Suddenly eLearning: A qualitative study of university students during COVID-19

When an organization has to turn to eLearning practically overnight and without preparation as it was the case in spring 2020 due to COVID-19 regulations, there are many challenges to be overcome This contribution is based on qualitative interviews with 34 students studying for becoming primary school teachers at KPH Vienna/Krems (Austria) in April and May 2020 using an online conferencing tool Students were asked about their experience after six to seven weeks of eLearning, the challenges they had to face as well as what they missed most when learning online Finally, they should also state if they could imagine keeping some elements of eLearning for the next terms as well Results show that most lecturers used the already established learning management system moodle Some students struggled with organizing their new university life in the beginning due to missing structuring elements Also, group-work was perceived as rather difficult compared to the terms before What students missed most were social contacts to fellow students but also to lecturers Although there were quite some challenges to be overcome for students, most of them said that they were interested in keeping some elements of eLearning for the future - mostly to be more flexible, to save time and to engage more deeply with the subjects The study thus shows that eLearning or blended learning might be an option even for a very traditional university like KPH Vienna/Krems © 2020 Academic Conferences Limited All rights reserved