Students’ Experiences with Online Teaching and Learning in Norway: A Qualitative Study into Nutrition Education One Year after the COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic forced a rapid shift to emergency remote teaching due to the lockdown in March 2020. Following up on a mixed-methods study on emergency teaching among students in public health nutrition (PHN) at the beginning of the pandemic, the aim of this study was to explore the students’ experiences with digital teaching one year after the first lockdown. We especially want to shed light on factors that promoted or inhibited the online learning environment one year into the pandemic. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted (Zoom) among third year bachelor’s and first and second year master’s students in PHN. Using thematic analysis, four main themes emerged from the data: (1) ‘increased participation in digital teaching’, (2) ‘reduced learning quality’, (3) ‘motivation and social contact’, and (4) ‘important factors in digital teaching’. The students identified several advantages of digital teaching. More students attended class due to its accessibility, flexibility, and efficiency; however, the lack of social contact and collaboration with peers were challenging. Despite these challenges, active learning technologies, such as student response systems (SRS), shared documents, and the use of cameras, were important factors for successful digital teaching. The results indicate that active learning improves students’ digital learning environment.