Transition to distance learning for students of higher educational institutions in quarantine conditions and related problems

ABSTRACT

The article offers an overview and analysis of the conducted anonymous survey of students in order to identify the problems associated with the transition to distance learning. The positive and negative aspects faced by the students, as well as the consequences associated with this form of education, are given.

АННОТАЦИЯ

В статье предлагается обзор и анализ проведенного анонимного анкетирования студентов с целью определения проблем, связанных с переходом к дистанционной форме обучения. Приведены позитивные и отрицательные аспекты с которыми столкнулись обучающиеся, а также последствия, связанные с данной формой обучения.

Keywords: online studying, distance learning, global pandemic, problems in modern education.

Ключевые слова: онлайн-обучение, дистанционное обучение, глобальная пандемия, проблемы современного образования.

Introduction. Recent years have shown that today's education faces significant challenges. First of all, it concerned the leading competencies that students must have at the end of the educational process. The content and list of these competencies are constantly adjusted to the requirements of the time. At present, the problems with the choice of competencies have moved to another level, and have been supplemented by issues of ways to convey knowledge to students, quality control of learning and maintaining the quality of education in general. The global pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has also changed the educational process around the world. After conducting an anonymous survey among students of Vinnytsia National Agrarian University and Mykolayiv National University named after V.O. Sukhomlynsky, a number of problems they encountered during distance learning in quarantine were identified. Among the most common: problems with the Internet due to poor quality of audio and video, difficulty working with various programs and platforms, lack of quality equipment for each student, problems with sending tasks related to lack of electricity, quality signal of the telephone provider or an Internet service provider. It is also important to note the psychological states that have undoubtedly affected both the quality of presentation and the quality of learning material. Life with a computer has become a nightmare for many people. If until recently, the use of information technology in the educational process was an indicator of a teacher who keeps up with the times and tries to find the most effective modern teaching methods, today we are looking for ways to work in "live" contact. Reality has put everything in its place. We can say with confidence that not only teachers, but also a significant part of students are not ready for such a level of informatization. The problems that came with the full informatization of education, we will continue to analyze and look for ways of environmental education. It is worth noting the issues that concern many parents of students. What to do with the lack of socialization and how today's oversaturated telecommunications space will affect students' mental health. Will the latter be able to be just as confident and productive without a screen? Will the complexity and not always possible objectivity of the assessment affect their future professional competencies?

Objective.  The purpose of the article is to analyze the process of impact of distance learning on students, its advantages and disadvantages and finding ways to eliminate shortcomings in learning during the distance form of training.

Materials & methods. While writing this article, we used the online platform https://my.survio.com/ to create a survey that students conducted anonymously [3]. The survey was attended by 85 students studying at Vinnytsia National Agrarian University and Mykolayiv National University named after V.O. Sukhomlynsky. Analysis of the obtained data is presented as a percentage.

Modern society has become hostage to many controversial situations. The first is the rapid technologicalization of the world. The pace of implementation of various technologies is sometimes much faster than the human ability to apply them at all times. The next issue for humanity was the issue of transition to online learning as a necessity during the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Of course, the trend of transition to online learning has been observed for many years, and the effectiveness, accessibility and cost-effectiveness of online learning is difficult to exaggerate. However, humanity was not ready for such a rapid transition, both psychologically and technically.

L. Bobrova, in her article emphasizes that modern teaching tools allow:

-to strengthen the motivation of learning, which is due to the ability to communicate with a computer in an interactive mode;

- to encourage correct decisions and respond to mistakes without resorting to negative assessments;

- the student himself should choose the level of complexity of the material;

- get an opportunity to contact a computer for help, get help, additional information;

- to ensure the formation and development of students' cognitive activity. [1]

Also, the positive aspects of online learning include the flexibility of the learning process, its dynamism, transparency, focus on results. In order to obtain credible, unbiased views of students, we conducted an anonymous survey on the online platform. According to the results of the survey, we received the following data: To the question "What difficulties did distance learning cause you?" we received the following answers: slow internet was noted - 31.5% of respondents, low level of motivation - 24.3%, difficulties in working "through the screen" and lack of live communication are a problem for 23.4% of students; lack of own computer, headset, etc. - 10.8%; unpreparedness (technical) of the teacher to work online - 9.9%. After analyzing the obtained data, we can conclude that most of all technical conditions are not prepared for distance learning, which would provide fast and high-quality access to online learning. It is also worth noting that some teachers are not "technically" ready for the introduction of distance learning. Most often, these are older teachers who find it difficult to get used to the latest technologies and who work according to their usual traditional teaching methods. However, this problem should be anticipated by the management of educational institutions and the introduction of distance learning training for those teachers who need it. Analyzing the advantages noted by students in the use of distance learning, we can note the following:

The ability to be isolated from dangerous viruses and at the same time continue to study noted 39.4% of respondents; efficient use of own time - is an important factor for 34.1% of students; saving money - 19.7% and other positive aspects - 6.8% of respondents. Given the results obtained in this part of the survey, we can confidently say about the conscious attitude of most students to the danger of their own infection and the likelihood of infecting their loved ones. This point testifies to the high moral qualities of students. The ability to use one's time effectively and expediently is an important skill of any professional. Time management is the process of applying management functions such as planning, organizing and controlling to one’s own activities in order to reach their goals individually in his / her personal and business life in an efficient and productive way. Individuals who can manage time efficiently can both make time for their private activities and reach their professional and business goals in an efficient and productive way [2]. Since time is a limited resource which needs to be managed effectively just like all other limited resources, it has been deemed necessary to evaluate its effects on students ’achievement. A general assumption underlines that students with good time managementskills are able to manage time effectively even after they graduate and enter professional life [6].

It is also important to understand the relationship between time and money. Students who understand the value of time and capital are much better at gaining high and quality knowledge than those who do not see it as high value. Among the concerns about the results of distance learning were identified as follows (out of 85 respondents): - my motivation to study will decrease - 18, 2%; - I am not worried about anything - 15.8%; - impossibility of live communication with the teacher - 15.2%; - my level of competence will decrease - 13.9%; - there will be problems with vision and hearing due to increased spending time at the computer - 11.5%; - inability to communicate live with classmates - 11.5%; - my anxiety level is growing - 9.1%; - the level of teaching will decrease - 4.8%. Thus, the biggest problem that students fear is their decreased motivation. From these data we can conclude that the motivation to learn from students during full-time study is higher than during distance learning and students are clearly aware of this fact.

Kim, K. J., & Frick, T. W.  in their study indicate that learners are more likely to experience increased motivation and satisfaction in self-directed e-learning when they: a) perceive the content to be relevant to their lives; b) are techno-logically fluent; c) are more highly motivated both at the beginning and during the e-learning course; and d) perceive the e-learning experience to be “just right” for them (meaning that the e-learning product embodies first principles of instruction, difficulty level is a good match, and they receive institutional support for learning this way). On the other hand, learners for whom e-learning is “not right” for them and who do not want to learn alone are not likely to be motivated either to begin or continue self-directed e-learning or to do so in the future. These learners prefer to work with instructors and peers while they are learning, and thus self-directed e-learning is a poor match for them. These learners tend to be younger and students in university settings, compared with older learners who are not in school and are working professionals [4].

It is also important to note the high percentage of fears associated with the lack of live communication. This is usually due to the stress that a person experiences when their live contact decreases and they have to stay in isolation due to quarantine measures. An open-ended question was also submitted to the questionnaire offered to the students. It stated "Write your own problems, questions or pros regarding distance learning that were not mentioned in the survey." To the answers that positively evaluate online learning, we would like to note: increase of free time, ability to manage time effectively, not to be late for training, safety. The disadvantages of the students were - loss of communication, not always effective assessment, fast consumption of the phone's battery, large amounts of information that you need to process yourself. There are also students who noted that a person who aims to learn is not an important form of learning. And the shortcomings that students point out, in their opinion, are just excuses.

Results. After analyzing our results, we came to the conclusion that distance learning has many pros and cons. Higher education institutions should analyze the feedback of both students and faculty in order to optimize learning. It is difficult to eliminate all the shortcomings quickly, but it is possible to prevent some of them.

References:

1. BobrovaL.V., 2021. Pedagogy & Psychology. Theory and practice. 2021. No 2(34). P.12-13. http://scippjournal.ru/f/pedagogy_psychology_theory_and_practice_no_2_34_april.pdf
2. Dalli, Mehmet. "The university students time management skills in terms of their academic life satisfaction and academic achievement levels." Educational Research and reviews 9.20 (2014): 1090-1096.
3. https://www.survio.com/survey/d/B3E9X5D2W4V4E1U1P
4. Kim, K. J., & Frick, T. W. (2011). Changes in student motivation during online learning. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 44(1), 1-23. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1041.8976&rep=rep1&type=pdf
5. Paudel, P. (2021). Online education: Benefits, challenges and strategies during and after COVID-19 in higher education. International Journal on Studies in Education (IJonSE), 3(2), 70-85.
6. Pehlivan, A. (2013). The effect of the time management skills of students taking a financial accounting course on their course grades and grade point averages. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 4(5). https://ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol_4_No_5_May_2013/22.pdf
7. Xhelili, P., Ibrahimi, E., Rruci, E., & Sheme, K. (2021). Adaptation and perception of online learning during COVID-19 pandemic by Albanian university students. International Journal on Studies in Education (IJonSE), 3(2), 103-111. https://www.ijonse.net/index.php/ijonse/article/view/49
8. UNESCO IESALC. COVID-19 and higher education: Today and tomorrow. Impact analysis, policy responses and recommendations. UNESCO IESALC (2020). http://www.iesalc.unesco.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/COVID-19-EN-090420-2.pdf