PERSPECTIVES ON MOVING TOWARDS ONLINE LEARNING DUE TO THE DISRUPTIONS OF COVID-19

Abstract

Due to the lockdown restrictions of COVID-19, universities in Australia have moved their systems from physical face-to-face lectures to online studies. With little time given for the transition, students and educators had to adapt to new ways of teaching and learning very quickly. This project began in 2020 when COVID-19 first caused the lockdown of all universities in Australia. Interviews were conducted with students from three Australian universities (The University of Western Australia, Curtin University and The University of New South Wales) to determine students’ perspectives towards the online learning. This study continues the project by using the interviews conducted to design and distribute a survey to students at the same universities to gain a greater understanding of student perspectives. Several aspects were investigated further including self-reflection, socialisation, academic performance, attendance, lecturers’ engagement, technology, and university assistance, as they were the predicted factors which would differ when learning online compared with learning face-to-face. Both positive and negative aspects of online learning were determined. Students’ preferences were determined to be the traditional face-to-face classes, with students indicating that online learning cannot replace physical class attendance. Possible improvements were discovered and can be applied when designing online lessons.