Online Education And Students’ Wellbeing During Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study is to analyse students' opinions on the effects of online education during the pandemic on students' well-being. The unprecedented world scenario that the students have been dealing with may delineate their academic performances and state of well-being to a great extent and subsequently make it a substantial challenge for researchers and practitioners. In addition to the prevailing adverse circumstances due to the pandemic in the educational sector, the stern measures taken by the UK government to avoid spreading the coronavirus also added to the adverse effect on HE students' well- being in England during the autumn back in 2020. It is evident that the pandemic enforced the drastic digital adjustment among Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across the globe and pushed educational institutions to prioritise remote learning. For example, Oxford Business College (OBC), one of the leading independent (private) HEI in the UK was enforced all campus closures and made digital transformation a substantially more fundamental tactical precedence specifically for core learning among students. The foremost aim of the present research was to examine how online learning mode affected students' well-being at OBC and the variables contributing to students' opinions. A quantitative research design was adopted, and RStudio was used to analyse the data (N=944). The multi-nominal regression yielded significant results. It was found that online education at OBC did not impact students' well-being negatively, and variables such as gender, awareness of 'no detriment policy' and 'student hardship funds', general health, type of work, and positive measures of UK government significantly contributed to participants' opinions. In conclusion, OBC created a constructive online learning environment during the pandemic, leading students to appreciate digital education and maintain a positive sense of well-being. Furthermore, it is suggested that academic institutions should identify more relevant and interpretable underlying factors that could explain the enduring effects of the pandemic on student well-being. Keywords: Online Education, Student Well-being, COVID-19, Private Higher Education