As any universitystudent, lecturer or tutor can attest, the pandemic has turned learning and teaching upside down.
So its important we understand what happens for students when their learning shifts online with little to no warning.
Since 2020, theres been a growing body of important research into the impact of online learning for educators.
The study uses data from nearly 1000 survey responses from students across all eight New Zealand universities.
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The pandemic has exacerbated these challenges.
A lot of my family members got [made] redundant, and they lost their house.
There were 11 people staying in my house.
I was also working at the same time.
I had to pick up more shifts to help.
Among the challenges, however, there were some benefits.
The flexibility has enabled me to fit [study] around my daily life.
It reduced stress and anxiety.
I feel more in control of the work that I do.
I definitely work better when I feel like I have to take charge of my own learning.
Students also reported they were able to balance the children, household and study much more effectively.
Some students found online learning took them a lot longer to process and engage with.
When it comes to posting something online, I like to make it perfect.
Check my grammar, check my punctuation, and see if it makes sense.
It was good to see students/lecturers talking about their daily life before the online live lecture starts.
One respondent questioned whether universities were assessing students in a way thats actually effective and beneficial for their learning.
Such an approach might also help minimize problems with cheating andacademic integrityin the online environment.
What do students say we should do?
Using theUniversal Design for Learningframework would be a good place to start.
you could read thefull SOLE report here.
