literature review on online learning during covid 19

• Review article
• Open access
• Published: 09 November 2022

Shifting online during COVID-19: A systematic review of teaching and learning strategies and their outcomes

• Joyce Hwee Ling Koh   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5626-4927 1 &
• Ben Kei Daniel 1  

International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education volume  19 , Article number:  56 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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This systematic literature review of 36 peer-reviewed empirical articles outlines eight strategies used by higher education lecturers and students to maintain educational continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic since January 2020. The findings show that students’ online access and positive coping strategies could not eradicate their infrastructure and home environment challenges. Lecturers’ learning access equity strategies made learning resources available asynchronously, but having access did not imply that students could effectively self-direct learning. Lecturers designed classroom replication, online practical skills training, online assessment integrity, and student engagement strategies to boost online learning quality, but students who used ineffective online participation strategies had poor engagement. These findings indicate that lecturers and students need to develop more dexterity for adapting and manoeuvring their online strategies across different online teaching and learning modalities. How these online competencies could be developed in higher education are discussed.

Introduction

Higher education institutions have launched new programmes online for three decades, but their integration of online teaching and learning into on-campus programmes remained less cohesive (Kirkwood & Price, 2014 ). Since early 2020, educational institutions have been shifting online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some consider this kind of emergency remote teaching a temporary online shift during a crisis, whereas online learning involves purposive design for online delivery (Hodges et al., 2020 ). Two years into the pandemic, fully online, blended or hybridised modalities are still being used in response to evolving COVID-19 health advisories (Jaschik, 2021 ). Even though standards for the pedagogical, social, administrative, and technical requirements of online learning have already been published before the pandemic (e.g. Bigatel et al., 2012 ; Goodyear et al., 2001 ), the online competencies of lecturers and students remain critical challenges for higher education institutions during the pandemic (Turnbull et al., 2021 ). Emerging systematic literature reviews about higher education online teaching and learning during the pandemic focus on the clinical aspects of health science programmes (see Dedeilia et al., 2020 ; Hao et al., 2022 ; Papa et al., 2022 ). Understanding the strategies used in other programmes and disciplines is critical for outlining higher education lecturers’ and students’ future online competency needs.

This study, therefore, presents a systematic literature review of the teaching and learning strategies that lecturers and students used to shift online in response to the pandemic and their consequent outcomes. The review was conducted through content analysis and thematic analysis of 36 peer-reviewed articles published from January 2020 to December 2021. It discusses how relevant online competencies for lecturers and students can be further developed in higher education.

Methodology

A Systematic and Tripartite Approach (STA) (Daniel & Harland, 2017 ) guided the review process. STA draws from systematic review approaches such as the Cochrane Review Methods, widely used in application-based disciplines such as the health sciences (Chandler & Hopewell, 2013 ). It develops systematic reviews through description (providing a summary of the review), synthesis (logically categorising research reviewed based on related ideas, connections and rationales), and critique (providing evidence to support, discard or offer new ideas about the literature).

Framing the review

The following research questions guided the review:

What strategies did higher education lecturers and students use when they shifted teaching and learning online in response to the pandemic?

What were the outcomes arising from these strategies?

Search strategy

Peer-reviewed articles were identified from databases indexing leading educational journals—Educational Database (ProQuest), Education Research Complete (EBSCOhost), ERIC (ProQuest), Scopus, Web of Science (Core Collection), and ProQuest Central. The following search terms were used to locate articles with empirical evidence of lecturers’ and/or students’ shifting online strategies:

(remote OR virtual OR emergency remote OR online OR digital OR eLearning) AND (teaching strateg* OR learning strateg* OR shifting online) AND (higher education OR tertiary OR university OR college) AND (covid*) AND (success OR challenge OR outcome OR effect OR case OR lesson or evidence OR reflection)

The following were the inclusion and exclusion criteria:

Review period—From January 2020 to December 2021, following the first reported case of COVID-19 (WHO, 2020 ).

Language—Only articles published in the English language were included.

Type of article—In order maintain rigour in the findings, only peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings were included, and non-refereed articles and conference proceedings were excluded. Peer-reviewed articles reporting empirical data from the lecturer and/or student perspectives were included. Editorials and literature reviews were examined to deepen conceptual understanding but excluded from the review.

The article’s focus—Articles with adequate descriptions and evaluation of lecturers’ and students’ online teaching and learning strategies undertaken because of health advisories during the COVID-19 pandemic were included. K-12 studies, higher education studies with data gathered prior to January 2020, studies describing general online learning experiences that did not arise from COVID-19, studies describing the functionalities of online learning technologies, studies about tips and tricks for using online tools during COVID-19, studies about the public health impact of COVID-19, or studies purely describing online learning attitudes or successes and challenges during COVID-19 without corresponding descriptions of teaching and learning strategies and their outcomes were excluded.

A list of 547 articles published between January 2020 and December 2021 were extracted using keyword and manual search with a final list of 36 articles selected for review (see Fig.  1 ). The inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to the PRISMA process (Moher et al., 2009 ). The articles and a summary of coding are found in Appendix .

Article screening with the PRISMA process

Data analysis

Content analysis (Weber, 1990 ) and thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006 ) were used to answer the research questions. Pertinent sections of each article outlining lecturers’ and/or students’ shifting online strategies were identified, read and re-read for data familiarisation. The first author used content analysis to generate eight teaching and learning strategies. These were verified through an inter-rater analysis where a random selection of eight articles was recoded by a second-rater (22.22% of total articles) and confirmed with adequate Cohen’s kappas (Teaching strategies: 0.88, Learning strategies: 0.78). Frequency counts were analysed to answer research question 1.

For the second research question, we first categorised the various shifting online outcomes described in each article and coded each outcome as “success”, “challenge”, or “mixed”. Successful outcomes include favourable descriptions of teaching, learning, or assessment experiences, minimal issues with technology/infrastructure, favourable test scores, or reasonable attendance/course completion rates, whereas challenging outcomes suggest otherwise. Mixed outcomes were not a success or challenge, for example, positive and negative experiences during learning, assessment or with learning infrastructure, or mixed learning outcomes such as positive test scores but lower ratings of professional confidence. Frequency distributions were used to compare the overall successes and challenges of shifting online (see Tables 1 and 2 of “ Findings ” section). Following this, the pertinent outcomes associated with each of the eight shifting online strategies were pinpointed through thematic analysis and critical relationships were visualised as theme maps. These were continually reviewed for internal homogeneity and external heterogeneity (Patton, 1990 ). To ensure trustworthiness and reliability (Creswell, 1998 ), there was frequent debriefing between the authors to refine themes and theme maps, followed by critical peer review with another lecturer specialising in higher education educational technology practices. Throughout this process, an audit trail was maintained to document the evolution of themes. These processes completed the description and synthesis aspects of the systematic literature review prior to critique and discussion (Daniel & Harland, 2017 ).

Descriptive characteristics

Descriptive characteristics of the articles are summarised in Table 1 .

Table 1 shows that articles about shifting online during the pandemic were published steadily between August 2020 and December 2021. About two-thirds of the articles were based on data from the United States of America, Asia, or Australasia, with close to 45% of the articles analysing shifting online strategies used in the disciplines of Natural Sciences and Medical and Health Sciences and around 60% focusing on degree programmes. While there was an exact representation of studies with sample sizes from below 50 to above 150, the majority were descriptive studies, with close to half based on quantitative data gathered through surveys. About half of the articles focused on teaching strategies, while around 40% also examined students' learning strategies. However, only about 20% of the articles had theoretical framing for their teaching strategies. Besides using self-developed theories, the authors also used established theories such as the Community of Inquiry Theory by Garrison et. al. ( 2010 ), the Interaction Framework for Distance Education by Moore ( 1989 ), self-regulated learning by Zimmerman ( 2002 ) and the 5E model of Bybee et. al. ( 2006 ). Different types of shifting online outcomes were reported in the articles. The majority documented the positive and negative experiences associated with synchronous or asynchronous online learning activities, online learning technology and infrastructure, or online assessment. A quarter of the articles reported data on student learning outcomes and attendance/completion rates, while a minority also described teaching workload effects. Table 2 shows other successes and challenges associated with shifting online. Of the articles that examined online learning experiences, over a quarter reported clear successes in terms of positive experiences while about half reported mixed experiences. Majority of the articles examining technology and infrastructure experiences or assessment experiences either reported challenging or mixed experiences. All the articles examining learning outcomes reported apparent successes but only half of those investigating attendance/completion rates found these to be acceptable. Only challenges were reported for teaching workload.

Teaching strategies and outcomes

Lecturers used five teaching strategies to shift online during the pandemic (see Table 3 ).

Online practical skills training

Lecturers had to create online practical skills training . With limited access to clinical, field-based, or laboratory settings, lecturers taught only the conceptual aspects of practical skills through online guest lectures, live skill demonstration sessions, video recordings of field trips, conceptual application exercises, or by substituting skills practice with new theoretical topics (Chan et al., 2020 ; de Luca et al., 2021 ; Dietrich et al., 2020 ; Dodson & Blinn, 2021 ; Garcia-Alberti et al., 2021 ; Gomez et al., 2020 ; Xiao et al., 2020 ). Only in three studies about forest operations, ecology, and nursing was it possible to practice hand skills in alternative locations such as public parks and students’ homes (Dodson & Blinn, 2021 ; Gerhart et al., 2021 ; Palmer et al., 2021 ).

Outcomes : Online practical skills training had different effects on learning experiences, test scores, and attendance/completion rates. Students can attain expected test scores through conceptual learning of practical skills (Garcia-Alberti et al., 2021 ; Gomez et al., 2020 ; Xiao et al., 2020 ). However, not all students had positive learning experiences as some appreciated deeper conceptual learning, but others felt disconnected from peers, anxious about losing hand skills proficiency, and could not maintain class attendance (de Luca et al., 2021 ; Dietrich et al., 2020 ; Gomez et al., 2020 ). Positive learning experiences, reasonable course attendance/completion rates, and higher confidence in content mastery were more achievable when students had opportunities to practice hand skills in alternative locations (Gerhart et al., 2021 ).

Online assessment integrity

Lecturers had to devise strategies to maintain online assessment integrity , primarily through different ways of preventing cheating (see Reedy et al., 2021 ). Pass/Fail grading, reducing examination weightage through a higher emphasis on daily work and class participation, and asking students to make academic integrity declarations were some changes to examination policies (e.g. Ali et al., 2020 ; Dicks et al., 2020 ). Randomising and scrambling questions, administering different versions of examination papers, using proctoring software, open-book examinations, and replacing multiple choice with written questions were other ways of preventing cheating during online examinations (Hall et al., 2021 ; Jaap et al., 2021 ; Reedy et al., 2021 ).

Outcomes : There was concern that shifting to online assessment had detrimental effects on learning outcomes, but several studies reported otherwise (Garcia-Alberti et al., 2021 ; Gomez et al., 2020 ; Hall et al., 2021 ; Jaap et al., 2021 ; Lapitan et al., 2021 ). Nevertheless, there were mixed assessment experiences. When lecturers changed multiple-choice to written critical thinking questions, it made students perceive that examinations have become harder (Garcia-Alberti et al., 2021 ; Khan et al., 2022 ). Some students were anxious about encountering technical problems during online examinations, while others felt less nervous taking examinations at home (Jaap et al., 2021 ). Students also became less confident about the integrity of assessment processes when lecturers failed to set clear rules for open-book examinations (Reedy et al., 2021 ). While Pass/Fail grading alleviated students’ test performance anxiety, some lecturers felt that this lowered academic standards (Dicks et al., 2020 ; Khan et al., 2022 ). More emphasis on daily work alleviated student anxiety as examination weightage was reduced, but students also perceived a corresponding increase in course workload as they had more assignments to complete (e.g. Dietrich et al., 2020 ; Swanson et al., 2021 ).

Classroom replication

Lecturers used classroom replication strategies to foster regularity, primarily through substituting classroom sessions with video conferencing under pre-pandemic timetables (Palmer et al., 2021 ; Simon et al., 2020 ; Zhu et al., 2021 ). Lecturers also annotated their presentation materials and decorated their teaching locations with content-related backdrops to emulate the ‘chalk and talk’ of physical classrooms (e.g. Chan et al., 2020 ; Dietrich et al., 2020 ; Xiao et al., 2020 ).

Outcomes : Regular video conferencing classes helped students to maintain course attendance/completion rates (e.g. Ahmed & Opoku, 2021 ; Garcia-Alberti et al., 2021 ; Gerhart et al., 2021 ). Student engagement improved when lecturers annotated on Powerpoint™ or digital whiteboards during video conferencing (Hew et al., 2020 ). However, screen fatigue commonly affected concentration, and lecturers had challenges assessing social cues effectively, especially when students turned off their cameras (Khan et al., 2022 ; Lapitan et al., 2021 ; Marshalsey & Sclater, 2020 ). Lecturers tried to shorten class duration with asynchronous activities, only to find students failing to complete their assigned tasks (Grimmer et al., 2020 ).

Learning access equity

Lecturers implemented learning access equity strategies so that those without stable network connections or conducive home environments could continue studying (Abou-Khalil et al., 2021 ; Ahmed & Opoku, 2021 ; Dodson & Blinn, 2021 ; Garcia-Alberti et al., 2021 ; Grimmer et al., 2020 ; Kapasia et al., 2020 ; Khan et al., 2022 ; Marshalsey & Sclater, 2020 ; Pagoto et al., 2021 ; Swanson et al., 2021 ; Yeung & Yau, 2021 ). They equalised learning access by making lecture recordings available, using chat to communicate during live classes, and providing supplementary asynchronous activities (e.g. Gerhart et al., 2021 ; Grimmer et al., 2020 ). Some lecturers only delivered lessons asynchronously through pre-recorded lectures and online resources (e.g. de Luca et al., 2021 ; Dietrich et al., 2020 ). In developing countries, lecturers created access opportunities by sending learning materials through both learning management systems and WhatsApp™ (Kapasia et al., 2020 ).

Outcomes : Learning access strategies maintained some level of student equity through asynchronous learning but created challenging student learning experiences. There is evidence that students could achieve expected test scores through asynchronous learning (Garcia-Alberti et al., 2021 ) but maintaining learning consistency was a challenge, especially for freshmen (e.g. Grimmer et al., 2020 ; Khan et al., 2022 ). Some students found it hard to understand difficult concepts without in-person lectures but they also did not actively attend the live question-and-answer sessions organised by lecturers (Ali et al., 2020 ; Dietrich et al., 2020 ; Gomez et al., 2020 ). Poorly designed lecture recordings and unclear online learning instructions from lecturers compounded these problems (Gomez et al., 2020 ; Yeung & Yau, 2021 ).

Student engagement

Lecturers used two kinds of student engagement strategies, one of which was through active learning. Hew et. al. ( 2020 ) fostered active learning through 5E activities (Bybee et al., 2006 ) that encouraged students to Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. Lapitan et. al. ( 2021 ) implemented active learning through their DLPCA process, where students Discover, Learn and Practice outside of class with content resources and Collaborate in class before Assessment. Chan et. al. ( 2020 ) used their Theory of Change to support active learning through shared meaning-making. Other studies emphasised active learning but did not reference theoretical frameworks (e.g. Martinelli & Zaina, 2021 ). Many described how lecturers used interactive tools such as Nearpod™, and Padlet™, online polling, and breakout room discussions to encourage active learning (e.g. Ali et al., 2020 ; Gomez et al., 2020 ).

Another student engagement strategy was through regular communication and support, where lecturers sent emails, announcements, and reminders to keep students in pace with assignments (e.g. Abou-Khalil et al., 2021 ). Support was also provided through virtual office hours, social media contact after class hours and uploading feedback over shared drives (e.g. Khan et al., 2022 ; Xiao et al., 2020 ).

Outcomes : Among the student engagement strategies, success in test scores tends to be associated with the use of active learning (Garcia-Alberti et al., 2021 ; Gomez et al., 2020 ; Hew et al., 2020 ; Lapitan et al., 2021 ; Lau et al., 2020 ; Xiao et al., 2020 ). On the other hand, positive learning experiences were more often reported when lecturers emphasised care and empathy through their communication (e.g. Chan et al., 2020 ; Conklin & Dikkers, 2021 ). Students felt this more strongly when lecturers used humour, conversational and friendly tone, provided assurance, set clear expectations, exercised flexibility, engaged their feedback to improve online lessons, and responded swiftly to their questions (e.g. Chan et al., 2020 ; Swanson et al., 2021 ). These interactions fostered the social presence of Garrison et. al.’s ( 2010 ) Community of Inquiry Theory (Conklin & Dikkers, 2021 ). However, keeping up with multiple communication channels increased teaching workload, especially when support requests arrived through social media after work hours (Garcia-Alberti et al., 2021 ; Khan et al. 2022 ; Marshalsey & Sclater, 2020 ).

Learning strategies and outcomes

Students used three learning strategies during the pandemic (see Table 4 ).

Online access

Students had to maintain online access , as institutional support for data and technology was rarely reported (Ahmed & Opoku, 2021 ; Laher et al., 2021 ). Students did so by switching to more reliable internet service providers, purchasing more data, borrowing computing equipment, or switching off webcams during class (Kapasia et al., 2020 ; Mahmud & German, 2021 ).

Outcomes : Unstable internet connections, noisy home environments, tight study spaces, and disruptions from family duties were challenges often reported in students’ learning environments (e.g. Castelli & Sarvary, 2021 ; Yeung & Yau, 2021 ). The power supply was unstable in developing countries and students also had limited financial resources to purchase data. To keep studying, these students relied on materials shared through WhatsApp™ groups or Google Drive™ and learnt using mobile phones even though their small screen sizes affected students’ learning quality (Kapasia et al., 2020 ).

Online participation

Students had to maintain online participation by redesigning study routines according to when lecturers posted lecture recordings, identifying personal productive hours, changing work locations at home to improve focus and concentration, and devising study strategies to use online resources effectively, such as through note-taking (e.g. Abou-Khalil et al., 2021 ; Mahmud & German, 2021 ; Marshalsey & Sclater, 2020 ). Students also adjusted their online communication style by taking the initiative to contact lecturers through email, discussion forums, or chat for support, and learning new etiquette for video conferencing (Abou-Khalil et al., 2021 ; Dietrich et al., 2020 ; Mahmud & German, 2021 ; Simon et al., 2020 ; Yeung & Yau, 2021 ). Students recognised the need for active online participation (Yeung & Yau, 2021 ) but most tended to switch off webcams and avoided speaking up during class (Ahmed & Opoku, 2021 ; Castelli & Sarvary, 2021 ; Dietrich et al., 2020 ; Khan et al., 2022 ; Lapitan et al., 2021 ; Marshalsey & Sclater, 2020 ; Munoz et al., 2021 ; Rajab & Soheib, 2021 ).

Outcomes : Mahmud and German ( 2021 ) found that students lack the confidence to plan their study strategies, seek help, and manage time. Students also lacked confidence and switched off webcams out of privacy concerns or because they felt self-conscious about their appearances and home environments (Marshalsey & Sclater, 2020 ; Rajab & Soheib, 2021 ). Too many turned off webcams and this became a group norm (Castelli & Sarvary, 2021 ). Classes eventually became dominated by more vocal students, making the quieter ones feel left out (Dietrich et al., 2020 ).

Positive coping

Students’ positive coping strategies included family support, rationalising their situation, focusing on their future, self-motivation, and making virtual social connections with classmates (Ando, 2021 ; Laher et al., 2021 ; Mahmud & German, 2021 ; Reedy et al., 2021 ; Simon et al., 2020 ).

Outcomes : Positive coping strategies helped students to improve learning experiences, maintain attendance/completion rates, and avoid academic integrity violations during online examinations (Ando, 2021 ; Reedy et al., 2021 ; Simon et al., 2020 ). However, these strategies cannot circumvent technology and infrastructure challenges (Mahmud & German, 2021 ), while the realities of economic, family, and health pressures during the pandemic threatened their educational continuity and caused some to manifest negative coping behaviours such as despondency and overeating (Laher et al., 2021 ).

Higher education online competencies

This systematic review outlined eight teaching and learning strategies for shifting online during the pandemic. Online teaching competency frameworks published before the pandemic advocate active learning, social interaction, and prompt feedback as critical indicators of online teaching quality (e.g. Bigatel et al., 2012 ; Crews et al., 2015 ). The findings suggest that lecturers’ student engagement strategies aligned with these standards, but they also needed to adjust practical skills training, assessment, learning access channels, and classroom teaching strategies. Students’ online participation and positive coping strategies reflected how online learners could effectively manage routines, schedules and their sense of isolation (Roper, 2007 ). Since most students had no choice over online learning during the pandemic (Dodson & Blinn, 2021 ), those lacking personal motivation or adequate infrastructure had to develop online participation and online access strategies to cope with the situation.

The eight teaching and learning strategies effectively maintained test scores and attendance/completion rates, but many challenges surfaced during teaching, learning, and assessment. Turnbull et. al. ( 2021 ) attribute lecturers’ and students’ pandemic challenges to online competency gaps, particularly in digital literacy or competencies for accessing information, analysing data, and communicating with technology (Blayone et al., 2018 ). However, the study findings show that digital literacy may not be enough for students to overcome infrastructure and home environment challenges in their learning environment. Lecturers can try helping students mitigate these challenges by providing asynchronous resource access through access equity strategies. Yet, students may not successfully learn asynchronously unless they can effectively self-direct learning. Lecturers may have pedagogical knowledge to create engaging active online learning experiences. How these strategies effectively counteract students’ inhibitions to turn on webcams and speak up during class remains challenging. Lectures may also have the skills to set up different online communication channels, but students may not actively engage if care and empathy are perceived to be lacking. Furthermore, lecturers’ online assessment strategies may not always balance academic integrity with test validity.

These findings show that online competencies are not just standardised technical or pedagogical skills (e.g. Goodyear et al., 2001 ) but “socially situated” (Alvarez et al., 2009 , p. 322) abilities for manoeuvring strategies according to situation and context (Hatano & Inagaki, 1986 ). It encompasses “dexterity” or finesse with skill performance (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). The pandemic demands one to be “flexible and adaptable” (Ally, 2019 , p. 312) amidst shifting national, institutional and learning contexts. Online dexterity is needed in several areas. Online learning during the pandemic is rarely unimodal. Establishing the appropriate synchronous-asynchronous blend is a critical pedagogical decision for lecturers. They need dexterity across learning modalities to create the “right” blend in different student, content, and technological contexts (Baran et al., 2013 ; Martin et al., 2019 ). Lecturers also need domain-related dexterity to preserve authentic learning experiences while converting subject content online (Fayer, 2014 ). Especially when teaching skill-based content under different social distancing requirements, competencies to maintain learning authenticity through simulations, alternative locations, or equipment may be critical (e.g. Schirmel, 2021 ). Dexterity with online assessment is also essential. Besides preventing cheating, lecturers need to ensure that online assessments retain test validity, improve learning processes and are effective for performance evaluation (AERA, 2014 ; Sadler & Reimann, 2018 ). Another area is the dexterity to engage in online communication that appropriately manifests care and empathy (Baran et al., 2013 ). Since online teaching increases lecturers’ workload (Watermeyer et al., 2021 ), dexterity to balance student care and self-care without compromising learning quality is also crucial.

Access to conducive learning environments critically affects students’ online learning success (Kapasia et al., 2020 ). While some infrastructure challenges cannot be prevented, students should have the dexterity to mitigate their effects. For example, when disconnected from class because of bandwidth fluctuations, students should be able to find alternative ways of catching up with the lecturer rather than remaining passive and frustrated (Ezra et al., 2021 ). Self-direction is critical during online learning because it is the ability to set learning goals, self-manage learning processes, self-monitor, self-motivate, and adjust learning strategies (Garrison, 1997 ). Students need the dexterity to manage self-direction processes across different courses, learning modalities, and learning schedules. Dexterity to create an active learning presence through using appropriate learning etiquette and optimising the affordances of text, audio, video, and shared documents during class is also essential. This can support students' cognitive, social, and emotional engagement across synchronous and asynchronous modalities, individually or in groups (Zilvinskis et al., 2017 ).

Future directions

Online learning is highly diverse and increasingly dynamic, making it challenging to cover all published work for review. In this study, we have analysed pandemic-related teaching and learning strategies and their outcomes but recognise that a third of the studies were from the United States and close to half from natural or health science programmes. The findings cannot fully elucidate the strategies implemented in unrepresented countries or disciplines. Recognising these limitations, we propose the following as future directions for higher education:

Validate post-pandemic relevance of online teaching and learning strategies

The eight strategies can be validated through longitudinal empirical studies, theoretical analyses or meta-synthesis of literature to establish their relevance for post-pandemic teaching and learning. Studies outside the United States and the natural and health science disciplines are especially needed. This could address the paucity of theoretical framing in the articles reviewed, even with theories developed before the pandemic (e.g. Garrison et al., 2010 ; Moore, 1989 ; Zimmerman, 2002 ).

Demarcate post-pandemic online competencies

The plethora of descriptive studies in the articles reviewed is inadequate for understanding the online competencies driving lecturers’ pedagogical decision-making and students’ learning processes. In situ studies adopting qualitative methods such as grounded theory or phenomenology can better demarcate lecturers’ and students’ competencies for “why and under which conditions certain methods have to be used, or new methods have to be devised” (Bohle Carbonell et al., 2014 , p. 15). A longitudinal comparison of these studies can provide a better understanding of relevant post-pandemic competencies.

Develop dexterity with respect to application of online competencies

Higher education institutions use technology workshops, mentoring, and instructional consultation to develop competencies in technology-enhanced learning (e.g. Baran, 2016 ). However, dexterity to manoeuvre contextual differences may be better fostered through exploration, discovery, and exposure to varied contexts of practice (Mylopoulos et al., 2018 ). Innovative ways of developing dexterity with respect to how online competencies can be applied and the efficacy of these methodologies are areas for further research.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the adoption and utilisation of online learning. While the present review findings suggest that the strategies lecturers and students employed to shift online during the pandemic have contributed to maintaining educational continuity and test scores but many outstanding issues remained unresolved. These include failure for students to gain an enhanced learning experience, problems encountered in designing and implementing robust assessment and online examinations, cases of academic misconduct, inequitable access to digital technologies, and increased faculty workload. Lecturers and institutions need to tackle these issues to fully leverage the opportunities afforded by online teaching and learning. Further, our findings revealed that the level of online dexterity for both students and teachers need to be enhanced. Therefore, higher education institutions must understand and develop online dexterity institutional frameworks to ensure that pedagogical innovation through online learning can be continually sustained, both during the pandemic and beyond.

Availability of data and materials

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

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Koh, J.H.L., Daniel, B.K. Shifting online during COVID-19: A systematic review of teaching and learning strategies and their outcomes. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 19 , 56 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-022-00361-7

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A Systematic Review of the Research Topics in Online Learning During COVID-19: Documenting the Sudden Shift

• Min Young Doo Kangwon National University http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3565-2159
• Meina Zhu Wayne State University
• Curtis J. Bonk Indiana University Bloomington

Since most schools and learners had no choice but to learn online during the pandemic, online learning became the mainstream learning mode rather than a substitute for traditional face-to-face learning. Given this enormous change in online learning, we conducted a systematic review of 191 of the most recent online learning studies published during the COVID-19 era. The systematic review results indicated that the themes regarding “courses and instructors” became popular during the pandemic, whereas most online learning research has focused on “learners” pre-COVID-19. Notably, the research topics “course and instructors” and “course technology” received more attention than prior to COVID-19. We found that “engagement” remained the most common research theme even after the pandemic. New research topics included parents, technology acceptance or adoption of online learning, and learners’ and instructors’ perceptions of online learning.

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Research Article

COVID-19’s impacts on the scope, effectiveness, and interaction characteristics of online learning: A social network analysis

Roles Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – review & editing

¶ ‡ JZ and YD are contributed equally to this work as first authors.

Affiliation School of Educational Information Technology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

Roles Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – original draft

Affiliations School of Educational Information Technology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, Hangzhou Zhongce Vocational School Qiantang, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

Roles Data curation, Writing – original draft

Roles Data curation

Roles Writing – original draft

Affiliation Faculty of Education, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

Roles Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected] (JH); [email protected] (YZ)

• Junyi Zhang, 
• Yigang Ding, 
• Xinru Yang, 
• Jinping Zhong, 
• XinXin Qiu, 
• Zhishan Zou, 
• Yujie Xu, 
• Xiunan Jin, 
• Xiaomin Wu, 

• Published: August 23, 2022
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016
• Reader Comments

The COVID-19 outbreak brought online learning to the forefront of education. Scholars have conducted many studies on online learning during the pandemic, but only a few have performed quantitative comparative analyses of students’ online learning behavior before and after the outbreak. We collected review data from China’s massive open online course platform called icourse.163 and performed social network analysis on 15 courses to explore courses’ interaction characteristics before, during, and after the COVID-19 pan-demic. Specifically, we focused on the following aspects: (1) variations in the scale of online learning amid COVID-19; (2a) the characteristics of online learning interaction during the pandemic; (2b) the characteristics of online learning interaction after the pandemic; and (3) differences in the interaction characteristics of social science courses and natural science courses. Results revealed that only a small number of courses witnessed an uptick in online interaction, suggesting that the pandemic’s role in promoting the scale of courses was not significant. During the pandemic, online learning interaction became more frequent among course network members whose interaction scale increased. After the pandemic, although the scale of interaction declined, online learning interaction became more effective. The scale and level of interaction in Electrodynamics (a natural science course) and Economics (a social science course) both rose during the pan-demic. However, long after the pandemic, the Economics course sustained online interaction whereas interaction in the Electrodynamics course steadily declined. This discrepancy could be due to the unique characteristics of natural science courses and social science courses.

Citation: Zhang J, Ding Y, Yang X, Zhong J, Qiu X, Zou Z, et al. (2022) COVID-19’s impacts on the scope, effectiveness, and interaction characteristics of online learning: A social network analysis. PLoS ONE 17(8): e0273016. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016

Editor: Heng Luo, Central China Normal University, CHINA

Received: April 20, 2022; Accepted: July 29, 2022; Published: August 23, 2022

Copyright: © 2022 Zhang 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: The data underlying the results presented in the study were downloaded from https://www.icourse163.org/ and are now shared fully on Github ( https://github.com/zjyzhangjunyi/dataset-from-icourse163-for-SNA ). These data have no private information and can be used for academic research free of charge.

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

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

1. Introduction

The development of the mobile internet has spurred rapid advances in online learning, offering novel prospects for teaching and learning and a learning experience completely different from traditional instruction. Online learning harnesses the advantages of network technology and multimedia technology to transcend the boundaries of conventional education [ 1 ]. Online courses have become a popular learning mode owing to their flexibility and openness. During online learning, teachers and students are in different physical locations but interact in multiple ways (e.g., via online forum discussions and asynchronous group discussions). An analysis of online learning therefore calls for attention to students’ participation. Alqurashi [ 2 ] defined interaction in online learning as the process of constructing meaningful information and thought exchanges between more than two people; such interaction typically occurs between teachers and learners, learners and learners, and the course content and learners.

Massive open online courses (MOOCs), a 21st-century teaching mode, have greatly influenced global education. Data released by China’s Ministry of Education in 2020 show that the country ranks first globally in the number and scale of higher education MOOCs. The COVID-19 outbreak has further propelled this learning mode, with universities being urged to leverage MOOCs and other online resource platforms to respond to government’s “School’s Out, But Class’s On” policy [ 3 ]. Besides MOOCs, to reduce in-person gatherings and curb the spread of COVID-19, various online learning methods have since become ubiquitous [ 4 ]. Though Lederman asserted that the COVID-19 outbreak has positioned online learning technologies as the best way for teachers and students to obtain satisfactory learning experiences [ 5 ], it remains unclear whether the COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged interaction in online learning, as interactions between students and others play key roles in academic performance and largely determine the quality of learning experiences [ 6 ]. Similarly, it is also unclear what impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the scale of online learning.

Social constructivism paints learning as a social phenomenon. As such, analyzing the social structures or patterns that emerge during the learning process can shed light on learning-based interaction [ 7 ]. Social network analysis helps to explain how a social network, rooted in interactions between learners and their peers, guides individuals’ behavior, emotions, and outcomes. This analytical approach is especially useful for evaluating interactive relationships between network members [ 8 ]. Mohammed cited social network analysis (SNA) as a method that can provide timely information about students, learning communities and interactive networks. SNA has been applied in numerous fields, including education, to identify the number and characteristics of interelement relationships. For example, Lee et al. also used SNA to explore the effects of blogs on peer relationships [ 7 ]. Therefore, adopting SNA to examine interactions in online learning communities during the COVID-19 pandemic can uncover potential issues with this online learning model.

Taking China’s icourse.163 MOOC platform as an example, we chose 15 courses with a large number of participants for SNA, focusing on learners’ interaction characteristics before, during, and after the COVID-19 outbreak. We visually assessed changes in the scale of network interaction before, during, and after the outbreak along with the characteristics of interaction in Gephi. Examining students’ interactions in different courses revealed distinct interactive network characteristics, the pandemic’s impact on online courses, and relevant suggestions. Findings are expected to promote effective interaction and deep learning among students in addition to serving as a reference for the development of other online learning communities.

2. Literature review and research questions

Interaction is deemed as central to the educational experience and is a major focus of research on online learning. Moore began to study the problem of interaction in distance education as early as 1989. He defined three core types of interaction: student–teacher, student–content, and student–student [ 9 ]. Lear et al. [ 10 ] described an interactivity/ community-process model of distance education: they specifically discussed the relationships between interactivity, community awareness, and engaging learners and found interactivity and community awareness to be correlated with learner engagement. Zulfikar et al. [ 11 ] suggested that discussions initiated by the students encourage more students’ engagement than discussions initiated by the instructors. It is most important to afford learners opportunities to interact purposefully with teachers, and improving the quality of learner interaction is crucial to fostering profound learning [ 12 ]. Interaction is an important way for learners to communicate and share information, and a key factor in the quality of online learning [ 13 ].

Timely feedback is the main component of online learning interaction. Woo and Reeves discovered that students often become frustrated when they fail to receive prompt feedback [ 14 ]. Shelley et al. conducted a three-year study of graduate and undergraduate students’ satisfaction with online learning at universities and found that interaction with educators and students is the main factor affecting satisfaction [ 15 ]. Teachers therefore need to provide students with scoring justification, support, and constructive criticism during online learning. Some researchers examined online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. They found that most students preferred face-to-face learning rather than online learning due to obstacles faced online, such as a lack of motivation, limited teacher-student interaction, and a sense of isolation when learning in different times and spaces [ 16 , 17 ]. However, it can be reduced by enhancing the online interaction between teachers and students [ 18 ].

Research showed that interactions contributed to maintaining students’ motivation to continue learning [ 19 ]. Baber argued that interaction played a key role in students’ academic performance and influenced the quality of the online learning experience [ 20 ]. Hodges et al. maintained that well-designed online instruction can lead to unique teaching experiences [ 21 ]. Banna et al. mentioned that using discussion boards, chat sessions, blogs, wikis, and other tools could promote student interaction and improve participation in online courses [ 22 ]. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mahmood proposed a series of teaching strategies suitable for distance learning to improve its effectiveness [ 23 ]. Lapitan et al. devised an online strategy to ease the transition from traditional face-to-face instruction to online learning [ 24 ]. The preceding discussion suggests that online learning goes beyond simply providing learning resources; teachers should ideally design real-life activities to give learners more opportunities to participate.

As mentioned, COVID-19 has driven many scholars to explore the online learning environment. However, most have ignored the uniqueness of online learning during this time and have rarely compared pre- and post-pandemic online learning interaction. Taking China’s icourse.163 MOOC platform as an example, we chose 15 courses with a large number of participants for SNA, centering on student interaction before and after the pandemic. Gephi was used to visually analyze changes in the scale and characteristics of network interaction. The following questions were of particular interest:

• (1) Can the COVID-19 pandemic promote the expansion of online learning?
• (2a) What are the characteristics of online learning interaction during the pandemic?
• (2b) What are the characteristics of online learning interaction after the pandemic?
• (3) How do interaction characteristics differ between social science courses and natural science courses?

3. Methodology

3.1 research context.

We selected several courses with a large number of participants and extensive online interaction among hundreds of courses on the icourse.163 MOOC platform. These courses had been offered on the platform for at least three semesters, covering three periods (i.e., before, during, and after the COVID-19 outbreak). To eliminate the effects of shifts in irrelevant variables (e.g., course teaching activities), we chose several courses with similar teaching activities and compared them on multiple dimensions. All course content was taught online. The teachers of each course posted discussion threads related to learning topics; students were expected to reply via comments. Learners could exchange ideas freely in their responses in addition to asking questions and sharing their learning experiences. Teachers could answer students’ questions as well. Conversations in the comment area could partly compensate for a relative absence of online classroom interaction. Teacher–student interaction is conducive to the formation of a social network structure and enabled us to examine teachers’ and students’ learning behavior through SNA. The comment areas in these courses were intended for learners to construct knowledge via reciprocal communication. Meanwhile, by answering students’ questions, teachers could encourage them to reflect on their learning progress. These courses’ successive terms also spanned several phases of COVID-19, allowing us to ascertain the pandemic’s impact on online learning.

3.2 Data collection and preprocessing

To avoid interference from invalid or unclear data, the following criteria were applied to select representative courses: (1) generality (i.e., public courses and professional courses were chosen from different schools across China); (2) time validity (i.e., courses were held before during, and after the pandemic); and (3) notability (i.e., each course had at least 2,000 participants). We ultimately chose 15 courses across the social sciences and natural sciences (see Table 1 ). The coding is used to represent the course name.

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.t001

To discern courses’ evolution during the pandemic, we gathered data on three terms before, during, and after the COVID-19 outbreak in addition to obtaining data from two terms completed well before the pandemic and long after. Our final dataset comprised five sets of interactive data. Finally, we collected about 120,000 comments for SNA. Because each course had a different start time—in line with fluctuations in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in China and the opening dates of most colleges and universities—we divided our sample into five phases: well before the pandemic (Phase I); before the pandemic (Phase Ⅱ); during the pandemic (Phase Ⅲ); after the pandemic (Phase Ⅳ); and long after the pandemic (Phase Ⅴ). We sought to preserve consistent time spans to balance the amount of data in each period ( Fig 1 ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.g001

3.3 Instrumentation

Participants’ comments and “thumbs-up” behavior data were converted into a network structure and compared using social network analysis (SNA). Network analysis, according to M’Chirgui, is an effective tool for clarifying network relationships by employing sophisticated techniques [ 25 ]. Specifically, SNA can help explain the underlying relationships among team members and provide a better understanding of their internal processes. Yang and Tang used SNA to discuss the relationship between team structure and team performance [ 26 ]. Golbeck argued that SNA could improve the understanding of students’ learning processes and reveal learners’ and teachers’ role dynamics [ 27 ].

To analyze Question (1), the number of nodes and diameter in the generated network were deemed as indicators of changes in network size. Social networks are typically represented as graphs with nodes and degrees, and node count indicates the sample size [ 15 ]. Wellman et al. proposed that the larger the network scale, the greater the number of network members providing emotional support, goods, services, and companionship [ 28 ]. Jan’s study measured the network size by counting the nodes which represented students, lecturers, and tutors [ 29 ]. Similarly, network nodes in the present study indicated how many learners and teachers participated in the course, with more nodes indicating more participants. Furthermore, we investigated the network diameter, a structural feature of social networks, which is a common metric for measuring network size in SNA [ 30 ]. The network diameter refers to the longest path between any two nodes in the network. There has been evidence that a larger network diameter leads to greater spread of behavior [ 31 ]. Likewise, Gašević et al. found that larger networks were more likely to spread innovative ideas about educational technology when analyzing MOOC-related research citations [ 32 ]. Therefore, we employed node count and network diameter to measure the network’s spatial size and further explore the expansion characteristic of online courses. Brief introduction of these indicators can be summarized in Table 2 .

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.t002

To address Question (2), a list of interactive analysis metrics in SNA were introduced to scrutinize learners’ interaction characteristics in online learning during and after the pandemic, as shown below:

• (1) The average degree reflects the density of the network by calculating the average number of connections for each node. As Rong and Xu suggested, the average degree of a network indicates how active its participants are [ 33 ]. According to Hu, a higher average degree implies that more students are interacting directly with each other in a learning context [ 34 ]. The present study inherited the concept of the average degree from these previous studies: the higher the average degree, the more frequent the interaction between individuals in the network.
• (2) Essentially, a weighted average degree in a network is calculated by multiplying each degree by its respective weight, and then taking the average. Bydžovská took the strength of the relationship into account when determining the weighted average degree [ 35 ]. By calculating friendship’s weighted value, Maroulis assessed peer achievement within a small-school reform [ 36 ]. Accordingly, we considered the number of interactions as the weight of the degree, with a higher average degree indicating more active interaction among learners.
• (3) Network density is the ratio between actual connections and potential connections in a network. The more connections group members have with each other, the higher the network density. In SNA, network density is similar to group cohesion, i.e., a network of more strong relationships is more cohesive [ 37 ]. Network density also reflects how much all members are connected together [ 38 ]. Therefore, we adopted network density to indicate the closeness among network members. Higher network density indicates more frequent interaction and closer communication among students.
• (4) Clustering coefficient describes local network attributes and indicates that two nodes in the network could be connected through adjacent nodes. The clustering coefficient measures users’ tendency to gather (cluster) with others in the network: the higher the clustering coefficient, the more frequently users communicate with other group members. We regarded this indicator as a reflection of the cohesiveness of the group [ 39 ].
• (5) In a network, the average path length is the average number of steps along the shortest paths between any two nodes. Oliveres has observed that when an average path length is small, the route from one node to another is shorter when graphed [ 40 ]. This is especially true in educational settings where students tend to become closer friends. So we consider that the smaller the average path length, the greater the possibility of interaction between individuals in the network.
• (6) A network with a large number of nodes, but whose average path length is surprisingly small, is known as the small-world effect [ 41 ]. A higher clustering coefficient and shorter average path length are important indicators of a small-world network: a shorter average path length enables the network to spread information faster and more accurately; a higher clustering coefficient can promote frequent knowledge exchange within the group while boosting the timeliness and accuracy of knowledge dissemination [ 42 ]. Brief introduction of these indicators can be summarized in Table 3 .

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.t003

To analyze Question 3, we used the concept of closeness centrality, which determines how close a vertex is to others in the network. As Opsahl et al. explained, closeness centrality reveals how closely actors are coupled with their entire social network [ 43 ]. In order to analyze social network-based engineering education, Putnik et al. examined closeness centrality and found that it was significantly correlated with grades [ 38 ]. We used closeness centrality to measure the position of an individual in the network. Brief introduction of these indicators can be summarized in Table 4 .

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.t004

3.4 Ethics statement

This study was approved by the Academic Committee Office (ACO) of South China Normal University ( http://fzghb.scnu.edu.cn/ ), Guangzhou, China. Research data were collected from the open platform and analyzed anonymously. There are thus no privacy issues involved in this study.

4.1 COVID-19’s role in promoting the scale of online courses was not as important as expected

As shown in Fig 2 , the number of course participants and nodes are closely correlated with the pandemic’s trajectory. Because the number of participants in each course varied widely, we normalized the number of participants and nodes to more conveniently visualize course trends. Fig 2 depicts changes in the chosen courses’ number of participants and nodes before the pandemic (Phase II), during the pandemic (Phase III), and after the pandemic (Phase IV). The number of participants in most courses during the pandemic exceeded those before and after the pandemic. But the number of people who participate in interaction in some courses did not increase.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.g002

In order to better analyze the trend of interaction scale in online courses before, during, and after the pandemic, the selected courses were categorized according to their scale change. When the number of participants increased (decreased) beyond 20% (statistical experience) and the diameter also increased (decreased), the course scale was determined to have increased (decreased); otherwise, no significant change was identified in the course’s interaction scale. Courses were subsequently divided into three categories: increased interaction scale, decreased interaction scale, and no significant change. Results appear in Table 5 .

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.t005

From before the pandemic until it broke out, the interaction scale of five courses increased, accounting for 33.3% of the full sample; one course’s interaction scale declined, accounting for 6.7%. The interaction scale of nine courses decreased, accounting for 60%. The pandemic’s role in promoting online courses thus was not as important as anticipated, and most courses’ interaction scale did not change significantly throughout.

No courses displayed growing interaction scale after the pandemic: the interaction scale of nine courses fell, accounting for 60%; and the interaction scale of six courses did not shift significantly, accounting for 40%. Courses with an increased scale of interaction during the pandemic did not maintain an upward trend. On the contrary, the improvement in the pandemic caused learners’ enthusiasm for online learning to wane. We next analyzed several interaction metrics to further explore course interaction during different pandemic periods.

4.2 Characteristics of online learning interaction amid COVID-19

4.2.1 during the covid-19 pandemic, online learning interaction in some courses became more active..

Changes in course indicators with the growing interaction scale during the pandemic are presented in Fig 3 , including SS5, SS6, NS1, NS3, and NS8. The horizontal ordinate indicates the number of courses, with red color representing the rise of the indicator value on the vertical ordinate and blue representing the decline.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.g003

Specifically: (1) The average degree and weighted average degree of the five course networks demonstrated an upward trend. The emergence of the pandemic promoted students’ enthusiasm; learners were more active in the interactive network. (2) Fig 3 shows that 3 courses had increased network density and 2 courses had decreased. The higher the network density, the more communication within the team. Even though the pandemic accelerated the interaction scale and frequency, the tightness between learners in some courses did not improve. (3) The clustering coefficient of social science courses rose whereas the clustering coefficient and small-world property of natural science courses fell. The higher the clustering coefficient and the small-world property, the better the relationship between adjacent nodes and the higher the cohesion [ 39 ]. (4) Most courses’ average path length increased as the interaction scale increased. However, when the average path length grew, adverse effects could manifest: communication between learners might be limited to a small group without multi-directional interaction.

When the pandemic emerged, the only declining network scale belonged to a natural science course (NS2). The change in each course index is pictured in Fig 4 . The abscissa indicates the size of the value, with larger values to the right. The red dot indicates the index value before the pandemic; the blue dot indicates its value during the pandemic. If the blue dot is to the right of the red dot, then the value of the index increased; otherwise, the index value declined. Only the weighted average degree of the course network increased. The average degree, network density decreased, indicating that network members were not active and that learners’ interaction degree and communication frequency lessened. Despite reduced learner interaction, the average path length was small and the connectivity between learners was adequate.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.g004

4.2.2 After the COVID-19 pandemic, the scale decreased rapidly, but most course interaction was more effective.

Fig 5 shows the changes in various courses’ interaction indicators after the pandemic, including SS1, SS2, SS3, SS6, SS7, NS2, NS3, NS7, and NS8.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.g005

Specifically: (1) The average degree and weighted average degree of most course networks decreased. The scope and intensity of interaction among network members declined rapidly, as did learners’ enthusiasm for communication. (2) The network density of seven courses also fell, indicating weaker connections between learners in most courses. (3) In addition, the clustering coefficient and small-world property of most course networks decreased, suggesting little possibility of small groups in the network. The scope of interaction between learners was not limited to a specific space, and the interaction objects had no significant tendencies. (4) Although the scale of course interaction became smaller in this phase, the average path length of members’ social networks shortened in nine courses. Its shorter average path length would expedite the spread of information within the network as well as communication and sharing among network members.

Fig 6 displays the evolution of course interaction indicators without significant changes in interaction scale after the pandemic, including SS4, SS5, NS1, NS4, NS5, and NS6.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.g006

Specifically: (1) Some course members’ social networks exhibited an increase in the average and weighted average. In these cases, even though the course network’s scale did not continue to increase, communication among network members rose and interaction became more frequent and deeper than before. (2) Network density and average path length are indicators of social network density. The greater the network density, the denser the social network; the shorter the average path length, the more concentrated the communication among network members. However, at this phase, the average path length and network density in most courses had increased. Yet the network density remained small despite having risen ( Table 6 ). Even with more frequent learner interaction, connections remained distant and the social network was comparatively sparse.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.t006

In summary, the scale of interaction did not change significantly overall. Nonetheless, some course members’ frequency and extent of interaction increased, and the relationships between network members became closer as well. In the study, we found it interesting that the interaction scale of Economics (a social science course) course and Electrodynamics (a natural science course) course expanded rapidly during the pandemic and retained their interaction scale thereafter. We next assessed these two courses to determine whether their level of interaction persisted after the pandemic.

4.3 Analyses of natural science courses and social science courses

4.3.1 analyses of the interaction characteristics of economics and electrodynamics..

Economics and Electrodynamics are social science courses and natural science courses, respectively. Members’ interaction within these courses was similar: the interaction scale increased significantly when COVID-19 broke out (Phase Ⅲ), and no significant changes emerged after the pandemic (Phase Ⅴ). We hence focused on course interaction long after the outbreak (Phase V) and compared changes across multiple indicators, as listed in Table 7 .

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.t007

As the pandemic continued to improve, the number of participants and the diameter long after the outbreak (Phase V) each declined for Economics compared with after the pandemic (Phase IV). The interaction scale decreased, but the interaction between learners was much deeper. Specifically: (1) The weighted average degree, network density, clustering coefficient, and small-world property each reflected upward trends. The pandemic therefore exerted a strong impact on this course. Interaction was well maintained even after the pandemic. The smaller network scale promoted members’ interaction and communication. (2) Compared with after the pandemic (Phase IV), members’ network density increased significantly, showing that relationships between learners were closer and that cohesion was improving. (3) At the same time, as the clustering coefficient and small-world property grew, network members demonstrated strong small-group characteristics: the communication between them was deepening and their enthusiasm for interaction was higher. (4) Long after the COVID-19 outbreak (Phase V), the average path length was reduced compared with previous terms, knowledge flowed more quickly among network members, and the degree of interaction gradually deepened.

The average degree, weighted average degree, network density, clustering coefficient, and small-world property of Electrodynamics all decreased long after the COVID-19 outbreak (Phase V) and were lower than during the outbreak (Phase Ⅲ). The level of learner interaction therefore gradually declined long after the outbreak (Phase V), and connections between learners were no longer active. Although the pandemic increased course members’ extent of interaction, this rise was merely temporary: students’ enthusiasm for learning waned rapidly and their interaction decreased after the pandemic (Phase IV). To further analyze the interaction characteristics of course members in Economics and Electrodynamics, we evaluated the closeness centrality of their social networks, as shown in section 4.3.2.

4.3.2 Analysis of the closeness centrality of Economics and Electrodynamics.

The change in the closeness centrality of social networks in Economics was small, and no sharp upward trend appeared during the pandemic outbreak, as shown in Fig 7 . The emergence of COVID-19 apparently fostered learners’ interaction in Economics albeit without a significant impact. The closeness centrality changed in Electrodynamics varied from that of Economics: upon the COVID-19 outbreak, closeness centrality was significantly different from other semesters. Communication between learners was closer and interaction was more effective. Electrodynamics course members’ social network proximity decreased rapidly after the pandemic. Learners’ communication lessened. In general, Economics course showed better interaction before the outbreak and was less affected by the pandemic; Electrodynamics course was more affected by the pandemic and showed different interaction characteristics at different periods of the pandemic.

(Note: "****" indicates the significant distinction in closeness centrality between the two periods, otherwise no significant distinction).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.g007

5. Discussion

We referred to discussion forums from several courses on the icourse.163 MOOC platform to compare online learning before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic via SNA and to delineate the pandemic’s effects on online courses. Only 33.3% of courses in our sample increased in terms of interaction during the pandemic; the scale of interaction did not rise in any courses thereafter. When the courses scale rose, the scope and frequency of interaction showed upward trends during the pandemic; and the clustering coefficient of natural science courses and social science courses differed: the coefficient for social science courses tended to rise whereas that for natural science courses generally declined. When the pandemic broke out, the interaction scale of a single natural science course decreased along with its interaction scope and frequency. The amount of interaction in most courses shrank rapidly during the pandemic and network members were not as active as they had been before. However, after the pandemic, some courses saw declining interaction but greater communication between members; interaction also became more frequent and deeper than before.

5.1 During the COVID-19 pandemic, the scale of interaction increased in only a few courses

The pandemic outbreak led to a rapid increase in the number of participants in most courses; however, the change in network scale was not significant. The scale of online interaction expanded swiftly in only a few courses; in others, the scale either did not change significantly or displayed a downward trend. After the pandemic, the interaction scale in most courses decreased quickly; the same pattern applied to communication between network members. Learners’ enthusiasm for online interaction reduced as the circumstances of the pandemic improved—potentially because, during the pandemic, China’s Ministry of Education declared “School’s Out, But Class’s On” policy. Major colleges and universities were encouraged to use the Internet and informational resources to provide learning support, hence the sudden increase in the number of participants and interaction in online courses [ 46 ]. After the pandemic, students’ enthusiasm for online learning gradually weakened, presumably due to easing of the pandemic [ 47 ]. More activities also transitioned from online to offline, which tempered learners’ online discussion. Research has shown that long-term online learning can even bore students [ 48 ].

Most courses’ interaction scale decreased significantly after the pandemic. First, teachers and students occupied separate spaces during the outbreak, had few opportunities for mutual cooperation and friendship, and lacked a sense of belonging [ 49 ]. Students’ enthusiasm for learning dissipated over time [ 50 ]. Second, some teachers were especially concerned about adapting in-person instructional materials for digital platforms; their pedagogical methods were ineffective, and they did not provide learning activities germane to student interaction [ 51 ]. Third, although teachers and students in remote areas were actively engaged in online learning, some students could not continue to participate in distance learning due to inadequate technology later in the outbreak [ 52 ].

5.2 Characteristics of online learning interaction during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

5.2.1 during the covid-19 pandemic, online interaction in most courses did not change significantly..

The interaction scale of only a few courses increased during the pandemic. The interaction scope and frequency of these courses climbed as well. Yet even as the degree of network interaction rose, course network density did not expand in all cases. The pandemic sparked a surge in the number of online learners and a rapid increase in network scale, but students found it difficult to interact with all learners. Yau pointed out that a greater network scale did not enrich the range of interaction between individuals; rather, the number of individuals who could interact directly was limited [ 53 ]. The internet facilitates interpersonal communication. However, not everyone has the time or ability to establish close ties with others [ 54 ].

In addition, social science courses and natural science courses in our sample revealed disparate trends in this regard: the clustering coefficient of social science courses increased and that of natural science courses decreased. Social science courses usually employ learning approaches distinct from those in natural science courses [ 55 ]. Social science courses emphasize critical and innovative thinking along with personal expression [ 56 ]. Natural science courses focus on practical skills, methods, and principles [ 57 ]. Therefore, the content of social science courses can spur large-scale discussion among learners. Some course evaluations indicated that the course content design was suboptimal as well: teachers paid close attention to knowledge transmission and much less to piquing students’ interest in learning. In addition, the thread topics that teachers posted were scarcely diversified and teachers’ questions lacked openness. These attributes could not spark active discussion among learners.

5.2.2 Online learning interaction declined after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most courses’ interaction scale and intensity decreased rapidly after the pandemic, but some did not change. Courses with a larger network scale did not continue to expand after the outbreak, and students’ enthusiasm for learning paled. The pandemic’s reduced severity also influenced the number of participants in online courses. Meanwhile, restored school order moved many learning activities from virtual to in-person spaces. Face-to-face learning has gradually replaced online learning, resulting in lower enrollment and less interaction in online courses. Prolonged online courses could have also led students to feel lonely and to lack a sense of belonging [ 58 ].

The scale of interaction in some courses did not change substantially after the pandemic yet learners’ connections became tighter. We hence recommend that teachers seize pandemic-related opportunities to design suitable activities. Additionally, instructors should promote student-teacher and student-student interaction, encourage students to actively participate online, and generally intensify the impact of online learning.

5.3 What are the characteristics of interaction in social science courses and natural science courses?

The level of interaction in Economics (a social science course) was significantly higher than that in Electrodynamics (a natural science course), and the small-world property in Economics increased as well. To boost online courses’ learning-related impacts, teachers can divide groups of learners based on the clustering coefficient and the average path length. Small groups of students may benefit teachers in several ways: to participate actively in activities intended to expand students’ knowledge, and to serve as key actors in these small groups. Cultivating students’ keenness to participate in class activities and self-management can also help teachers guide learner interaction and foster deep knowledge construction.

As evidenced by comments posted in the Electrodynamics course, we observed less interaction between students. Teachers also rarely urged students to contribute to conversations. These trends may have arisen because teachers and students were in different spaces. Teachers might have struggled to discern students’ interaction status. Teachers could also have failed to intervene in time, to design online learning activities that piqued learners’ interest, and to employ sound interactive theme planning and guidance. Teachers are often active in traditional classroom settings. Their roles are comparatively weakened online, such that they possess less control over instruction [ 59 ]. Online instruction also requires a stronger hand in learning: teachers should play a leading role in regulating network members’ interactive communication [ 60 ]. Teachers can guide learners to participate, help learners establish social networks, and heighten students’ interest in learning [ 61 ]. Teachers should attend to core members in online learning while also considering edge members; by doing so, all network members can be driven to share their knowledge and become more engaged. Finally, teachers and assistant teachers should help learners develop knowledge, exchange topic-related ideas, pose relevant questions during course discussions, and craft activities that enable learners to interact online [ 62 ]. These tactics can improve the effectiveness of online learning.

As described, network members displayed distinct interaction behavior in Economics and Electrodynamics courses. First, these courses varied in their difficulty: the social science course seemed easier to understand and focused on divergent thinking. Learners were often willing to express their views in comments and to ponder others’ perspectives [ 63 ]. The natural science course seemed more demanding and was oriented around logical thinking and skills [ 64 ]. Second, courses’ content differed. In general, social science courses favor the acquisition of declarative knowledge and creative knowledge compared with natural science courses. Social science courses also entertain open questions [ 65 ]. Natural science courses revolve around principle knowledge, strategic knowledge, and transfer knowledge [ 66 ]. Problems in these courses are normally more complicated than those in social science courses. Third, the indicators affecting students’ attitudes toward learning were unique. Guo et al. discovered that “teacher feedback” most strongly influenced students’ attitudes towards learning social science courses but had less impact on students in natural science courses [ 67 ]. Therefore, learners in social science courses likely expect more feedback from teachers and greater interaction with others.

6. Conclusion and future work

Our findings show that the network interaction scale of some online courses expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic. The network scale of most courses did not change significantly, demonstrating that the pandemic did not notably alter the scale of course interaction. Online learning interaction among course network members whose interaction scale increased also became more frequent during the pandemic. Once the outbreak was under control, although the scale of interaction declined, the level and scope of some courses’ interactive networks continued to rise; interaction was thus particularly effective in these cases. Overall, the pandemic appeared to have a relatively positive impact on online learning interaction. We considered a pair of courses in detail and found that Economics (a social science course) fared much better than Electrodynamics (a natural science course) in classroom interaction; learners were more willing to partake in-class activities, perhaps due to these courses’ unique characteristics. Brint et al. also came to similar conclusions [ 57 ].

This study was intended to be rigorous. Even so, several constraints can be addressed in future work. The first limitation involves our sample: we focused on a select set of courses hosted on China’s icourse.163 MOOC platform. Future studies should involve an expansive collection of courses to provide a more holistic understanding of how the pandemic has influenced online interaction. Second, we only explored the interactive relationship between learners and did not analyze interactive content. More in-depth content analysis should be carried out in subsequent research. All in all, the emergence of COVID-19 has provided a new path for online learning and has reshaped the distance learning landscape. To cope with associated challenges, educational practitioners will need to continue innovating in online instructional design, strengthen related pedagogy, optimize online learning conditions, and bolster teachers’ and students’ competence in online learning.

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Neuroscience Education Approach Through Online Learning: A Systematic Literature Review of Current Research and Future Directions

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• Fauziah Sulaiman   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9584-0421 6 ,
• Elnetthra Folly Eldy   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9865-9406 7 ,
• Lorna Uden 8 &
• Sitty Nur Syafa Bakri   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3486-4857 7  

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((volume 2082))

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• International Workshop on Learning Technology for Education Challenges

Online learning has brought about significant changes in the education since the COVID-19 pandemic. The cognitive processes involved in online learning have been debated for decades. Although many of the issues regarding instructional designs have been addressed, post pandemic challenges require us to take a more practical approach to prepare students with 21st-century skills. However, discussions on constructing an instructional design through online learning, particularly those related to active learning from a neuroscience perspective are still lacking. A systematic literature review to synthesise empirical data on using or implementing neuroscience educational approaches in online learning is needed. This paper attempts to identify the trends in the neuroscience education in online learning to research sampling trends and the focus of the field of study. The study utilised the Science Direct, Scopus, Pro Quest, and ERIC databases based on the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA), of 27 original articles published between 2014 and 2023. The findings reveal that the United States is be the dominant country in conducting neuroscience education approaches through online learning and related studies were mostly performed in 2023. The research samples were also more focused on higher education institutions (HEIs) with an emphasis on teaching and learning activities.

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Sulaiman, F., Eldy, E.F., Uden, L., Bakri, S.N.S. (2024). Neuroscience Education Approach Through Online Learning: A Systematic Literature Review of Current Research and Future Directions. In: Uden, L., Liberona, D. (eds) Learning Technology for Education Challenges. LTEC 2024. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 2082. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61678-5_21

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Covid-19 distance and online learning: a systematic literature review in pharmacy education.

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Abstract 

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Covid-19 distance and online learning: a systematic literature review in pharmacy education

Muhaimin muhaimin.

1 Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia

Akhmad Habibi

2 Universitas Jambi, Jambi, Indonesia

Yasir Riady

3 Universitas Terbuka, Banten, Indonesia

Turki Mesfer Alqahtani

4 Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia

Anis Yohana Chaerunisaa

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5 Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

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6 Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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• Associated Data

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

The Covid-19 outbreak necessitated the implementation of social distancing mechanisms, such as the enforcement of lockdowns in numerous nations. The lockdown has disrupted many parts of everyday life, but this unusual event has particularly affected education. The temporary closure of educational institutions ushered in dozens of new reforms, including a shift into the distance and online learning. This study investigates the transition from traditional education in physical classrooms to online and distance and online learning in pharmacy education during Covid-19, especially about the challenges and benefits of distance and online learning. We did Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) for literature sources between 2020 and 2022 (n.14). The study elaborates on how the transition has influenced teachers and students of pharmacy education. The research also summarizes several recommendations, which may assist in minimizing the adverse impacts of lockdown and encourage streamlined processes to distance and online learning, particularly in pharmacy education.

• Introduction

Covid-19, an infectious illness characterized by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, endangered the world quickly due to its highly infectious nature. As of 6 March 2023, there have been more than seven hudred million confirmed cases were documented, with over six million deaths [ 1 ]. The World Health Organization (WHO) labeled the virus a pandemic in March 2020. The pandemic caused havoc on a variety of activities of daily life, triggering governments worldwide to put in place a series of emergency response mechanisms [ 2 , 3 ]. Country leaders imposed temporary closure and enforced extended isolation time, disrupting educational activity around the globe, reducing infection, and flattening the curve to avoid overburdening healthcare services. This resulted in the temporary closure of educational institutions in various parts of the world. The situation affected teachers, students, and their families [ 4 – 6 ]. Some academic institutions facing closure gradually reopened and began working under distance and online learning methods to keep students on track academically while also taking steps to mitigate the effects of the present health crisis. In the past, infectious disease epidemics have resulted in widespread school closures, with variable levels of success [ 7 ]. At the most basic level, distance learning refers to taking classes away from the college. Although technically a type of distance learning, online learning is more frequently used to describe programs where the instructors are not present simultaneously as the students [ 8 ].

Institutions have been forced into quickly transitioning to distance and online learning approaches mainly based on technology. Many educational stakeholders, such as teachers, students, and school administration staff, have not prepared to face the transition because of the fast switch to distance and online learning [ 9 ]. This transition to remote learning happened in an unexpected situation, leaving little time for teachers, educational staff, and students to prepare, modify, and adjust the learning. The condition brought several problems to the economy and social life. According to UNESCO, the temporary school closures enacted in response to the Covid-19 pandemic have impacted more than a billion students worldwide. Owing to a lockdown in 2020, students from over 50 nations have been kept out of school, accounting for roughly 18% of total registered students [ 10 ]. Many studies have been conducted to understand the impacts of distance and online learning in education due to Covid-19 [ 11 – 13 ]. However, literature reviews in a specific field of study are still limited and important to understand the broad effects of distance and online learning [ 7 , 9 , 14 ]. This systematic literature review takes an in-depth look at the studies on the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on a specific field of education. This research examines how the shift from traditional methods to distance and online learning has affected teachers and students in pharmacy education. The impact of the pandemic-based distance and online learning on pharmacy education should be investigated to improve didactical decisions in the future and bridge the gaps to more adaptable but effective online pedagogical approaches. Initially, the focus areas of the literature review were investigated within pharmacy education. Following the focus areas, the distance and online learning challenges and benefits were assessed and elaborated on. Finally, recommendations of the prior studies included in this meta-analysis were concluded.

• Related work

Many governments were under pressure to prevent Covid-19 from spreading. This resulted in the temporary closures of many schools and universities [ 15 ]. Others switched to distance and online learning through technology. Viner et al. [ 16 ] did a systematic evaluation to determine the influence of school closures and other social distance techniques on disease rates and virus spread during crises. It was indicated that educational institution temporary closures play an insignificant role in virus transmission reduction. The minor advantages of such restrictions on the spread reduction might quickly be offset by the severe socio-economic implications [ 16 – 18 ]. The closure can have effects on individuals, families, and society. Therefore, any decision regarding school closures must carefully consider the potential trade-offs and aim to strike a balance between protecting public health and minimizing the adverse impacts on education, economy, and social well-being. As a result, many academic institutions have chosen the less drastic option of converting to distance and online learning [ 19 , 20 ].

Distance learning refers to online instruction systems to create educational materials, provide teaching, and manage programs [ 21 ]. There are two basic types of distance learning: synchronous and asynchronous [ 22 ]. The main goal of distance and online learning is to replicate regular classroom communication approaches. Live webinars and virtual classes are examples of synchronous distance and online learning. On the other hand, asynchronous learning allows for greater flexibility in terms of timing which does not require real-time engagement; materials are provided online. Video recordings and emails are instances of asynchronous learning.

A comprehensive review and meta-analysis of controlled studies on the efficiency and approval of distance and online learning in medical sciences published between January 2000 and March 2020 evaluated students’ understanding, abilities, and satisfaction levels [ 23 ]. The study reported insignificant differences between traditional and distance and online learning regarding usefulness and objective assessments. Distance and online learning obtained a better approval rating in subjective assessments, suggesting that it was preferred to some degree by learners [ 23 ]. Carrillo & Flores [ 24 ] also reviewed the literature on online teaching and learning practices in teacher development between January 2000 and April 2020 to investigate online learning in teacher development and explain its consequences in the sense of the disease outbreak. The review discussed sociological, intellectual, and pedagogical problems and a comprehensive representation of innovation utilized to enhance teaching and learning [ 24 ].

Daoud et al. [ 25 ] performed a comprehensive review that evaluated the academic benefits of providing internet access at home, focusing on equality surrounding household internet access. It discovered several favorable associations between household internet access and the value of education for qualification, personal character, and social life. However, the relationship was not apparent and did not prove causality. Variables affect the aspects of online behaviors, including how technology is integrated and determine the educational value of household internet use [ 25 ]. Di Pietro et al. [ 26 ] published a report in which they attempted to investigate the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on education. It generated projections regarding the influence and future of learning based on pre and during Covid-19 data. The following are the four critical conclusions drawn from the article: (a) learning is likely to experience a stumbling block; (b) the impact on student achievements is likely to differ with economic factors; (c) social-economic disparity expressed in extreme reactions, less-wealthy families are subjected to greater environmental strain; (d) the broadening social inequality could have long-lasting effects [ 26 ].

Some virtual cases of emergency learning methods have been chastised for failing to follow basic pedagogical principles and guidelines [ 27 ]. Several studies have raised concerns regarding the possible negative consequences of rushing to introduce educational technology changes without first assessing their impact [ 27 , 28 ]. Furthermore, the move to online education and distance and online learning technologies has sparked worries about spying and security and influenced students’ lifestyles [ 29 ]. In this research context, selected studies were diverse, from quantitative to qualitatitve approaches [ 30 ]. Because this phenomenon is still new, there is a lack of reflection on the pandemic digital revolution’s direct impact on postsecondary learning and its benefits, drawbacks, and future consequences.

The current research, a systematic literature review, follows the principles outlined in the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA) procedures [ 31 , 32 ], which include five stages: search, screening, eligibility, initial inclusion, and inclusion. PRISMA is a standard approach to assist researchers in transparently informing the study, steps, and results within the context of the systematic literature review [ 33 ].

Research questions

This research investigates the effects of Covid-19 distance and online learning on pharmacy education. Four research questions were proposed: (1) what are the focus areas of the literature review? (2) what are the challenges of distance and online learning in pharmacy education? (3) what are the benefits of distance and online learning pharmacy education? (4) what recommendations were made?

The research questions were a basic guideline for determining the most popular search terms. The search includes terms synonymous with or closely linked to the main search phrases. The search was conducted using Science Direct, supported by Google Scholar search. The relevant search terms were used: “Distance learning in pharmacy education Covid 19,” “online education in pharmacy education Covid 19,” and “Technology integration in pharmacy education Covid-19.” The findings varied depending on the phrase combinations. However, in general, 17 to 81 papers (Table  1 ) were obtained each search, with the number growing relevant to the topics. Related phrases were gathered in all publications depending on the search. The terms sued in the search were determined through an in-depth discussion among the authors. We limited the terms so that future researchers can adapt this study for further investigation. The search limit provides narrow results for effective and efficient work for the most relevant answers to the research problems [ 34 ].

Search in Science Direct (n. 137)

Articles published after 2020 were kept in the study. Only works from high-quality journals were included; we selected the articles from indexed journals in Web of Science or Scopus databases. We initially reviewed the selected papers against Elsevier’s abstract and reference repository, Scopus, to verify that they were of top standard and didn’t relate to fraudulent publications. We also double-checked that they were in the Scopus indexation for the SJR, a measure of academic journals’ scientific impact. Furthermore, the publications were evaluated using Beall’s List, a list comprising predatory accessible publications that do not conduct an adequate review process.

PRISMA procedures

A reference list of scholarly papers directly referencing Covid-19 online learning: A comprehensive literature review in pharmacy education was created after merging these lists. After the first search or first phase, 137 scholarly publications were presented (Table  1 ). By removing duplicated results, we were able to screen for them. Microsoft Word was used as a tool in the duplication removal procedure. We went through each repeated title and removed them one by one. The redundancy led to 54 academic papers being sent for additional review, with 83 being deleted. Further, the step included the following elimination process; the articles should address technology integration in pharmacy education during Covid-19 distance learning, inform findings in English, be empirical studies (research articles), and be published from 2020 to April 1st, 2022. From the process, 47 abstracts were dropped, and the remaining 36 articles were for eligibility and inclusion (Fig.  1 ).

PRISMA flow diagram of the study

Following the initial screening, a review-coding method was performed using Macros in Microsoft Words for the abstracts, with the process documented by writing “included” 1st initial inclusion in the review box. After that, we added some information for every abstract, and the coding was done in a new draft where all the initial abstracts were included. The Macros [ 35 , 36 ] were used to encode and extract the selected papers [ 37 ]. Macros were chosen because of their efficiency and functionality [ 35 ]. Tables were created to manage the comments and metadata. The study’s aim, method, study site/ population, and findings are listed in the tables. Four authors discussed and did the coding and combined documents into one before extracting the comments for analysis. The Macros were obtained for free at http://www.thedoctools.com/index.php?show=mt_comments_extract .

In the end, 14 articles were collected, examined, and reviewed. The criteria for inclusion in this systematic review were accessible articles in the context of distance education during Covid-19 in the field of pharmacy education. Meanwhile, the exclusion criteria included articles that were not in the context of Covid-19 (n.6), pharmacy education, and distance and online learning. Besides, inaccessible articles (n.7) and articles with insufficient information (n.9) regarding the topic were also excluded.

• Results and discussion

The results of this literature review are presented. The findings of every research topic are examined in depth. The focuse of the reviewed articles is presented in Table  2 .

In the selected investigations, most educational institutions moved to online learning. The quality requirements listed in Table  3 were used to construct 14 studies.

Included sources

Area of focus

In this study, 14 publications considered the effect of COVID-19 on pharmacy education, specifically the technological change they sparked, distance and online learning challenges and benefits, and the recommendations for future studies. Eight papers discussed students’ and faculty’s experiences with remote learning and the participants’ perspectives on its possible benefits and drawbacks. Besides, four publications provided remote learning solutions or tested the performance of a specific technology. Three articles discussed educational policies considering the pandemic and examined the new approach to teaching and learning activities. Two papers investigated how the closure and subsequent transformation to technology-based education compounded achievement gaps. The gaps were revealed between students from lower-income households who lacked internet access and devices and those from higher-income families with devices and easy access to the Internet.

The key challenges can be summarized in the following points: disparity in accessibility, training insufficiency , lack of communication, technical issues, pressure, work, and confidence, and lack of student involvement, technical knowledge, and performance evaluatio n.

There is a disparity in accessibility for pharmacy students, typically linked to family income [ 42 , 45 , 46 , 51 ], discussed in four articles from the review sources. The shift to distance and online learning worsened the disparities between wealthy and disadvantaged pharmacy students. Students studying pharmacy in less affluent areas have little or no access to supporting devices and the Internet [ 42 , 45 ]. Students from low-income families were reported to have less skill and knowledge of technology than students from high-income families with strong economic backgrounds [ 38 , 41 ]. The inequality goes to institutions located in rural areas, which are under-equipped compared to institutions located in cities or urban areas [ 52 ], resulting in different challenges faced by each type of institution.

While technology can enhance the learning experience, it cannot completely replace it, especially in pharmacy professions requiring hands-on laboratory training that indeed produces training insufficiency [ 44 , 48 ]. The phenomenon is especially true in health-related fields, such as pharmacy. The papers on pharmacy education emphasized the importance of hands-on experience and how secondary knowledge derived through simulation, presentation recordings, or online meetings through video conferencing cannot replace the experience.

Because of the depreciation or lack of physical interaction and the intrinsic vagueness of textual exchanges, forming and maintaining connections and forging communication between students, their classmates, and their teachers became increasingly challenging [ 38 ]. With the inexistence of visible touch and the capacity to observe students in classrooms, teachers and instructors have a more challenging time explaining directions and evaluating student response, involvement, and participation. These lack of communication challenges have been revealed in three articles within this literature review [ 38 , 40 , 45 ].

Technical issues such as Internet or Wi-Fi access, tool malfunctions, and stream stability might obstruct communication [ 42 , 45 , 51 ]. As the pandemic spread over the globe, accessibility to a dependable internet connection became increasingly vital in the last year, and quite enough of day-to-day life shifted from in-person to online. Many students, however, have suffered from technological challenges since the start of Covid 19, and existing disparities have indeed been exacerbated by the lack of consistent accessibility [ 42 , 45 , 51 ].

Pressure, work, and confidence were all impacted by the students’ and teachers’ forced and quick transfer to remote learning. Many pharmacy students and faculty members faced financial and social anxiety due to the lockdown, which indirectly impacted their performance. Academic employees, for example, had to deal with increased or even quadrupled workloads. Extended time without face-to-face social interaction can also harm one’s mental health.

Technical knowledge is the next challenge of the current study [ 42 , 45 , 46 , 51 ]. Many educational institutions, schools, and universities were surprised by this rapid and forced digital change, giving educational leaders limited time to educate their professional personnel. The complex evidence and reality left non-tech-aware teachers and instructors unprepared and unequipped to work with complex technological-based activities. Teachers’ lack of technical expertise and prior experience using online tools are also challenges [ 42 , 51 ]. In many circumstances, the incapacity of faculty members to use technology hampered the success of distance and online learning.

Other difficulties include a lack of student involvement and performance evaluatio n [ 40 – 42 , 45 , 51 ]. Student engagement was occasionally weak due to dependency on recorded meetings, limitation of intention, and stress produced by using the devices. There was also weariness from staring at screens for long periods, isolated thoughts, and melancholy from a limited personal touch [ 40 , 42 ]. Teachers faced problems revising learning assessments to fairly record student academic performance and achievements [ 51 ], which is challenging during distance and online learning, especially for pharmacy students.

Other challenges might also be faced during distance and online learning due to Covid-19. The quality of online and distance learning in pharmacy education is one of them, and it can be a major issue. The government’s educational policy makes no explicit mention of distance and learning. Lack of quality control, development of e-resources, and content delivery can be present. This issue needs to be addressed in further work, especially in pharmacy education, so that all stakeholders can take advantage of the advantages of high-quality distance and online education. One should consider developing and improving the quality of learning for future pandemics.

This stage highlights the benefits of digital change in pharmacy education for more opportunities in the future of education. There are a number of benefits [ 39 , 41 , 42 , 45 , 47 , 49 , 50 ] informed by sources included in this systematic literature review, namely bridging the gap between time and place, communication effectiveness, information transition, and cost-effectiveness.

Distance and online learning bridge the gap between time and place , that gives pharmacy students and teachers the freedom to listen to academic lectures and speeches from the coziness of their living rooms or from anywhere else [ 42 , 47 , 50 ]. Due to the time, it also enables pupils to self-regulate their education and progress at their own pace. Distance and online learning give students the opportunities to listen to their lectures from the comfort of their own homes or from anywhere else. Because of the adaptability enabled by elements such as recording, distance and online learning also helps students to self-regulate their learning and continue at their speed. Online learning allows for a more modern and practical way of communication [ 39 , 41 , 47 , 49 , 50 ]. Significant debates might be addressed during courses, and participants can profit from these talks by observing or engaging in chat.

Distance and online learning facilitate communication effectiveness because participants shouldn’t have to talk face to face or deal with the anxiety that comes with talking in front of a live audience, which encourages more conversation. Parents of young children can also benefit from online learning by becoming more active in their children’s education [ 39 , 45 , 47 , 49 ]. The pressures of the pandemic to shift to digital and remote educational models in teaching revealed flaws in the approach and compelled lecturers to consider and evaluate present and prior instructional approaches, offering a glimpse into what educational technology could look like, encouraging didactical advancement and accelerating changes in technology-based education. The process can be considered a catalyst for curricular and classroom improvement [ 39 , 49 , 50 ].

The employment of simulations and other approaches for educational goals and the deployment of online learning are seen as beneficial and adequate, if not comprehensive, substitutes for traditional learning [ 39 , 41 , 42 , 45 , 47 , 49 , 50 ]. It met the goal of continuing to provide instruction in the face of the epidemic while also assisting pupils in meeting their expectations. Distance and online learning also help increase information transmission , with additional benefits of cost-effectiveness . Students are exposed to new and relevant technologies by integrating technology into education [ 39 , 45 , 49 ].

Recommendations and suggestions

The solution is raising and sustaining their motivation to promote morale and battle any lockdown-induced stress or worry. Accessible online learning portals are for institutions in pharmacy education. Generating and accepting feedback from learners to ensure the quality of online learning is another piece of advice made by the existing literature in pharmacy education [ 39 , 42 , 43 , 45 , 49 ]. They are examining the outcomes of distance and online learning and commenting on the distinctions between it and traditional education to identify which components are sustainable and fit the expectations placed on pharmacy education in general by the pandemic situation.

The current study also helps lecturers use effective instructional strategies and allows educational institutions to enhance online instructional resources continuously [ 53 , 54 ]. Pharmacy students comprehend the required courses and sense the connection of the study content to the actual world. Teachers must set clear expectations and establish course objectives and the value of the syllabus to accomplish this [ 39 , 49 ]. Early in the academic year, they must also define their roles and duties as instructors and facilitators [ 43 , 45 ]. Furthermore, authorities should aim to assess and prevent any dangers or disadvantages of economic or workload discrepancies because of this rapid transition from traditional learning to distance and online learning during crises like Covid-19 [ 55 ].

Another piece of advice is to reassess and rethink educational practices and formulate guidance to steer the shifts to online and distance learning and make necessary infrastructural improvements [ 56 , 57 ]. The activities are designed to familiarize students and professors with technology, develop their competence, and equip them to deal with technological challenges that may arise during online lectures [ 49 ]. This will also aid in the effective use of technology to fulfill its full potential in online education. Finally, it is critical to provide underequipped pupils with the essential tools to participate in online communications, such as devices and solid internet access [ 39 , 45 ].

• Conclusion and future work

Covid-19 has a major effect on the world and how people arrange themselves in the actual world. It has revealed systemic flaws inside institutions and resulted in lengthy changes. This was also true in the educational system. This assessment aimed to examine and assess the impact of these developments on pharmacy education. In total, 14 articles regarding distance and online learning during Covid-19 were discussed. The current study uses the PRISMA approach to outline the findings through 5 steps (search, screening, eligibility, initial inclusion, and inclusion). To fill the gap of prior studies in pharmacy education, we examined the change in learning from traditional methods to distance and online learning, affecting all related stakeholders. The impact of pandemics on pharmacy education should be more elaborated for future research for the betterment of education, especially pharmacy education. In short, we focus the presentation of the study on the focus areas of the literature, benefits, and challenges of distance and online learning during Covid-19 in pharmacy education.

• Acknowledgements

We thank Universitas Padjadjaran, Universitas Jambi, Universitas Terbuka, Beijing Normal University, and Universiti Malaya to support the research.

• Authors’ contributions

Conceptualization—MM. contributed to conceptualization. Introduction—MM, TTW, and YR contributed to introduction. Methodology—AH, AC, and TM contributed to methodology. Literature Review—all authors contributed to literature review. Results—AH, TMA, MM, and YR contributed to the results. Data Curation— AH, MM, and YR contributed to data curation. Project Administration—MM, AC, and TM contributed to project administration. Writing (Original Draft)—MM, AH, TMA, TTW, FDY, NAA and YR contributed to writing the original data. AH, FDY, and NAA contirubuted to the revision of the writing.

This research is fully funded by Universitas Padjajaran.

• Availability of data and materials
• Declarations

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Original research article, online learning after the covid-19 pandemic: learners’ motivations.

• Endicott College, Woosong University, Daejeon, South Korea

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a focus on reforming teaching, learning models and strategies, particularly in online teaching and learning tools. Based on the social cognitive career theory and the constructivist learning theory, the purpose of this study was to understand and explore the learning preference and experience of students’ online courses during the COVID-19 pandemic and the management after the COVID-19 pandemic from the students’ perspective. The study was guided by the following two research questions: (1) After the COVID-19 pandemic, why do the students want to continue their foreign language courses via an online platform and model? What are the motivations and reasons? (2) How would the students describe their experience of a foreign language course via an online platform and model? With the general inductive approach and sharing from 80 participants, the participants indicated that flexibilities and convenience, same outcomes and learning rigorousness, and interactive experiences with classmates from different parts of the world were the three main key points. The results of this study may provide recommendations to university leaders, department heads, and teachers to reform and upgrade their online teaching curriculum and course delivery options after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction

Due to the development of technologically assisted teaching and learning tools, flexible enrolment management, and delivery options, many traditional-age students and non-traditional students may enjoy university education. A recent report by the State of Oregon Employment Department ( Wallis, 2020 ) predicted that from 2015 to 2026, enrolment of non-traditional students (25 years and older) could increase by 8.2% or 664,000, while the youth population (from 14 to 25 years old) could increase by 16.8% or 1,991,000. By 2026, the non-traditional student population could comprise nearly 40% of the university student population, while just over 60% will be youths.

Distance learning is one of the current international education trends in university environments, in both credit and non-credit courses. Many universities have established a proportion of courses and academic programs for students who cannot attend the traditional face-to-face courses that have been the norm over the past decades. Recent statistics from the National Centre for Education Statistics ( National Center for Education Statistics, 2020 ) indicate that 19,637,499 students enrolled in any undergraduate and postgraduate educational institutions in 2019. In total, 12,323,876 (about 62.8%) students studied as on-campus students without any distance learning options. Also, 7,313,623 (about 37.2%) students enrolled in any online courses at degree-granted postsecondary institutions in the United States. Of these students (37.2%), 3,863,498 students took at least one, but not all, of students; courses are distance education courses, 3,450,125 students took distance learning courses exclusively. These education trends may continue due to the flexibility and convenience of online courses, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose of the study

First, the COVID-19 pandemic has become a focus on reforming teaching as well as learning models and strategies, particularly in online teaching and learning tools. Recent statistics ( Wallis, 2020 ) indicate that many university students have experienced at least one online course due to the COVID-19 pandemic and government social distancing recommendations. Although many courses will eventually return to traditional face-to-face teaching models and strategies to increase learning and on-campus experience, online teaching and learning have become options for students to complete their courses online, particularly in foreign language courses.

Second, many foreign language courses and instructions tend to focus on face-to-face and physical interactions with students, teachers, and peers in the classroom environment. Although a few literature courses may be delivered online, many language-based courses are physically delivered. Therefore, it is important to understand the voices and comments of foreign language students to upgrade and polish the online-based foreign language courses during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The result of this study will provide recommendations to school leaders, department heads, curriculum designers, and policymakers about the developments of online teaching and learning courses, particularly for foreign language learners at the college and university level.

Based on the social cognitive career theory and the constructivist learning theory, this study aimed to understand and explore the learning preference and experience of students’ online courses during the COVID-19 pandemic and the management after the COVID-19 pandemic from the students’ perspective. The study was guided by the following two research questions:

(1) After the COVID-19 pandemic, why do the students want to continue their foreign language courses via an online platform and model? What are the motivations and reasons?

(2) How would the students describe their experience of a foreign language course via an online platform and model?

Theoretical frameworks and literature review

The researcher employed two theoretical frameworks – the social cognitive career theory ( Lent et al., 1994 ; Lent and Brown, 1996 ) and the constructivist learning theory ( Bruner, 1973 , 1996 ) to examine online teaching and learning issues during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The social cognitive career theory indicates that individuals’ behaviors and motivations can be impacted by both internal and external factors, which can direct the goals and achievements of individuals and groups. For details, please refer to the following section. Therefore, based on the application of the social cognitive career theory, the employment of the theory is useful because the theory may seek the motivation and decision-making processes of the individuals and groups.

Second, the constructivist learning theory ( Bruner, 1973 , 1996 ) is useful for investigating this study. In fact, previous experience, learning style, and understanding could significantly impact individuals’ and groups’ understanding, learning styles, language learning acquisition, and expectations from the classes. In this case, the researcher wanted to understand how the online learning platform and learning style could impact the experiences and expectations of the participants. Therefore, the employment of the constructivist learning theory would be appropriate.

Social cognitive career theory

The social cognitive career theory ( Lent et al., 1994 ; Lent and Brown, 1996 ) advocates that individuals’ self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and goals build decision-making and sense-making processes. Self-efficacy is an individual’s personal understanding and belief of their capacity and ability to exercise targeted behavior and a series of actions. Outcome expectation refers to the targeted and potential consequences of their decisions. Personal goals refer to intentions during the procedure and the potential aftermath of decisions. Single or multiple factors based on the social cognitive career theory may influence an individual’s decision-making and sense-making process.

Motivation and reason of online learning

COVID-19 pandemic offers the opportunities for students to take courses and complete their programs via the online platform without any physical attendance. A recent study ( Dos Santos, 2021a ) indicated that online student enrolment has increased from 30 to 70% during the COVID-19 pandemic. One hundred international students joined the study and shared positive feedback of online learning based on the social cognitive career theory. Another recent study ( Dos Santos, 2021d ) also indicated that domestic and international students enjoyed the online learning environment as many could continue their education, particularly during the lockdown and COVID-19 pandemic. The participants indicated that the online learning options should be continued to meet the needs of students from different background ( Atmojo and Nugroho, 2020 ; AbuSa’aleek and Alotaibi, 2022 ; Chen and Du, 2022 ).

Online courses and lack of on-campus services and experiences

A recent report ( Wallis, 2020 ) indicates that 78% of online students consider the online classroom environment to be as good as or better than traditional face-to-face methods, while nearly 80% of these students agreed or strongly agreed that online courses and degrees were worth the tuition fees. Student satisfaction and learning outcomes have become significant considerations for teachers, school leaders, and students. Another recent report ( Hess, 2021 ) indicated some students might argue the online courses may not completely satisfy their needs, particularly the facilities and on-campus services that they cannot use as online students. The study further indicated that over 90% of American students wanted the university to reduce a part of the tuition fee as the students could not enjoy the on-campus facilities. Based on the statistics, although many students agreed that the online courses might have similar outcomes and achievements, they would like to pay fewer tuition fees due to the on-campus services (i.e., cannot enjoy the services) ( Zvalo-Martyn, 2020 ).

Constructivist learning theory

In terms of the constructivist learning theory, Bruner (1973 , 1996) argued that learning, particularly language learning, is a model in which learners build new knowledge and language acquisition based on their previous experiences. The cognitive structure is the mental and psychological actions and behavior that provide the performance, understanding, and background from which learners organize the experience, learning expectation, and sense-making process of their new knowledge. As learning is not a standalone process but a procedure combining previous experience and current situations, learners compare the current situation with their previous experience to build up new and appropriate experiences. Bruner (1973 , 1996) identified four important factors of the constructivist learning theory: (1) teaching and learning models and strategies should focus on the connections and sense-making process between previous experience and the current situation; (2) teaching and learning models and strategies should motivate and activate learning interests and new areas of knowledge; (3) learners should be able to handle complex knowledge with no difficulties; (4) teaching and learning models, strategies, and goals should go beyond previous experience in building a new ground.

In short, the social cognitive career theory explored the motivations and reasons why individuals decide to do, continue, conduct, or discontinue a set of behavior before, during, and after some events and issues. And then, the employment of the constructivist learning theory explored the relationships and connections between the previous and current experiences and how these experiences make sense and build up the understanding and knowledge of the individuals and groups. Based on the directions of these two theoretical frameworks, the researcher advocated that the employments were useful to explore the two research questions of this study. As for the research questions, please refer to the following sub-section.

Appropriate online curriculum and activities with positive experiences

As for the feedback and opinions about the teaching and learning experiences and environments, some scholars ( Tratnik et al., 2019 ) argue that students have benefited from foreign language courses in face-to-face environments due to peer interactions and exchanges. However, other scholars ( Wei and Chou, 2020 ) have indicated that students learn actively and are satisfied with the online learning environment. Another recent report ( Zvalo-Martyn, 2020 ) by the Association of American Colleges and Universities further indicated that the sample group (i.e., 24 university students) expressed positive learning experiences from their online university courses as many could use the digital education platform as the learning tools, particularly the online learning can establish the connections between the faculty and peers without borders. Two other studies ( Brown et al., 2013 ; Kwee and Dos Santos, 2021 ) also indicated that vocational and hands-on experience courses might be delivered online as long as the university arrangements, curriculum designs, and student-centered activities may meet the needs and expectations for the achievements; students tended to express positive comments for their final evaluation.

Interactive experiences for online courses: Foreign language learning

Online teaching and learning are not new topics in university education. In 2006, scholars ( Levy and Stockwell, 2006 ) showed that due to the rapid development of technology and upgrading of the classroom environment, many schools and universities had developed computer labs and rooms as essential facilities for many subjects, such as science, technology, and foreign languages. The relationship between online classroom interaction and outcome has received special attention over the decades due to the rapid development of distance learning education ( Gok et al., 2021 ). An earlier study ( Lantolf and Thorne, 2007 ) argued that sociocultural background is key in foreign language learning as students need to absorb knowledge from social and cultural backgrounds. Another newer study ( Lin et al., 2017 ) indicated that provided the teaching and learning strategy and model were effective, the motivation of learners and the outcomes of foreign language courses remained the same. For example, a previous study ( Kurucay and Inan, 2017 ) indicated that online-based groups worked well as many students were used to the online environment and technologically assisted teaching and learning from their previous experiences. In the online classroom environment of foreign language courses, some students expressed anxiety about not receiving immediate feedback from teachers and classmates. However, the participants indicated that effective corrective feedback could meet their learning outcome expectations ( Martin and Alvarez Valdivia, 2017 ).

Concerns for the online foreign language courses

In foreign language and cultural learning, some scholars ( O’Dowd, 2011 ) argue that the sense of internationalism and sociocultural understanding are some important factors. Although textbooks and printed materials provide excellent teaching and learning models, individuals cannot gain knowledge and language acquisition beyond the classroom environment. A study ( Ozudogru and Hismanoglu, 2016 ) surveyed the understanding and beliefs of 478 university freshmen students about their online foreign language learning experience. Although some students shared negative experiences, this study outlined improvements in online foreign language courses. Another study ( VanPatten et al., 2015 ) indicated no preference among 244 university students for either online or on-campus learning in their foreign language courses as both techniques delivered their expectations and goals. Although online foreign language courses may offer the flexibilities, some scholars believed that the interactions, activities, internationalism, and sociocultural experiences may not be gained via the online learning classroom environment. Currently, only a few studies focused on the cases in the United States. It is important to investigate the problems in the United States and the American foreign language classroom environments.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been the turning point for online teaching for almost all universities internationally, particularly in foreign language learning ( Maican and Cocoradã, 2021 ). Although there are no contemporary statistics concerning the numbers of students affected by the global health crisis, almost all college and university students have had to attend online or blended courses due to government lockdown policies, particularly in the United States ( Atmojo and Nugroho, 2020 ; Dhawan, 2020 ; Alqarni, 2021 ; Lau et al., 2021 ). As foreign language courses do not require lab or internship experience, most tuition has been delivered online ( Maican and Cocoradã, 2021 ). A further study ( Atmojo and Nugroho, 2020 ) indicated that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, English language courses should be conducted online to control the risk of infection. Although teachers and students could not attend foreign language courses in person, the virtual experiences did not necessarily limit the learning experiences and outcomes.

Materials and methods

Research design.

The current study employed the general inductive approach ( Thomas, 2006 ; Dos Santos, 2020b , 2021c ) with the interpretivism social paradigm ( Burrell and Morgan, 1979 ). The general inductive approach is useful in this study because the general inductive approach allows the researcher to categorize the massive data into meaningful themes and groups. Based on the themes and groups, the researcher can further categorized the themes as the results.

First, technologically assisted teaching and learning tools and approaches have become popular methods in foreign language teaching and learning. The direction does not limit to a single or small group of schools and universities. In other words, teaching with technologically assisted tools and approaches is widely employed in the current foreign language teaching and learning arena. Therefore, the employment of the general inductive approach covered the wider situation in the current society.

Second, the COVID-19 pandemic provides opportunities for technologically assisted teaching and learning turning point(s). The teaching trends with technology may become one of the main themes in the current education systems, including foreign language subjects. Therefore, the wider perspectives and data collection procedures may be useful in this case.

Recruitment and participants

The purposive and snowball sampling strategies were employed ( Merriam, 2009 ). First of all, based on a personal network, the researcher orally invited three participants to the study. Once three participants agreed with the study, the researcher formally sent the consent form, research protocol, interview questions, focus group activity questions, data collection procedure, risk statement, and related materials to the participants. In order to expand the population, the participants were told that after the first interview session, they should try their best to refer at least one participant for this study. After several rounds of discussions, 80 participants ( N = 80) agreed to join the study. As this study was a small-scale study that only focused on the west coast states in the United States, the researcher tended to establish some limitations to upgrade the focus and aim of this study. In this case, the participants should meet all of the following points:

(1) Currently enrolled at a postsecondary education institution in the United States;

(2) Completed at least one semester of foreign language course via online method;

(3) Currently located in one of the west coast states in the United States (e.g., Oregon, California, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii).

(4) At least 18 years old.

Data collection

Three data collection tools were employed, including virtual-based, semi-structured and one-on-one interview session, focus group activity, and member checking interview session. First, the virtual-based, semi-structured, and one-on-one interview sessions were useful. Creswell (2012) indicated that interview session is one of the common qualitative data collection tools in social sciences. Merriam (2009) advocated that the individual-based interview allows the individual(s) to share their stories and ideas in a private setting. Some individuals tend not to share their personal backgrounds in front of a group of people. Therefore, the current arrangement for interview sessions might allow the individual(s) to share their understanding and experiences with the researcher. In this case, the interview sessions were appropriate to collect rich data from the participants about their understanding and perspective of online courses in foreign language learning. Based on the theoretical frameworks and some previous studies ( Bruner, 1973 , 1996 ; Lent and Brown, 1996 ; Dos Santos, 2020a , 2021b , 2021c ), the researcher developed the interview questions. The interview session mainly concerned the experiences, learning expectations, and intentions for future online courses after the COVID-19 pandemic. The interview sessions lasted from 90 to 112 min.

After completing all interview sessions, the researcher arranged the virtual-based focus group activities with the participants. The focus group activities mainly concerned the experiences, personal stories sharing, understanding of online courses, and their intention of online courses after the COVID-19 pandemic. Both Morgan (1998) and Merriam (2009) advocated that qualitative researchers may employ more than one data collection tool, such as interview and focus group activity, to increase the participants’ data. Focus group activity is useful because a group of individuals may share similar ideas within a similar background and situation. In this case, the motivation and experiences from the online learning platform and experience. As for the focus group activities, the researcher took the role of the listener as the researcher wanted to observe and collect the in-depth understanding and lived stories of the participants (who shared similar backgrounds and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic). The researcher developed the focus group questions based on the theoretical frameworks and some previous studies ( Bruner, 1973 , 1996 ; Lent and Brown, 1996 ; Dos Santos, 2020a , 2021a , b ). Eight participants formed an individual focus group activity. Therefore, ten focus group activities were established. The focus group activities lasted from 113 to 132 min.

After the researcher collected and categorized the data based on each participant, the researcher returned the data to the participant via email for confirmation. A follow-up member-checking interview session was hosted for each participant via virtual-based interview. During the member-checking interview sessions, all participants agreed with their materials. Each member checking interview session lasted from 34 to 41 min. All the data collection procedures were digitally recorded. All participants agreed with this arrangement and accepted the sessions were recorded.

Data analysis

The researcher (i.e., worked as the sole researcher) transcribed all the voiced messages into written transcripts. The researcher read the data multiple times to categorize the connections and themes. Therefore, the researcher employed two data analysis procedures and tools in this study, including the general inductive approach ( Thomas, 2006 ) and the grounded theory approach ( Strauss and Corbin, 1990 ) for data analysis.

First, the researcher employed the open-coding technique ( Strauss and Corbin, 1990 ) to narrow down the massive data to themes and subthemes as the first-level themes. At this point, 20 themes (e.g., flexibility, online courses with schedule, family responsibilities, the same outcomes and learning achievements, domestic learning, international learning, etc.) and 18 subthemes (e.g., skill upgrading, the online platform options, students from different states and cities, peer-to-peer exchanging, etc.) were merged.

However, researchers ( Merriam, 2009 ) suggested that further data analysis procedures should be conducted. Therefore, the axial-coding technique ( Strauss and Corbin, 1990 ) was employed. As a result, three themes (i.e., flexibilities and convenience, same outcomes and learning rigorousness, and interactive experiences with classmates from different parts of the world) and three subthemes (i.e., can listen and watch the materials multiple times without limitations, unique learning experiences but additional skills expectations, and university degree without borders) were yielded as the second-level themes. Figure 1 outlines the data analysis procedure.

Figure 1. Data analysis procedure.

Human subject protection/ethical consideration

Privacy is the most important idea in this study. Therefore, the signed consent forms, personal information, contact information, school information, grades, locations, address, email address, voiced messages, written transcripts, computer, and related information were locked in a password-protected cabinet. Only the researcher could read the information. More importantly, the study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol was supported by the Woosong University Academic Research Funding. After the researcher completed the study, all the related materials were deleted and destroyed in order to protect the information of all parties. Please note no payments were given to any parties. The study was supported by the Woosong University Academic Research Funding 2021/2022 (2021-01-01-07).

Results and findings

Although many students take their courses in different global communities, many shared similar lived stories and experiences, particularly in their foreign language learning experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The researcher categorized three themes and subthemes based on the qualitative data. Table 1 outlines the themes and subthemes. Please note, to provide a comprehensive comparison, the researcher combined the results chapter and discussion chapter for immediate comparison.

Table 1. Themes and subthemes.

Flexibilities and convenience

…I can learn my Spanish courses in my free time…I am not a traditional student and have to work for my family…I can listen to and read my lessons and lecture notes during my break time at work…my way back home…before sleep…I can still learn the same knowledge and vocabulary without my physical attendance…I submit my assignments and projects on time as other students are…excellent learning option for us… (Participant #60, Focus Group)

All participants expressed flexibility and convenience as the strongest preferences in their online foreign language courses. A group of non-traditional, returning, adult, and evening class students indicated that the traditional face-to-face courses had always limited their selections and learning preferences as they had to work and take care of their families during the daytime ( Dos Santos, 2020a ). Although weekend and night courses are sometimes available, the options are limited. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the online learning options offered them the same opportunities as traditional on-campus students. The researcher captured the following stories based on this preference:

…we cannot find any foreign language courses other than Spanish and French in the evening…I want to learn Chinese and Japanese…but they were only available during the morning and in the afternoon…but the online option, many evening students could take Chinese and Japanese…I hope the university can continue this online option for us… (Participant #34, Interview)

…I want to study Spanish popular literature and children’s literature as my elective courses…traditionally, based on the previous course catalog, only one professor teaches these courses…usually in the morning time…but because of the COVID…these two courses were offered online with recorded video sessions…I registered for these two courses immediately…it is a really good chance for us…to enjoy the courses as evening and part-time students… (Participant #10, Focus Group)

For example, some minority and less popular foreign language courses had only one session during each academic year. Students facing time conflicts with other courses would not be able to take either the foreign language course or their subject courses in the academic year. However, online courses provide greater flexibility. The researcher captured two stories:

…I am a double major student in Mathematics and Japanese…I have to take the Japanese literature course for my major…but only one session is there every year…if I miss it, I have to wait for another year…but at the same time, I have to take the math course for my math major…it was the advanced level course so only one course was available…this happened last year…but this year because we can take the online courses…the problem solved… (Participant #41, Interview)

The flexibility of online courses solved schedule conflicts between courses and university departments. Students who needed to take multiple foreign languages as their major requirement also expressed interest in online delivery, for example:

…in the translation studies department, we have to take at least two foreign languages beyond our native language…my native language is English…and I have to take Spanish and Italian as the second and third…but many of the translation, Spanish and Italian courses…were overlapped together before the pandemic…I am glad that the online courses…provide me with the chance…so I can finish my degree in 4 years… (Participant #3, Interview)

Can listen and watch the materials multiple times without limitations

In most online foreign language courses, instructors upload teaching and learning materials and exercises online before each lesson so that the students can read the materials before and after the lessons. All participants saw this as a positive experience because they could download and re-read the materials during their leisure time after the lesson. During driving time and breaks, they could play the audio and videos of language exercises. One said:

…in fact, commuting and travel jam waste my time…but if I could listen to the exercises in my car, I could save some time at home…and I do not have to sit in the classroom for the audio and to listen, I can sit in my car and practice the exercise…I learnt a lot because I can listen to the previous chapters and the new chapter…I connected all the vocab and sentences … (Participant #14, Interview)

For example, some participants mentioned that their instructors asked them to listen and watch earlier chapters to connect with their current grammatical structure. In this way, the learners could connect and refresh their previous work to their current materials:

…we were in chapter 34 last week, but our professor asked us to re-listen and re-watch the materials from chapter 22…we didn’t understand why. Still, when we read the old materials again, they learnt some new ideas…the grammatical structures or the slang from the videos…great practices to refresh our knowledge with some old stuff… (Participant #45, Focus Group)

Last but not least, almost all participants indicated that their instructors might release some self-made materials, speaking exercises, personal videos, and materials from the instructors’ personal library from the face-to-face lessons. However, all these materials beyond the textbook were not given to them (i.e., could only be listened to and watched inside the classroom). In this case, many indicated that their instructors uploaded these materials (i.e., materials from instructors’ personal library) on the online platform. Therefore, they could enjoy some materials with their instructors’ comments and perspectives, a story was captured:

…in contemporary literature and pop culture courses…we have to read a lot of reviewers and comments from the real speakers of the languages…but the grammatical structure and vocab…I did not understand it…they just don’t follow the textbook structures…in my intermediate courses on campus 2 years ago, my professor wrote them on the blackboard…I could download, read, listen, and watch it multiple times as it is online… (Participant #49, Focus Group)

In conclusion, the flexibility of the delivery options, flexible time for the lessons, and re-readable materials beyond the textbook were three of the main key terms under this theme and subtheme. Based on some previous studies ( Lee and Choi, 2011 ; VanPatten et al., 2015 ; Mozelius and Hettiarachchi, 2017 ), some scholars believe that students tend to take online courses due to their flexibility and busy working schedules. The results from these studies further echoed the situation before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Same outcomes and learning rigorousness

A group of participants said that online and on-campus foreign language courses allowed them to improve their reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills with their classmates and teachers during the live online lessons. The learning outcomes and expectations were the same as they all watched the live lesson requiring virtual face-to-face interaction with others. A story was captured:

…some people told me that they could not speak in front of the computer…so they don’t want to speak…but if you don’t want to speak…in front of the computer or in front of the classroom…you are not going to speak too…this is just an exercise…I see many people speaking in their TikTok videos…just don’t give yourselves any excuses… (Participants #21, Focus Group)

In this case, all considered the role of critical thinking and time management training to be essential in university study. The current COVID-19 pandemic and the online teaching and learning arrangements provided effective training and opportunities. As one said:

…I do not think traditional on-campus courses are better than online courses…we are all here to learn the same courses and the same skills…the delivery options and models are just the models…if you want to learn the knowledge…even if you just read the textbooks without a teacher…people can still learn the greatest knowledge from the textbooks and materials…I don’t want to discriminate between these two methods… (Participant #38, Interview)

Unique learning experiences but additional skills expectations

Although current statistics ( Wallis, 2020 ) indicate that more than half of the student population has experienced the tools of distance learning and online courses, many still are new to this area. Regarding time management, almost all participants indicated that they have set up their personal goals and time schedules for each unit and exercise as they are not required to join the physical classroom environment. A participant shared the following story:

…we used to have to go to the class for the language course in the evening…but we don’t have to for now…but we still have to do the same homework, exam, project, and exercise…my professor told us that we are all adults…he would not force us to read the materials…we have to be responsible…I have learnt some skills to set up weekly goals and schedules…very good opportunities because we gained something new from the school… (Participants #58, Focus Group)

Another participant shared her story of balancing the work between family, school, and workplace as a mother with multiple responsibilities:

1…being a student, a mother, and a full-time worker is very hard…but at least for this semester, many working students could release the stress from attending all physical courses on campus in the evening…we only need to upload the materials on time…but we learn the same knowledge and complete the same exercises and exams…many of us enjoyed this online learning experiences…although a few complained about the interactions and oral communication…I don’t see there are any differences… (Participant #19, Interview)

Echoing the reflection of some scholars ( Gorbunovs et al., 2016 ), a large group of participants indicated that self-regulation and self-discipline are key to online learning experiences, regardless of age and background. The researcher captured a story:

…because we do not have to go to class and some of my courses in Spanish do not need us to attend the live lessons…I have to learn how to balance my time…also, set up goals to complete my assignment on time…my son only attended his lessons online…he also needs to complete his assignment on time and online…I have to teach my son to finish his work appropriately…and I have to be the right model…if I cannot complete mine appropriately, how can I tell my son to do so?… (Participant #7, Interview)

Interactive experiences with classmates from different parts of the world

The online courses connected domestic and international students worldwide through the online platform. All participants indicated they had at least one international student and a group of domestic students not living in their home state but connected via the online platform. This unique experience could not be acquired through on-campus experience as all are required to be on campus for physical lessons. The researcher captured two interesting stories:

…I have several students from the New England region, one from Hawaii, and one from Alaska in my French course…they should come back there on-campus…but the lockdown allowed us to connect online…we have to do homework…introduce our home city in French…I could see the view in Alaska and Hawaii…in the same 90-min lesson in life…not from the recorded videos or so…unique experiences from online learning… (Participant #27, Focus Group)

Another story was about the global connection with international students:

…we had many students from China, South Korea, Singapore, India, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, and the Middle East in our Spanish language courses over two semesters…I didn’t realize that we had many international students in my school…who are interested in the Spanish language…we exchanged a lot of knowledge and ideas from the online platforms and forums…I grouped with a Chinese student for the speaking project…I am very happy with this unique experience… (Participant #51, Interview)

University degree without borders

Besides learning experiences with students from different global communities, all expressed satisfaction with the unique experiences of non-traditional, returning, adult, and evening class students who had extensive working experience before joining university. From the perspective of the traditional age students, there was an expression of satisfaction in the experience of these less traditional classmates in the online classroom environment. Two stories were captured:

…I am so happy that I could chat with many experienced classmates who have many years of working experience in the field…although many of them learnt Spanish due to the general education requirement…they shared a lot of lived experiences in their subject courses and vocational skills to us…we could not have these chats during the daytime courses…I wish I can have these conversations in the future… (Participant #80, Focus Group)

Another participant shared ideas on the connection between foreign language and vocational knowledge from some of the experienced students in the online classroom environment:

…one of the projects was to use Spanish to do the role-play exercises based on our academic major…my major is nursing so I was paired with another public health classmate…my classmate was an evening student…she was a mother with 20 years of working experiences in a big chained hospital…I learnt a lot of speaking skills from her in English and Spanish…I am glad that we could connect because of this online course… (Participant #71, Focus Group)

Many non-traditional, returning, adult and evening class students enjoyed pairing up with traditional-age students because of their fresh ideas and similarities with their children. Many non-traditional, returning, adult, and evening class students are in their early 40s or 50s and are at school simultaneously as their college-aged children. When the researcher asked about their experience and learning motivation, many expressed a strong satisfaction and motivation in online learning. One story was given:

…my son and I did not go to the same university…but we learnt the same level of Spanish course in the same semester…I chatted with my son about the Spanish lesson…and I introduced my classmates to my son too…we all three talked together and shared some ideas …my classmate’s mother is going to school for a nursing degree, too…the online course connected two families together… (Participant #65, Focus Group)

With a reflection on a previous study about distance learning and online learning ( VanPatten et al., 2015 ), both traditional-age and non-traditional students indicated that the online-based courses allowed them to study their courses and requirements during their free time. More importantly, as some courses (e.g., elective courses) could only be offered once per year during the daytime (e.g., 9 AM), some part-time and working students could not complete the courses. Therefore, the current online arrangement met the expectations of both parties ( Jaggars, 2014 ; Tratnik et al., 2019 ). A group of non-traditional, returning, adult, and evening class students indicated that the traditional face-to-face courses had always limited their selections and learning preferences as they had to work and take care of their families during the daytime ( Dos Santos, 2020a ). However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the online learning options offered them the same opportunities as traditional on-campus students.

Besides the input from the non-traditional, returning, adult, and evening class students, many full-time students also expressed an interest in the online delivery option for their foreign language courses, particularly the flexibilities ( Dos Santos, 2020a ; Kwee, 2021 ; Maican and Cocoradã, 2021 ). However, online courses provide greater flexibility.

Many previous studies ( Pitarch, 2018 ; Liu and Li, 2019 ) have indicated that re-assessment and re-evaluation after lessons could upgrade and connect learners’ previous knowledge with their current learning materials. For example, with the reflection of a previous study ( Atmojo and Nugroho, 2020 ), all participants said they could download the audio and videos from the online learning platform to their cellphones and iPads. Based on the reflection of a previous study ( Damayanti and Rachmah, 2020 ), nearly all said that if they listened to the whole series of audios and videos at home, they could connect early chapters and exercises from previous semesters for better understanding and practice.

Based on some previous studies ( Lee and Choi, 2011 ; VanPatten et al., 2015 ; Mozelius and Hettiarachchi, 2017 ), some scholars believe that students tend to take online courses due to their flexibility and busy working schedules. The results from these studies further echoed the situation before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although some students may return to traditional face-to-face classroom environments after the COVID-19 pandemic, online teaching and learning options should remain active, as both traditional and non-traditional students may benefit the delivery. In the aspect of online teaching and learning, participants and previous studies ( O’Dowd, 2011 ; Chan et al., 2021 ; Iqbal and Sohail, 2021 )also argued that the online learning platform and environment should not have any significant differences in terms of outcomes and students’ achievements. In this case, many participants believed that online learning and online learning platform offered them the convenience and opportunities to gain new knowledge under the new technology.

Following social cognitive career theory ( Lent et al., 1994 ; Lent and Brown, 1996 ) and constructivist learning theory ( Bruner, 1973 , 1996 ), participants expressed their motivation for online courses due to the greater flexibility and freedom of learning. Such flexibility was unavailable under the traditional system because many courses had overlapped. Also, the online experiences further encouraged their learning experiences, motivations, and opportunities during and potentially after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although some students may return to traditional face-to-face classroom environments after the COVID-19 pandemic, online teaching and learning options should remain active, as both traditional and non-traditional students may benefit the delivery. In the aspect of online teaching and learning, participants and previous studies ( O’Dowd, 2011 ; Chan et al., 2021 ; Iqbal and Sohail, 2021 ) also argued that the online learning platform and environment should not have any significant differences in terms of outcomes and students’ achievements. In this case, many participants believed that online learning and online learning platform offered them the convenience and opportunities to gain new knowledge under the new technology.

Some previous studies and researchers ( Al-Kumaim et al., 2021 ) have argued that online teaching and learning strategies cannot provide the same outcomes, experiences, performances, and learning rigorousness to the learners. A recent study ( Meşe and Sevilen, 2021 ) further argued that the lack of social interaction between peers and teachers could result in foreign language learners’ negative motivation and learning performance at university. However, in this case, all participants felt that the learning outcomes and expectations had been met in their online foreign language courses.

Furthermore, reflecting on a study from Güntaş et al. (2021) , almost all participants agreed that university education and experience train individuals in critical thinking skills and effective time management. All university students believed that the online foreign language courses provided them with excellent opportunities to organize their time management between their major courses and foreign language exercises ( Biletska et al., 2021 ).

Reflecting on previous studies on online and distance learning education ( Sykes and Roy, 2017 ; Gok et al., 2021 ), many participants considered the rigorous learning of both traditional and online courses equal, without any significant differences. Online courses require additional effectiveness, self-regulation, and self-motivation for their outcomes and achievements. As all completed the same exercises, exams, and homework by the deadline, all participants argued that the learning outcomes were as strong as the on-campus courses.

Many students still need time to adjust their learning expectations and personal beliefs to online courses, such as time management, self-regulation, and self-discipline ( Brown et al., 2015 ; Mozelius and Hettiarachchi, 2017 ).

The flexibility provided excellent possibilities for students to access and read the materials in their leisure time. However, the flexibility also led to some students dropping out as some could not organize and arrange their time schedules effectively ( Brown et al., 2015 ). However, the online learning achievements and outcomes do not differ based on the participants. In other words, many participants believed they could gain new knowledge and ideas in both on-campus and online classroom environments ( Yukselturk et al., 2014 ; Wright, 2017 ; Rasheed, 2020 ). More importantly, many believed the online teaching and learning environment could enhance their time management skills and interdisciplinary studies beyond the on-campus classroom environments ( Brown et al., 2013 ).

Based on the social cognitive career theory ( Lent et al., 1994 ; Lent and Brown, 1996 ), the researcher confirmed that many participants decided to learn and potentially continue their studies with online courses, motivated by the flexibility and self-arranged time schedules that fitted with their other responsibilities. Also, with a reflection on the constructivist learning theory ( Bruner, 1973 , 1996 ), participants indicated that their previous time management experience had established their current responsibilities and expectations of the online courses.

Many previous studies ( Lee and Rice, 2007 ; Choudaha, 2016 ) have highlighted the United States as a well-known destination for international students, including students in community colleges, universities, and graduate schools. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many international students could not return to the United States for on-campus lessons and experiences.

In conclusion, internationalism and student satisfaction are important for these participants. Firstly, reflecting on the social cognitive career theory ( Lent et al., 1994 ; Lent and Brown, 1996 ), many felt that internationalism and idea exchange played important roles in foreign language learning through listening to conversations and ideas from people in different global communities. Unlike in the past decades, students can study and attend classes and courses via online teaching and learning platforms internationally. Besides international students, non-traditional, evening, returning, and adult students also enjoy the flexibility of the online teaching and learning platform due to the development of technology ( Olesen-Tracey, 2010 ; AbuSa’aleek and Alotaibi, 2022 ). The current online learning experience provided this unique opportunity as the online platform connected students inside and outside the country, thus appropriately meeting students’ motivations.

Secondly, reflecting on the constructivist learning theory ( Bruner, 1973 , 1996 ), many participants expressed that they could improve their subject and foreign language knowledge with students from different backgrounds, such as non-traditional students, and that the learning experiences were rich. The findings of this study appropriately met the directions of two theoretical frameworks and answered the research questions.

Limitations and future research developments

Two limitations and future research developments were identified. Firstly, the current study collected data from 80 participants ( N = 80) learning and completing their foreign language requirements in the United States. Although none of their academic majors was in a foreign language, the study covered the voices and stories of many participants who had to complete a general education requirement in a foreign language via online platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, students in other classes, university major(s), colleges, universities, and backgrounds may face similar issues and problems. Therefore, future research studies could cover the experience of other students, such as students in foreign language majors, to capture a broader understanding and perspective.

Secondly, the United States has over a million active student enrolments annually. The current study only covered students’ voices in the Pacific states and regions. In the future, scholars with greater funding and samples should expand the population to other American regions, such as the New England region, to capture a wider perspective.

Contributions to the practice and conclusion

First, the current study used foreign language courses and students to understand the motivations of learning and online learning experiences, particularly in American university environments. The findings of this study successfully filled up the gap in online learning, particularly the motivations and intentions of delivery methods after the COVID-19 pandemic from students’ perspectives. Students are the users of online courses. Instructors and university departments should create and design courses and delivery options that meet the demands and needs of their students. Online courses will become a popular trend in the university environment after the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to gather the students’ voices to upgrade the teaching and learning approaches.

Second, university leaders, department heads, and teachers may use this study as the blueprint to reform and design some online courses, particularly in foreign language teaching and learning, to help non-traditional, returning, evening, and adult students who cannot attend the physical classes. As most participants advocated that online delivery does not limit their motivations and achievements, the development of online foreign language courses are greatly needed.

Third, although the participants were foreign language course takers and students, they took different online courses in their major subjects due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on their sharing, many advocated that the online courses and virtual learning environment were enjoyable. Based on the voices and suggestions, the curriculum planners and department leaders may expand and continue the online courses and delivery options after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data availability statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Woosong University Academic Research Funding Department. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author contributions

The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication.

This research was supported by Woosong University Academic Research Funding 2021.

Conflict of interest

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

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Keywords : COVID-19 pandemic, computer-aided language learning, distance learning, foreign language teaching, online course, online teacher, technologically assisted teaching, technology education

Citation: Dos Santos LM (2022) Online learning after the COVID-19 pandemic: Learners’ motivations. Front. Educ. 7:879091. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.879091

Received: 18 February 2022; Accepted: 05 September 2022; Published: 20 September 2022.

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Copyright © 2022 Dos Santos. 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: Luis M. Dos Santos, [email protected]

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• Published: 02 October 2020

Emergent transition from face-to-face to online learning in a South African University in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic

• Cedric B. Mpungose 1  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  7 , Article number:  113 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

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South African universities have been forced to transit from face-to-face to online learning (e-learning) as a result of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). However, various challenges hinder disadvantaged students from realising the full potential of e-learning. Therefore, this study’s main objective is to propose alternative pathways to overcome such challenges for students, to enable them to have access to effective e-learning. This study draws on a two-year postdoctoral qualitative research project conducted at a South African university to explore students’ experiences of the transition from face-to-face to e-learning. Twenty-six students completing a curriculum studies programme were purposively and conveniently sampled to generate data using e-reflective activity, Zoom group meetings and a WhatsApp one-on-one semi-structured interview. Findings articulate the digital divide as a hindrance to students realising the full potential of e-learning, yet lecturers still want students to submit assessment tasks and engage with course activities on the Moodle learning management system. With universities using face-to-face learning becoming vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges which result in a shutdown of university sites, alternatives need to be sought to allow students, particularly disadvantaged students, to realise e-learning.

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Introduction.

Since the beginning of higher education, from the time of colonisation to the era of decolonisation, almost all South African universities have been dependent on face-to-face learning (Cuban, 1986 ; Mgqwashu’, 2017 ). Jansen ( 2004 ) argues that face-to-face learning is believed be traditional and excludes students’ experiences, because it occurs in the presence of a lecturer depositing knowledge for students in a demarcated classroom, using traditional methods (lecturer-centred) and traditional resources like textbooks, chats, chalkboards and others. However, these demarcated physical classrooms are not accessible in the case of challenges ranging from student protests to pandemic outbreaks. Face-to-face learning provides real-time contact with resources and others, takes place within a specified contact time, and provides prompt feedback to students (Black and Wiliam, 2006 ; Waghid, 2018 ). That said, e-learning is education that takes place over the Internet is alternatively called online learning, and it is an umbrella term for any learning that takes place across distance and not in a face-to-face platform (Anderson, 2016 ; Mpungose, 2020a ). Furthermore, Choudhury and Pattnaik ( 2020 ) affirm that, e-learning definition evolves with the evolution of Web from Web 0 to 4.0. Thus, “the world was introduced to Internet-based learning with Web 0, which was a read-only site. Thereon, Web (2.0) and Web (3.0) allowed real-time interaction and connected intelligence, respectively. We now witness Web 4.0 where machine and the human brain can directly interact” (Choudhury and Pattnaik, 2020 , p. 2). The concepts of e-learning, distance education, online learning and web-based education are concepts that have been used in the literature. However, Rodrigues et al. ( 2019 , p. 88) affirm that both these concepts share the common feature that “they are a form of instruction that occurs between a learner and an instructor and are held at different times and/or places, using several forms of material”. As such, Arkorful and Abaidoo ( 2015 ) refer to e-learning as the use of educational technologies to enable access to learning and teaching material online. Thus, the importance of e-learning which takes place through the use of the Internet in 21st century university education is undeniable, particularly for the students of today as digital natives (Bennett et al., 2008 ; Prensky, 2001 ). Amory ( 2010 ) and Khoza ( 2019b ) state that e-learning is capable of making course content available online, because of the widespread use of modern technologies such as hardware resources (computers, laptops, mobile phones and others), and software resources (learning management system, software applications, social media sites and others). This suggests that students have freedom to access course information/content anytime and anywhere, irrespective of challenges such as the pandemic outbreak—provided they have access to hardware and software resources.

In complicating the above debate, some studies (Liu and Long, 2014 ; Nikoubakht and Kiamanesh, 2019 ) further argue that face-to-face learning is irreplaceable and is the cornerstone of every learning institution, even if the current discourse and technological revolution demand the use of e-learning. The latter studies believe that there is still a conundrum between face-to-face (person-to-person interaction in a live synchronous platform) and e-learning (self-paced learning in an asynchronous platform). As a solution to this conundrum, other scholars (Anderson, 2016 ; Bates, 2018 ; Graham, 2006 ) believe that blended learning which combines online and face-to-face learning is the way to go, so that students can use many ways of accessing course content based on their needs (strengths/limitations).

Nevertheless, there are compelling conditions that can make students choose online over face-to-face learning; this may include violent student protest, pandemic diseases like COVID-19 in the context of this study, and others. According the World Health Organization-WHO ( 2020 ), COVID-19 is a new strain of viruses discovered in 2019, which cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases that can lead to death. They are transmitted between animals and people. Common symptoms of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, and shortness of breath. As at 31 March 2020, statistics stay at 33 106 deaths globally and in Africa is currently 60 deaths. In other words, this pandemic poses a threat to the face-to-face learning context globally, including in South Africa.

On 11 March 2020 the WHO ( 2020 ) declared COVID-19 a pandemic, and everyone was advised to avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms. Therefore, universities across the globe have to shut down. In the South African context the President called on all universities to shut down and find ways to offer lectures online as from 18 March 2020 as a precautionary measure (DHET, 2020 ). This call raised questions as to the feasibility of e-learning, particularly at the School of Education in one of the universities in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, because of the extent of inequalities in the South African context. While Mzangwa ( 2019 ) agrees with Bunting ( 2006 ) that since 1994 much has been done in higher education to redress the inequalities of the past through higher education institutions’ policy amendments through the National Plan for Higher Education (Ministry of Education, 2001 ). These amendments have not led to benefits for the majority of previously disadvantaged black South African students in terms of access to e-learning.

In addition, the digital divide—the gap between those who have and do not have access to computers and the Internet—seems to be a huge factor limiting the feasibility of e-learning in a South African context (Van Deursen and van Dijk, 2019 ; Warschauer, 2002 ). These latter studies further assert that issues such as socio-economic factors, race, social class, gender, age, geographical area and educational background determine the level of the digital divide in a university context. While access to the Internet and computers is high in developed European and American universities, African universities—particularly in the South African context—are still battling because of the intensity of the factors which led to the digital divide (Van Deursen and van Dijk, 2019 ). Research shows that various programmes and policies have been developed and implemented to remedy this challenge; hence, universities provide students with free laptops and Wi-Fi (wireless network commonly allows technological devices to interface with internet) access inside the university and residences (Rodrigues et al., 2019 ; Schofield, 2007 ). However, little or no research has been done in the South African context to intervene in addressing university students’ challenges (the digital divide) that hinder them from accessing e-learning from home. This study argues that e-learning while students are at home can never be realised in a South African university context unless the digital divide is addressed. In proposing alternative pathways for South African universities to deal with the digital divide, this study considers a connectivism learning framework.

Conceptualising learning in a digital age

The rapidly evolving technological landscape in the 21st century has meant that university lecturers “have been forced to adapt their teaching approaches without a clear roadmap for attending to students’ various needs” (Kop and Hill, 2008 , p. 2). As a result, connectivism is the promising initial lens through which to conceptualise learning in this digital age, because of its varying attributes from face-to-face to e-learning. Thus, Siemens and Downes ( 2009 ) see learning as the process of crossing boundaries by creating connections or relationships between human and non-human nodes through the setting of an interconnected network. Connectivist learning draws much from available Internet and technological resources to make an effective network that will maximise learning. As a result, connectivity seeks university lecturers to consider the possibilities of Internet access and other technological resources for effective learning, so that each individual student may gather and share information irrespective of challenges (the digital divide) faced (Bell, 2011 ; Kop and Hill, 2008 ). In other words, for effective e-learning to occur even if students are at home, access to the Internet and technological resources should be made available so that they may make connections amongst themselves and the lecturers, irrespective of hindrances faced.

Siemens (2005) further argues that in connectivism, students are not taken as a blank slate or passive recipients of information but are taken as active participants who can nurture, maintain, and traverse network connections to access, share and use information for learning. In order to ensure this, Siemens and Downes ( 2009 ) propose eight principles guiding connectivist learning, as depicted in Table 1 overleaf, which are according to this study are now conceptualised to form dichotomies between F2F learning and e-learning. These principles draw from basic learning frameworks (behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism) to incorporate both subject and social experiences for learning. Traditionally, learning is believed to be occurring when the lecturer provides a stimulus (teacher-centred activities) so that students can respond, but the rapid development and implementation of new technologies seeks learning to be individually and socially constructed by students (learner-centred activities) to maintain a diversity of ideas. This suggests that digital learning is more participatory and effective than traditional learning because it seeks lecturers to engage students in a dialogue for social construction of knowledge (Downes, 2010 ). Moreover, Siemens and Downes ( 2009 ) agree with Anderson ( 2016 ) that learning is about creating and connecting to a community (node) of learning within a network. This connection does not only take place within a learning institution, but can also be online so that students at home or in their residences can access learning. In other words, connectivism prioritises e-learning as the first and best option for students to access learning, if there are forceful or compelling conditions that hinder face-to-face learning.

Siemens and Downes ( 2009 ) further argue in principle that traditional resources such as books, chats, chalkboard and others form the core of learning, but the digital age needs them to be supplemented by modern resources like the Internet, computers, mobile phones and others for students to make connections and share information amongst themselves and others. In other words, modern resources enhance active student participation and the capacity to know more; thus the active student has the ability to use resources provided to seek out current information from primary and secondary resources, as compared to being a passive student (Downes, 2010 ). This suggests that in connectivist learning, it is not enough for a student to depend only on the prescribed readings, taught content, consultation with one lecturer and students in a particular subject/module. However, connectivists seek students to enjoy exploring the world in order to connect with other people outside the normal context, through the use of search engines, social media and other means, because learning is about not only knowledge consumption but construction (Anderson, 2016 ).

The manner in which students are assessed depends on the ability to see connections between subject fields, ideas, and concepts (Siemens and Downes, 2009 ). In other words, assessment must be made enjoyable to students because it is not done for the purpose of grading but for developmental purposes (Black and William, 2009 ). The content (objectives) taught during the official time in the lecture may change over time, based on new contributions in a subject; this requires students to be driven by a professional and social rationale in making decisions as to what to learn and how to make meaning out of it (Downes, 2010 ). Therefore, just lecture contact time is not enough for students, and it should be supplemented with students’ extra time so that learning outcomes can be achieved.

Furthermore, review of research done by Damşa et al. ( 2015 ) on quality in Norwegian Higher Education, outlines dichotomous aspect of F2F learning and e-learning. The study aimed at identified important contributors to enhance of quality learning in higher education, and to identify the knowledge gaps in the literature. It was found that, in as much as both platforms (F2F learning and e-learning) share the same aspect in communication, collaboration, and supervision and interaction. However, e-learning provides much of these aspect than F2F learning since it creates more intense atmosphere from synchronous to asynchronous teaching and learning aspect. This suggests that the development use of educational technology (videos, smart phones, learning management systems and social media sites) raises quality learning on e-learning as compared to F2F environment. Thus, e-learning advocates for student-centredness versus teacher-centeredness in teaching and learning of the content because “students learn together online, support mechanisms such as guiding questions generally influence the way students interact…” (Damşa et al., 2015 , p. 56).

Review of the literature: technology in and of learning in a digital age

While there are various definitions of educational technology, a narrow definition refers to educational technology as “the effective use of technological tools in teaching and learning” by bringing in students’ experiences (Govender’ and Khoza, 2017 , p. 67). These studies (Amory, 2010 ; Khoza, 2019b ) are pessimistic in tone, further pioneering the most narrow and concise definition of educational technology, that it is there because of technology in education (software and hardware resources in learning) and technology of education (pedagogical resources in learning). Thus, according to the context of this study, educational technology is all physical resources and online resources used in learning, and ideological resources behind the use of both physical resources and online resources.

Nocar et al. ( 2016 ) conducted a qualitative case study in China and the Czech Republic to outline the importance of physical resources. Findings outlined that the use of both traditional physical resources and modern physical resources for teaching display a fruitful result for students’ knowledge acquisition. Moreover, some scholars believe that traditional physical resources (traditional education), like stationary desks, books, chalkboard and others, enhance students’ task to memorise and recite content during learning, and its use still symbolises the principle of slavery (Cuban, 1986 ; Freire, 1972 ). However, the use of traditional physical resources promotes a teacher-centred method, which is the most direct and effective way for teaching students because it provides face-to-face interaction (Hoadley and Jansen, 2014 ). As such, Liu and Long ( 2014 ) further argue that traditional physical resources, sometimes referred to as ‘old technology’ (television, chats, radio, posters and others) is irreplaceable and the cornerstone of every learning institution, even if the current discourse demands the use of modern physical resources.

Furthermore, the importance and usage of modern physical resources (technological tools) is witnessed in every corner of each university. A study conducted by Keengwe, Onchwari, and Wachira ( 2008 ), to provide a literature review on the use of modern physical resources (computers, mobile phones and others) for teaching and learning university courses, affirmed this. The study outlined that modern physical resources provide opportunities to support students’ learning and need good and strategic planning for maximum integration into the curriculum. Consequently, in the past two decades universities have begun to integrate modern physical resources into the curriculum for effective learning (Khoza, 2019a ; Mpungose’, 2019a ). This suggests that students should be provided with relevant technological devices, which may include but are not limited to netbooks, iPads, webcams, laptops and desktop computers, mobile phones and others. These kinds of new technology have made life easier for students, because they would find notes and all course information stored electronically and easily accessible (Amory, 2010 ; Waghid, 2018 ). In other words, that the accessibility of modern physical resources give students options to use any available resources in order to access online resources.

van de Heyde and Siebrits ( 2019 ) revealed that online resources are software resources in education that help physical resources to communicate learning. This includes but is not limited to application software packages (Microsoft Office 365), Internet browsers (Firefox, Chrome), social media sites (Twitter, Facebook), and learning management systems (Moodle, Canvas) (Anderson, 2016 ; Bates, 2018 ). In the context of this study, the focus is more on learning management systems and social media sites to enhance e-learning. As such, the importance of e-learning is witnessed in study conducted Swinnerton et al. ( 2018 ) in unbundled University project exploring digitalisation and marketisation of higher education in both United Kingdom and South Africa. The study revealed that irrespective of existing inequalities, but the use of e-learning for teaching and learning university courses is significantly the effective way to ensure relationships between universities and private sector. In other words, if students does not have access to technological resources for e-learning they are less likely to be unemployed after receiving their qualification because of the lack of technological skills applicable in the workspace.

Cavus and Zabadi ( 2014 ) argue that in trying to move away from the traditional paper and pen environment (face-to-face), learning management systems (web-based learning environment to disseminate content) is one of the most highly adopted and used online environments in higher education institutions for e-learning. This includes open-source software learning management systems (free of charge, where the source code can be changed) such as Moodle, Open edX and Chamilo, and cloud-based learning management systems (with a start-up cost and source code that cannot be changed) such as Canvas, Sakai, dot Learn and others. Ajlan and Pontes ( 2012 ) outline that almost all learning management systems have common features, which include pedagogy, learner environment, instructor tools, course and curriculum design, administrator tools, and technical specifications. However, their efficiency can be different because of various factors such as being unclear to users, bandwidth requirements, take-up and maintenance cost, manuals, customisation and adaptation to the local environment (Anderson, 2016 ). However, this needs effective e-learning policies in place in order to address the needs of students and lecturers as according to the recent study conducted by Swartz et al. ( 2019 ) to explore the core business in contemporary South African universities.

In exploring first-year students’ use of social media sites at one South African university of technology, Basitere and Mapatagane ( 2018 ) confirmed that students become more interactive when they use platforms that they are familiar with, such as social media sites, compared to learning management systems imposed by the university. Social media sites are referred to as Internet-influenced Web 2.0 technologies that allow users to create social networks to share content based on personal experiences, education and society. Hence, social media sites users can be referred to as ‘prosumers’ because they produce (create) and consume (share) information (Clement, 2020 ; Ritzer and Jurgenson, 2010 ). Moreover, a recent review conducted by Manca ( 2020 ) on the integration of social media sites into learning, revealed that both Twitter and Facebook are the most used social media sites in higher education, compared to Instagram, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Snapchat and others. In addition, social media sites content is easily accessible because it is compatible with both computers and mobile devices, and this makes life easier for students (Clement, 2020 ; Dlamini and Nkambule, 2019 ; Manca, 2020 ).

With all of the above being said about the use both physical resources (traditional and modern) and online resources (learning management system and social media sites) for learning, but digital divide remains the major issue. As such,Van Deursen and van Dijk ( 2019 ) assert that the digital divide is one of the big limitations on the use of educational technology globally. These authors’ study further argues that the digital divide is a real phenomenon that is here to stay in developed countries, but is worse in developing ones—not only in terms of the first digital divide (access to Internet), but also in terms of the second digital divide (attitude, skills, type of use) and third digital divide (Internet outcomes/benefits). This suggests that even though universities can provide free access to Wi-Fi within their perimeters and students’ residences, including free laptops, there will be some students (residing in rental rooms or at home) who might not have access to the Internet. Similarly, some students would prefer to use other resources, based on their strengths or limitations. Hence, this paper argues for alternatives to be made available by lecturers or university management, so that all students can have the same access to e-learning irrespective of their geographical area, culture, race, socio-economic factors and others.

Selwyn ( 2004 ) further argue that the dichotomous aspect of digital divide clearly reveals the ones that either have access or do not have access to technological resources, and this influence the status of connectedness (either connected or not connected). The latter author assert that this situation is termed as ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. Consequently, the latter author concludes that the digital divide is a critical issue in higher education landscape that is not just technological but it is also social, economic, cultural and political. This suggests that in mitigating digital divide, universities, communities, churches, political figures, businessman and others seek to collaborate and come up with both practical and theoretical solution in order to enhance effective e-learning in pre, during and post pandemic outbreak.

Research context and method

Study context.

LMS have been adopted by most South African universities to cope with the demands for accessible and more flexible online content dissemination (Amory, 2010 ; Mpungose, 2019b ). In transitioning from the paper (face-to-face) to the paperless (online) environment, the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa adopted the Moodle LMS in 2010; it was made compulsory in 2016 for first-year students and fully implemented at the fourth-year level in 2019 (University Moodle Training Guide, 2017 ). Unavailability of a guiding online learning policy and lack of training for lecturers ignited challenges, which were evident in the use of learning management systems by students (Mpungose, 2019b ).

To this end, from 2019 to 2020 I conducted a postdoctoral research project on students’ experiences with the use of a learning management system in a School of Education. From the project, I extracted a case of 26 students’ experiences of the use of the LMS. A South African University at School of Education offers a broad range of degree programme courses across various fields of study. It prepares mostly disadvantaged black students, followed by other minorities (Indian, coloured (mixed race) and white students) for professional teaching careers in Education Studies and other disciplines. The School of Education mainly offers all lectures in face-to-face form, while the learning management system is used as an online resources depository (holding lecturers’ notes) for student access. The eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the School of Education to move all lectures totally online. However, the majority of registered students in School of Education at South African universities are victims of the digital divide, and this hinders their access to e-learning (Bunting, 2006 ; Dlamini and Nkambule, 2019 ). Therefore, this study’s main objective is to propose alternative pathways to overcome hindrances to students’ access to effective e-learning.

Research methods and data collection

This is a qualitative interpretive case study of 26 students who were purposively and conveniently selected because they were accessible; they were attending face-to-face lectures and then transitioned to e-learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After recruiting students through an electronic flyer, they signed consent forms with details of ethical issues (confidentiality, anonymity, and beneficence). I used interpretivism not to predict what students experience, but to understand and describe how they make meaning of their actions during the transition period in their own context of the School of Education shutdown (Creswell, 2014 ). Through the use of a more explorative case study design, I generated a rich and deep description of students’ experiences, which resulted in pioneering alternatives to overcome hindrances in realising e-learning (Yin, 2013 ).

Students were given an e-reflective activity to be completed in two weeks’ time, two sessions of Zoom group meetings for a period of 40 min each, and a WhatsApp one-on-one semi-structured interview for 35 min (Creswell, 2014 ; Yin, 2013 ). iCloud was used to record meetings and interviews for direct transcription to ensure trustworthiness (transferability, dependability, confirmability and credibility).

Data were thematically analysed using inductive and deductive reasoning (Creswell and Poth, 2017 ). The data generated by the three instruments were recorded and not transcribed, but directly and openly coded from the recorded source in order to avoid loss of meaning during transcription. Open coding was used to connect codes to categories. I deductively mapped the codes onto the set categories (from the theoretical framework and the literature) to form themes. However, I sought to use an inductive process to recapture the remaining codes, which were not deductively analysed during the prior analysis, to form categories. After using these processes as a guide, categories were focused and sharpened to form three themes, as indicated in the findings section

Consequently, two research questions were unpacked, namely: what are students’ experiences of the transition from face-to-face to e-learning and why their experiences are in particular ways when learning online. The first question gave answers to the first objective of the study, which is to understand students’ experiences of the transition from face-to-face to e-learning, and the second question addresses the second study’s objective, which is to find reasons that informs students’ experiences. This is elaborated in findings and discussion section in order to propose alternatives that can assist or allow students, particularly disadvantaged students, to realise or enjoy benefits of e-learning.

Presentation of findings

In this section, I present the key findings on students’ experiences of the transition from face-to-face to e-learning. I articulate the use of online resources and physical resources before crafting the alternative pathways through themes and its respective categories

Theme 1: Experiences of the use of online resources

Mpungose ( 2019b ) Agrees with Selwyn and Stirling ( 2016 ) that accessibility to online resources enhances effective e-learning. This suggests that e-learning is only possible provided students have access to online resources ranging from emails, software applications, learning management systems, social media sites and others. As such, Student 1 articulated, “ I keep on receiving emails saying the assignment that is due needs to be submitted on Moodle … I was informed that lectures will be recorded and posted on Moodle [learning management system]”. However, digital divides limits most students for effective e-learning particularly those staying in remote areas. Moreover, Student 4 confirmed this “… I only check my emails from the community library with internet access because I have no internet access and network service at home, but I can sometimes only receive voice calls and text messages from my phone… ”.

Internet access seem to play a major role in order to observe effective e-learning, but this can never be achieved if students have limited or no access. For instance, Student 7 asserted, “ I do not have data bandwidth [Internet access] at home …submitting assignment is impossible …”. This assertion shows that online assessment is impossible if the students have no access to the internet. Student get frustrated if lecturers keeps on demanding students to meet due dates while students have no internet access. As shown by Student 24 who articulated, “… having limited internet access but I am expected to submit an assignment next Friday, in a week’s time …a lecturer is briefing us to download resources from Moodle ”.

Furthermore, Selwyn ( 2016 ), as well as Khoza and Biyela ( 2019 ) share the same sentiment that social media sites plays a huge role in mitigating digital divide in order to realise e-learning in this digital age. As such, Student 5 indicated, “ since there is no Internet café by home, I use free Facebook or WhatsApp data bundles to communicate with other students …” This suggests that most students have access to social media sites because of free data bundle access provided by network service providers (Vodacom, Telkom, Cell C and others in a South African context), and this helps student to communicate learning. Consequently, Khoza ( 2019b ) further argue that having access to online resources without pedagogy behind the use can limit effective e-learning. This is witnessed by Student 12 who opined, “ I am so disappointed of this sudden shutdown without having proper ways or training in place to access lectures online … ” Similarly, Student 15 said, “W e are still not told which online platform will be used for online lectures … ” In other words, students seek adequate training on the use of online resources so that they can be well informed to avoid confusion. Evidently, Student 9 showed confusion by outlining that “… university informed us that lectures will be online, but they did not tell us the online platform is going to be used ”.

Theme 2: Experiences on the use of physical resources

Makumane and Khoza ( 2020 ) argue that traditional physical resources is influenced by professional reasoning in order to attain specific discipline goals during curriculum implementation. This suggests that traditional physical resources are fundamentals in addressing the module needs in e-learning. For instance, most of the students agreed with Student 23 who posited, “ I am currently depending on the hard copy of module outline and recommended books for studying because even libraries with Internet at home are also closed” . In other words, traditional physical resources like textbooks, module/course packs, and other hardcopies can act as an alternative pathway in case students have no internet access. While it is valuable for students to have access to modern physical resources like laptops, smartphones, Wi-Fi routers and others in order to enhance e-learning, but affordability to possess such resources remains a question because of social divide (poor socio-economic background). Thus, this remains the burden of the university to provide modern physical resources to students for successful e-learning. As such, student 14 asserted, “ …We were promised to get laptops when the academic calendar commences but still there are no laptop, and I end up using my smart phones for correspondence ”.

Similarly, Student 17 said, “ This shutdown will affect me because I am staying in remote areas away from campus and do not have funds to access Wi-Fi hotspot spaces like community libraries … and there are no funds provided for to support us… ” While the shutdown demands all lectures to be online and universities are also demanded to put measures in place for effective e-learning, but failure to provide all necessary resources to students can bring more frustration in the process. Evidently, Student 11 shared the same sentiment with other international students “ I will be suffering to find the transport to go and come back from home … Shutting down face-to-face lectures causes chaos since I do not have necessary equipment for learning”.

Discussion of findings

The adoption and use of online resources in a South African university shows the critical need to serve students for e-learning (van de Heyde and Siebrits, 2019 ). Van de Heyde and Siebrits ( 2019 ) further argue that online resources like learning management systems are highly used by universities for online lectures, but the form of customisation to adapt them to a local context may hinder learning. This is evident from students’ accounts on the use of Moodle for e-learning, where they stated that only a few students had access to the Moodle learning management system to download readings, slides and others during the transition from face-to-face to e-learning (at home). This suggests that Moodle was customised as a depository, and not to provide asynchronous online lectures. In other words, there was poor customisation of the Moodle learning management system to link with other online resources for chatting (Pear Deck), video conferencing (Zoom), and recording (CamStudio) and others (Anderson, 2016 ). Consequently, the findings indicate the general consensus that the Moodle learning management system alone is not capable of offering online lectures, but needs to be supplemented by other online software and social media sites. This suggests that, universities should start to think out of the box to consider social media site as an official platform to supplement learning management system to offer lecturers online.

Consequently, students therefore preferred social media sites (Facebook and WhatsApp) for communication, which were not officially adopted by universities for e-learning. In support of this, ‘prosumers’(students) as digital natives who are techno-savvy enjoy the use of Web 2.0 applications with good user-friendliness and swift communication (Clement, 2020 ; Ritzer and Jurgenson, 2010 ). Findings showed that even if students have limited access to internet but free data bundles form their social media sites account, they could access each other for content discussion and communication. As a result, Hamidi and Chavoshi ( 2018 ) further argue that if students can use social media sites successfully, universities should consider bringing social media sites (Snapchat, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, twitter and others for e-learning.

Moreover, the findings show that the university did not have any policy in place guiding the use of e-learning and nor was training provided. This situation as according to Yu ( 2016 ) is termed to be influence that leads to students’ technostress caused by the misfit between environmental demands (e-learning) and students abilities (access to online resources). In other words, the shutdown that occurred because of pandemic outbreak (COVID-19) demanded student to have access to online resources in order to take their lectures online while most of them are from remote areas having no internet access, and are still battling to use the newly introduced software for e-learning (video conference software like Zoom). As such, students were confused as to what resources were available for e-learning and how they will transition from face-to-face to e-learning. This was worsen by the unavailability of the guiding e-learning policy in place and no instructional designers employed by the university to provide relevant capacity building for students. As such, Mpungose ( 2019b ) assert that the power lies with the university management to use e-learning policy that can address issues on content dissemination, execution of assessment, and online resources in order to equip students with necessary skills for effective e-learning. This suggesst that policy viability on the use of online resources also give direction to both students and lecturers so that they can know their roles.

Several students agreed that traditional physical resources is the core of learning at the university, even if there are challenges hindering e-learning, because they relied on recommended books, module outlines, written notes and others. This proves that the old technology is irreplaceable, and that it acts as a back-up to e-learning. Thus textbooks, posters, charts and others must be made available to support students’ learning (Cuban, 1986 ; Freire, 1972 ). This suggests that traditional physical resources may be most useful to those students who have no or limited access to internet. As such, each module/course seek the need to have these resources in place even if the module/course is offered online. The use of traditional physical resources for learning displays a fruitful result for students’ knowledge acquisition (Simmonds and Le Grange, 2019 ). Moreover, traditional learning is vertical (formal) and driven by student knowledge for learning in a demarcated environment (Khoza and Biyela, 2019 ). This allows students have control over “selection of the content (selection), when and how they learn (pedagogy and sequence), as well as how quickly they learn (pace)” (Hoadley and Jansen, 2014 , p. 102). As result, students preferred and opted to use the nearest local community libraries with access to Wi-Fi rather than staying at home (often with no Internet) in order to access online resources irrespective of difficulties faced at home.

Most students did not have laptops, even though these were provided free of charge by the university (many had been sold for personal benefit). They preferred to use mobile phones with free network data bandwidth for communicating amongst themselves. In other words, the use of modern physical resources provides an easy way to ensure e-learning, because it provides access to recorded lectures and electronic resources like videos, but it needs good planning (Keengwe et al., 2008 ; Mpungose’, 2019a ). The main concern that hindered students from realising the full potential of e-learning was the expensive cost of Internet infrastructure such as Wi-Fi routers, laptops, mobile phones and access to data bandwidth. Consequently, Van Deursen and van Dijk ( 2019 ) argue that Internet access and technological resources (the first digital divide) is the main limiting factor in universities from developing countries like South Africa, even though students do have skills (the second first digital divide) to benefit from e-learning (the third first digital divide). In other words, the use (ideological resources) of any available physical resources is not a problem to students (digital natives) in a digital age—the problem is the affordability and availability of those physical resources for e-learning.

Towards alternative pathways for e-learning

This study explored students’ experiences during the transition from face-to-face to e-learning in a School of Education at a South African university. Based on the case study and the literature, including the guiding theoretical framework, the study identified benefits, challenges, and other related issues on the use of physical resources and online resources to realise e-learning. Most importantly, the interpretation of empirical data generated provides a summary of proposed alternative pathways and implications related to the use of physical resources and online resources to enhance effective e-learning. On the first hand, findings suggest that students are influenced by formal experiences (hardware), which seek students to use traditional physical resources to enhance e-learning. On the other hand, students are also influenced by informal experiences (software), seeking them to use online resources for effective e-learning. In complication this findings, students seem to miss non-formal experience (pedagogy), which seek them to use their own identities (love, passion, values, self-direction and others) to find thousand ways or theories to enhance a successful e-learning. Moreover, it is proven that e-learning resides in human and non-human appliances (Siemens and Downes ( 2009 ); thus students should be provided with relevant traditional resources (books, manuals, chats, posts and others) and modern resources (laptops, mobile phones/tablets, mobile Wi-Fi routers and others). In addition, free monthly Wi-Fi data bandwidth should be provided to students so that they may access e-learning, since this seems to be the main challenge to achieving e-learning in the South African context.

Downes ( 2010 ) argues that e-learning needs connectedness of specialised nodes or information sources, so that students can learn anyhow, anywhere and independently, at their own pace. To achieve this, this study therefore holds that the Moodle learning management system should not be used as a depository, but should be customised to be linked to social media sites (WhatsApp/Facebook), lecture-recording software (CamStudio), video and audio conferencing (Zoom, YouTube live, Skype, Microsoft Teams) and other learning resources in order to provide interactive lectures (both synchronous and asynchronous). This will serve to eliminate the dichotomy between face-to-face and e-learning, because the learning taking place when at the university should be the same as that which is available when students are at home.

The findings indicate that fully equipped university information centres should be identified and used to provide blended lectures, through the special arrangement of community libraries (since even these are not accessible now owing to COVID-19), in order to meet the needs of students coming from remote areas halfway. The findings also show that without proper planning, e-learning will never be achieved at a university. Hence, a university should have an e-learning policy, intense scheduled online learning capacity building, and allocated instructional designers (not technicians) to capacitate both lecturers and students.

All learning management system share the same features: pedagogy, learner environment, instructor tools, course and curriculum design, administrator tools, and technical specification features (Cavus and Zabadi ( 2014 ). However, the findings showed that the learning management system is missing the personal feature for students that will motivate them to love and have a passion for using online resources. This study posits that in order to leverage the potential of the Moodle learning management system, it should be linked with software that provides educational videos (NBC Learn), games for student-centred activities (game-based learning software), Edublogs (assessment for learning) and others. In other words, choosing what resources to use and learning to offer depends on rationale, time management and goals to be achieved during e-learning. This will assist students to incorporate both physical and online resources to achieve effective e-learning for these digital natives (Mpungose’, 2019a ; Prensky, 2001 ).

Despite challenges experienced by students in transitioning from face-to-face to e-learning—in particular, the prominence of the digital divide as the main hindrance to students realising effective e-learning—overall the customisation of the Moodle LMS to meet the local needs of disadvantaged students is beneficial to realise e-learning. Moreover, the findings indicate that while there may be many challenges that can hinder students from realising the full potential of e-learning, alternative pathways like the provision of free data bandwidth, free physical resources and online resources, and the use of an information centre for blended learning and others, seem to be the solution in the context of COVID-19.

However, it must be taken into consideration that while this can be the solution, students are unevenly challenged, and therefore still need capacity building on the use of learning management systems and other newly adopted online learning software. It is also imperative that university-wide teaching and learning pedagogy, instructional designers and e-learning policy consider the potential benefits and challenges when encouraging the use of e-learning.

Within the South African context, there is a critical need for increased investment in upgrading resources, both in universities and at community level, because of the digital divide. While there is still a need for further research, this article emphasises the both practical and theoretical alternative pathways that can be used to enable university students to realise the full potential of e-learning. Universities need to plan ahead of hindrances to learning such as a pandemic outbreak, student protests and others, and be abreast of the current literature on the rapidly evolving discipline of ET.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analysed during this study are available from the authors on reasonable request.

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I want to thank Prof. Simon Bheki Khoza for his supervision in to construct this article from a PhD research and Post-doctoral project, as well as Leverne Gething language for editing. Furthermore, I want to acknowledge support and advancement from the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Fulbright scholarship within the framework of the Research and innovation.

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Self-regulated learning of anatomy during the COVID-19 lockdown period in a low-income setting

• Tapiwa Chapupu 1 , 3 ,
• Anesuishe B Gatsi 3 ,
• Fidelis Chibhabha 4 &
• Prince L. M. Zilundu 1 , 2  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  548 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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In March 2020, universities in Zimbabwe temporarily closed and switched to remote learning to contain the spread of SARS Cov2 infections. The sudden change to distance learning gave autonomy to students to direct their own learning. To understand how the students at the University of Zimbabwe and Midlands State University adapted to emergency remote learning, focus group discussions and a self-administered questionnaire survey based on the self-regulated learning inventory were conducted to capture cognitive, motivational, and emotional aspects of anatomy learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns among these students’ lived experiences. Two coders analyzed the data independently and discussed the codes to reach a consensus. The results showed that students at the two medical schools cognitively and meta-cognitively planned, executed and evaluated self-regulated strategies in different ways that suited their environments during the COVID-19 lockdown. Several factors, such as demographic location, home setting/situation, socioeconomic background and expertise in using online platforms, affected the students’ self-directed learning. Students generally adapted well to the constraints brought about by the lockdown on their anatomy learning in order to learn effectively. This study was able to highlight important self-regulated learning strategies that were implemented during COVID-19 by anatomy learners, especially those in low-income settings, and these strategies equip teachers and learners alike in preparation for similar future situations that may result in forced remote learning of anatomy.

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Introduction

In March 2020, universities in Zimbabwe temporarily closed and switched to emergency remote teaching following a government lockdown directive meant to curtail the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections. The lifting of the COVID-19-induced lockdowns proved premature, resulting in a three-time opening and closure of universities between March 2020 and September 2021 as the country battled three waves of infections [ 1 ]. This situation, which was also reported in other parts of the world, forced university teachers and students alike to adapt to a new mode of teaching and learning that had never been tested before [ 2 ]. The closure of medical schools meant that cadaver dissection was foregone, potentially depriving students of teamwork, a visuospatial picture of the organization of the human body, experience of the texture of human tissues, understanding of pathological as well as anatomical variations, and inculcation of humanistic values [ 3 ]. Remote anatomy teaching was conducted virtually [ 4 ], thereby placing the burden of mastering content-heavy anatomy courses on preclinical medical students who were at home.

Compared to traditional face-to-face learning, emergency remote teaching offers flexible scheduling, ease of distributing information, opportunities to individualize learning processes, and the potential to enhance self-regulated learning skills [ 5 ]. However, preclinical medical students still face challenges associated with transitioning from high school to higher education, such as managing study time effectively and becoming self-regulated learners who can cope with the exponential growth of knowledge in medical education [ 6 ]. The sudden transition to remote online learning pushed students to direct their own learning, but the greater flexibility afforded by emergency remote teaching places high demands on them to quickly adapt and self-regulate their learning. The COVID-19 pandemic-induced distance education is different from regular online anatomy education in that it was abrupt, unplanned and often a case of learning on the job for teachers and new to students for a hands-on subject such as cadaver dissection-based anatomy [ 7 ]. In a study from Botswana by Mogodi and colleagues [ 8 ] noted that while there was high smart phone penetration, internet access and affordability was a challenge for both teachers and learners. Therefore, it is important to understand how medical students adapted to this emergency remote learning [ 9 ]. This understanding could inform future instructional modalities, such as blended, hybrid, or remedial medical education/learning.

Due to recent pushes toward student-centered learning in higher education [ 10 ], pre-pandemic university students already enjoyed a considerable amount of autonomy in covering course content and ensuring skills acquisition. As a result, they are expected to plan, monitor, and control their own learning process during self-study and thus engage in self-regulated learning [ 11 ]. Under self-regulated learning, students use cognitive, metacognitive, and resource-management strategies to meet curriculum goals [ 12 ]. Cognitive and metacognitive strategies encompass skills used to process information and monitor and control one’s mastery of subject content [ 13 ]. Resource-management strategies include regulating effort, attention, motivation, and time use [ 14 ]. Because remote learning is typically less structured, it places the burden of learning on students to autonomously regulate and organize their learning processes [ 15 ].

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a cyclical process wherein students plan for a task, monitor their performance, and then reflect on the outcome [ 11 ]. SRL includes cognitive skills, which are the ability to critically plan and execute strategies of studying; metacognitive skills, which are the ability to know how to implement formulated strategies; behavioral skills; motivational skills, which are self-efficacy; and emotional/affective aspects of learning [ 12 ]. The theory is an extraordinary umbrella under which a considerable number of variables that influence active learning (volition, cognitive strategies and self-efficacy) are studied within a much more comprehensive and holistic approach [ 14 ]. For that reason, SRL has become one of the most important areas of research within educational psychology [ 12 ]. Self-regulated learning strategies are actions directed at acquiring information or skills that involve agency, purpose (goals), and instrumentality of self-perceptions by a learner [ 16 ]. Zimmerman [ 17 ] pioneered this theory and suggested that the self-regulated learning process has three stages:

Forethought, learners prepare work before the performance of their studies.

Volitional control, which is also called “performance control”, occurs in the learning process. It involves the learner’s attention and willpower.

Self-reflection occurs in the final stage when learners review their performance toward final goals. At the same time, focusing on their learning strategies during the process is also efficient for their final outcomes.

Under the SRL theory, students are active participants who proactively use forethought, performance and self-reflection on their learning tasks, thus generating important experiences [ 12 ]. They included goal-setting, environmental structuring, self-consequences (self-rewarding and self-punishment), and self-evaluating. Several other categories were included on the basis of closely allied theoretical formulations, namely, the strategies of organizing and transforming [ 18 ] seeking and selecting information [ 19 ], and rehearsal and mnemonic strategies [ 20 ]. Also included were the strategies of seeking social assistance and reviewing previously compiled records such as class notes and notes on text material, which showed that self-regulated strategies are not anti-social mechanisms of study [ 19 ]. The issue of interactive learning between tutors and students and peer-to-peer discussions is one of the factors of the theory of seeking social assistance.

The ability of an individual to use the self-regulation skills is more crucial in distance learning than in traditional classroom settings due to reduced or absent supervision and guidance [ 21 ]. Understanding how students generally use the SRL strategies is important as previous studies have investigated how performance is associated with several aspects of it in medical leaning [ 22 ]. The importance of SRL in Anatomy education is justified because due to several studies it has shown that academic success is mostly influenced by the students’ ability to control their learning independent of the instructor`s support [ 23 ]. The aspects include self-efficacy, motivation, metacognitive monitoring and strategy use [ 24 ].

A research on first year medical students studying gross anatomy showed that their use of cognitive, resource management and metacognitive strategies was positively associated with higher marks [ 25 ]. A study underscored the need for the student to regularly monitor their study as it was shown that successful students undertaking online courses generally use SRL strategies [ 26 ]. Prior research has explored self-directed learning in anatomy among students in various environments pre-pandemic finding it important. A study in Zimbabwean medical schools found prevalent self-regulated learning traits [ 27 ]. Anatomy study, requiring intensive memorization, often involves rehearsal techniques. In self-regulated learning’s performance phase, students need effective memorization strategies [ 28 ]. Many students at the University of Cape Town research reported a heavy reliance on mnemonics and sticky notes for anatomy learning, with mnemonics and sticky notes being perceived as key to effective study [ 29 , 30 ]. However, mnemonics’ limited generalizability and English-centric nature disadvantage non-English speakers [ 31 ]. Some nursing educators critiqued mnemonics as a ‘lazy’ method, and their use in patient care is viewed as potentially undermining a humanistic approach by oversimplifying symptoms [ 32 , 33 ].

During the COVID-19 lockdown, anatomy at the University of Zimbabwe and Midlands State University was taught in three parts, gross anatomy, histology and embryology, for a year (allied health students) or two years (medical and dental students). The topics covered in gross anatomy regional format were upper limb, lower limb, thorax, abdomen, pelvis, perineum, neuroanatomy, head and neck. The histology and embryology would correspond to those regions in gross anatomy. In gross anatomy, the students were required to know the structure, relations, vascular supply, innervation and clinical correlates. After each region, an exam was written that contributed to the course’s continuous assessment mark. The courses were described previously by Zilundu [ 27 ]. The current study participants are post high school university entrants. This is a major transition whereby “college students need to be more independent and self-organized in their learning behavior than in high school”. Research among low income setting students, like the present sample, noted a significant moderating effect of social adjustment on academic adjustment and transition experiences [ 34 ]. Therefore, self-regulated learning (SRL) skills became even more essential when switching to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic to allow students to direct their own learning [ 35 ].

Preclinical medical students are post-high school students in Zimbabwe [ 27 ]. As younger adults, they need guidance and motivation to find their footing in self-regulated learning and subsequent lifelong learning. Motivation and the use of self-regulated learning strategies have been positively correlated with superior academic performance [ 36 ]. However, stress and maladaptive behaviors such as low self-control, low self-discipline, and disorganization, which are possible in remote learning settings, are usually associated with poor outcomes [ 37 ]. Therefore, self-regulated learning (SRL) skills became essential when switching to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 38 ].

The transition to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic created a critical research gap in how it affects self-regulated learning among preclinical medical students, especially in under-resourced settings like Zimbabwe. This shift was particularly impactful in anatomy education, which moved from hands-on dissection to virtual learning, potentially impairing essential skill and knowledge development. These challenges could be compounded by the difficulty of transitioning from high school to university education, that necessitates advanced SRL skills. This study seeks to address the urgent need to understand the effect of remote learning on SRL strategies crucial for the success of medical students. By exploring their challenges and adaptations, the research aims to guide the creation of educational interventions and models that enhance learning and support the academic and mental well-being of future healthcare professionals in similar environments. Therefore, this study was designed to use a phenomenological approach to highlight the lived experiences, self-regulation during anatomy study, and the potential impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the education of preclinical medical students in a low income setting.

Materials and methods

Study design.

This study used an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach to explore the lived experiences of medical students learning anatomy during lockdown. IPA is a qualitative research method that seeks to understand the meaning and significance of people’s experiences through in depth, reflective inquiry [ 39 ]. According to Sparkes and Smith [ 40 ], human lived experience can be understood by examining the meanings that people ascribe to it. Since medical students in this study shared a common experience of learning anatomy during lockdown, focus group discussions were used as a data collection method. Focus group discussion, a research method involving a small participant group, centers around a specific topic to gather data. This approach is characterized by the interactions between the moderator and participants, and among the group members themselves whose aim is to provide researchers with insights into the participants’ views on the discussed subject [ 41 ].

Flowers, [ 42 ] argued that focus groups can enhance personal accounts by capitalizing on peer-to-peer interactions and rapport. This is particularly relevant in a homogeneous sample such as that of the present medical students, who share experiences and are emotionally invested in the same topic of exploring learning anatomy during the lockdown. Focus group data can also promote experiential insight and reflection that may not be achieved in an interview, thereby enriching the topic under study. Additionally, the researchers have prior experience using this approach in the design, conduct, and analysis of medical education studies [ 27 ]. The interpretive nature of IPA was particularly well suited for this study, as it builds on the researchers’ experience with this approach and its intersection with the self-regulated learning approach to medical education.

Study setting

University of Zimbabwe and Midlands State University. The two Universities, at the time, were part of three medical schools in the country and enrolled students from all the residential areas in Zimbabwe as they cater for all 10 provinces in the country.

Study participants

A total of 86 students comprising first- and second-year medical students registered at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) and Midlands State University (MSU) who attended a compulsory anatomy course during the multiple COVID-19 lockdowns between March 2020 and September 2021 voluntarily participated in this study.

Recruitment of participants

Messages introducing the study (participant information sheet), a consent form and an invitation to participate were sent to all first- and second-year medical students enrolled at UZ and MSU via their WhatsApp groups opened for purposes of online learning. In the message was a link to Google forms that directed them to a data-gathering tool as well as flexible scheduling of online focus group discussion slots. Students who were willing to participate were asked to self-identify, return signed informed consent sheets and fill in the Google Forms slots of the scheduled times that they would be available to take part in a focus group discussion of approximately 5 to 7 students each.

Data collection instruments

Focus group discussions were conducted following the guidelines contained in the Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule [ 43 ]. The Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule has 15 items covering self-evaluation, organization, transformation, goal-setting and planning, seeking information, keeping records and monitoring, environmental structuring, self-consequating, rehearsing and memorizing, seeking peer, teacher, or adult assistance, as well as reviewing tests, notes, and texts. Study participants described and reflected on how they used any of these during their anatomy learning when under lockdown.

Data collection

The focus group discussions comprising 5 to 7 participants were conducted by TC and PLMZ over the Zoom video conferencing platform. They were conducted serially until a point of saturation was reached, that is, after the 6th session. Saturation in focus group discussions refers to the point at which no new information or themes are observed in the data, indicating that enough data has been collected to understand the research topic [ 28 ]. They normally lasted one to one and a half hours each. The audios of the focus group discussions were recorded and stored securely. Data was collected from June to August 2021.

Data analysis

The audio recordings of the focus group discussions were transcribed verbatim by TC, FC and ABG. The transcripts were subjected to an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) using the approach described by Pietkiewicz and Smith [ 44 ]. First, the authors immersed themselves in the data by reading and rereading the transcripts. During this process, they made notes on the transcripts, highlighting distinctive phrases and emotional responses, as described by [ 44 ]. Next, the notes and transcripts were reviewed to identify initial emergent themes. These emergent themes were then scrutinized to identify relationships between them, leading to the generation of analytical theme clusters. Finally, the theme clusters were compared back to the original transcripts to ensure that they were representative of the data. Disagreements were discussed and reanalyzed until the final analysis was agreed upon in this iterative process.

The qualitative data were systematically analyzed using the converging coding process. All qualitative data were coded using a priori coding using the 15 strategies outlined in by Zimmerman and Pons [ 43 ]. Responses captured from the participants using Zoom recorder were grouped into four main self-regulated learning themes: cognition, metacognitive self-regulation, effort regulation and resource management. The data were analyzed qualitatively with notes written down initially from the student responses to the 15 questions in the interview guide.

Each strategy was analyzed to determine how it was affected by the COVID-19-induced lockdown. Students in different geographical locations were assessed on how they were positively and negatively affected by the lockdown. The locations were classified from low-density suburbs to rural areas, and the distribution in each class was noted. Adaptation to the home-based learning of anatomy was investigated by examining how each student faced every challenge to achieve their self-set goals. Associations between responses and demographics were analyzed to observe the common use of specific strategies within groups.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) and Midlands State University (MSU) departments of anatomy and the Joint Research Ethics Committee (JREC/329/2021) approved this study. Informed consent was obtained from all students participating in this study prior to their involvement in this research.

A total of 13 focus group discussions were conducted with 86 participants (male = 36, female = 50). The age of the students ranged from 19 to 22 (20 ± 1.2) years. The distribution of residency was 8 for rural areas, 37 for low density, 20 for medium density and 21 for high density. Table  1 below shows the distribution of study participants by sex, residence area, learning institution and academic year.

Cognitive regulation

Organizing and transforming.

Most students who participated in the focus group discussions reported self-initiated rearrangement of instructional materials to improve learning. These students said that they recapped the objectives of each class and then grouped related information for easy understanding during lockdown learning. For example, one student mentioned that: “I normally just prefer listing down related information as well as tabulating differences so that my studying is neater” (#20, M, 22). Another student agreed: “I can list down structures found at every significant vertebral level” (#5, F, 21).

The majority of the students also compressed information into short notes. However, a minority struggled to organize learned information due to their fears of capturing incorrect information in the process and inadequate time to do so. A student in this group that struggled to organize learned information noted: “I do not usually organize my study because at the end of the day I am supposed to know everything, and with the vast of information and little time we have it is difficult” (#79, M, 22).

The use of an atlas alongside reading anatomy textbooks was noted by some students, as they claimed that it fills the gap that the dissection room was supposed to fill. Atlases helped visualize the information as well as used to annotate lecture content. A female student quipped that: “My atlas textbook is almost like my dissection cadaver at home” (#11, F, 22). Another reported that she uses the atlas reduce lecture content by “annotating lecturer notes on the pictures in the atlas” (#30, F, 22). A greater fraction of students from both universities reported that organizing their anatomy study and content while studying the subject at home was rewarding.

Rehearsing and memorizing

In their study of anatomy during the COVID-19 lockdown while at their respective homes, the students gave statements indicating self-initiated efforts to memorize material by overt or covert practice indicating that they employed a great deal of memorization and rehearsing. Almost all the students reported using this strategy frequently and in several ways. The majority of the students used commonly known mnemonics, while others preferred homemade mnemonics derived from common words in their home environment, such as the names of pets (#12, M, 20), siblings (#41, F, 20) and friends (#16, F, 21) For example, a commonly used strategy was captured by one student who noted the following: “I find mnemonics being the fast and easy way to bring back information, especially in an exam setting, because large sets of information are generally compressed to common words or statements” (#7, F, 21).

A minority of the students were not using mnemonics as they claimed to be “extra work” but used other techniques instead, such as “reproducing concepts through discussions with classmates” (#62, M, 22), “homemade notes” (#50, F, 19) and “self-initiated rehearsal sessions” (#33, F,23). One such student captured this as follows: “I might end up having a mini textbook for mnemonics, so it is better that I understand the concept only” (#02, M, 20).

Instead of mnemonics and self-study, a larger fraction of students who participated in the focus group discussions resorted to doing “mock presentations of the anatomy content” (#09, M, 22) that they would have learned to each other via the WhatsApp platform despite the challenges of electricity and internet access. The remainder reported not doing so because of “internet access problems and prohibitive costs” (#76, F, 21), especially those who were residing in remote and high-density areas during the lockdown period. These students, however, utilized their family members by conducting mock lecturing sessions just to help them recall the anatomy they would have learned or been reading from textbooks. For instance, one student quipped: “I teach my mom or sister, even though they don’t understand it, but it helps me remember.” (#22, F, 20) .

The majority of the students also used paper as well as soft copy “flashcards” (#70, M, 21) that have “questions, short statements, and reminders that they would stick on several places in their homes”. The students reported that they found it challenging to memorize structures and relations without dissection, so they used atlases such as Gray’s Atlas of Anatomy and Netter’s Essential Histology for both gross anatomy and histology, respectively. In addition, they said it was easier to recall a photographic image than written statements. Some students preferred using their artistic abilities to draw anatomical structures as part of their memorizing.

Meta-cognitive regulation

Self-evaluation.

Self-evaluation during the lockdown was necessary for the anatomy students to keep themselves in check to effectively monitor their study habits. The whole sample of students who participated in the focus group discussions showed self-initiated evaluation of the quality and progress of their work in different ways. The majority revised anatomy using multiple choice questions (MCQs) obtained from several internet anatomy sites. They also set their own questions before and after the study to check their progress. Many students echoed the following sentiment of one student: “I find MCQs being the most useful tool to evaluate my study because they indicate areas of weakness to me” (#44, M, 23).

The students also “wrote notes from memory and compared them with the anatomy textbook” (#47, M, 21) to show them how much information they obtained from their study. Some students also utilized their peers using online platforms such as WhatsApp during the discussions to see how much they were lacking in comparison to other students. The following statement by one student received concurrence from the majority of the group members during discussions: “My discussion group helps me see where I am, relative to others, and then I know the amount of effort that I need to put in later on” (#45, F, 20). However, some students reported facing challenges in carrying out such as a “lack of a reliable internet connection” (#54, M, 22) as well as “failing to synchronize the lockdown-era learning schedule” (#38, F, 21) and peers’ free time with “household chores” (#65, F, 21). For instance, one said: “It is hard to constantly have discussions at a fixed (time) because anyone can get caught up with anything at any time” (#19, F, 20).

Some students reported resorting to “spaced repetition and retrieval” (#80, M, 21) in which they repeated anatomical information over spaced intervals to remember and judge how much they remember.

Goal setting and planning

The majority of the students reported that they were able to set goals and plans for sequencing, timing, and completing activities related to learning anatomy during the lockdown. However, a minority of students reported having “less time to fulfil the set goals” (#64, M, 20). They reported that the home environment, especially in high-density areas, did not have space for effective study undisturbed, while others, especially females, noted that “household chores” (#77, F, 21) assigned to them at home made it hard to set goals, plan and follow them. They were demotivated to continue with meticulous goal setting such that they ended up stopping carrying out study plans over time. Both male and female students reported similar patterns of goal setting and work planning.

Some students chose to balance their attention on all courses instead of just anatomy during the lockdown period. However, they largely admitted that anatomy is challenging, leading to the subject receiving more attention than others, as captured below:

“I plan to spend 60% of my week’s study time reading anatomy because it is tough and then divide the rest into other courses” (#37, M. 22).

“I draft timetables because they prevent the overlapping of Anatomy study into sessions for other courses” (#03, M, 20).

Female students highlighted experiencing more disruptions to their set goals due to disproportionate participation in household chore compared to their male counterparts. For example:

“It’s hard to plan and set goals knowing that there are high chances of not being able to achieve them with all disturbances at home” (#84, F, 19).

“It is hard to follow timetables when at home… being a woman at home you get to perform most of the duties such as cleaning, cooking, laundry and taking care of younger children, something male members of the family do not do, I guess it’s the culture” (#57, F, 21).

Overall, studying from home during the COVID-19-induced lockdown was generally viewed as challenging, with female students being affected more due to the patriarchal home environment as well as the skewed nature of the distribution of numerous “household duties falling on women” (#26, F, 20).

Keeping/reviewing records and monitoring anatomy learning during lockdown

Most of the students reported keeping records of the anatomy information they learned in many different forms for future use. However, a few focus group discussants did not keep records due to the challenges of revisiting citing the “heavy workload and limited time” (#14, M, 22) during the lockdown. The majority of such students were male.

The widely used record-keeping method was “note-taking during online lectures” (#13, M, 20) and when studying. Many students felt that this method helps them to boost their focus, as explained below: “I wrote some notes to keep myself motivated during studying, and I wrote down everything I got wrong in an exam to work on them as objectives.”

Other records were kept in form of “short notes” (#66, F, 20), “flashcards” (#18, F, 20), audio and even videos. Modifying the notes was done in successive study sessions as the students added more information. A small fraction of anatomy learners found it challenging to keep records, as they never had enough time to revisit them due to ever-increasing workloads and other competing needs in the home environment. One such student quipped: “It’s hard to write notes that you know you will never read them again in such pressure-filled times .” (#10, M, 21).

Reviewing handwritten notes, textbooks, and MCQs were widely used by the majority of the students. Many students reported that reviewing past MCQs was an effective tool in evaluating their level of learning and understanding as well as exam preparation and was mostly used by second-year anatomy students as shown below.

“I revise MCQs with my (handwritten) notes and also revisit the anatomy textbooks” (#07, F, 22).

“In the first year, I relied more on the textbook to prepare for anatomy examinations, but now I do MCQs then discuss with peers.” (#30, F, 22).

On the other hand, a minority reported that using MCQs just before exams increased panic and anxiety as exemplified by: “I cannot use MCQs just before an anatomy exam because I may panic by seeing several questions whose answers I do not know” (#41, F, 20).

Most students did not review textbooks before exams due to their large volumes of information in a short period, hence the use of notes, audio, YouTube videos and flashcards, but could do so in preparation for a discussion group with classmates.

Effort regulation

Environmental structuring.

Effort regulation refers to the student’s ability to continue performing a task even when faced with inherent difficulties [ 44 ]. The majority of students who participated in the focus group discussions portrayed how they managed their anatomy studies on their own in different environments during the lockdown. Some students residing in high-density suburbs and rural areas had “trouble finding a conducive study environment” (#71, M, 20), with most of them resorting to studying at night when most family members are asleep, as captured by some below:

“I need to check what my environment is like before I sit to study” (#61, F, 19).“It is hard to find a quiet place unless, during night time, that is why I study during the night” (#25, M, 22).

On the other hand, a few students who stayed in low-density suburbs that provided a quiet, clean and isolated environment during lockdown could not care much about the state of the surroundings for studying anatomy, as one noted below:

“I am not much affected by my environment at home” (#54, M, 22).

However, studying at new places was found to be “motivating” (#85, F, 21); hence, some students rotated around their homes trying to find suitable places to study anatomy during the lockdown. The use of music during the study was noted by some students as an effective tool to support effort regulation, while some students opted for “total silence for maximum concentration” (#23, F, 20).

Self-consequences

Statements indicating self-initiated imagination of rewards or punishment for success or failure to achieve self-set goals were noted in approximately half of the focus group discussions participants. Many students reported rewarding themselves more than punishment, as they felt that there was no need to punish themselves if the “workload was already heavy” (#73, M, 19). Those who rewarded themselves did so by temporarily stopping reading for a while to gain motivation, spending time with the family, watching television, surfing the internet and visiting social media. For example:

“I feel like my end goal is to pass exams so better I motivate myself by constant rewards than punishments” (#33, F, 23).

A few students punished themselves by depriving themselves of social media, friends, and family time until a specific task was completed. Other students never used any of the two strategies, as they said that passing is the reward and studying hard is the price for it.

“I am punished and rewarded by my result on the exam results noticeboard, so I don’t do it myself” (#49, F, 21).

Resource management

Seeking social assistance (elder, teacher and tutor, peers).

All students who participated in the focus group discussions reported seeking educational assistance from either an elder/mentor in medical school, a lecturer, a tutor, or peers. Most students mentioned being uncomfortable seeking assistance from their lecturers but could frequently approach their tutors (BSc intercalated anatomy students) instead:

“I find it hard to text my lecturer so I usually pass my question to the tutors” (#65, F, 21).

The use of mentors/elders, especially those who are streams ahead, was noted, as students preferred someone who once studied anatomy and understands for emotional support:

“Parents and friends were necessary for emotional support, as students needed constant mental support during the pandemic.” (#01, F, 22).

The majority of students showed that the assistance that comes from a peer was very helpful. This was noted as many students raised the issue of discussion groups being the best learning platform at all times, especially toward Anatomy exams”.

“… my discussion group is almost my everything from academic to emotional support because we are in the same boat and we face everything together.” (#40, M, 22).

Team work was a very useful tool in anatomy studies during the pandemic season, as the students stayed connected in their work and discussions through social media.

Seeking information

The ability to search for information from several online sources was important in studying anatomy during the lockdown, where the student had to hunt for the source of information to keep up with the subject content and everyone else. The majority of students looked for information mostly online through Google searches, retrieving uploaded videos, and classmates.

“I go online to check textbooks, notes and videos to try and understand more about what I know already” (#58, M, 21).

Some students preferred to search for other texts online just to remain motivated on the subject. Social media platforms such as WhatsApp were used more commonly to ask for books, notes, videos, recordings and extra sources of anatomical information from colleagues. A few students preferred sticking to the recommended anatomy textbooks to minimize confusion between texts as well as because of the limited time.

“I already have no time to finish up all the anatomy books. So, why do l have to fish for other books?” (#72, F, 20).

However, a considerable number of students reported facing “poor internet connectivity” in some areas of Zimbabwe, as almost all the accessible sources for anatomy during remote learning were available online. This was captured by representative students, one lived in a rural setting and another in a medium density suburb:

“in my rural environment, the network boosters are far apart and mobile internet connectivity was very poor and often offline whenever there was no ZESA ( electricity )” (#63, M, 20).

“I lived in the city but with frequent power outages and expensive broadband internet activity, sometimes the only time I could access mobile internet to study would very late in the night” (#29, F, 22).

The study aimed at exploring how anatomy learners in a low-income country employed self-regulated learning skills during the Covid-19 lockdown induced distance learning. The ten focus group discussions that were conducted involving 86 students showed that anatomy learners at UZ and MSU demonstrated use of self-directed learning skills during the COVID-19 remote learning period. They showed mostly relatively similar use of cognitive, meta-cognitive and effort regulation despite their differences in gender, socioeconomic background or academic year.

The present study revealed that learning anatomy during lockdown was very challenging due to the absence of physical interactive learning, poor internet connectivity, disturbances at home and the absence of cadaver dissection and histology practicals. As a result, the students resorted to directing their learning as an adaptative strategy to pandemic-induced online remote learning. The study has shown that the majority of students were able to reorganize and transform as well as employ rehearsal and memorizing techniques despite the several challenges faced during home learning. The majority of the students actively utilized different cognitive and metacognitive skills in self-regulating learning anatomy during the lockdown. However, a minority reported some challenges partially due to COVID-19-induced home learning warranting a look back so that similar problems could be approached by anatomy teachers in the future.

The present study’s findings are concordant with previous studies that have shown that students can also initiate task transformation for effective learning [ 25 ]. During the home-based learning of anatomy, students from both universities (UZ and MSU) found ways to tackle the vast anatomical information by rearranging, transforming and selecting the required information. This was done by the use of homemade mnemonics, drawings, tables and paraphrased notes. However, experts in cognitive and educational psychology have questioned the utility of some of these learning techniques, such as the use of mnemonics, for the majority of students [ 30 ]. Therefore, while current students reported using and drawing some benefit from the said techniques, further research is needed to identify which techniques have generalizable effects.

In the present study, most students relied on memorizing and rehearsing to effectively understand anatomy content during the lockdown. Due to the absence of physical peer-to-peer interaction, students tended to mock-teach close family members to try and memorize anatomy content. They also asked family members to test them on specific anatomy concepts and content. The students also utilized atlases, mnemonics, sticky notes and repeated reading. This way of learning portrays the skills of self-regulated learning [ 14 ].

Some students who participated in the present study reported using mnemonics created in native Zimbabwean languages which proved to be useful in their understanding of anatomy basing on their testimonies. Mnemonics are useful only for memorization and are not tools for higher-order learning skills such as analysis, understanding or application [ 45 ]. They only encourage shallow learning rather than developing an in-depth understanding of concepts in learning [ 32 ]. It is important for teachers to be aware of the mnemonics their students are using, as these can be valuable tools for learning. However, it is also important to check these mnemonics for mistakes, as students may not be creating them accurately. Teachers can help students create accurate mnemonics by providing them with examples of mnemonics that work well and by teaching them how to create their own mnemonics. They can also help students check their mnemonics for mistakes by asking them to explain how the mnemonic works or by having them quiz each other on the information that the mnemonic is supposed to help them remember.

One of the key aspects of memorizing anatomy concepts is visualization, which was aided by the use of cadavers during campus learning time. However, at home, the students utilized online 3D anatomy software and atlases that worked efficiently to boost learning and appreciation of spatial relationships between anatomical structures in lieu of actual dissection and teamwork.

In the present study, it was observed that students were able to control their thoughts and actions, hence showing meta-cognitive skills use in anatomy learning. With reduced constant supervision, the skill was employed differently among anatomy learners in both universities during COVID-19-induced home learning. The majority of the students were able to self-evaluate, set goals, plan their work, and keep, monitor and review the information records in several different ways. Studies have examined the use of metacognition in the learning of anatomy before [ 46 ] and after the COVID-19 lockdown [ 47 ]. In Zimbabwe, students were finding challenges in meta-cognitively monitoring their anatomy learning due to several factors, such as the nonfixed learning schedules during the pandemic or disruptions caused by doing household chores. However, students were planning their study for a shorter period (within a few days) and monitored their notes regularly to keep the information easy to recall. They also worked with other students to evaluate each other using online platforms such as WhatsApp.

Self-evaluation skills are necessary at every stage of self-regulated learning, especially for anatomy learners who have to cover a large amount of information in a short period. The students used multiple-choice questions, online discussions and homemade review questions to evaluate their own learning. These results indicated that anatomy learners at UZ and MSU were able to evaluate themselves at home during the self-reflection phase of self-regulated learning amid challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic [ 16 ]. The use of self-evaluation by anatomy students before the lockdown [ 48 ] and during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown has been noted as an important tool that provides room for improvement [ 49 ]. The results from the current study on self-evaluation reports are in agreement with those of previous studies that evaluated its use among medical students and particularly anatomy learners in India [ 47 ] and in the USA [ 47 ]. Zimbabwean anatomy learners at UZ and MSU developed self-evaluation strategies to compensate for the reduced in-person discussions, quiz sessions and practice tests. Family members were utilized to evaluate the learner by employing randomly set questions and presentations as a way to use a multisensory learning strategy.

Due to the different environments in which students lived, a wide range of evaluation strategies were employed. The students who lived in remote areas did not have reliable internet connections to engage in online academic activities like their peers. Hence, such students are more prone to depression, less motivation [ 50 ], and even poor academic performance than expected [ 51 ]. However, while many studies in resource-limited settings listed similar challenges with the internet, overall anatomy learning has largely been reported as comparable to pre-pandemic levels [ 52 ]. Future studies must find connections between different student circumstances and academic performance as well as posit solutions that would be relevant in crisis and normal education times.

Self-initiated study plans and goals are crucial in the learning of anatomy, which is a content-heavy subject [ 25 ]. Most students from both institutions in the present study planned and set goals for their daily and weekly studies. However, a minority showed weakness in this skill, mainly due to disturbances at home. For instance, participating in household chores, attending to visitors and other unplanned events disrupted plans and goal attainment during the lockdown period. This reflects the use of goal- and plan-setting strategies by anatomy students in Zimbabwean medical schools, which is an element of the forethought phase of self-regulated learning [ 53 ]. Previous studies have shown results similar to those of this current study on the employment of self-initiated goals and plans. A study conducted in the USA [ 54 ] before and during the COVID-19 lockdown showed that anatomy students planned and set goals. Anatomy learners in Zimbabwe planned and set goals to make it easier to study anatomy. This skill is an important lifelong tool in different aspects of life, of keynote in the medical field [ 55 ]. However, a minority have also faced challenges due to the instability of home environments, which slowed down the student’s work rate. Most Zimbabwean female students reported more difficulties due to frequent house chores and related disturbances. Student residency [ 52 ] and gender [ 56 ] have previously been shown to affect learning differently. Several studies have reported that many students generally face challenges in learning anatomy at home and eventually become worried and stressed over their study progress [ 57 ]. Therefore, it is crucial for anatomy educators to be aware of the breadth of students’ challenges so that they can offer support.

Students at UZ and MSU kept records of past online lectures, tutorials, personal study sessions and discussions in the form of short notes, audio, videos and pictures for future use, hence proving a meta-cognitive skill in anatomy learning that reflected their metacognitive skills in the performance phase [ 58 ]. Previous studies have shown results similar to those obtained in the current study. A study that was performed in Spain showed that anatomy students kept track of what they had learned for future reference as self-regulators [ 59 ]. Note writing, as a way of keeping simplified and compressed information, also motivated students during their studying and online lecture sessions. Some students were not able to revise their notes due to the vast information they had to take in every daytime as well as accumulated over time. Students who stayed in remote areas of Zimbabwe depended more on their self-kept records to frequently visit and revise because they could not participate more frequently in online classes, which proved to be useful.

In the performance phase of self-regulated learning, effort regulation is an essential skill during home-based anatomy learning [ 60 ]. Self-control was assessed in students during focus group discussions, and students generally showed abilities to govern their environments and actions by self-reward and punishment in different ways, which is effort regulation. Challenges in sustaining effort were widely reported, but some students could still adapt during the lockdown, as was described previously in a similar study [ 49 ].

Environmental structuring is an important aspect of student learning during the COVID-19-induced phase of online learning at home [ 61 ]. The environment affects the productivity of students’ learning, as noted previously [ 62 ]. Some students structured their environment to be suitable for effective study before time. Students from different residential areas managed their environments differently. For instance, students who resided in high-density residential areas and semi-urban and rural areas were greatly affected by the lockdown, even though they came up with ways to manage even in such places. Other studies have reported similar results to those of the current study, showing that students could also manage their study environment during the pandemic lockdown [ 62 ]. Self-isolation from other family members was used to reduce disturbances and boost their focus during the anatomy study. Most students tended to utilize the night time more than they normally did before the lockdown. This change in study time was to escape the busy and noisy daytime at home. Music was also used to close out the noise at home, and some students gained concentration through it [ 63 ]. Concentration and motivation to study are affected by the environment; hence, anatomy students in Zimbabwe regulate their environment to achieve personal study goals.

Self-reward and punishment are required for the learner to control their actions and increase motivation [ 64 ]. The current study reviewed how first- and second-year anatomy learners at UZ and MSU controlled themselves when studying anatomy during the COVID-19-induced lockdown. The majority rewarded themselves mainly with food, social media and sleep. Upon achieving a specific study goal, students tend to reward and punish themselves accordingly, hence showing an element of self-control [ 65 ]. This is in line with reports from other studies concerning the balance between self-reward and punishment [ 66 ]. Students had minimum supervision at home over their studies compared to the time they were on campus; hence, some controlled their actions by reward and punishment mechanisms to boost motivation and self-discipline, respectively [ 67 ]. Anatomy learning is difficult for most students [ 68 ]; hence, punishment after not reaching a specific self-set goal seemed to add pain to pain. Most students commonly rewarded themselves with more time on social media because it is the most commonly used form of leisure and entertainment and a way of connecting with other peers in several places. Students also rewarded themselves with sleep because it is an aspect of their lives that is commonly deprived due to long late-night studies. This was important in refreshing their minds and boosting motivation as well as confidence, which led to a healthy mental state.

The transition from campus to a home-based learning environment required the students to search for anatomy information from many sources. Most students studying anatomy in Zimbabwe sought information on the internet from online libraries. This finding showed that students were self-regulators by seeking information during the performance phase of the regulation process [ 69 ]. Studies in the USA have also examined the utilization of learning resources by medical students, which reflects results from the current study [ 69 ]. Most physical libraries closed in line with COVID-19 pandemic regulations, which is why students resorted to online libraries and information platforms. The main challenges faced by most students who resided in remote areas were limited internet data access and connectivity as well as resources to fund such pursuits [ 70 ]. A minority of the students could not search for extra sources of information beyond what was provided by the lecturer because of the limited information and to reduce confusion in their studies.

As part of self-directed resource utilization, seeking social assistance is an important strategy in the learning of anatomy. The results from the present study at two medical schools showed that students sought social assistance and that females reached out more for help than males, as previously reported by a study on university students at the University of Edinburgh [ 71 ]. Most students in the present study sought help with anatomy from peers, elders and teachers, which is in line with previous observations [ 65 ]. Harmon and colleagues recently demonstrated that anatomy students can utilize available resources to enhance their learning and academic performance [ 69 ]. However, most challenges were faced by students who could not obtain good internet connectivity, as they could not seek help from their friends, tutors and lecturers. Students at UZ and MSU preferred peer-to-peer interactions, which were also more common and comfortable than student-to-lecturer interactions. Family members played a crucial part in providing emotional and psychological support to the student during the home learning period; hence, the role of the family is significant, as noted in other studies [ 72 ]. Therefore, awareness of students’ help-seeking behaviors and student counseling during the lockdown was essential and could be incorporated into future student support systems.

Study limitations

The current study has some limitations. The study may not have captured a good picture of the student’s self-regulated learning behaviors due to the unequal numbers between students at UZ and MSU. Further studies must consider larger samples of medical students across many subjects in crises and normal times. The online questionnaire may have largely been responded to by those who had an internet connection at the time of data collection; hence, the majority of students in remote areas could not have fully participated. The online focus group discussions that were conducted using Zoom meetings were only attended by those who could also afford and access an internet connection. Future studies must provide equal opportunities for the full participation of all in the target population.

From this present phenomenological study, it has been noted that students were generally self-regulators despite the challenges they met during the COVID-19-induced home-based learning period. There was no specific difference in how the students from both universities directed their anatomy learning during lockdown. The effect of student location during lockdown had a significant effect on how students regulated learning, with grave challenges affecting students coming from low-income homes and remote areas. This study sheds light on the dynamic interplay between individual agency and external challenges faced by preclinical medical students in a low-income setting during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings underscore the necessity of adaptable, supportive educational frameworks that can accommodate the diverse needs of students, especially in times of crisis. The resilience, adaptability, and collaborative spirit demonstrated by the students offer valuable insights for future educational planning and the development of more inclusive and flexible learning environments.

Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due guarantees given to audio data confidentiality but quantitative data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank all the students who participated in this study. We would also like to extend our sincere gratitude to the UZ and MSU Anatomy departments for allowing us to give us permission to collect data from anatomy students. learners and creating a favorable environment for research. We are grateful to Ms. Phillipa, who accommodated us well in Gweru during data collection at MSU.

This research and manuscript was not funded by any external sources or organizations.

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PLMZ and FC conceived and planned the study. ABG and TC carried out the survey. PLMZ, FC, TC and ABG planned and carried out the focus group discussions. All authors contributed to the interpretation of the results. ABG took the lead in writing the manuscript. All authors provided critical feedback and helped shape the research, analysis and manuscript.

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Chapupu, T., Gatsi, A.B., Chibhabha, F. et al. Self-regulated learning of anatomy during the COVID-19 lockdown period in a low-income setting. BMC Med Educ 24 , 548 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05329-x

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The COVID-19 pandemic and E-learning: challenges and opportunities from the perspective of students and instructors

Abdelsalam m. maatuk.

1 Faculty of Information Technology, Benghazi University, Benghazi, Libya

Ebitisam K. Elberkawi

Shadi aljawarneh.

2 Faculty of Computer and Information Technology, Irbid, Jordan

Hasan Rashaideh

3 Department of Computer Science, Prince Abdullah Ben Ghazi Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Technology, Al-Balqa Applied University, Salt, 19117 Jordan

Hadeel Alharbi

4 Computer Science, Ha’il University, Ha’il, Saudi Arabia

The spread of COVID-19 poses a threat to humanity, as this pandemic has forced many global activities to close, including educational activities. To reduce the spread of the virus, education institutions have been forced to switch to e-learning using available educational platforms, despite the challenges facing this sudden transformation. In order to further explore the potentials challenges facing learning activities, the focus of this study is on e-learning from students’ and instructor’s perspectives on using and implementing e-learning systems in a public university during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study targets the society that includes students and teaching staff in the Information Technology (IT) faculty at the University of Benghazi. The descriptive-analytical approach was applied and the results were analyzed by statistical methods. Two types of questionnaires were designed and distributed, i.e., the student questionnaire and the instructor questionnaire. Four dimensions have been highlighted to reach the expected results, i.e., the extent of using e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, advantages, disadvantages and obstacles of implementing E-learning in the IT faculty. By analyzing the results, we achieved encouraging results that throw light on some of the issues, challenges and advantages of using e-learning systems instead of traditional education in higher education in general and during emergency periods.

Introduction

The unexpected closure of educational institutions as a result of the emergence of COVID-19 prompted the authorities to suggest adopting alternatives to traditional learning methods in emergencies to ensure that students are not left without studying and to prevent the epidemic from spreading.

The formal learning system with the help of electronic resources is known as e-learning. Whereas teaching can be inside (or outside) the classrooms, the use of computer technology and the Internet is the main component of e-learning (Aboagye et al. ( 2020 ). The traditional educational methods were replaced by e-learning when the COVID-19 virus appeared because social gatherings in educational institutions are considered an opportunity for the virus to spread. E-learning is the best option available to ensure that epidemics do not spread, as it guarantees spatial distancing despite the challenges and studied figures, which indicate that students are less likely to benefit from this type of education (Lizcano et al. ( 2020 ).

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) offer unique educational and training opportunities as they improve teaching and learning, and innovation and creativity for people and organizations. Furthermore, the use of ICT can promote the development of an educational policy that encourages creative and innovative educational institution environments (Abdullah et al. 2019 ; Altawaty et al. 2020 ; Selim, 2007 ). Therefore, attention is given widely to efforts and experiences related to this type of education. This technology is commonly used by most universities in several developing countries. In an educational environment, there are lots of learning-related processes involved, and great amounts of potential rich data are generated in educational institutions continuously in order to extract knowledge from those data for a better understanding of learning-related processes (Aljawarneh, 2020 ; Lara et al. 2020 ; Lizcano et al. 2020 ).

E-learning is playing a vital role in the existing educational setting, as it changes the entire education system and becomes one of the greatest preferred topics for academics (Samir et al. 2014 ). It is defined as the use of diverse kinds of ICT and electronic devices in teaching (Gaebel et al. ( 2014 ). Most students today want to study online and graduate from universities and colleges around the world, but they cannot go anywhere because they reside in isolated places without good communication services.

Because of e-learning, participants can save time and effort for living in distant places from universities where they are registered, so, many scholars support online courses (Ms & Toro, 2013 ).

Many users of e-learning platforms see that online learning helps ensure that e-learning can be easily managed, and the learner can easily access the teachers and teaching materials (Gautam, 2020 ; Mukhtar et al. 2020). It also helped reduce the effort and travel expenses and other expenses that accompany traditional learning. E-learning reduced significantly the administrative effort, preparation and lectures recording, attendance, and leaving classes. Teachers, as well as students, see that online learning methods encouraged pursuing lessons from anywhere and in difficult circumstances that prevent them from reaching universities and schools. The student becomes a self-directed learner and learns simultaneously and asynchronously at any time. However, there are many drawbacks of e-learning, the most important of which is getting knowledge only on a theoretical basis and when it comes to using everything that learners have learned without applied practical skills. The face-to-face learning experience is missing, which may interest many learners and educators. Other problems are related to the online assessments, which may be limited to objective questions. Issues related to the security of online learning programs and user reliability are among the challenges of e-learning in addition to other difficulties that are always related to the misuse of technology (Gautam, 2020 ; Mukhtar et al. 2020).

Web-based education, digital learning, interactive learning, computer-assisted teaching and internet-based learning are known as E-learning (Aljawarneh, 2020 ; Lara et al. 2020 ; Yengin et al. 2011 ). It is mainly a web-based education system that provides learners with information or expertise utilizing technology. The use of web-based technology for educational purposes has increased rapidly due to a drastic reduction in the cost of implementing these technologies. Nowadays, many universities have recognized the importance of E-learning as a core element of their learning system. Therefore, further research has been conducted to understand the difficulties, advantages, and challenges of e-learning in higher education. These issues have the potential to adversely affect instructors' quality in the delivery of educational material (Yengin et al. 2011 ).

Technology-based E-learning requires the use of the internet and other essential tools to generate educational materials, educate learners, and administer courses in an organization. E-learning is flexible when considering time, location, and health issues. It increases the effectiveness of knowledge and skills by enabling access to a massive amount of data, and enhances collaboration, and also strengthens learning-sustaining relationships. Although e-learning can enhance the quality of education, there is an argument about making E-learning materials available, which leads to improving learning outcomes only for specific types of collective evaluation. However, e-learning may result in the heavy use of certain websites. Moreover, it cannot support domains that require practical studies. The main drawback of using e-learning is the absence of crucial personal interactions, not only between students and teachers but also among fellow students (Somayeh et al. 2016 ). Compared to developed countries, it was found that developing countries face many challenges in applying e-learning, including poor internet connection, insufficient knowledge about the use of information and communication technology, and weak content development (Aung & Khaing, 2015 ). The provision of content such as video and advanced applications is still a new thing for many educators, even at the higher education level in developing countries (Aljawarneh, 2020 ; Lara et al. 2020 ; Lizcano et al. 2020 ).

This study aims to identify issues related to the use, advantages, disadvantages, and obstacles of e-learning programs in a public university by extrapolating the perspectives of students and educators who use this mode of learning in long-lasting unusual circumstances. The research population consisted of students and faculty members at the Faculty of IT at the University of Benghazi. Two types of questionnaires have been distributed to students and instructors. To achieve the expected results, four dimensions are defined, i.e., the extent to which E-learning is used and the benefits, drawbacks, and obstacles to the implementation of E-learning by the Faculty of IT. The descriptive-analytical method is used in the statistical analysis of the results. By evaluating the results, we have obtained promising findings that demonstrate some of the higher education sector's problems, obstacles, and advantages of using the E-learning method. Students believe that based on the study’s results, E-learning contributes to their learning. This reduces the instructor workload, however, and raises it for students. The teaching staff agrees that E-learning is beneficial in enhancing the skills of students, although it needs financial resources and the cost of implementing them is high. Despite the advantages of using E-learning, some of the obstacles to its implementation in Libya include the degradation of the Internet infrastructure that supports these education systems in Libya in general. The high cost of buying the electronic equipment needed and maintaining the equipment, which is unemployed.

The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 gives some background and related work about E-learning. Section 3 describes the methodology. Statistical analysis is presented in Sect. 4. Section 5 explains the study outcomes. Finally, Sect. 6 discusses the conclusion of this work and provides some recommendations.

Related work

Several studies have addressed the opportunities and challenges associated with the transition to traditional learning instead of e-learning. One of the main reasons for faltering e-learning initiatives is the lack of well-preparedness for this experience.

A study that aims to examine student challenges about how to deal with e-learning in the outbreak of COVID-19 and to examine whether students are prepared to study online or not is presented in (Aboagye et al. 2020 ). The study concluded that a blended approach that combines traditional and e-teaching must be available for learners. Another study that aims to explore the e-learning process among students who are familiar with web-based technology to advance their self-study skills is described in (Radha et al. 2020 ). The study results show that e-learning has become popular among students in all educational institutions in the period of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A study that aims to investigate the characteristics, benefits, drawbacks and features that impact E-learning has been presented in (Ms & Toro, 2013 ). Some of the demographic features such as behaviors and cultural background impact student education in the E-learning domain. Therefore, for lecturers to design educational activities to make learning more effective, they should understand these features. The study is applied to students in Lebanon and England to assist instructors to understand what scholars expect from the learning management systems.

Analyzing the effectiveness of E-learning for students at the university level has been introduced in (Ali et al. 2018 ). A questionnaire was applied to a sample of 700 students, 94.9% of them are utilizing different e-learning techniques and tools. To measure the reliability and internal consistency of the factors, Cronbach’s alpha test is applied. To take out the variables and to calculate the factors loading in the study, the exploratory feature analysis is applied. The results demonstrate that students support that E-learning is easy to use, saves time, and affordable.

Various predictions of e-learning for educational purposes have been illustrated in (Samir et al. 2014 ). The study aims to show how to keep students motivated in e-learning. The evaluation of student motivations for online learning can be challenging because of the lack of face-to-face contact between learners and teachers. The study shows that one way to increase student’s motivation is by allowing them to complete an online assessment form on motivation. The study suggests five research hypotheses to be inspected to identify which hypothesis should be accepted and which should not.

The strength of the relationship between students’ motivation and e-learning is illustrated in (Harandi, 2015 ). Data was gathered from students at Tehran Alzahra University, and Pearson's correlation coefficient was utilized for data analysis. The outcomes of this study revealed that some points should be considered before using E-learning. However, this study was restricted to one culture, which can limit the generalization of its results.

The study described in (Oludare Jethro et al. 2012 ) showed that e-learning is a new atmosphere for scholars, as it illustrates how to make e-learning more effective in the educational field and the advantages of using e-learning. The outcome of the study showed that the students were willing to learn more with less social communication with other students or lecturers.

A study that aims to highlight and measure the four Critical Success Factors from student insights is described in (Selim, 2007 ). These factors are instructor and student characteristics, technology structure, and university support. The outcomes of the study showed that the instructor characteristics factor is the most critical one followed by IT infrastructure and university support in e-learning success. The least critical factor to the success of e-learning was student characteristics.

The work described in (GOYAL & S., 2012 ) has tried to emphasize the importance of e-learning in modern teaching and illustrates its advantages and disadvantages. Also, the comparison with Instructor Led Training (ILT) and the probability of applying E-learning instead of old classroom teaching was discussed. In addition, the study showed the major drawbacks of ILT in institutions and how using E-learning can assist in overcoming these problems.

The purpose of the study in (Gaebel et al. 2014 ) is to conduct a survey on the varieties of E-learning organizations, skills, and their anticipations for the forthcoming. Blended and online learning are taken into account. Some of the questions related to intra-institutional management, arrangements and services, and quality assurance. The outcomes of the survey showed that from 38 diverse countries and systems, there are 249 organizations broadly conceived the same causes for the increasing use of e-learning.

The study in (Yengin et al. 2011 ) illustrated that the most vital role in the e-learning design outlook is online lecturers. As a result, considering the issues impacting lecturers’ performance should be taken into the account. One of the features that impact the usability of the system and lecturers’ presentation is satisfaction. The results showed, to produce a simple model called the “E-learning Success Model for Instructors’ Satisfactions” that is related to public, logical and technical communications of instructors in the entire e-learning system, the features associated with teachers’ satisfaction in e-learning systems have been examined.

The comparison between different E-learning tools in terms of their goals, benefits and drawbacks are presented in (Aljawarneh et al. 2010 ). The comparison assists in providing when to use each tool. The outcomes show that instructors and students prefer to use MOODLE over Blackboard in the e-learning environment. One of the major challenges that face the E-learning environment is security issues since security is not combined into the active learning development process.

The effect of e-learning at the Payame Noor University of Hamedan, Iran on the innovation and material awareness of chemistry students was examined in (Zare et al. 2016 ). The research used a control group's pre-test/post-test experimental design. Data analysis findings using the independent t-test showed significantly better scores on calculated variables, information and innovation for the experimental group. Consequently, E-learning is beneficial for the acquisition of knowledge and innovation among chemistry students, and that a larger chance for E-learning should be given for broader audiences.

A study in (Arkorful & Abaidoo, 2015 ) aimed to explore the literature and provide the study with a theoretical context by reviewing some publications made by different academics and universities on the definition of E-learning, its use in education and learning in institutions of higher education. The general literature described the pros and cons of E-learning, which showed that it needs to be enforced in higher education for teachers, supervisors and students to experience the full advantages of acceptance and implementation.

Assessing the learning effectiveness of e-learning was studied in (Somayeh et al. 2016 ). This analysis study was conducted using the databases of Medline and CINAHL and the search engine of Google. The research used covered review articles and English language meta-analysis. 38 papers including journals, books, and websites are investigated and categorized from the results obtained. The general advantages of E-learning such as the promotion of learning and speed and process of learning due to individual needs were discussed. The study results indicated positive effects of E-learning on learning, so it is proposed that more use should be made of this education method, which needs the requisite grounds to be established.

It is important to focus on analyzing the learner and student characteristics and motivating students to ensure their involvement in e-learning. Also, it is necessary to focus on the impact and extent of teacher acceptance of e-learning. The age difference between the teachers and the students indicates that the teachers received most of their studies and teaching skills through traditional teaching and learning methods, which may make their acceptance of e-learning different from the student’s acceptance of modern methods of e-learning and education in general.

The methodology

The descriptive-analytical method was used for this study and the five-point Likert-scale range was calculated based on (1) Strongly disagreed, (2) Disagree, (3) Neutral, (4) Agree, and (5) Strongly agree, with the analysis of results using a statistical application called the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).

Study population

The study targets the sample society that includes teaching staff and undergraduate students of all departments in the IT Faculty at the University of Benghazi.

Study boundaries

• Scientific restrictions: Assessment of the extent of application of E-learning in higher education.
• Administrative Field: Faculty of IT, University of Benghazi, Libya.
• Period: The Year of 2020.
• Human Resources: Teaching staff and students in the faculty.

Study sample

The study involves two types of questionnaires to be prepared and developed: one questionnaire for students and another for instructors. The following details were obtained after the questionnaires were randomly distributed and collected individually. The study sample was selected based on the awareness of the size of the population:

• Student Questionnaire: The total number of distributed questionnaires was 140 copies, without invalid copies, and 5 copies were missing. Therefore, the copies being analyzed are 135.
• Teaching Staff Questionnaire: The total number of distributed questionnaires was 20 copies, while 20 legitimate copies were returned without invalid or missing copies.

Some of the demographic characteristics are shown in Table ​ Table1 1 .

Distribution of student study sample

Study dimensions

The study has emphasized four dimensions to achieve the expected results as follows:

• The extent of using E-learning in the Faculty of IT.
• Advantages of E-learning.
• Disadvantages of E-learning.
• Obstacles to implementing E-learning.

Statistical analysis

Data analysis.

The Means and Materiality statistical relations are used to analyze the results. By evaluating the findings, we gain crucial information based on these statistical relations according to the rank of inquiries as shown in Tables ​ Tables2 2 – 3 .

Descriptive statistics of students' perspective

Descriptive statistics of teaching staff perspective

The students' perspective

The analysis of data as a statistical relationship regarding the perspective of the students is shown in Table ​ Table2 2 .

Dimension 1: the extent of using E-learning in IT faculty.

Inquiries (6), (7) and (10) are of similar materiality and inquiry (6) is chosen because it has the lower standard deviation, which states that "E-learning technologies are used for scientific research purposes" with the materiality of 82.6% and a mean 4.13, while inquiry number (7), which states "Search engines are used to obtain curriculum needs". However, inquiry (2), which states that "the Internet is available to students at the faculty” has the lowest materiality of 40% and a mean 2.

Dimension 2: advantages of E-learning

Inquiry number (1) states that "E-learning contributes to raising your educational level" has the highest materiality of 88.2% and a mean of 4.41. However, inquiry number (7), which states that "E-learning reduces the burden because learning becomes a conversation between teaching staff and students instead of traditional learning", has the lowest materiality of 75.8% and a mean of 3.79.

Dimension 3: disadvantages of E-learning

Inquiries (5) and (6) are of similar materiality and inquiry number (5) is chosen because it has the lower standard deviation, which states that "E-learning reduces the burden of teaching staff and increases the burden of students” with the materiality of 75.4% and a mean of 3.77. Nevertheless, inquiry number (1), which states that "E-learning isolates you from the community by connecting you to your computer for long periods ", was the lowest materiality of 72.6% and a mean of 3.63.

Dimension 4: obstacles to E-learning

Inquiry number (3) states that "the lack of the Internet in the faculty to apply E-learning" has the highest materiality of 79% and a mean of 3.95. Yet, inquiries (4) and (5) are of similar materiality and inquiry number (5) has been chosen as it has the lower standard deviation, which notes that "Lack of experience of students with E-learning techniques” with the materiality of 71.8% and a mean of 3.59.

Teaching staff perspective

The analysis of data as a statistical relationship regarding the perspective of the teaching staff and the important analyzes of mean and materiality is given in Table ​ Table3 3

Dimension 1: the extent of using E-learning in IT faculty

Inquiry number (10), which was about that “Use email to communicate with colleagues”, has the highest materiality of 91% and a mean of 4.55. However, inquiry number (2), which states that "internet accessible always available to teaching staff in the faculty", has the least materiality as 41.8% and the mean is 2.09.

Dimension 2. advantages of E-learning

Inquiry number (4) which states that "E-learning contributes to increasing students' skills in using computers” has the highest materiality of 84.6% and a mean of 4.23. However, inquiry number (7), which states that "E-learning reduces the burden because learning becomes a conversation between teaching staff and students instead of traditional learning” with the lowest materiality of 68.2% and a mean of 3.41.

Inquiry number (6) which states that "E-learning needs financial capability compared to traditional education" has the maximum materiality of 79% and a mean of 3.95. Nevertheless, inquiry number (3), which reports that "students face a greater burden during the educational process while reducing the burden of teaching staff", has the lowest materiality of 58.2% and a mean of 2.91.

Inquiries (4) and (7) are of similar materiality and inquiry number (4) is chosen because it has the lower standard deviation, which states that "The lack of internet in the faculty to apply e-learning" with the materiality of 82.8% and a mean 4.14. Yet, inquiries (3) and (6) are of similar materiality and inquiry (6) is chosen, which states that "E-learning needs high costs" has the lowest materiality of 71.8% and a mean of 3.59.

Results and discussion

Students' perspective.

As shown in Table ​ Table4, 4 , we found the T-Test value = 8.733 and the P -Value = 0.00 to the extent of using E-learning during the pandemic. T-Test value = 22.86 and P -Value = 0.00 for the advantages of E-learning. The T-Test value = 12.786 and P -Value = 0.00 for the drawbacks of E-learning. The obstacles to E-learning in the last dimension are the T-Test value = 11.961 and the P -Value = 0.00. Accordingly, all T-Test values are greater than the T table value = 1.96. On the other side, all P -Values are smaller than the level of significance = 0.05. Thus, in each dimension of the four dimensions of the sample, there were statistically significant differences from the student's perspectives.

Statistical tests (students' perspective)

As shown in Table ​ Table5, 5 , the extent, to which E-learning is used are T-Test = 6.021 and P -Value = 0.00, the advantages of E-learning are T-Test = 9.015 and P -Value = 0.00, the disadvantages of E-learning are T-Test = 3.813 and P -Value = 0.001, and the obstacles to E-learning are T-Test = 6.505 and P -Value = 0.00 respectively. Depending on the T-Test values are higher than the T table value = 1.96, P -Values are less than the level of significance = 0.05. There were statistically significant differences from the teaching staff perspective in each dimension of the study's four dimensions.

Statistical tests (Teaching staff perspective)

The data analysis of the four dimensions is summarized as follows:

• The extent of the use of e-learning: the findings indicate that the student's approval of the use of e-learning and the teaching staff’s viewpoint is (Agreement), where the mean are (3.44) and (3.59) respectively.
• The advantages of e-learning: the results consider this dimension indicates the approval of the advantages of e-learning from the perspective of students and teaching staff was (Agreement), where the mean of the perspective of students was (4.13) and the mean of the perspective of the teaching staff was (3.99).
• The dimension that constituted the disadvantages of e-learning: This indicates that the student's acceptance drawbacks of e-learning are (Agreement) of the mean (3.78) and the teaching staff's opinion was (Undecided) of the mean (3.35).
• The factor defining obstacles to e-learning indicates that there were acceptance obstacles for e-learning from the perspective of both students and teaching staff (i.e., Agreement), where the mean was (3.75) and (3.82).

A comparison between the two perspectives

As shown in Fig.  1 , it is noticeable that the viewpoint of both the teaching staff and the students in all four dimensions of the study is identical. This demonstrates that they are almost standardized, with little variation in the third dimension of the data considered for the disadvantages of e-learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. This factor achieves the agreement from the teaching staff's perspective and is undecided from the students' perspective to achieve the agreement as to the outcomes.

A comparison of students' and teaching staff' perspectives

The study outcomes

The study outcomes could be summaries as follows:

Findings based on students' perspective

• The students believe that e-learning is used and that one of the most significant uses is a replica of the scientific method learned on electronic/multimedia forms.
• The students agree that e-learning is useful and that it helps them to be safe and improved their academic standards.
• The students claim that the introduction of e-learning is difficult and that the low-quality of internet services is the biggest obstacle to its application.
• The students demonstrate that there are limitations to e-learning and that the biggest downside is that it decreases the workload for teaching staff and raises the pressure on students.

Findings based on teaching staff perspective

• The teaching staff believes that e-learning is beneficial and that helping to develop students' technological skills is one of the most critical positive elements.
• The teaching staff agrees that the use of e-learning is common and that the possession of faculty members via e-mail and other e-services is the most significant use.
• The teaching staff agrees that there are barriers to the introduction of e-learning and that the high cost of its implementation is one of the main difficulties.
• The teaching staff accepts that e-learning has disadvantages and that the biggest downside is that, relative to traditional learning, it requires financial support.

Pedagogical aspects

Any e-learning strategy follows one of the commonly known learning theories, i.e., behaviorism, cognitivism, or constructivism (Mödritscher, 2006 ). Furthermore, each didactic strategy has a more or less strong impact on the factors that influence the learning process and the self-assessment of the characteristics of the learner. Therefore, based on what has been achieved through the opinions of teaching staff and students, we found that the certain characteristics of the learner, in particular, the motivation need to be analyzed. It is also necessary, as an appropriate pedagogical step, to choose an e-learning strategy that suits the characteristics of students and the electronic environment they are living in nowadays.

Conclusion and recommendations

This study aims to identify the major issues and challenges by extrapolating the opinions of students and faculty instructors on the use of e-learning systems in a public university during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study society sample consists of students and faculty members at the Faculty of IT, University of Benghazi. The descriptive-analytical approach has been applied with statistical analysis of the results. Two types of questionnaires have been distributed for students and instructors. Four dimensions have been determined to reach the expected results, i.e., the extent to which e-learning is used and the advantages, disadvantages and obstacles to the implementation of E-learning in the Faculty of IT. Learning and teaching in an electronic environment still provide many advantages, including, reducing expenses and affords. It was also a successful alternative for many students to return to study in educational institutions during the spread of the Covid-19 virus, despite facing many issues and challenges. By analyzing the results, we have achieved encouraging results to highlight some of the issues, challenges and benefits of using the e-learning system in the higher education sector.

Issues such as technical and financial support, training, improved working conditions, technological background, skills, copyright protections and professional development are always important in the implementation of e-learning in public universities. Based on the study results, students believe that e-learning contributes to their learning. However, it reduces the workload on faculty and increases it on students. The main obstacle to e-learning is the low-quality of Internet services in Libya during the pandemic period. Faculty members agree that e-learning is useful in increasing students' computer skills, although it requires significant financial resources. We can claim that it is important to highlight many of the recommendations, which could have a positive impact on the possibility of implementing e-learning. The university has to provide internet service to students and teaching staff members with enough computer devices to apply e-learning. A modern electronic library and dedicated classrooms with all types of equipment and tools needed are also necessary to apply e-learning instead of coming to the main campus. Conducting online training and seminars regularly is important, for teaching staff, in particular, to support the application of e-learning, in addition to constant attention to IT infrastructure and periodic maintenance of computers and supporting equipment. In addition to all of this, the role and importance of focusing on many things related to the characteristics of the learner, such as the characteristics of the student's background knowledge and how to motivate the students as one of the pedagogical impacts.

Biographies

is a professor, Software Engineering, at Benghazi University, Libya. He received his B.Sc. degree in Computer Science from Benghazi University, Libya, in 1995, and received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in 2004 and 2009, respectively from Northumbria University, UK. Dr. Maatuk returned to Omar Al Mukhtar University in Nov. 2009 as a lecturer. Dr. Maatuk joined Benghazi University in Aug. 2014, as an assistant professor in the Faculty of IT. He was appointed as Vice Dean of IT Faculty, Benghazi University in July 2015 to April 2019. Since May 2019, he is the Dean of IT Faculty, Benghazi University. Dr. Maatuk has published several articles in journals and conferences in the field of database systems and software engineering. His primary work and research interest spread over several research fields, e.g., object-based databases, database reengineering and software engineering.

is currently a lecturer in the Faculty of IT, University of Benghazi where she has been a faculty member since 2013. She received BSc in software engineering from Benghazi University and an MSc from the Academy of high studies, Libya in June 2010. From 2015-2018 she was the head of the information systems department at the IT Faculty, University of Benghazi. She has many publications and is presently workings on many more papers.

is a professor, Software Engineering, at the Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan. He holds a BSc degree in Computer Science from Jordan Yarmouk University, an MSc degree in Information Technology from Western Sydney University, and a Ph.D. in Software Engineering from Northumbria University-England. His research is centered on software engineering, web and network security, elearning, machine learning, cloud computing and ICT fields. Aljawarneh has presented at and been on the organizing committees for a number of international conferences and is a board member of the International Community for ACM, Jordan ACM Chapter, ACS, and IEEE. Multiple papers have been selected as “Best Papers” in conferences and journals. He is also the Associate Editor for IEEE ACCESS and Electrical and Computer Engineering.

is an associate professor, Computer Science, at Al-Balqa Applied University, Jordan. He received his BSc and MSc degrees in computer science and information technology from Yarmouk University in 1999 and 2002 respectively. In 2008 he obtained his Ph.D. degree in computer science from Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical State University-Russian Federation. Then, he joined the department of computer science at Prince Abdullah Bin Ghazi Faculty of ICT / Al-Balqa Applied University-Jordan as an assistant professor. He was appointed as Head of the department from July 2015 to July 2018. His research interests include machine learning, image processing, and computer vision, information retrieval, and optimization.

is an assistant professor, Computer Science at Hail University. She is head department for computer science and software engineering in the female branch, Hail University, Saudi Arabia. Her research interests include e-learning, recommendation systems, and information retrieval.

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Contributor Information

Abdelsalam M. Maatuk, Email: [email protected] .

Ebitisam K. Elberkawi, Email: [email protected] .

Shadi Aljawarneh, Email: oj.ude.tsuj@henrawajlaas .

Hasan Rashaideh, Email: oj.ude.uab@hediahsar .

Hadeel Alharbi, Email: [email protected] .

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