The Challenges and Impacts of Online Learning Towards UNISEL Undergraduates

Abstract

The spread of Covid-19 has made educational institutions have a sudden shift to online learning. Despite it, students are still required to continue their studies in this new norm of learning. Therefore, students have started to encounter numerous online learning challenges and it could impact them. This study is to identify the challenges of online learning and the impacts on UNISEL undergraduates. The research design of this study is descriptive, which uses the quantitative method involving 70 UNISEL undergraduates. The questionnaires focused on two parts: 1) online learning challenges, adapted from Muilenberg and Berge (2005) 2) the impacts of online learning, which was adapted from Nambiar (2020), with a five Likert scale ranging from never to always. The data were tabulated into a percentage by using a simple equation. The findings revealed that most of the students encountered the challenges but on different scales. Some of the challenges they faced were related to their preference (face-to-face vs. online learning), increasing workload, and online learning costs too much. Most of the respondents in this study found that online learning has left some negative impacts on them. Some of the impacts are easily frustrated or irritated when interruptions occur, having a lack of rest, dissatisfied with their performance, and experiencing some physical pains most of the time. To sum up, despite the challenges and impacts that they need to face, most students can slowly adapt to online learning now.