Abstract:

This paper examines international students’ perspectives towards online learning activities that took place during the Covid-19 pandemic and relates to the postgraduate level of maritime and ocean scientific disciplines. For the last 37 years, the World Maritime University (WMU) has an impressive record of capacity building associated with developing countries, mainly through education and research. Its flagship program, the Master of Science (MSc) in Maritime Affairs delivered in the Malmö/Sweden campus, traditionally includes face-to-face lectures, supervision of dissertations and several field visits with the aim to expand practical knowledge. Since the Covid-19 restrictions and measures, such as social distancing and limited number of people in gatherings, were adopted, WMU altered the curriculum delivery from face-to-face to online. Students reverted into staying in their dormitory premises and watched online lectures; assessment tasks were also fulfilled via the Internet. This connectivist learning approach seems to present a number of challenges for students at higher education. To understand and examine the impact of Covid-19 on students’ learning experience, an online questionnaire was administered to 108 students from 48 countries, and 78 responses were received. The results indicate that online learning was perceived to be a good alternative under Covid-19 while face-to-face learning was preferred by most students due to the various merits of the learning environment, such as interactions and engagement. In online learning, students tended to feel a negative impact on their concentration, motivation, teamwork, and community building. To solve these problems, several pedagogical suggestions were identified. The paper concludes with the identification of related opportunities and limitations of online learning, as well as the training needs for relevant stakeholders, namely, students, teachers, and supporting staff. There is also an important opportunity identified: to exploit online collaborative learning to facilitate effective learning outcomes and enhance learners’ experience.

Keywords:

Impact of Covid-19 pandemic, higher education, online learning environment, connectivism.