Coronavirus Impacts on Students and Online Learning

Spreading worldwide and killing thousands, Coronavirus affected many aspects of life negatively. Education is one of the most affected areas. Under lockdown, the whole education process carried online thus online education became a part of lecturers’ and students’ life. Despite its contribıtions to sustainability of the education process, several downsides of online education occured. One of these downsides is the lack of cooperation among the students. 

Ineffective cooperation is the result of several different situations. One of them is the absence of a real classroom experience. Students are not able to communicate and interact with their peers when they are online. Looking at a screen and seeing faces or sometimes just names, prevent students from getting to know each other. In a real classroom atmosphere, students are more comfortable communicating with their friends, but online classes do not include these human dynamics. 

The lack of communication creates a sense of alienation which affects not only the lecture itself but also the after-class activities. Students tend to escape group work in online education because they feel uneasy with their friends. The physical distance creates mental and emotional distances among them. Although students are able to communicate with their friends through mobile phones, because they do not feel the real pressure of a real classroom with real friends, they delay the group work until the deadline. 

In sum, the lack of communication leads to the lack of cooperation among the students. Sense of alienation prevents them from working effectively in peer groups. As a solution students can be motivated to communicate with their friends after classes