UAE university students’ experiences of virtual classroom learning during Covid 19

Abstract

Virtual Classroom (VC) learning approaches have recently drawn considerable attention because they have the potential to encourage student engagement to ensure active and collaborative learning. Although research on online learning has gained visibility in recent times, VC learning has not received notable attention, especially in Gulf countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The study examines students’ perception and experience of VC in a university in UAE during the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of its necessity and helpfulness. This research also examines the situational pressure of VC and aims to explain the reasons for its desirability and inevitability. As a current learning space beyond the conventional face-to-face classroom learning, VC learning is available in various forms and quality depending on creating opportunities for the learners’ participation. However, there are issues with VC practice too. Our analysis of survey data (N = 334) leads to portraying autonomous learning freedom in different learning environments in VC. We argue that students may resort to VC not because of its proven effectiveness but because of the necessity to continue addressing their learning needs. This study contributes to the general understanding of the online and traditional in-person classroom learning and virtual learning resources in the teaching of English as a globally desired language.

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“…It is interesting to read that 55% of the respondents agreed that course content is not well designed for distance education. This confirms what [20] concluded in their study that instructors and designers of virtual classroom courses need to lead and design modules to maximize the use of the virtual classroom and minimize any disadvantages such as a lack of face-to-face communication. Students also noticed that there are weaknesses in teaching methods and difficulties in communicating information remotely by instructors, which is in line with a major finding of [44] that applying innovative teaching methods minimizes the challenges that are faced in distance learning environments.…”

“…As a consequence of the prolonged use of digital tools, psychological disorders and a drop in students' academic performance was observed in a study on students from Jordan universities [19]. Students at the UAE university [20] expressed their negative perception towards virtual classrooms that have proven effectiveness, but students may resort to this mode to continue addressing their learning needs. This is also the case at Saudi universities.…”

“…This reflects the students' experiences and suffering during the lockdown and confirms [13]'s findings that remote instruction generates distractions which hinders the students' ability to fully comprehend the course material. Students learned not to sacrifice their learning as well as the college atmosphere, as argued by [20] that students may resort to virtual classes not because of its proven effectiveness but because of the necessity to continue addressing their learning needs. At the same time, they would be happy not to commute daily to the university so as to cut down on the expenses of travelling and time wasted.…”

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“…Para Islam et al (2023), el aula virtual tiene el potencial de promover la participación del estudiante y garantizar un aprendizaje activo y colaborativo. La percepción y la experiencia de los estudiantes durante la Covid19 en una universidad de los Emiratos Árabes Unidos con 334 estudiantes ha permitido concluir que los estudiantes recurren al aula virtual no por su eficacia sino por sus necesidades de aprendizaje.…”

Correction: UAE university students’ experiences of virtual classroom learning during Covid 19

“…Following publication of the original article [ 1 ], the authors reported that the affiliations were missing in the submitted manuscript and were not present in the published article. The correct affiliations are presented in this correction article and the original article [ 1 ] has been updated.…”