Online Learning Mode Research Articles

The Impact of COVID-19: A study of academic stress in high school students in Vietnam due to the transition from offline to online lessons.

CoViD-19 had a detrimental impact on all humans in our society, from white-collar office workers to students. The outbreak caused stress in all individuals, leading to pres- sure, and a decline in learnability, even though its magnitude and origins varied. In con- text with the education domain, the students have suffered adverse repercussions due to the shift from traditional in-person classes to online learning modes, which has been a major cause of their mental health’s downward spiral, leading to poor performances, and the inability to learn in unmonitored classroom conditions. Aim. To assess the stress in high school students and correlate their stress levels with their end-of-year examination results for 2021. Method. This can be achieved using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, by assessing 78 high school students selected as per inclusion and exclusion criteria, from the public schools of Hanoi, with their respective results obtained for their end-of-year examina- tions of March 2021. The Academic stress will be calculated with the Student Academic Stress Scale (SASS), and, all the percentage of grades will be out of 100. Results. The results obtained from the following Pearson’s correlation coefficient tests showed a moderate negative correlation existing between Academic Stress levels and marks it obtained, with the r value of -0.447. Limitations: The sample was collected from 4 public schools in Hanoi, not taking the rest of the country into account, and the accuracy of the stress level grading using SASS which can be affected by an impairment in cognitive function, excludes outliers from the research that was conducted.

Hong Kong higher education students’ perceived adjustments in their community of inquiry presence during political turmoil and the COVID-19 pandemic

This study adopted a quantitative approach to explore learning adjustment in terms of the students’ perceived adjustments in teaching, cognitive and social presence in the community of inquiry (CoI) framework from face-to-face classroom to online learning, and then from online to blended learning in the case of a higher education institution in Hong Kong. The online CoI survey was conducted to collect data from a convenience sample of 212 participating students who experienced the transition from classroom to online learning, and then the transition from online to blended learning in the case of the higher education institution. Analysis of variance, pairwise comparisons, correlation and multi-group analyses were performed on the collected data. The analytical results indicated that the students perceived four adjustments in their CoI presences in the online classroom and blended learning. (1) Classroom learning exhibited the strongest CoI presence while online learning rendered the weakest CoI presence. (2) Cognitive presence was the most important while social presence was the least important for learning. (3) All correlations among the CoI presence were positive with large correlations in online and blended learning modes. (4) All the teaching, cognitive and social adjustments were positively and largely correlated. These findings provide implications for further studies on exploring the explanation for the student’s learning adjustment and investigating the learning improvement strategies for online education.

DETERMINING STUDENT'S ONLINE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE USING MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES

Predicting student's academic performance during online learning has been considered a major task during the pandemic period. During the online mode of learning, academic activities have been affected in such a way that the management of educational institutions has planned to design support systems for predicting the student's performance to reduce the dropout ratio of the students and bring improvement in academic activities. During COVID-19, the main challenge is maintaining student's grades by predicting their academic performance using different techniques such as Education Data Mining and Learning Analytics. Different features have been identified related to the teaching mechanisms in online learning, which have a great impact on the improvement of academic performance. A high-quality dataset helps us to generate productive results, which in turn helps us to make effective decisions for promoting high-quality education. In this research, five prediction models for predicting academic performance have been proposed by collecting an imbalanced dataset of 350 students from the same computer science domain. After applying pre-processing techniques for cleaning the data, machine learning models have been applied, including K-Nearest Neighbor Classifier, Decision Tree, Random Forest, Support Vector Classifier, and Gaussian Naive Bayes. Results have been predicted for an imbalanced and balanced dataset after feature selection. Support Vector classifier has produced the best results in a balanced dataset with selected features by giving an accuracy of 96.89%.

Readiness and Satisfaction with Online Learning Among Medical Students Undergoing Clinical Rotation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Online learning has become an important teaching method across academic programmes during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Students’ readiness and satisfaction with online learning and their association with selected variables were examined. A cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students who undergo clinical rotation during restricted movement orders when face-to-face teaching and learning are converted into an online method. Participants were recruited conveniently by inviting students from targeted clinical years to fill up the Online Learning Readiness Scale (OLRS) and E-Course Satisfaction Scale (ECSS) distributed via the digital platform. One-hundred and eighty-three (n = 183) students in the clinical posting of Years 3 (33.9%), 4 (32.2%), and 5 (33.9%) completed the survey voluntarily. The majority were female (n = 142, 78%), with a mean age of 22.85 [standard deviation (SD) = 1.19]. Overall, they reported high readiness and satisfaction with online learning. A positive moderate to good correlation existed between readiness and satisfaction (r = 0.61, p < 0.001). Readiness was significantly associated with age (β = 1.12, p = 0.037), type of clinical posting (β = –4.09, p = 0.003), online attendance (β = 0.45, p = 0.008), and learning duration (β = 3.44, p = 0.036). Only the duration of learning showed a significant linear relationship with satisfaction. Medical students reported high levels of readiness and satisfaction with online learning, despite heavily relying on this online learning mode to complete their clinical posting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Exploring undergraduate students’ connectedness in online learning

In recent years, higher learning institutions have been forced to integrate online learning into their curriculum. However, despite the increasing popularity of online learning, students' engagement and interaction within this environment remain a crucial aspect to explore. This study investigates how connected the students are during their online learning, focusing on teacher-student interaction, comfort level, and social media engagement. The sample comprised 73 undergraduate physics students from the Department of Science Education, University of Ilorin. A researcher-designed questionnaire was used for data collection, and the responses were analysed using frequency, percentages, mean, and standard deviation. The findings revealed that overall, the students were connected to their learning online. It was concluded that the students were highly connected to the online learning mode, particularly in terms of their comfort with the system and interaction with their teacher. However, limitations concerning live interactions, peer collaboration, and focus require attention. It was recommended that educators consider incorporating synchronous elements, such as live video sessions and interactive virtual whiteboards, to enhance real-time engagement and active demonstration of understanding in online classes.

The effects of peer interaction on learning outcome of college students in digital environment—The chain-mediated role of attitude and self-efficacy

With the in-depth development of the Internet and digital technology, it has become an important way to learn online. Under digital learning environment, peer interaction among learners is not only playing a crucial role in the construction of their knowledge, but also is a key link to enhance their learning outcome. To investigate how peer interaction can affect learning outcome of college students, this research constructs a model of relationship, and administers a questionnaire survey among 3263 college students in 28 universities in China. The study has found that peer interaction positively affects learning outcome, meanwhile, attitude and self-efficacy act as chain mediators in the relationship of peer interaction and learning outcome. This study thoroughly discusses the impact mechanism of peer interaction on learning outcome of college students in the digital environment, which will provide beneficial references and inspirations for optimizing online learning mode and promoting learning outcome.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education: Assessment of student performance in computer science.

The COVID-19 pandemic had radically changed higher education. The sudden transition to online teaching and learning exposed, however, some benefits by enhancing educational flexibility and digitization. The long-term effects of these changes are currently unknown, but a key question concerns their effect on student learning outcomes. This study aims to analyze the impact of the emergence of new models and teaching approaches on the academic performance of Computer Science students in the years 2019-2023. The COVID-19 pandemic created a natural experiment for comparisons in performance during in-person versus synchronous online and hybrid learning mode. We tracked changes in student achievements across the first two years of their engineering studies, using both basic (descriptive statistics, t-Student tests, Mann-Whitney test) and advanced statistical methods (Analysis of variance). The inquiry was conducted on 787 students of the Lublin University of Technology (Poland). Our findings indicated that first semester student scores were significantly higher when taught through online (13.77±2.77) and hybrid (13.7±2.86) approaches than through traditional in-person means as practiced before the pandemic (11.37±3.9, p-value < 0.05). Conversely, third semester student scores were significantly lower when taught through online (12.01±3.14) and hybrid (12.04±3.19) approaches than through traditional in-person means, after the pandemic (13.23±3.01, p-value < 0.05). However, the difference did not exceed 10% of a total score of 20 points. With regard to the statistical data, most of the questions were assessed as being difficult or appropriate, with adequate discrimination index, regardless of the learning mode. Based on the results, we conclude that we did not find clear evidence that pandemic disruption and online learning caused knowledge deficiencies. This critical situation increased students' academic motivation. Moreover, we conclude that we have developed an effective digital platform for teaching and learning, as well as for a secure and fair student learning outcomes assessment.

Interest and motivation of disadvantaged students toward online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal

Online learning and teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic had mixed impacts on students’ accessibility and performance. It benefited the concerned stakeholders, including management, teachers, and the students, to retain in the system, but it reinforced pre-existing discrimination among students from various disadvantaged groups. Studies reveal that the online learning system created an environment that facilitated students’ motive and interest in learning who disengaged themselves from classrooms due to various socioeconomic reasons during the pandemic. The present study explored students’ experience and perception of online learning in Nepal and analyzed the predictors of their interest in participating in the new learning environments. More specifically, it studied how the online modes of learning were associated with the interests of disadvantaged higher education students in their academic pursuits during the COVID-19 pandemic and how online learning impacted the pre-existing discrimination among them. The study generated concepts and variables drawing from the technology acceptance model (TAM) and a review of existing literature. A survey among 324 higher education students and a follow-up interview among nine selected respondents were conducted in Nepal between April and June 2021. The sample represented students from all social classes, genders, financial status, and geographies. Using a logistic regression model of the survey data and thematic analysis of interviews, this study found that compared to others, students from disadvantaged groups were significantly motivated by the online learning system. Their perception of online learning was positive despite the shortcomings of the system, such as the lack of internet infrastructure and the continuous flow of electricity. Students’ motivation toward the online learning system was triggered by their perception, which helped them to retain and continue in the higher education system. Based on the findings, this study concludes that in a developing country like Nepal, where students face social, economic, and geographical challenges in accessing higher education, the online learning system could be an effective alternative to traditional face-to-face learning to minimize pre-existing discrimination.

NHỮNG THÁCH THỨC MÀ SINH VIÊN NGOẠI NGỮ GẶP PHẢI TRONG LỚP HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH TRỰC TUYẾN TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC VINH TRONG THỜI KỲ COVID-19

During the Covid-19 pandemic, many universities switched rapidly to the online learning mode to maintain the continuity of the teaching and learning process. This explanatory mixedmethods study was an attempt to investigate the problems EFL students encountered in their online English speaking classes. The study involved 135 EFL students at Vinh University, a key national university in Vietnam. To collect data, a questionnaire and semi-structured interview were used. The results showed that there were six barriers that influenced EFL students’ speaking skills in online classes, including facilities, computer skills, coordination, teaching method, learners’ attitudes and assessment. From the findings, the study tried to suggest some pedagogical solutions in order to improve the quality of online English speaking learning for EFL university students

Interactive experience of cross-cultural Japanese communication e-learning intelligent system based on computer information security

In the current situation of widespread digital media, e-learning has become the mainstream mode of online learning. Its intelligent and entertaining learning experience can enhance students' interest in learning. This article analyzes the interactive experience of cross-cultural Japanese communication e-learning intelligent system. The e-learning intelligent system can provide network platform support for the learning process, allowing students and teachers to engage in interactive learning through computer systems. At the same time, the system will also recommend learning materials that students are interested in. Adding some encryption techniques to the system in this article is mainly aimed at protecting the security of data. In order to build an intelligent communication system for cross-cultural Japanese, the main parameters of data information are generally used as the basis for experiments, and relevant coding principles are formulated. For some neural networks, the larger the stored values of the original training samples, the higher the sample size level of information parameters after successful decoding. The experimental results indicate that using data security encryption technology in computer information systems can effectively improve the overall performance of cross-cultural Japanese intelligent systems.

English Teachers’ Perceptions of Supplemental Teaching During the Covid-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus disease, often known as COVID-19, has been a global pandemic since March 2020. According to UNESCO, schools in approximately 100 nations, including the Philippines, are shuttered due to a public health emergency. Due to the condition, teachers migrated from face-to-face instruction to modular learning, online learning, blended learning, and other learning modes. Teachers in Tacloban City switched to modular modality and other forms of learning to reach out to our students. Supplemental teaching was designed as one type of teaching approach in the classroom. Teachers' perceptions of supplemental teaching in English language acquisition were analyzed in this study. Their perspectives were examined in three areas: their opinions on using online platforms, their attitudes toward language teaching and preparations, and their perceptions of the usefulness of online supplemental teaching. The study utilized a qualitative design that gathered in-depth information through a semi-structured interview. The responses of 12 junior and senior high school English instructors at Sagkahan National High School were elicited through an interview. The results of this study showed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, 7 out of 12 participants had a favorable opinion on the effectiveness and usefulness of supplemental teaching-learning approaches. However, 5 out of 12 participants, nevertheless, disagreed with its applicability. They believed that poor and inconsistent internet connections, numerous internet problems, and a lack of efficient teacher-student interaction rendered online learning unproductive. Even though teachers confront numerous challenges in the online teaching process, they can demonstrate the proper attitude toward using technology to educate online amidst the pandemic.

Teacher Educators’ Foreign Language Anxiety in Face-To-Face and Online Modes

The internationalisation of universities and the ensuing policies mandating English as a medium of instruction made European universities impose corresponding requirements demanding a certain level of English language proficiency from their academic staff. Similarly, university-based teacher educators became subject to specific foreign language demands. This research focuses on university-based teacher educators who have been actively taking part in enhancing their academic English. The COVID-19 pandemic made for a prompt shift from face-to-face to online learning, providing for a comparison between the two learning environments. Since affective factors, including learning anxiety, may impact the success of language acquisition, the study addresses foreign language anxiety experienced by teacher educators when acquiring English for Academic Purposes in different learning modes. The research was conducted as a survey with the data obtained through administering the adapted Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale to 80 respondents from the 7 universities working in teacher education, furthered by 4 online semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal overall low levels of anxiety, with a small increase in communication apprehension. Although there is no conclusive evidence about the decrease in anxiety in remote studies, the interview results are clearly demonstrative of the possibility of combining face-to-face and online learning modes.

Research on E-learning interactive English vocabulary recommendation education system based on naive Bayes algorithm

E-learning is an interactive online learning mode that can enhance students' interest in learning in an entertainment environment. This article aims to develop an English vocabulary learning recommendation system based on decision tree algorithm and naive Bayesian algorithm to provide personalized learning suggestions and help learners learn and remember words more effectively. Firstly, a large amount of English vocabulary data was collected, preprocessed, and feature extracted. Decision tree algorithms were selected as the foundation, and through analysis of existing data, a decision tree was generated to classify new data. Using learners' characteristics (such as age, learning objectives, etc.) and learning history (such as learned words, learning time, etc.) as inputs, a personalized recommendation model was constructed, This model can recommend suitable learning content for learners based on their personalized needs and learning situation. In order to better understand learners' learning progress, a naive Bayesian model was trained using learners' learning history and progress information to analyze their current learning progress and predict their future learning situation. Through testing and evaluation of actual learners, the recommendation system performs well in providing personalized learning suggestions, and has a significant improvement effect on learners' vocabulary learning.

Future Direction of Teaching and Learning Module in Nepal

This paper studies shift of physical class adopting Information and Communication Technology in teaching and learning activities in Nepal. Integration of ICT in academic activities changes the traditional teaching model ignoring teacher centered method into effective student-centered method. It as qualitative research employed semi-structured online interviews with secondary students, teachers and parents through Facebook messenger, telephone call, personal interview and Zoom class observation. Documentary analysis provided a ground for the analysis of data gathered through interviews and observations. This paper reports on how online mode of learning would be effective pointing out collaborating learning environment, easy access to materials and in terms of time saving. Moreover, use of ICT in academic activities changes teacher-centered teaching and learning environment into student-centered environment. ICT skills of teachers, poor ICT infrastructure and government policies have been pointed out as hurdles for virtual classes. However, integration of ICT in academic activities is demand of the time. Findings suggest that the use of ICT in academic activities will be effective way of teaching and learning activities in coming days in Nepal. Moreover, online classes can benefit students who are from marginalized, disadvantaged communities and who have no easy access to schools.

Perception of online interprofessional education among pharmacy and medical students in tertiary university

Background: The COVID-19 crisis impacted the educational system worldwide, which shifted from face-to-face sessions to online learning modes. However, online delivery should not jeopardise the outcome of students learning from interprofessional education (IPE) and should integrate students from different professional backgrounds closer. Objective: To identify the perception of medical and pharmacy students towards online IPE activity at Taylor’s University, Malaysia. Method: An online cross-sectional questionnaire was distributed to second and fourth-year students from the medical and pharmacy programmes. Students were considered to have a positive perception if their total score was above the median score. Result: More than half of the students (53.6%) showed positive perceptions towards the online IPE programme. Medical students had the highest percentage of students (54.9%) showing greater positive perceptions compared to pharmacy students (52.7%). Both health sciences students possessed the highest score on all the SPICE instrument’s domains. Conclusion: This discovery offers valuable insights into the interprofessional competency of students engaged in online IPE activities at their current academic level. It underscores the imperative of integrating online IPE activities into the curriculum design to equip students with the competence necessary for effective collaboration within an interprofessional team.

“The teacher did not explain the lesson, just giving us a task”: Self-reflections of pre-service English teachers in an online learning mode

In the post-pandemic era, online learning has been the focus of many educational institutions nowadays, including English as a foreign language classes. However, with the current rapid changes in online learning, little attention has been paid to uncovering the self-reflection of pre-service English teachers in learning English online. This brief report seeks to construe how three Indonesian pre-service English teachers negotiate the meaning of their past learning experiences in English as a foreign language classes during the online learning mode. We employed a narrative inquiry in this study in order to capture the participants’ experiences. Data were garnered through WhatsApp-based semi-structured interviews and were analyzed narratively. Findings suggest that the participants negotiated their multifaceted learning experiences and complexities during the online learning process. In addition, from the participants’ narratives, teaching and learning enactment done by the teachers was ill-performed. The pedagogical implications of this study are discussed at the end of this paper.

The Design of a MOOC on Health Behaviors: A Practical Blueprint for the Instructional Design of MOOCs

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are a primary mode of scaled-up online learning. They have enjoyed great popularity, which grew significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the growing demand for MOOCs and the desire of institutions to develop high-quality courses, research indicates that the educational impact of MOOCs is limited. Low instructional design quality has been cited as a culprit for the failure of MOOCs to support learning and skill development, prompting calls for a more thorough design of MOOCs. The aims of our work are to describe the systematic development of guiding principles that informed instructional design decisions for our MOOC on health behaviors and to showcase how these principles were implemented in practice. Through triangulation of various sources of evidence on anticipated learners and the MOOC learning environment, we identified four key aspects we needed to address with our instructional design to facilitate learning. We formulated guiding principles that both addressed these aspects and served as a reference point during instructional design. Our approach to making instructional design decisions can serve as a practical blueprint for other MOOC developers.

A Completely New and Sudden Reality: English Language Teacher’s Voices on Emergency Remote Teaching in Indonesian Pesantren Schools

Unexpected shift to emergency remote teaching (ERT) engendered a complex situation for all schools around the globe, in particular those with inadequate prior experience of this distant online learning mode. Whilst the bulk of research has dealt with ERT practices in various school contexts, this issue in Indonesian pesantren – a type of Islamic boarding school which provides full-time comprehensive religious educational activities but have considerably lack of practice in distance online learning – remains underexplored. This qualitative study addressed this gap by unpacking English language teachers’ voices and experiences in ERT in pesantren school contexts. The study was conducted during school closure in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and its data were generated through open ended questionnaires and analyzed using six-phase thematic analysis. The findings show that the teachers indicated positive attitude toward ERT. Despite several challenges, they expressed opportunities that might potentially contribute to the better enactment of ERT in pesantren learning process. Pedagogical implications and recommendations for further research are discussed. Keywords: Emergency Remote Teaching, ELT, Pesantren School

Exploring University Students’ Online Learning Readiness: A Mixed Methods Study of Forced Online Learning

Background: Despite the advancement achieved in previous research into online learning, few studies have used both quantitative and qualitative data to examine how students’ readiness to learn online is affected by three different external factors, comprising (i) the degrees to which technology is available to students, (ii) the support provided by the institutions of learning, and (iii) the social influence affecting the students engaged in forced online learning in a pandemic situation. Purpose: To fill this research gap, this study explored university students’ forced online learning readiness in relation to technological accessibility, institutional support and social influence during a pandemic, in an attempt to furnish insights into how educators can maximize the benefits of adopting online learning methods. Method: A mixed methods research design was employed in this study. Quantitative data, elicited via self-administered questionnaires completed by 211 participants, was analyzed using the frequencies, means, standard deviations and Pearson correlation analysis involving the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 27. Qualitative data, elicited via 11 open-ended questions posed to 41 students through in-depth interviews, was then studied using a thematic analysis of the participants’ feedback concerning the three constructs in online learning. Results: Our quantitative analysis showed that institutional support had the strongest positive correlation with online learning readiness, and this was followed by technology accessibility and social influence in relation to students’ readiness to learn online. Qualitative findings further indicated that students were largely concerned about Internet accessibility and the setting where their roles were restricted to being mere listeners in online sessions. Apart from being apprehensive about excessive online assignments, students also acknowledged that their online interactions were influenced by their friends and family members, and they would prefer practical work that could inspire them to reflect and engage actively with the course material given during the pandemic. Conclusion: While lecturers can make online classes more interactive and discussion-generative, university administrators need to aptly facilitate their institution’s transition to the forced online learning mode, moderate social influence, improve the learning management system, and provide training to teachers and students on the use of emerging technology.

Face-to-face Vs. Online Learning: Differences and Challenges in Communication

The current study attempts to investigate perceptions of EFL learners towards faceto-face vs. online learning focusing on differences and challenges in communication. The study used a mixed-method design to explain and thoroughly explore the issue. Quantitative data were collected and analyzed in the first phase, and qualitative data were collected and analyzed in the second phase. Quantitative findings reveal that most of the participants think that it is easier to communicate in a face-to-face learning class as opposed to an online learning mode. In all four variables—time management, motivation, ease and flexibility, and use of technology, the mean score for face-to-face learning is higher than for online learning. Though qualitative findings exhibit that the participants perceive both modes of learning as challenging, most of them think that communication in online learning has more challenges than in face-to-face mode of learning. The participants also proclaim that the low quality of the internet and little interaction are two significant issues in online communication which, they think, have no solutions. The study concludes that learners are satisfied with face-to-face learning as communication can be accomplished with little or no interruption. The findings of the current study suggest important implications for future research.