Pandemic, social distancing, and social work education: students’ satisfaction with online education in Vietnam

Abstract

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has tremendously impacted different aspects of public health and social life across countries. In Vietnam, state-wide social distancing mandate has shifted the traditional face-to-face learning to online learning for at least two months, which created significant challenges for both social work educators and students, given the fact that most social work courses require the practice and direct interaction components, and many students have limited access to technology resources. This study aims to assess the level of immediate satisfaction of Vietnamese social work students with online courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 186 undergraduate-level social work students in a national univeristy in Vietnam completed an online survey on Qualtrics. The results show that students faced multiple problems with their participation in online courses due to the Internet access quality, such as disrupted connection and low-quality sound. Although being unfamiliar with online learning, most students reported no major difficulty, and having support available for their online learning. Students’ level of satisfaction with face-to-face teaching was significantly higher than that of online teaching on all criteria. A long-term strategy is needed to improve interactive activities and practices when teaching social work online.