The impact of resilience acquisition on students transitioning to university during covid-19: a follow up study with Myanmar students

In our previous study (Gomersall & Floyd, in Asia Pacific Education Review 24:447–459, 2022), we reported that a group of Myanmar students, who studied online for their high school qualifications during COVID-19, reported drawing on a range of factors to enable them to overcome the adversity and continue their education. Moreover, they claimed that they had benefited from the online experience and were ready to progress to university. This study returns one year later to interview some of the original participants to see if their perceptions became reality. In addition, a group of students from the 2020 cohort are also interviewed so that a comparison can be made between the last group of students who studied ‘normally’ before COVID-19, and those who experienced online learning for the first time. This study addresses a gap in the literature by examining student perspectives of the ways in which they thrived as a result of digitally enhanced learning. We conclude that learning online enabled students to develop personally, enhance their digital skills, and acquire skills and knowledge that could be utilised again in the future. Moreover, those who studied online in both high school and university found the process of commencing online studies at university easier, which supports the tentative conclusion that even in low resource settings, it would be beneficial for schools to explore integrating more digital skills into the classroom.