Harshness of The Online Learning”: The Journey of Malaysian Tertiary Students During Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In 2020 the world was shaken by COVID-19 pandemic that technically changed the way the world works in almost all domains from business, governance, education, and lifestyles. As the pandemic spreads globally, with little signs for improvement, the world has made adjustments to live with the virus. The education sector suddenly shifted from face-to-face and blended learning classes to full online class. This paper explores the experiences of several tertiary students’ online learning experiences with two objectives: discovering their initial expectations towards online learning as well as investigating the challenges encountered by the students in online learning. The research design of the current study is a case study involving seven tertiary students who were enrolled in English language degree in a public university in Malaysia. Data were collected through essay and semi-structured interviews. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, all interviews were conducted using several online platforms. Data was then analysed using a thematic analysis using qualitative data analysis software; Atlas-ti. The findings show that the students had a positive presumption about online learning initially but was struck with the harsh realities of online learning afterwards. Among the challenges they faced were lack of physical touch, solitary learning, and issues with technological aspects. The findings are crucial to understand the obstacles faced by our learners in grasping with online learning, and with this understanding several practical steps can be taken to overcome the said issues.