Distance Learning during the Pandemic: Students’ Perceptions of the Challenges and Opportunities.

Abstract

The pandemic significantly disrupted the globe. It has wreaked havoc on the educational sector, which is a key determinant of a nation's economic future. It has compelled the human community to sustain social distancing. Online or distance learning has become the norm, which as an instructional method had to be unexpectedly implemented in schools and higher education institutions, with the presumption that this intervention has a noticeable effect on students and their performance. Therefore, this study highlights different challenges and opportunities created by COVID-19, it aims at investigating the students’ perceptions toward e-learning and thus acceptance of this new learning system. In other words, it sheds some attention on the challenges and opportunities students face during their online learning experience. The practical section of this research was curried at the English language department at Ibn Khaldoun University, Tiaret, Algeria. Eighty (80) students from the third year LMD, and eight (08) teachers participated. Extensively, the adaptation of the mixed-method research approach strove to substantiate the research hypotheses and to draw upon the research findings based on two data collection methods, a questionnaire that was used to investigate the students' perceptions toward distance learning and a semi-structured interview in order to accumulate teachers' opinions. As the data collected descriptively was interpreted, the findings revealed that students revealed negative reactions toward online learning, they viewed this transition to fully online learning negatively. This entails that learners’ perceptions of using the Moodle platform during the COVID-19 crisis were negative as well