Abstract:

Electronic learning has become a dominant model in the current learning ecosystem; it facilitates distance learning for courses and degrees, irrespective of a learner’s location, when traditional in-person teaching is not possible. E-learning has become an indispensable tool at every educational level, including both further and higher education, during the 2020 Coronavirus global pandemic (COVID-19). This sudden and unpredictable change to the usual teaching model in educational institutions has presented a variety of challenges for students, which may have affected their progress and results. This paper aims to identify the challenges impacting learners’ progress during the COVID-19 pandemic from the students’ perspectives. The research will focus on undergraduate students studying for computing-related courses; the authors believe that, due to the practical and technological requirements of this type of major, these students may have experienced different challenges from those studying different subjects. Students’ perspectives were obtained through a questionnaire to identify the learning challenges, the results of which are illustrated in this paper. This paper hopes to develop further understanding of the learning experience during periods of crisis, such as COVID-19, and may contribute to future research focusing on evolving learning models.

Keywords:

online learning, technology, crisis distance education, Covid-19 pandemic.