University Student’s Opinions on Distance Education during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Oct 15, 2026

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Technological advances and the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated major shifts in education, particularly in distance learning, creating both advantages and new difficulties for students, teachers, and institutions. This qualitative study investigates problems arising in distance education and examines their effects in depth from university students’ perspectives. Convenience sampling selected 37 second-year students in Türkiye, and data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analyzed through content and thematic analysis.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Distance education concept and development

Distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic

Anatolian Journal ofEducation e-ISSN: 2547-9652 April 2024 ● Vol.9, No.1 [www.e-aje.net](www.e-aje.net)[ ](www.e-aje.net)pp. 97-112 University Student’s Opinions on Distance Education during the Covid-19 Pandemic1 Eren Akdağ Kurnaz Dr., Kütahya Dumlupınar University, [eren.akdag@dpu.edu.tr](eren.akdag@dpu.edu.tr) Asım Arı Prof., Eskişehir Osmangazi University, [ari@ogu.edu.tr](ari@ogu.edu.tr) Technological advances and the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a significant paradigm shift in the field of education, especially in the field of distance education. In this period, although distance education offers a number of advantages to its users, it has also brought some difficulties. This sudden transition has had a profound impact on students, teachers, andinstitutions, leading to changes in teaching methods, assessment practices, and student engagement strategies. This study aims to investigate the problems that arise in the distance education process and to examine the effects of these problems on students in detail. A qualitative approach is considered ideal since it enables deeper understanding of experiences of university students during distance education. Convenience sampling was chosen because it provided easy access for the researchers and allowed the inclusion of participants who met the required criteria. The participants consisted of 37 people, 28 girls and 9 boys, who had experienced the distance education and were studying in the Psychological Counselling and Guidance programme in the second year of a state university located in the Aegean region of Türkiye. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using content analysis and thematic analysis methods. According to the findings of the study, the problems encountered by the students in the distance education process were listed under the following main themes: technological problems, problems related to the monitoring and evaluation of the course, motivation problems, emotional and physical problems, communication problems, problems related to domestic and environmental factors, feeling of professional inadequacy. In addition, students' suggestions for solutions to these problems and their opinions about whether they prefer face-to-face or online education were also discussed. As a result, the study offers suggestions for educational institutions and educators to overcome the difficulties encountered in distance education and to make the experience a positive one. Keywords: distance education, university students, content analysis, COVID 19, educational technology INTRODUCTION The COVID-19 pandemic, which emerged at the beginning of 2020 and had a worldwide impact, dragged people into an unfamiliar process. This process has brought many changes not only at the individual but also at the social level. One of the areas most affected by these changes has undoubtedly been education. As of the middle of the 2020 spring semester, university students took a break from face-to-face education and courses continued with synchronous and asynchronous distance education methods. University students found themselves in a different order in front of screens at 1 This article has been presented at16th International Computer and Instructional Technologies Symposium which was held on 26-28 October 2023 in Eskişehir Osmangazi University. Citation: Akdağ Kurnaz, E., & Arı, A. (2024). University student’s opinions on distance education during the Covid-19 pandemic. Anatolian Journal of Education, 9(1), 97-112. [https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2024.917a](https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2024.917a) 98 University Student’s Opinions on Distance Education … home instead of the classroom environments they were used to continue their education. In this new process, students and educators have tried to find out how to get the most out of distance education and online courses by experiencing and researching. With this process, institutions have h

FAQs

What is the main aim of the study on distance education?

The study investigates the problems that arise in the distance education process and examines how these problems affect university students in detail.

How were participants selected and what was their background?

Convenience sampling was used to include eligible participants. The study involved 37 university students (28 girls, 9 boys) in the Psychological Counselling and Guidance programme, in the second year of a state university in the Aegean region of Türkiye.

How were the data collected and analyzed?

Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using content analysis and thematic analysis methods.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Mabel