegh M, Al-Nafeesah A, Alkhalifah A, Al-Wutayd O. The sudden transition to synchronized online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study exploring medical students’ perspectives. BMC Medical Education. 2020; 20 :285. doi: 10.1186/s12909-020-02208-z. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kyne SH, Thompson CD. The COVID cohort: Student transition to university in the face of a global pandemic. Journal of Chemical Education. 2020; 97 (9):3381–3385. doi: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00769. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Linh PD, Trang TN. Pandemic, social distancing, and social work education: students’ satisfaction with online education in Vietnam. Social Work Education. 2020; 39 (8):1074–1083. doi: 10.1080/02615479.2020.1823365. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Luan L, Hong J-C, Cao M, Dong Y, Hou X. Exploring the role of online EFL learners’ perceived social support in their learning engagement: a structural equation model. Interactive Learning Environments. 2020 doi: 10.1080/10494820.2020.1855211. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Magson NR, Freeman JYA, Rapee RM, Richardson CE, Oar EL, Fardouly J. Risk and Protective Factors for Prospective Changes in Adolescent Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 2021; 50 :44–57. doi: 10.1007/s10964-020-01332-9. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mcinnerney JM, Roberts TS. Online Learning: Social Interaction and the Creation of a Sense of Community. Journal of Educational Technology & Society. 2004; 7 (3):73–81. [ Google Scholar ]
• Moorhouse BL. Adaptations to a face-to-face initial teacher education course ‘forced’ online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Education for Teaching. 2020; 46 (4):1–3. doi: 10.1080/02607476.2020.1755205. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Nassr RM, Aborujilah A, Aldossary DA, Aldossary AAA. Understanding Education Difficulty During COVID-19 Lockdown: Reports on Malaysian University Students’ Experience. IEEE Access. 2020; 8 :186939–186950. doi: 10.1109/access.2020.3029967. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Odriozola-González P, Planchuelo-Gómez Á, Irurtia MJ, de Luis-García R. Psychological effects of the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown among students and workers of a Spanish university. Psychiatry Research. 2020; 290 :113108. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113108. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Parrott WG. Emotions in social psychology. Psychology Press; 2001. [ Google Scholar ]
• Parvez MS, Rahman A, Tasnim N. Ergonomic mismatch between students anthropometry and university classroom furniture. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science. 2019; 20 (5):603–631. doi: 10.1080/1463922X.2019.1617909. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Piccoli G, Ahmad R, Ives B. Web-based virtual learning environments: A research framework and a preliminary assessment of effectiveness in basic it skills training. MIS Quarterly: Management Information Systems. 2001; 25 (4):401–426. doi: 10.2307/3250989. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Plutchik, R. (1994). The Psychology and Biology of Emotion . Harper Collins College Publishers.
• Procentese F, Capone V, Caso D, Donizzetti AR, Gatti F. Academic community in the face of emergency situations: Sense of responsible togetherness and sense of belonging as protective factors against academic stress during covid-19 outbreak. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (22):9718. doi: 10.3390/su12229718. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Puljak L, Čivljak M, Haramina A, Mališa S, Čavić D, Klinec D, Aranza D, Mesarić J, Skitarelić N, Zoranić S, Majstorović D, Neuberg M, Mikšić Š, Ivanišević K. Attitudes and concerns of undergraduate university health sciences students in Croatia regarding complete switch to e-learning during COVID-19 pandemic: a survey. BMC Medical Education. 2020; 20 :416. doi: 10.1186/s12909-020-02343-7. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Radu MC, Schnakovszky C, Herghelegiu E, Ciubotariu VA, Cristea I. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the quality of educational process: A student survey. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17 (21):7770. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17217770. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ramos-Morcillo AJ, Leal-Costa C, Moral-García JE, Ruzafa-Martínez M. Experiences of nursing students during the abrupt change from face-to-face to e-learning education during the first month of confinement due to COVID-19 in Spain. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17 (15):5519. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17155519. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Realyvásquez-Vargas, A., Maldonado-Macías, A. A., Arredondo-Soto, K. C., Baez-Lopez, Y., Carrillo-Gutiérrez, T., & Hernández-Escobedo, G. (2020). The Impact of Environmental Factors on Academic Performance of University Students Taking Online Classes during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico. Sustainability , 12 (21), 9194. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/21/9194
• Rodríguez-Rodríguez E, Sánchez-Paniagua M, Sanz-Landaluze J, Moreno-Guzmán M. Analytical Chemistry Teaching Adaptation in the COVID-19 Period: Experiences and Students’ Opinion. Journal of Chemical Education. 2020; 97 (9):2556–2564. doi: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00923. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rosenberg, H., & Asterhan, C. S. C. (2018). “WhatsApp, Teacher?” Student Perspectives on Teacher-Student WhatsApp Interactions in Secondary Schools. Journal of Information Technology Education Research , 4081 , 205–226. 10.28945/4081
• Saravanan C, Mahmoud I, Elshami W, Taha MH. Knowledge, Anxiety, Fear, and Psychological Distress About COVID-19 Among University Students in the United Arab Emirates. Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2020; 11 :582189. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.582189. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Scull J, Phillips M, Sharma U, Garnier K. Innovations in teacher education at the time of COVID19: an Australian perspective. Journal of Education for Teaching. 2020; 46 (4):497–506. doi: 10.1080/02607476.2020.1802701. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Son C, Hegde S, Smith A, Wang X, Sasangohar F. Effects of COVID-19 on college students’ mental health in the United States: Interview survey study. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2020; 22 (9):e21279. doi: 10.2196/21279. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Sun PC, Tsai RJ, Finger G, Chen YY, Yeh D. What drives a successful e-Learning? An empirical investigation of the critical factors influencing learner satisfaction. Computers and Education. 2008; 50 (4):1183–1202. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2006.11.007. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Tang T, Abuhmaid AM, Olaimat M, Oudat DM, Aldhaeebi M, Bamanger E. Efficiency of flipped classroom with online-based teaching under COVID-19. Interactive Learning Environments. 2020 doi: 10.1080/10494820.2020.1817761. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• UNESCO. (2020). COVID-19 and higher education: Today and tomorrow. Impact analysis, policy responses and recommendations . http://www.iesalc.unesco.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/COVID-19-EN-090420-2.pdf
• UNESCO, UNICEF, & The World Bank. (2020). What Have We Learnt? : Overview of Findings from a Survey of Ministries of Education on National Responses to COVID-19 . https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/34700
• Van Nuland S, Mandzuk D, Tucker Petrick K, Cooper T. COVID-19 and its effects on teacher education in Ontario: a complex adaptive systems perspective. Journal of Education for Teaching. 2020; 46 (4):442–451. doi: 10.1080/02607476.2020.1803050. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wang X, Tang L, (Rebecca), & Kim, E. More than words: Do emotional content and linguistic style matching matter on restaurant review helpfulness? International Journal of Hospitality Management. 2019; 77 :438–447. doi: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2018.08.007. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• World Health Organization. (2021). Looking back at a year that changed the world. Who’s Response To COVID-19 . https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/looking-back-at-a-year-that-changed-the-world-who-s-response-to-covid-19
• World Health Organization & Regional Office for Europe. (2020). Pandemic fatigue: reinvigorating the public to prevent COVID-19: policy framework for supporting pandemic prevention and management . https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/337574
• Yamaguchi K, Takebayashi Y, Miyamae M, Komazawa A, Yokoyama C, Ito M. Role of Focusing on the Positive Side During COVID-19 Outbreak: Mental Health Perspective From Positive Psychology. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. 2020; 12 (S1):S49–S50. doi: 10.1037/tra0000807. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Zhong, L., Yuan, J., & Fleck, B. (2019). Indoor environmental quality evaluation of lecture classrooms in an institutional building in a cold climate. Sustainability , 11 (23). 10.3390/su11236591
• Zhou P, Yang X. Lou, Wang XG, Hu B, Zhang L, Zhang W, Si HR, Zhu Y, Li B, Huang CL, Chen HD, Chen J, Luo Y, Guo H, Jiang R. Di, Liu MQ, Chen Y, Shen XR, Wang X, Shi ZL. A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin. Nature. 2020; 579 (7798):270–273. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Zurlo MC, Volta Cattaneo Della, M. F., & Vallone, F. COVID-19 Student Stress Questionnaire: Development and Validation of a Questionnaire to Evaluate Students’ Stressors Related to the Coronavirus Pandemic Lockdown. Frontiers in Psychology. 2020; 11 :576758. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.576758. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]