A Study on the Impact of the Sudden Change to Online Education on the Motivation of Higher Education Students

Abstract

This study investigates the extent to which students’ motivation has changed following the decision to offer all courses entirely online as an emergency remote teaching (ERT). Many scholars describe online learning as the future of education. This mode will soon replace on-campus instruction; thus, such a study is important for higher education institutions (HEIs) that decide to use technology platforms at the times of unpredicted crises. Recent research has focused attention on student motivation in online learning contexts. However, this project results from the sudden transformation to remote online learning caused by COVID-19. The study involved 20 students from an Omani university who participated in four focused group discussions. The findings revealed that students’ motivation in remote online learning is impacted by several academic factors (e.g., teachers and lack of group work) and non-academic factors (e.g., internet connectivity and family obligations).