Undergraduates' Barriers to Online Learning During the Pandemic in Greece

Abstract

In this paper we explore the difficulties undergraduates from Greek Higher Educational Institutions faced during the transition to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By analyzing qualitative data from an online survey (N = 2093), we were able to identify the barriers undergraduates encountered during this transition and make inferences about the quality of the way online learning was implemented. The most frequently reported barriers include problems that undergraduates perceived as being caused by their lecturers, internet connection issues during an online lecture and the perceived limited social interactions that synchronous environments can afford. The paper argues that the way online learning was implemented by Greek Higher Educational Institutions did not result a meaningful learning experience for undergraduates. Our results are relevant to universities that are either forced in implementing emergency online protocols or wish to support their undergraduates’ learning experience.