The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on University education: Investigating the negative effects of remote learning and potential social influences

In January 2020, the world was hit with the COVID-19 pandemic that has had drastic changes to social life. Part of these changes involved education. Education has taken a digital route with most classes being delivered remotely. This sudden shift in the digitization of education has changed what it means to be educated and can be seen as the new normal for the coming years.

Because of this, I sought to investigate the effects of remote learning on university students due to the covid-19 pandemic. To do so, I turn to UTM undergraduate students to look at which personal academic barriers students are experiencing. I was also interested to see how these are furthered influenced by social and personal factors. In this blog post, I address only some of the findings of my research, like the lack of focus, motivation as well as a lack of academic resources that many students are experiencing during this time. I discuss the variation of this in relation to students’ socioeconomic standing.

Methodology

To conduct my research, I utilize a three-pronged approach that uses content analysis, interviews and surveys.  To gather data using the online content analysis method, I used University of Toronto and UTM student forms on social media platforms. Specifically, I gathered most of my data from UTM reddit boards as well as some from “Spotted@UTM” an Instagram confession account. I conducted 9 interviews with UTM students over Zoom who were willing to share their experiences with remote learning. I used surveys to reach the greater UTM population and understand their experiences with remote learning within the last 11 months. The total number of survey participants was 106.

Barriers of Academic Success for UTM Students

Lack of Focus

One major barrier UTM students are facing is a lack of focus. Analyzing social media posts in the last six months, many students have discussed finding it difficult to focus on their classes and coursework while learning from their homes. On UTM student posted the following: “when I was on residence, if I couldn’t study in my room, I’d pack my bags and force myself to study at IB……now I’m stuck at home with lots of distractions…”. In addition to the social media posts, all of students interviewed stated that they were facing a lack of focus in their classes and coursework. One student interviewed stated the following: “But then when you’re just listening to a podcast, or just a lecture on your own, it’s hard to focus, you just feel disengaged. And it’s just boring, literally…”. To add to this, 80% of survey respondents stated that they were finding it hard to focus on their online courses by answering agree or strongly agree to this question.

Lack of Motivation

Another major barrier facing UTM students is a lack of motivation. In addition to the lack of focus posts on social media, many students have also stated that they were feeling unmotivated overall when it came to their studies. One user posted the following: “It just sucks cause I hate online. I can’t concentrate in class, I don’t feel motivated at all and honestly the workload feels like its 10x more”. Looking to the interviews, it was found that many of the participants stated they were experiencing a lack of motivation. “So like I would stay and do work, at school, and like likes going to the library like stuff like that and like without that it’s just like I moved from like my bed which is right there and like to here so it’s like, I can’t find the motivation so I do everything last minute”. In the survey, we can see that 56.6% of respondents reported experiencing a lack of motivation.

Lack of access to a quiet study space

The next barrier is a lack of access to a quiet study space. The online content analysis found that many students reported that they are living at home with their families, and that a lot of the time, their homes are noisy and distracting. One user posted: “I am having a hard time finishing my assignments and prepping for exams because my parents just can’t seem to keep the noise level down”. Looking into the interviews, all of interviewees are living at home with their families, whether it be in or outside of Canada. Almost all of the interviewees reported that they have access to a quiet study space, however there are still some distractions from the people present around them. This includes siblings, and parents as many are working from home and/or doing online school as well. One interviewee stated the following: “….my brother is 13. And he online games with his friends. And literally to the point where like, he’ll be screaming. There was 10 of us in the class, we were always like, talking for the straight two hours every single week. Yeah. And I’d be in the middle of like participating and you just hear screaming, and then I’d lose my train of thought…”. Looking into the survey, we can see that 87.6% of students are living at home with their parents, with only 1% of participants living alone. Looking at the graph below, we can see that 61.3% have access to a quiet personal study space, and 31% have access to a quiet shared space.

Lack of reliable internet

The next barrier found is the lack of reliable internet. The online content analysis found very few students that were having trouble with their personal internet connection making it hard for them to access their classes properly and complete their coursework suitably. The majority of interviewees stated that they have access to high-speed internet. One interviewee stated the following: “Sometimes my Wi Fi is like timing out while I’m in a lecture”. Looking at the survey, we can see that only 77.4% of students have access to high speed internet.

Social Isolation

Another barrier to online learning that students are facing is social isolation. The online content analysis found that many students were facing the social isolation that comes with remote learning. Many students feel that they are unable to socialize and connect with their classmates and friends effectively to meet their social needs. One student posted on reddit: “Online classes are treating me well in regards to saving up on quite a bit of money, but in terms of making connections let alone friends, it’s putting a huge dent into my body, a dent that I’m not sure if I can recover from”. In my interviews, while I didn’t ask a specific question regarding social isolation, one interviewee stated that remote learning has left them feeling isolated: “There’s no interaction whatsoever with anyone, you’ll feel basically really tired from sitting all day on the same chair….. It just makes you feel isolated. It makes you it just makes you wish you could go back to a class and just see people and talk to the prof.”

Mental Health

Another barrier that students are facing is the decline in their mental health. The online content analysis shows that students are speaking on their declining mental health symptoms which include depression, feeling anxious, insomnia, loneliness etc. One Reddit user stated: “Like I’m living at home and it sucks sitting for classes inside ALL day long then doing unnecessary assignments on top of it. My mental health is spiraling and I’m not going to act on my feelings, but I just want this depressing cycle to end”. The decline in mental health can also be seen in the interviews. When asked how the transition to remote learning has had an effect on their mental health, one interviewee stated: “certain events during the fall semester did negatively impact my mental health in terms of added stress and anxiety due to technical technological problems and trying to integrate to a new way of learning even though I did take online courses in the summer prior to the fall semester. It was still kind of a challenge”.

In the survey, one question asked respondents to rate their mental health. As we can see, the majority of respondents stated that their mental health is either poor or fair.

The role of Social Inequality

One social factor which may contribute to the prevalent barriers experienced by UTM students can be allocated to racial identity. The environment in which one learns is incredibly important. Studies have shown that the environment can affect a student’s academic progress by as much as 25%. The accessibility of a quiet study space wether it be personal or shared, does have an impact on one’s academic achievement. In addition to a quiet study space, internet access, or lack thereof also have a negative impact. Students without a stable internet connect face difficulty with connecting with their professors or classmates, watch lectures and complete assignments. Looking at the charts below, based on the survey results, we can see the discrepancies between two groups of UTM students in terms of access to a quiet study space and internet access: White and Racialized.

Access to a quiet study space

Looking at the charts below, we can also compare access to high speed internet.

Looking at quiet space and internet access from a different lens, we can investigate discrepancies based on socioeconomic standing. For this, household income brackets were divided into three categories. One being the highest bracket with a household income of $100,000 and higher, the second is the middle-income bracket with a household income of $50,000-$99,000, with the last bracket being $0-49,999.

Access to quiet study space

Comparing all three income brackets we can see the differences in access to a quiet study space depending on one’s household income, with the lower having less access.

Access to high-speed internet

Looking at both access to high speed internet and quiet study space, we can see that racial identity and socioeconomic status play a large role in wether one has access. This can be due to many variables, one being the high cost of high-speed internet. According to a study by CBC, the average household spends $203 a month in internet access which is 3x the rate of inflation (CBC, 2015). This can cause a digital divide among socioeconomic and racialized groups, especially in rural areas where internet access is less available. In addition to this, housing plays a factor. Racialized and lower socioeconomic class individuals are more likely to live in overcrowded households. This can contribute to the divide in quiet space and internet access. 

Conclusion

This research contributes to the overall discussion on how the shift to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic has affected University students. Firstly, it provides a first look at how students experienced remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. These experiences bring awareness of barriers that may arise to negatively impact students’ learning. Secondly, the research helped to highlight the social and personal factors behind the barriers. These social and personal factors have highlighted the inequality that universities help perpetuate, but also highlight the need for flexibility and equitable accommodation when it comes to university education in order to benefit the needs of its students. This can help students experience learning through a way that suits their lives and will help gear them towards a high academic achievement.

Through this research, it is clear that the inequality that students face outside of the classroom as well as their personal academic achievement cannot be understood independently of each other. This research shows that it is necessary to study the academic achievements of students during the COVID-19 pandemic alongside the social inequalities faced by students as they area affected by one another. The flattening of the COVID-19 curve and the transition back into a “normal” life during the current pandemic requires the closure of all educational institutions. Due to these measures, it is important to consider the positive and negative effects of the measures on students and incorporate these into the reopening plans in years to come.

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Alexandra Henry