Learning to Learn with COVID-19: An Exploration into Sri Lankan Undergraduates’ Attitudes and Experiences vis-à-vis Emergency Remote Teaching

This article focuses on undergraduate students’ experiences and attitudes to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) during and after the first COVID-19 lockdown in Sri Lanka, which began in March 2020. The pandemic triggered a shift from traditional educational methods to online teaching and learning. For this transition to be successful, the opportunities and challenges of online learning during a pandemic should be studied. The article and its findings are based on a questionnaire and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with eighteen undergraduates of a degree-awarding, non-state higher education institute (NSHEI). Overall, the majority of students displayed a favorable attitude to online education and a preference for blended learning in the future. Advantages were reduced travel time and cost, punctuality, the ability to attend lectures from comfortable surroundings, and the availability of recordings of the lecture. Disadvantages were inadequate internet facilities, devices, and training in the use of the internet and the Learning Management System (LMS). Disrupted concentration and motivation due to the absence of a good learning environment was also reported, as were the limitations of the mobile phone as the primary device for online learning, lack of face-to-face interaction and immediate feedback/ clarification, COVID fatigue, and exam related stress. Suggestions for overcoming these issues are provided at the end of the article.