Distance learning during Covid-19 from learner’s perspective

Abstract

The Global Pandemic introduced a new way of teaching and learning. Previously, the universities, colleges and schools in Pakistan use to follow and focus more on the traditional face-to-face method of teaching. Although, some of the institutes were still offering short courses, never was such a need felt for distance or remote learning. However, Covid-19 introduced a new reality where education has to be imparted through distance learning and steps had to be taken on war-footing. This study aims to study the perspectives of undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled in higher education institutes towards the rapid shift to distance learning in the wake of Covid-19. It is a qualitative case study where data was collected from 10 undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled in a public sector university using purposive sampling.  Semi-structured interviews were conducted and data was analyzed using thematic analysis. . The findings suggested that students faced many economic, communication, technical and psychological issues. A large-scale study analyzing the perspectives of undergraduate and postgraduate students across different universities can be conducted in future to effectively identify the outcomes of digital education.