Student's Experiences of Online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic
Question
1. The topic to be investigated is: Students' experiences of online learning during the Covid-19
pandemic.
You should devise an ethically sound research question in your first
workshop. 'Ethically sound' means that you should not focus on sensitive issues
such as mental health. You can devise a research
question that fits with there topic, but is relevant to your own experiences.
Here are some examples:
'Students' experiences of learning online with
English as a second language'; or 'Students' experiences of learning online as
mature students'; or 'Students experiences of learning online while caring for
young children'.
Each member of the pair will transcribe her/his interview recording and
share the transcription with the other member of the pair. You will then each
have 2 interview transcripts to work with.
** note for 99 - PLEASE THIS CAN BE RANDOM ACCORDING TO THE TOPIC**
Using Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), you will identify
themes in your transcripts. There will be guidance on this process in the
workshops, so you will need to transcribe your interview recording ahead of the
relevant workshop. This workshop takes place on the 16th December 2021. The analysis and the write-up of the report will be completed by
students working individually.
Finally, you will write up your Practical report using appropriate
headings (writing up will be covered in a lecture well in advance).
The report MUST include an Appendix containing both transcripts with
only your own transcript marked up to show the process of analysis. The
Appendix must also include the interview questions and a template – not signed
to protect anonymity – of the consent/brief form and the debrief form. Marks
will be deducted for failure to include any of these documents in the Appendix.
Abstract: 100 - 150 words (not included in the
word count)
Introduction: 400 to 500 words
Methods: 400 to 500 words (The theme table is not
included in the word count, but the data extracts in the narrative analysis are
included)
Results: 800 to 900 words
Discussion: 400 to 500 words
References and the Appendix are not included in the word count.


Solution
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to explore how Covid-19 has
affected pupils throughout the world and in the United States. It is critical
to understand students' experiences, preferences, and viewpoints because of
online learning during the epidemic. Given the substantial shift in the
educational process, the primary goal of this study is to uncover students' opinions
and preferences on distance learning. During the epidemic, most educational
institutions utilized online learning to guarantee that students could complete
their studies. Moreover, with the sudden shift of learning from classroom
learning to online in many parts of the globe, students will be left wondering
the new way of learning will continue post-pandemic. It is evident that the
school's abrupt closure affected students' learning; thus, the initiative of
online learning positively affected students. However, based on the experience,
students negatively viewed online learning, such as a lack of social
interaction.
Student's
Experiences of Online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic
After the outbreak of the Covid-19 education sector changed
its way of learning to meet the need of the students affected during the
pandemic by enhancing online learning. Covid-19 indeed disrupted education in
over 150 countries affecting 1.6 billion students. Thus, due to the effect of
Covid-19 on the learners' numerous countries across the world implemented some
form of remote learning in order to ensure that each student access education
at home. Although online learning was a good idea for the students, it had some
challenges such as decreasing student's teacher interaction, lacking
high-quality learning devices, and insufficient teacher and learning gap
evaluation, thus making it difficult for many students from low-income families
to access learning online. But the transformation of classroom learning to
online learning has made more schools across the United States embrace
technological changes because it has enabled both learners and teachers to have
an excellent opportunity of knowing and interacting with educational tools such
as computer-based learning and web-based learning (Barrot, Llenares & Del Rosario, 2021).
Hence, it is significant that though Covid was a hazard to humanity,
institutions have evolved to invest in online learning. From the students'
experience, online learning created a cheap way of educational accessibility.
As the students had a chance of learning any time and in any environment thus,
developing new skills in the process leads to lifelong learning. Consequently,
before the outbreak of Covid -19, students were used to the traditional way of
learning where they got the privilege to interact and even if most of them had
a positive view about the traditional teaching method. But following lockdown
that led to school closure, most schools had to initiate online learning to
minimize school. It is also true that establishing online learning in the
school positively impacted the students because it helped them continue with
their learning; thus, it acted as motivation that improved learning outcomes
during the pandemic. Therefore, from the situation of Covid-19, the government
must look at both positive and negative factors that students experience from
online learning to improve going in the future. More importantly, given that
closing schools in the United States and across the globe was meant to mitigate
the spread of the pandemic, the switch of learning to online was a noble idea
among the schools across the globe (Amir et al., 2020). The transition to online
learning was the only option that could have made students remain active. This
paper discusses the benefits and challenges of online learning based on
students' experiences.
Methodology
Based on the research question, the purpose of the current
study is mainly focused on finding out the experience students had in learning
online with English as a second language. With the different experiences that
students were exposed to after the outbreak of the Covid-19, it will be
significant to use at least 40 students from the United to find their
experience about teaching classes during the pandemic. The sample of students
will comprise 24 males and 16 females. Most of them are Latino and were
enrolled to study bachelor degrees with English majors. In this case, most
students have no previous experience with online learning (Lobos et al., 2021).
Thus, it was important to use an online-based survey designed to inform a
questionnaire for data collection. Given that the investigation focused on
finding out the students' experience during unprecedented economic and health
crises, I modified 20 multiple questions with yes or no answers. To ensure that
the research is effective, I ensured that the questions have different sections
that give information about learners and their online learning experiences.
More importantly, the questions were open-ended to help get extra information
on what students wanted to add or mention about online learning. It is easier
to collect quantitative and qualitative data using questionnaires as a research
methodology.
Results
The explosion of Covid-19 in the world has
served as a panacea that online is important in a crisis. It is evident that
poorly initiating online learning during the Covid-19 had no positive impacts
on the students because it was first introduced to the learners after the
pandemic. Although it created easier accessibility between the students and
teachers, they needed to have a strategy that could make it effective to meet
the needs of students with English as a second language. Also, the results find
that almost 70 percent of learners in the current digital world can operate
technological devices. An indication that they can join online effectively and
participate in classes. Given that my research was focused on finding out the
students' experiences about online learning during a pandemic, I adopted a
descriptive research method to analyze the obtained data. For example, from the
research analysis, around 50 percent of the students were embraced online
learning as it enables them to understand the current technological revolution.
However, most low-income students had the challenges of internet problems (Chandrasiri &
Weerakoon, 2021). Moreover, the highest number of students who first
joined online learning enabled access to online examinations and even internet
connectivity problems. Moreover, the country's learning conditions and
technological preparedness make learners embrace online learning. Berge (2005)
expressed that digital readiness is the significant approach that influences
students' online experience. In addition, from the students' experience, it is
indicated that with accessible internet, the students will be able to accept
online learning. Online learning depends entirely on technological devices;
thus, students with bad internet access can be denied online learning.
Discussion
From the students' experience, it is evident
that technical support is needed to make online learning reliable and effective
for the students. Both teachers and students were forced to embrace online
learning without having the experience of submitting and joining learning, as
some students come from remote towns. Also, most of the students were not happy
with distance education. The results indicate that some of the students, it was
their first time thus lacked the experience and confidence to learn online
using a new medium. Consequently, the unexpected transformation of traditional
education to online confused both teachers and students. Thus, the result is
important that going in the future education system and teachers should ensure
that online learning is interactive to the learners (Mahyoob, 2020). However, a recent study
shows that 57 percent of students are more positive about online learning.
Although online learning currently has a positive impact on students, the
results show that students experienced isolation and boredom during the
pandemic because they were not used to the situation. The low-income students
were financially impacted, as most of them could not get funds for online
classes because their parents were unemployed. Therefore, it is evident that
students' experiences during the pandemic revolved around socioeconomic and
imposed lockdown that made them feel lonely. Technological incompetency in some
remote areas is part of the experiences that students face during online
learning.
Summary
In conclusion, students had both negative and positive experiences
with online education, but they adapted quickly to the sudden shift due to the
pandemic. Students'
main worries regarding online learning, according to my findings, are a loss of
social connection and perception of diminished effort and motivation. However,
it is clear from a perspective that the stakeholders hurried to implement it
throughout the learning process, failing to design an effective strategy that
would have resulted in the interaction between instructors and pupils. Also,
from the students' experience with online learning, future schools and
educational authorities must provide sufficient technical support that helps
students remain positive and develop a learning platform customized for
smartphones. Online learning was a noble idea, but it had great challenges from
the students' experiences, such as internet accessibility.
References
Amir, L. R., Tanti, I.,
Maharani, D. A., Wimardhani, Y. S., Julia, V., Sulijaya, B., & Puspitawati,
R. (2020). Student perspective of classroom and distance learning during
COVID-19 pandemic in the undergraduate dental study program Universitas
Indonesia. BMC medical education, 20(1), 1-8.
Barrot, J. S., Llenares, I.
I., & Del Rosario, L. S. (2021). Students' online learning challenges
during the pandemic and how they cope with them: The case of the
Philippines. Education and
Information Technologies, 26(6),
7321-7338.
Chandrasiri, N. R., &
Weerakoon, B. S. (2021). Online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic:
Perceptions of allied health sciences undergraduates. Radiography.
Lobos, K., Cobo-Rendón, R.,
Mella-Norambuena, J., Maldonado-Trapp, A., Branada, C. F., & Jofré, C. B.
(2021). Expectations and Experiences with Online Education During the COVID-19
Pandemic in University Students. Frontiers
in Psychology, 12.
Mahyoob, M. (2020).
Challenges of e-Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic Experienced by EFL
Learners. Arab World English Journal
(AWEJ), 11(4).
Appendix
Consent Information
The
information used in the research is private, and it was meant to explain the
impact of online learning on learners. Also, the data I have used was collected
in November 2021 through individual semi-structured interviews. After the end
of the first semester, home-based learning was over. Given that I wanted to come
up with evident information on students' experience with online learning, I
ensured that they competed for a short socio-demographic questionnaire that
included their gender and personal background before the interview.
Consequently, the research concentrated on privacy as every individual personal
identity was made private.
Interview Questions
What is your name, school
and gender?
What is the impact of
online learning during the covid-19 pandemic?
What are the parents' views
about online learning during the pandemic?
What is the learners'
experience about teaching English online during the pandemic?
What are learners'
attitudes towards online learning during the pandemic?
What are suggestions that
children suggested making online learning success in the future?
Give a personal view on why
online learning should be embraced in the future?
What are some of the
challenges you experienced when learning online?
What does distance learning
mean for the future of learning?
Based on your experience as
a student, can you say online learning is effective?
How can English learning make
motivating, innovative and engaging during e-learning?



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