Online Learning Experience during Covid-19 Pandemic: An Online Survey among Malaysian Polytechnic Students

Abstract

Various stages of Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia affected the way of learning in institutions of higher education that online learning has become compulsory in most cases. One of the main issues of implementing online learning is the students’ readiness. This study aims to investigate students’ opinions on their online learning experience and challenges faced on online classes during the Covid-19 pandemic, and their preferred way of learning between online and face-to-face classes. An online study, using Google Form, was carried out and there were altogether 63 polytechnic students volunteered to answer the survey. The results show that the students are generally satisfied with their online learning experience and claiming that the experience to be good, with preference on live lessons. The main challenges faced by students are difficulty to focus due to distractions from surroundings and difficulty to understand the content of the course. It was also found that more students preferred face-to-face classes than online classes.

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ONLINE LEARNING EXPERIENCE DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: AN ONLINE
SURVEY AMONG MALAYSIAN POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS
Lam Kok Wei, Najibah Jusoh and Noorulziwaty Kamaruzaman
Abstract
Various stages of Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia affected the way of learning
in institutions of higher education that online learning has become compulsory in most cases.
One of the main issues of implementing online learning is the students’ readiness. This study
aims to investigate students’ opinions on their online learning experience and challenges faced
on online classes during the Covid-19 pandemic, and their preferred way of learning between
online and face-to-face classes. An online study, using Google Form, was carried out and there
were altogether 63 polytechnic students volunteered to answer the survey. The results show
that the students are generally satisfied with their online learning experience and claiming that
the experience to be good, with preference on live lessons. The main challenges faced by
students are difficulty to focus due to distractions from surroundings and difficulty to
understand the content of the course. It was also found that more students preferred face-to-
face classes than online classes.
Keywords: Online Learning, Covid-19 Pandemic, Online Classes
Introduction
In his remark on 11 March 2020, the Director-General of World Health Organisation
characterised the then fast-spreading Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) as the first-ever
coronavirus that caused a pandemic (Ghebreyesus, 2020). In Malaysia specifically, the
government executed Movement Control Order (MCO) as a result of a sharp rise in the number
of confirmed Covid-10 cases in the country starting from 18 March 2020 (Prime Minister’s
Office of Malaysia, 2020). Since then, various stages of MCOs have been implemented in
Malaysia and they unavoidably affected the way of learning in institutions of higher education
(Chung, Noor & Mathew, 2020).
Due to the restrictions of movement enforced across the nation, in May 2020, Ministry
of Higher Education Malaysia (MoHE) instructed all institutions of higher education to
implement online learning except for a few categories of students that have to be physically
present at campus (MoHE, 2020). When most of the lecturers and students have to follow the
ministry’s instruction, the main issue is the readiness of the students for online learning (Allam,
Hassan, Mohideen, Ramlan & Kamal, 2020; Anwar, Omar, Isa & Shamsudin, 2020; Chung et
al., 2020; Yusuf & Ahmad, 2020).
After the implementation of online learning in Malaysian institutions of higher
education for several months, the researchers intend to find out, through this preliminary online
survey study, the answers to the following research questions:
i. What are the students’ opinions on their online learning experience during Covid-19
pandemic?
ii. What are the challenges faced by students on online classes during Covid-10 pandemic?
iii. What is the students’ preferred way of learning between online and face-to-face
classes?

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Literature Review
As early as five years after implementing online learning in the United States of America, Allen
and Seaman (2007) made a detailed classification of online learning as shown in Table 1:
Table 1
Classifications of Online Learning
Proportion of Content
Delivered Online
Type of Course
Typical Description
0%
Traditional
Course with no online technology used – content is delivered
in writing or orally.
1 to 29%
Web Facilitated
Course that uses web-based technology to facilitate what is
essentially a face-to-face course. Uses a course management
system (CMS) or web pages to post the syllabus and
assignments, for example.
30 to 79%
Blended/Hybrid
Course that blends online and face-to-face delivery.
Substantial proportion of the content is delivered online,
typically uses online discussions, and typically has some
face-to-face meetings.
80+%
Online
A course where most or all of the content is delivered online.
Typically have no face-to-face meetings.
(Source: Allen & Seaman, 2007, p. 4)
Being a part of the institutions of higher learning in Malaysia, polytechnics have been
employing the blended learning approach through its self-developed learning management
system – Curriculum Online Document Information System (CIDOS) (Saharudin, Hamzah &
Rahman, 2020). Romli (2016) in her study claimed that the respondents (polytechnic
commerce diploma students) well received CIDOS for the means of blended learning.
Nevertheless, the current Covid-19 pandemic disallows face-to-face delivery and hence online
learning has to be implemented, by hook or by crook, among Malaysian polytechnics.
The implementation of online learning is not without any issues. Students’ readiness is
one of them. Anwar et al. (2020), for instance, reported that most of the 117 university students
in their study “were ready to participate actively during the online classes” (p. 39). Likewise,
a study conducted by Yusoff, Hashim & Muhamad (2020) some time before the
implementation of MCO found that a vast majority of their respondents (228 polytechnic
students) were with a high level of readiness for online learning. On the other hand, Allam et
al. (2020) discovered that their survey samples (n = 631), consisting of diploma and degree
students, were ready for online distance learning in terms of computer/internet literacy
competency, but not so for self-directed learning and motivation for learning levels.
Meanwhile, Chung, Subramaniam and Dass (2020) surveyed 399 university students in
Malaysia and found that the respondents were generally ready for online learning, but
surprisingly, “females are found to be more ready than male, [and] degree students are more
ready than diploma students…” (p. 46).
Next, quite a number of previous studies examined students’ perception on online
learning during the Covid-19 pandemic in different countries. To illustrate, Demuyakor (2020)
investigated the perceptions of Ghanaian international higher education students in China. He
found that the majority of the respondents claimed that online learning programme to be a very
good idea and they supported it. Besides that, Nambiar (2020) studied post-secondary students’
and teachers’ perspective on the impact of online learning during the pandemic. It was reported

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that more than 80% of both teachers and students preferred classroom teaching method than
online classes due to various reasons. A study among Pakistan tertiary students by Adnan and
Anwar (2020) too discovered that the students were not fond of online learning due to a number
of constraints. Not only that, Unger and Meiran (2020) reported that a big number of their
students in a US university expressed “anxiety towards the sudden transition to strictly online
distance learning…” (p. 259).
Last but not least, the possible challenges faced by the students for online learning
during the Covid-19 pandemic should not be neglected. Chung et al. (2020), for instance,
disclosed that according to their respondents, the biggest challenge of online learning is internet
connectivity for degree students, and difficulty to understand the content of the subject for
diploma students. Besides, from the educators’ point of view, Yusuf and Ahmad (2020, p. 209)
observed the following major findings regarding the challenges for online learning:
i. Students were less focused on online teaching and learning;
ii. Learning platform/medium was not satisfactory;
iii. Students were without basic learning tools, such as books and laptops (which were left
behind in their residential colleges);
iv. Internet access was not satisfactory to the extent that lectures needed to be extended
from the actual lecture period;
v. Poor internet access to educators causing disruption to learning time; and
vi. Students did not attend the online lectures.
Methodology
As a preliminary work, the present study adopted the quantitative method, specifically a cross-
sectional survey study, in which “the information is collected at just at one point in time,
although the time it takes to collect all of the data may take anywhere from a day to a few
weeks or more” (Fraenkel, Wallen & Hyun, 2012, p. 394). Data were collected through the use
of Google Form containing a set of questionnaire adapted from previous studies – Nambair
(2020) and Chung et al. (2020). Convenience sampling was used for this online survey as the
researchers shared the Google Form link to their polytechnic students and invited them to
answer it on a voluntary basis for a duration of a week. The results obtained from Google Form
were then transferred to IBM SPSS Statistics software to obtain mean scores and standard
deviation values for better interpretation of the data. Table 2 displays the demographic
information of the 63 respondents who volunteered to answer the questionnaire. It can be seen
that most of the respondents are female, semester 1 and from the Commerce Department.
Table 2
Demographic Information of Respondents
Category
Frequency
Percentage (%)
Gender
Male
Female
16
47
25.4
74.6
Semester
Semester 1
Semester 2
Semester 3
Semester 4
Semester 5
37
3
3
4
16
58.7
4.8
4.8
6.3
25.4
Department
Civil Engineering Department
Electrical Engineering Department
Mechanical Engineering Department
Commerce Department
4
1
1
57
6.3
1.6
1.6
90.5

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Age
18 years old
19 years old
20 years old
21 years old
22 years old
35
7
15
4
2
55.6
11.1
23.8
6.3
3.2
Results and Discussions
As depicted in Table 3, while quite a number of them were undecided, more respondents were
satisfied (47.3%) with their online learning experience during Covid-19 pandemic, and almost
half of them (49.2%) felt good about the experience. Besides that, when asked about their
intention to continue using online learning, slightly more respondents (31.8%) agreed as
compared to those who disagreed (25.4%). Microsoft Teams / Zoom / Google Meet live lessons
are seen to be the most preferred online learning method (74.6%) among the respondents.
Table 3
Opinions on Online Learning Experience
No.
Questions & Options
Frequency
Percentage
(%)
Mean
Standard
Deviation
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Generally, how satisfied are you with your
online learning experience during Civid-19
pandemic?
Very satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral/Undecided
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
How is your online learning experience during
Covid-19 Pandemic?
Very good
Good
Neutral/Undecided
Poor
Very poor
Do you agree that you intend to continue using
online learning?
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral/Undecided
Disagree
Strongly disagree
What is your most preferred online learning
method?
Pre-recorded lecture uploaded to
Youtube/Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams / Zoom / Google
Meet live lessons
Whatsapp / Telegram text messages /
materials
CIDOS materials
4
26
26
7
0
5
26
28
4
0
3
17
27
14
2
9
47
2
3
6.3
41.3
41.3
11.1
0
7.9
41.3
44.4
6.3
0
4.8
27.0
42.9
22.2
3.2
14.3
74.6
3.2
4.8
3.43
3.51
3.08
Not
applicable
.777
.738
.903
Not
applicable

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Others
2
3.2
To survey the students’ opinion on the challenges faced on online learning during the
Covid-19 pandemic, eight statements were provided, and respondents were asked to rank the
statements from Rank 1 (most significant challenge) to Rank 8 (least significant challenge).
The results shown in Table 4 have been re-arranged according to the mean scores. It is
interpreted in such a way that the lower the mean score, the more significant the challenge is.
Therefore, it can be clearly seen that the biggest challenge regarding online learning among the
students is the difficulty to focus due to distractions from their surroundings, followed by
difficulty to understand the content of the course. Different online learning methods, slow
personal laptop/devices and limited broadband data are, among others, the least significant
challenges according to the respondents of the study.
Table 4
Challenges Faced on Online Learning
Ranking
Q5. Challenges Faced on Online Classes during the Covid-19
Pandemic
Mean
Standard
Deviation
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Difficult to focus due to distractions from my surroundings
Difficult to understand the content of the courses
Internet connectivity
Lack of motivation due to absence of face-to-face contact with
coursemates and lecturers
Lack of technical skills in using online learning
Limited broadband data
Slow personal laptop/devices
Too many different online learning methods used by different
lecturers.
3.49
3.54
4.13
4.29
4.84
5.11
5.21
5.40
2.409
1.874
2.106
1.827
1.928
2.178
2.404
2.715
Table 5
Online Classes VS Face-to-face Classes
No.
Statements
Percentage (%)
Mean
Standard
Deviation
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Neutral /
Undecided
Agree
Strongly
Agree
(Disagree)
(Agree)
Q6
Online classes are more effective
than face-to-face mode.
9.5
27.0
42.9
15.9
4.8
2.79
.986
(36.5)
(20.7)
Q7
There is a lack of interaction during
online classes.
1.6
3.2
41.3
44.4
9.5
3.57
.777
(4.8)
(53.9)
Q8
Online classes are more convenient
than face-to-face mode.
4.8
23.8
42.9
23.8
4.8
3.00
.933
(28.6)
(28.6)
Q9
Quality of discussion is low in
online classes.
1.6
9.5
36.5
38.1
14.3
3.54
.913
(11.1)
(52.4)
Q10
Online classes are less structured
than face-to-face mode.
0
4.8
49.2
39.7
6.3
3.48
.692
(4.8)
(46.0)
Q11
Online classes save time.
1.6
7.9
36.5
39.7
14.3
3.57
.893
(9.5)
(54.0)
Q12
0
4.8
25.4
46.0
23.8
3.89
.825

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No.
Statements
Percentage (%)
Mean
Standard
Deviation
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Neutral /
Undecided
Agree
Strongly
Agree
(Disagree)
(Agree)
Technical issues disrupt the flow
and pace of online classes.
(4.8)
(69.8)
Q13
It is difficult to clarify doubts in
online classes compared to face-to-
face mode.
1.6
6.3
31.7
52.4
7.9
3.59
.796
(7.9)
(60.3)
Even though it was reported earlier that the respondents were rather positive about their
online leaning experience, Table 5 illustrates how more respondents would prefer face-to-face
classes than online classes. For example, Item Q6, more respondents (36.5%, M = 2.79, SD =
.986) disagreed that online classes are more effective than face-to-face mode (20.7%). The
highest percentage of agreement in this section is Item Q12 in which almost 70% of the
respondents agreed that technical issues disrupt the flow and pace of online classes. The only
item that online classes are preferred is Item Q11 about the time-saving nature of online classes
(M = 3.57, SD = .893).
Conclusion
Based on the results, it can be claimed that in overall, more students are satisfied with their
online learning experience during the Covid-19 pandemic and claiming that the experience to
be good, with preference on live online lessons. Besides that, the main challenges faced by
students are difficulty to focus due to distractions from surroundings and difficulty to
understand the content of the course. Finally, more students preferred face-to-face classes than
online classes. Therefore, it can be concluded that even though the students are satisfied with
their online learning experience, yet if given a choice, they would still prefer face-to-face
classes.
However, the researchers do note the limitations of the present study, which include
convenience sampling, and relatively smaller size of samples. Hence the findings of the study
may not be representative enough of the whole pre-determined population – polytechnic
students in Malaysia. All in all, the findings may still be able to highlight some implications to
the policy makers.
Acknowledgments
The researchers would like to thank all the students who participated in this online survey.
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