Building on Students’ Perspectives on Moving to Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This paper provides insights from students and the author’s experiences of the move to online course delivery in the current pandemic. Key issues students identified as impacting success include: student stress/distress related to the pandemic, challenges with Wi-Fi and connectivity, students’ and instructors’ technical skills, and issues related to course design and delivery method (synchronous or asynchronous). Students’ insights, the instructor’s experiences, and the academic literature on online education are used to provide suggestions for addressing these challenges. This analysis began as an exercise to inform my course planning but led to a recognition that (a) a successful transition requires action by students, instructors, and institutions and (b) that these actions are constrained making successful transitions both demanding and difficult.