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Helping students emotionally cope with virtual learning

Helping students emotionally cope with virtual learning

Thursday, 22/04/2021

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The COVID-19 pandemic hitting Malaysia since January last year has led to the adoption of new norms everywhere. In people’s lives, it is observable in their lifestyles and daily activities. In the services sector, it is noticeable in the ways companies operate and employees work. In education, one of the areas under the services sector, the new norm has also been apparent.

As announced by UNESCO on 26 March last year, 1.5 billion students from 165 countries have not been able to continue with their schooling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To maintain the teaching and learning during the outbreak, the new norm has been adopted, in the form of virtual learning.

At university level, virtual learning is conducted using various digital learning platforms, such as Webex, Zoom, and Google Classroom. Also used are other apps including Whatsapp, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Virtual learning enables the process of teaching and learning to be conducted wherever the students are and however many.

Nevertheless, the new norm of virtual learning may pose challenges to some students. Not all of them have complete equipment and good Internet access. According to a study by the Ministry of Education, among the 900,000 students only 6 percent own a personal computer, 5.76 percent a tablet, 9 percent a laptop, and 46 percent a smartphone. A total of 36.9 do not own any of the devices.

Another great challenge for students is from the aspect of emotion. They have no choice but to engage in virtual learning whether they like it or not or feel ready or not. For some, virtual learning may negatively affect their emotions especially those just entering university.

Students have to learn privately, conduct group discussion virtually, and make an effort to be competent in certain apps, all at the same time. When they are not able to achieve these in the given time, their emotions may be negatively affected. Adapting to something new indeed does take a while.

On top of that, students also face the dilemma of serving dual roles, being a student and being a family member who is expected to help the parents at home. So, it is not surprising if many students appear to be online but actually are not in front of the computers.

The study found that students have faced initial stress to adapt to the new system, more so when pressured to do it. Some students have positively benefited from the pressure and been able to give high commitment. Some others have failed to manage their emotions and consequently experienced depression and anxiety.

Owing to these disturbances, some have skipped online classes, failed to complete the assignments, and not participated in discussions on group projects. Some not able to fully adapt to the new norm of learning even opted out of university and chose to work.

In these situations, to help manage students’ emotions, lecturers need to take into account various elements including tolerance towards ethics and values. At the same time, they should strive to be competent in techniques and methods of virtual learning for better knowledge imparting to students.

Lectures’ tolerance is an important element that can help alleviate students’ emotional imbalance. They need to understand the optimal students’ load in virtual learning and avoid over burdening students with excessive assignments or classes at odd times like at night or on weekends.

In addition, lecturers need to show more concern about students’ problems. They need to talk to their students and inquire about their well-being. Lecturers should allow students additional time to complete their assignments if they are unable to submit by deadlines due to reasonable excuses.

It needs to be understood that virtual learning is different from face-to-face learning. There has to be a balance in all aspects including disciplining students. This may not be the best time to scold students, deduct their marks, or worse, fail them.

In essence, the new norms in education because of the COVID-19 pandemic are the phenomena to be accepted. Students must strive to fully adapt to the current situation, while lecturers need to be more tolerant with the students’ constraints during virtual learning.

With both sides playing their parts, students’ emotional disturbance due to virtual learning can be minimized. Thus, the effectiveness of this type of learning in the digital era can be better realized, as envisioned by the Malaysian government.

 

Original Malay version by:

Dr Najihah Abdul Mutalib and Madam Ismar Liza Mahani Ismail

 

English translation by:

Corporate Communication Office
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu