Exploring the critical challenges that influencing online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

COVID-19 affected all the sectors all over the world, and its impact in the education sector was a negative one. In Kurdistan, the government announced the closure of schools even before the confirmation of first case of COVID-19 in the region as a way of curbing the spread of the virus. To keep the students active and ensure continued learning over time, the government required that schools embrace home-based learning where all the pedagogical processes would be done remotely. However, it is reported that students, teachers, and other stakeholders faced a lot of issues in ensuring successful implementation of online learning which formed the basis of this research. There are no empirical studies showing the challenges that public universities in the region experienced. To do this, the researcher selected 14education experts using convenient sampling technique to take part in the study. They were engaged in interviews which were semi- structured and later on focus groups where they entered into a discussion with the interview to ensure they give as much detailed information as possible. Thus, the study followed a phenomenological design where the report given in the study is a report of lived experiences of the 14 experts concerning their encounters of the challenges. The study found out 7 themes through thematic analysis which represented the major issues public universities are facing; poor internet connection, illiteracy of teachers on technological matters, resistance from students, lack of devices, poor electricity connection, lack of platforms, and lack of conducive environments.