Online Learning as a Catalyst for Self-directed Learning in Universities during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the use of online learning and self-directed learning to motivate and engage students. Therefore, this study sought to determine how online learning fostered self-directed learning at a South African university during this period. Higher education institutions worldwide had to shut down indefinitely following guidance from health experts to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since education is regarded as a pillar of development for all countries, some means had to be found to keep teaching and learning going irrespective of the ongoing health crisis. Hence, online learning made it possible for university students to continue learning during the emergency university closure. This was a period of reckoning, however, as many students began experiencing challenges related to poor internet connectivity and accessing digital learning devices. Despite these challenges, the solution was to reach out to all students to ensure that they were not excluded from the learning process. The sudden transition to online learning meant that students could no longer follow a well-coordinated, structured learning schedule that was guided and supervised on campus; rather, online learning meant they had to become more independent in their learning. Independent learning encourages students to be proactive and independent, a philosophy aligned to self-directed learning (SDL). This study explored the experiences of third-year student teachers in navigating SDL through online learning platforms. The study was underpinned by self-directed learning theory and adopted a qualitative case study research design, generating data from ten student teachers using a Zoom App focus group discussion. Data were analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis framework. The study found that although SDL is appropriate because it promotes learning independently, the majority of student teachers encountered several challenges when adopting online learning, catching them off guard because they were not formally introduced to it.

Determining University Students’ Availability on Zoom

“…Maphalala, Mkhasibe and Mncub (2021), in their study, aimed to determine how online learning supports self-learning in a South African university through the zoom application; as a result, it was found that the majority of pre-service teachers faced various difficulties while adopting online learning and adopted distance education in this context; when combined with the result of the study, it was concluded that the students liked the lessons conducted over Zoom and their perceptions were high [9]. It is known that distance education systems are always with the students in their education, in this context, it can be said that there is a positive change in the learning of university students when the infrastructure is well prepared for distance education, and it is thought that this study, which is carried out in Kosovo and Russian Federation, in different countries, will contribute to the research and literature.…”

Self-Directedness in Non-Formal Online Business English Courses: Adult Learners’ Perspectives

“…The authors have also added a learning context containing resources, structure, and the nature of tasks, which plays an important role in self-directedness while learning online. Similarly, Maphalala et al (2021) emphasized the importance of self-directed learning as universities were forced to switch to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors investigated the experiences of university students and how self-directed they were while learning online.…”

Clinical Stage Students’ Readiness and Perception Towards Self-Directed Learning

“…Many other studies reveal that independent learning was growingly applied when we were forced to transform the face-to-face teaching and learning to virtual-based and task-based learning. 25 Therefore, in this situation SDL readiness becomes an important capacity.…”