Universities around the world have been directly and indirectly affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Within the span of less than one month, the traditional face-to-face learning has been replaced by online learning to ensure education continuity. This paper sets out to examine online learning readiness among university students who have been thrown in at the deep end. It aims to investigate if demographic factors make any difference in their readiness to learn, online learning experiences and intention to continue using online learning. It also examines their preferred methods of online learning and challenges they face. Data collected from 399 students in two different online learning courses in Malaysia showed that respondents are generally ready for online learning. However, females are found to be more ready than male, degree students are more ready than diploma students while female students and degree students are more satisfied with online learning and have better learning experiences compared to male and diploma students. More than half of the respondents indicated that if given a choice, they do not want to continue with online learning in the future. Most respondents preferred online learning via pre-recorded lectures uploaded to Google Classroom and YouTube. While the biggest challenge for degree students is internet connectivity, for diploma students, it is the difficulty in understanding the content of the subject. Moving forward, government, telecommunication companies and universities should invest in developing internet infrastructure across the country as online learning will be the new norm in the foreseeable future. University also needs to provide further training to enhance academics’ online teaching skills to ensure lessons are delivered more effectively

Open and Distance Learning (ODL) has been implemented in universities around the world since decades ago. With COVID-19 pandemic, its implementation has been accelerated globally at an unprecedented speed and haste. Thus, the aim of this paper is to investigate the university students’ perspectives on ODL amidst COVID-19. By using the convenient sampling method, a total of 608 diploma and degree students throughout Malaysia have participated and shared their feedback on ODL implementation. The collected data covered their general feedback and what they enjoyed the most about ODL. Moreover, their recommendations on ODL implementation were analyzed by categorising the responses into different themes. The demographic data was summarized using descriptive analysis. A comparison between the diploma and the degree students’ perspectives is also discussed in the paper. The findings show that most students have positive perceptions on ODL implementation, where positive feedback and fun factors are highlighted by the respondents. Some students indicated that ODL should not be continued in the future semester, due to problems such as poor internet connection, budget constraints and time management issues. Recommendations on improvements for better ODL implementations in the near future are also provided. This study contributes to more effective ODL management by presenting the learners’ perspectives   Keywords: Open and Distance Learning (ODL), Online Learning Platforms, Technology, Teaching and Learning, University Students

The success of online learning programs depends not only on students' satisfaction, but also their intent to continue using it. This study is aimed at finding out if university students' gender, study program, geographical location and internet connection have an effect on their online learning satisfaction and intention to continue using online learning in the future during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collected from 608 students using simple random sampling from several campuses of Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia was analysed using frequency, crosstabulation, Chi-square test and multiple regression analysis methods. The findings revealed that six in every ten respondents are satisfied with their online learning, but the same amount of students do not intend to continue using online learning in the future. Female students, degree students, students from East Malaysia of Sabah and Sarawak, and students with good internet connection are satisfied with online learning. As for their intention to continue using online learning in the future, more male, diploma and West Malaysian students with average internet connection do not intend to do so in the future. Apart from that, online learning satisfaction is a significant predictor of students' intention to continue with online learning in the future. Direction for future studies and practical implications of the study are also discussed.

Mental health has attracted much attention over the past decades. Academic pressure, employment pressure, interpersonal relationship, emotional problems all impact students' bodies and minds. This paper aims to comb through relevant literature to identify the factors affecting mental health among college students in China. Five hundred forty-five articles were retrieved containing relevant keywords such as factors affecting mental health from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database. These articles were published from 1989 to the first half of 2021. A broad thematic analysis revealed that these factors could be grouped into four main categories: family, social, college-life, and individual factors. This paper has a significant contribution as it lays the foundation for further investigation into mental health issues among college students in China.

This study aimed to determine online learning readiness, motivation, and challenges for students in Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aspects considered in this study included supporting devices and skills to use them, independence in learning, self-control for successful learning, learning motivation, and online communication. The study was conducted using an online questionnaire and crosstabs analysis. The results showed that the students had a good readiness and motivation to do online learning during the pandemic. The most common obstacles included internet connection, limited data quota, unsupported devices, and lecturer learning methods.