Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic caused havoc that affected the educational sectors of many countries globally and hindered many young people’s capability to have a secured livelihood due to educational challenges. This is because higher educational institutions (HEIs) transitioned from the traditional face-to-face teaching to the online teaching mode that disrupted the learning system of learners. The objective of this study was to investigate learners’ challenges regarding the online learning mode in HEIs and to understand how learning solely online during the pandemic affected their academic results. The Hybrid Learning Model was used as the theoretical lens of the study and a quantitative methodology was employed to collect data from 53 responses. Google Forms was used to draft the online questionnaire that comprised both open and closed questions in order to collect rich data for certain responses. Excel was used to export the data for the analysis process. The study results revealed the learning difficulties learners faced transitioning from face-to-face learning to a purely online context. This study recommends to educational stakeholders to consider implementing different teaching strategies to improve students' learning experience instead of a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching and learning.

Keywords:

Hybrid Learning Model, Online Learning mode, Face-to-Face learning, Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs).