Children and Youth Services Review 119 (2020) 105699

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Children and Youth Services Review

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth

Exploring undergraduate students’ attitudes towards emergency online

learning during COVID-19: A case from the UAE
Elham Hussein a, Sumaya Daoud a, *, Hussam Alrabaiah b, c, Rawand Badawi d
a
Department of English Language and Translation, Al Ain University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
b
College of Engineering, Al Ain University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
c
Department of Mathematics, Tafila Technical University, Tafila, Jordan
d
Department of Electrical Engineering, The University of Jordan, Jordan

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This qualitative study aims to investigate the attitudes of undergraduate students towards their experience with
Emergency online learning emergency online learning during the first few weeks of the mandatory shift to online learning caused by COVID-
United Arab Emirates 19. Students from two general English courses at a university located in Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates were
COVID-19 pandemic
asked to write semi-guided essays during the week preceding the final exams of the second semester of the
academic year 2019–20. A sample of these essays was analyzed using open coding. Findings revealed that cost-
and time-effectiveness, safety, convenience and improved participation were the most frequently cited positive
aspects of the emergency online learning experience, while distraction and reduced focus, heavy workload,
problems with technology and the internet, and insufficient support from instructors and colleagues were the
most recurrent negative aspects. The findings of the study help instructors and institutions understand students’
attitudes regarding online learning under abnormal circumstances. A number of recommendations informed by
the interpretation of the participants’ feedback are offered to assist instructors, administrators and policy makers
improve future online learning experiences.

1. Introduction
For long, online education has been viewed as a choice that has the
potential of serving a particular group of students that are notably older
and bear more familial, financial, and work-related responsibilities
compared to on-campus students (Jung & Rhea, 2000; Hussein, Daoud,
Alrabaiah, & Owais, 2020). However, in a matter of weeks the COVID-
19 pandemic, which in December 2019 took the world by surprise,
fundamentally changed the educational landscape. According to infor­
mation from the United Nations and UNESCO, the pandemic has caused
the greatest disruption to the education systems in history. School clo­
sures have impacted 1.6 billion learners (94% of the world’s student
population) in over 190 countries. Some of these closures started in
January, but most began during the month of March when the spread
engulfed most of the world. In all cases, school closures have placed
unprecedented pressures on governments, educational institutions, ed­
ucators, parents and students to ensure learning continuity.
In short order, face-to-face classes were halted, and emergency on­
line learning became the optimal, and in many cases the only,
alternative available. Although this measure has proven to be one of the
most highly effective non-pharmaceutical interventions imposed by
governments in containing the spread of the disease (Flaxman, 2020a;
Moosa, 2020), it has also put all those involved in the educational
process under substantial pressure. This is particularly true because
many instructors and learners who had never had adequate (if any)
experience with online learning found themselves obliged to do so with
minimal support. In addition, most higher education systems lacked the
necessary equipment “to offer online learning for all students at scale,
quickly” (World Bank, 2020. Italics in original).
In many cases, the result of emergency online learning was a sub­
stantial compromise to the quality of the learning experience (DeVaney,
Shimshon, Rascoff, & Maggioncalda, 2020; Hodges, Moore, Lockee,
Trust, & Bond, 2020). However, given the suddenness of the matter and
the difficulty and uncertainty of the situation, it is understandable that
all parties involved in the educational process would be forgiving and
accepting of a less-than-perfect performance, especially during the first
wave of the pandemic. Still, with the, thus far, uncontrolled progression
of the virus, it will be impossible to predict the length of these

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sumayat8@gmail.com (S. Daoud).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105699
Received 19 August 2020; Received in revised form 2 November 2020; Accepted 5 November 2020
Available online 10 November 2020
0190-7409/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
E. Hussein et al.
disruptions. What is predictable, however, is that education, like all
other sectors of life, will (and to many, should) never be the same, and
that the crisis will have a lasting impact on the trajectory of learning
innovation and digitization (Aristovnik et al., 2020; DeVaney et al.,
2020; Hodges et al., 2020). Therefore, flexible and mature longer-term
plans to deal with the implications of the current crisis, as well as
other possible interruptive incidents, on education must be considered.
Equally important is the need for these plans to take into consideration
the attitudinal outcomes, suggestions and concerns of instructors and
learners based on their experience during the first wave of the crises
(Aristovnik et al., 2020; Hodges et al., 2020; Zhang, Wang, Yang, &
Wang, 2020), which makes this study and similar others particularly
important.
2. Background and previous research
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, countries around the globe
rapidly ended in-person classes and shifted instruction to various types
of virtual settings. This massive and mandatory shift has been accom­
panied by a global surge of research production on various aspects of the
emergency remote and online education dictated by the pandemic.
Among the wide array of important topics tackled by these studies are
the differences between quality and emergency online learning; the
importance of flexible pedagogy that prioritizes students’ wellbeing
over academic achievement; and the exploration of participants’ atti­
tudes towards emergency online learning, the major challenges they
encounter and suggestions for overcoming them.
Numerous studies have warned against confusing well-planned on­
line learning which requires careful instructional design, long planning
and a special teaching infrastructure with the swift and temporary shift
to online learning carried out during the extraordinary conditions of
COVID-19 for the purpose of maintaining instruction (Bozkurt, 2020;
Fujita, 2020; Hodges et al., 2020; Selwyn, 2020). Within this context, it
has been argued that confusing quality online learning with emergency
online learning could have a long-term damaging effect on the former
because educators and students who have limited or no prior experience
with online learning will possibly presume that this mode is a poor
substitute to the face-to-face mode (Bozkurt, 2020; Hodges et al., 2020;
Lederman, 2020). The distinction between the two modes is particularly
important because online learning is often considered inferior to face-to-
face learning despite evidence to the contrary (Bozkurt, 2020; Hodges
et al., 2020).
Another important theme discussed in articles concerned with the
abrupt transition to online education deals with the need for pedagogic
flexibility to ensure that students’ wellbeing and their access to equi­
table and inclusive learning environments are given prominent attention
(Al-Rabiaah, 2020; Craig et al., 2020; Liguori & Winkler, 2020; Selwyn,
2020; Thompson & Copeland, 2020; Toquero, 2020). Thompson and
Copeland (2020), for example, argue that an emergency course redesign,
which prioritizes students’ accessibility to the educational material at
the onset of the transition, will ensure that more disadvantaged students
succeed in the online learning environment. Equally important, how­
ever, is the fact that such redesign is likely to help alleviate students’
anxiety caused by sudden life changes including the abrupt shift of all
courses to online. Indeed, numerous studies have emphasized the need
for educational institutions to prioritize the physical, mental and psy­
chological wellbeing of their students and educators over the need to
teach the curriculum (Bozkurt & Sharma, 2020; Quintana & Quintana,
2020; Sahu, 2020).
Another set of studies explored students and/or instructors’ attitudes
towards the pivoting to online education amid COVID-19. While most of
these studies focus on a single institution and/or country: Kapasia et al.
(India); Adnan & Anwar (Pakistan); Zhang et al. and Bao (China);
Almuraqab (United Arab Emirates); and Toquero (The Philippines),
others like Aristovnik et al. and Bozkurt et al., are large scale studies that
survey students in 62 countries across the globe. These studies show
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Children and Youth Services Review 119 (2020) 105699
that, in general, students had adapted well to the new teaching and
learning experience. However, most researchers agree that there is
strong correlation between the participants’ attitudes and their socio-
economic conditions with the privileged being more satisfied (Adnan
& Anwar, 2020; Bozkurt, 2020; Fujita, 2020; Kapasia, 2020). In addi­
tion, some of these studies draw attention to various hurdles which
could impede an effective delivery of online education including the
unpreparedness of most institutions, staff members and students to
participate in massive and emergency online courses (Bozkurt, 2020;
Flaxman, 2020b; Zhang et al., 2020); digital, economic, social and
gender disparities among participants which have a direct impact on the
availability of online teaching infrastructure and accessibility to tech­
nology and internet facilities (Adnan & Anwar, 2020; Kapasia, 2020;
Zhang et al., 2020); the inadequate psychological, social and academic
support provided to students (Adnan & Anwar, 2020; Bozkurt, 2020);
and the unfavorable home environment for many students and educa­
tors (Kapasia, 2020; Zhang et al., 2020). These hurdles are expected to
exasperate participants’ susceptibility to psychological pressure and
necessitate a pedagogy of care and empathy (Bozkurt, 2020; Bozkurt &
Sharma, 2020; Selwyn, 2020).
3. Online learning in the UAE
Tertiary education institutions in the UAE have been investing
heavily in e-learning –an umbrella term which includes all types of ed­
ucation that take place partially or fully through a digital medium– since
the beginning of the new millennium (Ati & Guessoum, 2010). Some of
these institutions adopted the blended or hybrid modes (Moussa-Inaty,
2017) while a significantly smaller number offered fully online courses
(Ati & Guessoum, 2010). The adoption of e-learning in UAE was trig­
gered by the need to prepare students for a rapidly evolving and
technology-driven world (Vrazalic, MacGregor, Behl, & Fitzgerald,
2009); the conservative cultural values and preference for gender
segregation (Naaj, Nachouki, & Ankit, 2012); and the desire to eliminate
the cost of duplication in multi-campus institutions (Naaj et al., 2012).
Yet, prior to COVID-19, the rate at which e-learning was adopted by
these institutions was slow and did not reflect the substantial in­
vestments spent on this mode of learning (Daouk & Aldalaien, 2019).
Unfortunately, the number of scholarly studies on the topic of e-
learning in tertiary institutions in the UAE is still limited (Daouk &
Aldalaien, 2019; Thabet, Hill, & Gaad, 2020). Most of these studies are
attitudinal and seek to investigate the perception of instructors and
students towards the adoption of online, blended and hybrid modes of
learning and to identify the challenges encountered by participants.
Schoepp (2005), Thabet et al. (2020), and Hussein et al. (2020), for
example, show that the overall attitude of faculty members is positive
and that the majority are well-aware of the benefits of utilizing digital
technology in the educational process. Dougherty, Butler, and Hyde
(2011), Naaj et al. (2012), Moussa-Inaty (2017) and Fidalgo, Thormann,
Kulyk, and Lencastre (2020), on the other hand, explore the perceptions
of students affiliated with various academic institutions in the UAE to­
wards various forms of online learning. Intriguingly, all these studies
have arrived at almost the same conclusion: although students were
generally satisfied with their academic performance and achievement,
they still preferred the face-to-face mode of instruction. Almuraqab
(2020) is the only study on online learning in UAE during the COVID-19
pandemic to date. The research sought to explore the attitudes of stu­
dents at one of Dubai’s universities towards emergency online learning.
The results of the study showed that almost 47% of the respondents
found this mode effective, and the list of positive aspects included:
location flexibility, accessibility of wideband internet and the avail­
ability of technology, time and effort efficiency, while inadequate sup­
port from instructors and colleagues was cited as the most challenging
hurdle.
E. Hussein et al.
4. Research questions
The purpose of this study is to identify the most recurrent positive
and negative aspects of emergency online learning as perceived by AAU
students. More specifically, the study seeks to respond to the following
questions in relation to AAU students’ experience with online learning
during the first few weeks of the shift from face-to-face learning to on­
line learning in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic:
RQ1: What are the most recurrent positive aspects of emergency
synchronous online learning?
RQ2: What are the most recurrent negative aspects of emergency
synchronous online learning?
5. Methodology
The current qualitative study uses semi-guided essays to explore the
attitudes of Al Ain University (AAU) students towards emergency online
learning during the first wave of COVID-19. This study followed a survey
that was conducted on a group of students. The survey mainly consisted
of a set of 5-Likert scale questions addressing negative and positive as­
pects of the emergency online experience. The survey was piloted to find
out if there were any significant results based on the participants’ re­
sponses, and to test the data collection method. Some trends were
evident in the results. However, the researchers believed that the essay-
writing task would allow participants the chance to express their ideas
more freely than the highly controlled surveys with multiple choice
questions. This freedom of expression is particularly important because
the purpose of the current study is to obtain an in-depth understanding
of the students’ perspectives, and to shed light on aspects that were not
deemed important by the researchers. The qualitative analysis showed
results that were compliant with trends that appeared in the pilot sur­
vey, and allowed more fine-grained examination of details comprising
the participants’ negative and positive attitudes.
The current study adopts a grounded theory approach (Strauss &
Corbin, 1998) to data analysis by implementing open coding. We believe
that this approach is suitable for the qualitative data we collected
because it is appropriate when the research does not assume an existing
theoretical framework, or when it is meant to propose one through
inductive reasoning based on the data (Creswell & Poth, 2016).
5.1. Context of the study
This study was conducted at AAU during the second semester of the
academic year 2019–20. AAU is a private university with two campuses
in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain which was founded in 2004 and hosts
approximately 1450 students (AAU Website). Due to COVID-19, the
Ministry of Education in UAE mandated on 8 March that all educational
institutions were to shut down for four weeks. To minimize disruption to
the educational process, AAU moved up spring break to 8–19 March
instead of 29 March–9 April. This rescheduling of spring break allowed
for better preparation for the shift from an entirely face-to-face learning
mode to a completely online learning mode. Synchronous online classes
started on 22 March using Microsoft Teams program for classes and
Moodle as a platform for testing, and delivering course materials and
assignments. The preparation for the shift included providing faculty
members with the necessary training which was exclusively technical
and covered only the basic features that would enable instructors to
deliver their classes via Microsoft Teams, record and upload them to
Moodle. As Zhang et al. (2020) rightly points out, the short-term effect of
such training is minimal as it aims to continue the education process
without necessarily ensuring quality. As time progressed, new policies,
procedures and rules were developed to improve online teaching and
testing without overwhelming educators and learners. Among the new
policies, for example, was allowing students to choose the pass/fail
option after seeing their letter grade; directing instructors not to fail
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Children and Youth Services Review 119 (2020) 105699
students because of excessive absence; and encouraging instructors to be
more flexible with deadlines for assignments.
The semester during which the study was conducted was almost
evenly divided into two modes of education—face-to-face during the
first eight weeks, a two-week spring break followed by synchronous
online learning during the remaining seven weeks of the semester. Prior
to March 22, 2020 AAU had never offered any online course, but in­
structors were strongly encouraged to use Moodle to communicate with
students, receive assignments, grade them and provide students with
feedback, post educational material and conduct quizzes and exams.
Therefore, this was a novel experience to all participating students,
faculty members and AAU management and administration.
5.2. Sample and tool
The sample of this study consists of 45 students who were selected
through convenience sampling (also known as consecutive sampling)
from a pool of 83 students. In this kind of sampling, participants are
consecutively chosen in the order of appearance and the selection pro­
cess concludes when the desired number of participants is achieved
(Martínez-Mesa, González-Chica, Duquia, Bonamigo, & Bastos, 2016).
Since students submitted their essays through Moodle, they were
selected in the order they appeared to the instructors. However, due to
their digression from the essay questions– and, therefore the research
questions– three of the essays were replaced by three others following
the same method of selection. The essays were written by 20 male and
25 female undergraduate students who were enrolled in a section of
English 1 and a section of English 2 during the second semester of the
academic year 2019–2020. Twenty-two essays were produced by stu­
dents enrolled in English 1 and 23 were written by students from English
2. These two courses were selected because they are university re­
quirements. Therefore, the diversity of participants across educational
disciplines and majors was guaranteed. In addition, since English 1 is a
prerequisite to English 2, having participants from both courses ensured
diversity in the academic level as well.
5.3. Data collection and analysis
Data was collected through semi-guided essays asking students to
reflect on their experiences with online learning during the pandemic
and to identify the most positive and negative aspects of the experience.
The guiding questions for the essay are reflective of the study questions.
The essays were part of the coursework students were asked to do, and
they were assessed and graded. For the purpose of the study, 45 essays
were selected and analyzed to find the most recurrent positive and
negative aspects of online learning from the perspective of AAU
students.
After posting the assignment on Moodle, the instructors orally
explained to the students that they intend to use some of the produced
essays in an academic study while keeping the writers’ names anony­
mous. The purpose of the study was explained to the students, and they
were informed that while composition and submission of the essays were
compulsory (because they were part of the graded coursework),
participation in the study was completely voluntary. The students were
assured that their choice to have their essays included or excluded from
the study would have no influence on their grade for the assignment and
the course, and that grading would be done independently from data
analysis. Since the assignment was part of the coursework, no bonus
points or any other kind of compensation was awarded for participation.
None of the students asked for their essays to be excluded. In addition, to
maintain the privacy and confidentiality of the data, the identities of the
students were concealed during data analysis and coding, and data were
saved on the researchers’ computers which are exclusively accessible to
researchers. Those measures were taken to ensure that the study
adhered to ethical bounds.
E. Hussein et al. Children and Youth Services Review 119 (2020) 105699

5.4. Procedure Table 2

Coding scheme for negative aspects.
During week 15 of the second semester, week five of online learning, Categories from the Data Negative Aspects Codes Frequency
the essay-writing assignment was posted on Moodle, and students were
A. Getting easily distracted (NA1) 1. Distraction and 27
given five days to submit their 250 word and 350 word essays for English B. Having to attend while doing other tasks reduced focus
1 and English 2 respectively. Students were asked to express their (NB1)
thoughts and feelings towards synchronous online learning as they have C. Feeling less committed due to the
experienced it during the pandemic. To help them remain focused, absence of the instructor’s physical
presence (NC1)
students were asked to respond to the following two questions:
A. More assignments were given (NA2) 2. Workload 17
B. Classwork became homework (NB2)
Q1. What are the most positive aspects of the emergency online
learning mode? A. Poor connectivity due to several 3. Technology and 7
Q2. What are the most negative aspects of the emergency online simultaneous users per households (NA3) internet connectivity
B. Lack of adequate devices (NB3)
learning mode?
C. Lack of technology literacy (NC3)

To identify the positive and negative attributes of emergency online
learning from the students’ perspective, open coding was used to
analyze the data, Creswell and Poth (2016). A three-stage process of
coding was carried out to guarantee the reliability of the results. In the
first stage, the researchers analyzed a sample of the essays and identified
codes of positive and negative aspects. The codes were then discussed
and revised by the authors to set a preliminary coding scheme. In the
second stage, the scheme was piloted on a sample of the essays.
Ambiguous codes were discussed and revised then a final coding scheme
was adopted and applied, see Tables 1 and 2. The categories that
emerged from the data were: effectiveness, safety, convenience and
increased participation as positive aspects, and distraction and reduced
focus, workload, technology and internet connectivity and inadequate
support from instructors and colleagues as negative aspects. Many of
these categories were compliant with a pilot survey that was conducted
prior to this study, see Section 4. The researchers coded the data inde­
pendently, then they compared the coding results, see Supplementary 1.
Cohen’s kappa coefficients were then calculated for inter-coder reli­
ability, and the results were: 0.609 and 0.821 for positive and negative
aspects respectively, suggesting substantial to outstanding inter-coder
agreement.1 In the final phase, the researchers resolved categories that
were coded differently through discussion, consequently, minor modi­
fications were made to the classifications, and final agreement was
100%. A sample essay with raw data coding can be seen in Supple­
mentary 2.
Table 1
Coding scheme for positive aspects.
Categories from the Data Positive Aspects Codes
A. Saving the time getting ready (PA1) 1. Effectiveness (time
B. Saving the time commuting (PB1) and cost)
C. Saving transportation cost (PC1)
A. Reducing risk of catching COVID-19 2. Safety
(PA2)
B. Reducing risk of accidents (PB2)
A. Being able to supervise children (PA3) 3. Convenience
B. Being able to attend from work or home
(PB3)
C. Being able to control visibility (PC3)
D. Having easier access to class recordings
and materials (PD3)
A. Feeling less nervous about mistakes 4. Increased
while speaking (PA4) participation
B. Feeling confident to express ideas (PB4)
A. Lack of support from peers, instructors 4. Inadequate support 4
and admin (NA4)
B. Having to use online platforms to reach
out for support (NB4)
6. Findings and discussion
This study aimed at exploring AAU students’ perceptions of the most
recurrent positive and negative aspects of their online learning experi­
ence during the first few weeks of shifting to this mode as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of this study fall into two categories
in relation to emergency online learning: the positive and the negative
aspects.
6.1. The most recurrent positive aspects of emergency online learning
Table 3 below shows the most recurrent positive aspects of online
learning from students’ perspectives.
Time- and cost-effectiveness as important advantages of online
learning were cited by 25 participants. Among these, 15 respondents
specifically referred to the fact that online learning helped them save the
time of getting ready and commuting to and from university. A male
participant, for example, remarked that “The fact that I was able to wake
up ten minutes before class and take the class while still in bed, was a
dream come true.” This finding is in line with previous research which
pointed out that online learning allows learners to use their time more
efficiently (Fidalgo et al., 2020; Jung & Rhea, 2000; OECD, 2020). As for
cost-effectiveness, it has been argued that the online mode of learning is
generally cheaper than the face-to-face mode (OECD, 2020). However,
since tuition fees were not altered at AAU during the time of the study,
Frequency
cost-effectiveness mostly referred to the cost of transportation. Six re­
25 spondents specifically pointed out that they no longer had to pay for
commuting. Four respondents mentioned both time- and cost-
effectiveness. In the words of a female student “online learning
22
allowed me to save time and money. Instead of spending an hour going
to and back from the university, I saved this time, and I saved the money
for the car petrol as well”.
18
Safety was considered an important advantage of online learning
during the pandemic by 22 respondents. This view is consistent with
several studies which have emphasized the need to prioritize the safety
and well-being of students and educators during the pandemic (Al-
Rabiaah, 2020; Bozkurt, 2020; Bozkurt & Sharma, 2020; Sahu, 2020;
6
Table 3
Positive aspects’ frequency and percentage.
Positive Aspects of Online Learning Frequency Percentage

1 Effectiveness (time and cost) Safety 25 55%

2 Safety 22 48.9%
1 3 Convenience 18 40%
Values of kappa from 0.40 to 0.59 are considered moderate, 0.60 to 0.79
4 Increased participation 6 13.3%
substantial, and 0.80 outstanding (Landis & Koch, 1977).

4
E. Hussein et al.
Selwyn, 2020). Interestingly, 13 of the respondents considered staying
home a national and/or a familial responsibility. Such view indicates a
high level of awareness which has probably resulted from intensive
media coverage of the pandemic and from UAE’s policies and awareness
campaigns (such as the ‘For Your Safety, Stay Home’ and “You Matter”
campaign) to curb the spread of COVID-19. Obviously, this advantage is
closely related to the fact that the shift to online learning took place in
the context of a pandemic. However, safety can also be an important
benefit of online learning during wars, natural disasters and diseases
(Bozkurt, 2020). Students’ awareness of the concern for safety has
probably been a driving force for a faster adaptation to the new
approach. Amidst the scarcity of other solutions, even those students
who are not so adept at technology strived to adjust and cope with the
move to the online mode.
Convenience is often considered an important advantage of online
learning (Hussein, 2016; OECD, 2020) since it has the potential to
provide “a world class education to anyone, anywhere, and anytime as
long as they have access to the Internet” (Nguyen, 2015: 310). Eighteen
participants in the current study identified convenience, which was
interpreted differently by various respondents and sometimes over­
lapped with time- and cost-effectiveness, as an important positive aspect
of online learning. Six female and two male students specifically pointed
out that studying online helped them stay with their children, supervise
them while taking online classes, and take care of them during the
difficult time of the pandemic. Convenience in this context was also
linked to accessibility to class material. Seven students appreciated the
fact that they were able to access the recordings of classes at their
convenience while two respondents enjoyed taking classes in bed
without having to worry about their dress. Interestingly, for a female
respondent, convenience meant having control over her “visibility” to
instructors and colleagues.
6.2. The most recurrent negative aspects of emergency online learning
Analysis of the 45 essays showed that aspects included in Table 4
below were the most recurrent negative aspects of online learning.
Twenty-four respondents viewed being distracted and unable to
remain focused during classes as a serious disadvantage of the online
mode. Eleven of these respondents drew an explicit comparison between
their ability to focus while physically present in the classroom and when
taking online sessions to the advantage of the former. Though the
freedom to take classes anytime and anywhere is often cited as an
important merit of online learning (Nguyen, 2015), this outlook does not
necessarily apply to emergency online learning since research shows
that the burden of housework and childcare, the unavailability of proper
study spaces, the lack of discipline and ritual in online at home may
negatively impact the experience (Fidalgo et al., 2020; Zhang et al.,
2020). According to Aristovnik et al. (2020), a greater level of self-
discipline and motivation to follow through online classes is particu­
larly important during the earlier period when students are getting used
to the new system. A participant in the current study remarked that “I
always need to sit in the front seat to focus. If I sit in the second seat, I
start dreaming. In online courses, I am on another planet.” Several es­
says pointed out that the problem of distraction is particularly relevant
in the context of the lockdown. A mother of three children, for example,
stated that it was extremely difficult for her to focus while her husband
Table 4
Negative aspects’ frequency and percentage.
Negative Aspects of Online Learning Frequency Percentage
1 Distraction and reduced focus 24 53.3%
2 Workload 17 37.7%
3 Technology and Internet connectivity 7 15.5%
4 Inadequate support from instructors and 4 8.8%
colleagues
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Children and Youth Services Review 119 (2020) 105699
was working online, her older son was taking his online classes and the
younger two “were playing and jumping around.” These responses seem
to contradict some of the students’ statements discussed earlier about
the convenience and time efficiency of online learning. A possible
explanation to this seeming contradiction is the fact that students’
learning styles, home environments and socio-economic conditions vary
significantly. Hodges et al. (2020) suggests that replacing at least some
synchronous classes with asynchronous ones could partially solve the
problem as the shift offers students more freedom to take their classes
not only anywhere but also anytime.
Seventeen respondents considered the heavy amount of coursework
students were asked to do a negative aspect of their online experience.
Five of these participants indicated that the load became particularly
heavy as the semester was approaching conclusion. According to a fe­
male respondent: “All professors ask us to do more and more work. As if
we only have one class [i.e. course]. This week, I have three homework
and two quizzes!” The increased amount of work especially during the
last couple of weeks could be attributed to the fact that with the abrupt
shift to online learning, instructors needed to find alternative ways to
the originally planned in-class assessment tools. Understandably, they
needed time to decide and prepare these assessments. Hence, the
amount of work increased towards the end of the semester. The
perception of AAU students towards course load corresponds with that
of students across the world. According to Aristovnik et al. (2020), a
study which has surveyed the perception of 30,383 students in 62
countries, less than one-third (30.8%) of students participating in the
survey reported that their study workload had become lighter or
significantly lighter, (26.6%) stated that work load remained almost
unchanged while the rest (42.6%) of students reported that their
workload had increased or significantly increased. Commenting on some
potential problems with emergency online learning, Selwyn (2020)
warns that synchronous video classes and meetings that are not properly
prepared could be mentally exhausting to students who are also likely to
feel over-burdened by multiple tasks and activities.
Only seven respondents cited technology and internet connectivity
as an issue of concern. Six of these respondents explained that this is due
to the fact that most family members had to simultaneously use tech­
nology and the internet to work, take classes and go about their daily
lives during the pandemic. The low number of respondents who faced
problems with the availability of technology and internet despite the
exceptionality of the situation is largely due to the fact that the UAE is
one of the richest countries in the world with 91% of the residents using
mobile Internet and over 98% of the households have Internet access
(Knoema, , 2018). The GfK Connected Consumer Index ranked the UAE
as the third most-wired country on earth.2 In addition, to ensure that no
student is left behind, at the onset of emergency online learning expe­
rience, the UAE government promptly coordinated with all telecom­
munication companies “to facilitate free mobile internet package for
families in the UAE who have no home internet”3. The relatively low
number of respondents who reported problems related to the internet
and technology contrasts with the findings of Fidalgo et al. (2020),
which revealed that UAE students were not highly confident about their
technical skills and home internet connectivity and reliability. This
seeming disagreement could be attributed to the gap between expecta­
tions and reality since Fidalgo et al. was not concerned about students’
actual experience with online learning, but with their willingness to try
it. It is, therefore, possible that students expected online learning to be a
far more complicated process that requires highly refined computer
skills and special types of gadgets and internet connectivity, while in
reality the students were adequately competent and the gadgets and
2
https://insights.gfk.com/hubfs/Landing_Pages_PDF/Germany/Insight_
Summit/GfK_Insight_Summit_2017_Opening_Mueller.pdf?t=1513344408735.
3
https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/education/distance-learning-in-
times-of-covid-19.
E. Hussein et al.
internet available to them were sufficient. This explanation is further
supported by the fact that about one-third of the Emirati participants in
Fidalgo et al.’s study selected “I do not know enough about online ed­
ucation courses” as their reason for not wanting to enroll in this type of
courses.
Inadequate support from instructors and colleagues was mentioned
by four respondents. Two of these respondents alluded to the importance
of group- and team-work I helping them better understand the course
material. According to one of the students “I sometimes feel lost. Before
online learning, I always asked my friends when I see them in the class
about the things I don’t understand. Now, I use WhatsApp, but it is not
the same at all.” These views are confirmed by recent research which
illustrates that communication with instructors and peers and timely
feedback from the instructor improve students’ sense of self-efficacy and
increase their motivation and level of engagement, (Craig et al., 2020;
Daoud, Alrabaiah, & Zaitoun, 2019; Quintana & Quintana, 2020). To
alleviate students’ frustration over inadequate support and interaction
with instructors and peers, Craig et al. (2020) proposes the use of
network tools, such Net.Create, to bring students closer together and
make learning more efficient and enjoyable during challenging times.
The negative aspects of emergency online learning discussed above
are not properly dealt with, they could exasperate students’ anxiety
during these traumatic times. As Miller (2020) aptly points out, Covid-
19 has affected families, students and teachers both emotionally and
psychologically, and feelings of uncertainty and fear “were as conta­
gious as the Coronavirus and affected learning climates” (2020: 4).
7. Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic took the entire world by surprise and
impacted all walks of life. In a matter of weeks, most educational in­
stitutions around the world had to close down, and face-to-face educa­
tion was replaced by online education. This abrupt shift placed
considerable pressure on all those involved in the educational process,
but it has also been an opportunity for educators and students to expe­
rience online education first hand. The pandemic has taught us the
importance of being well-prepared to ensure that quality education
continues when upheavals and emergencies hit. Therefore, the question,
as Bozkurt (2020) points out, should not be what did we do during the
COVID-19 pandemic, but what will we do for upcoming interruptions in
order not to repeat our mistakes. By identifying the most positive and
negative aspects of online education during the first wave of the
pandemic from students’ perspectives, the current study hopes to
contribute to such preparation.
8. Suggestions and recommendations
In light of students’ responses, the study recommends that academic
administrators should
• Invest in online education to ensure academic continuity particularly
during times of emergencies.
• Provide instructors with comprehensive training which not only
covers the basic technical tools, but also the more advanced re­
sources as well.
• Introduce instructors to cohesive frameworks of knowledge which
allow for the blending of technology, pedagogy and content.
• Employ a mix of synchronous and asynchronous classes.
• Create support communities that help students better cope with the
psychological and educational implications.
In addition, the study recommends that instructors involved in
emergency online education should
• Create channels for student-instructor and student–student interac­
tion. This interaction will help alleviate students’ feelings of isolation
6
Children and Youth Services Review 119 (2020) 105699
and boost their engagement in and confidence about the academic
material.
• Develop students’ self-directed learning and time management skills
by fostering values of commitment, adaptation, integrity and self-
reliance.
• Avoid overwhelming students with coursework, assignments and
assessments since during times of abnormalities and disruption, the
psychological and physical wellbeing of students is the most
important.
• Focus on students’ wellbeing and address their social, emotional, and
psychological concerns.
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding
agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Author contributions
1. Elham Hussein: Developed the idea of the paper, took the lead in
writing the manuscript, conducted the survey and contributed to
data coding and analysis.
2. Sumaya Daoud: Developed the idea of the paper, implemented the
coding and data analysis with Elham and Hussam.
3. Hussam Alrabaiah: Performed the statistical work and contributed
to data coding and analysis.
4. Rawand Badawi: Contributed to data coding and analysis, and
revised the manuscript formatting according to the style guide.
All authors provided critical feedback and helped shape the research,
analysis and manuscript.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Appendix A. Supplementary material
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105699.
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