Online Learning Experiences of University Students and the Effects of Online Learning on their Learning Practices

Abstract

Online education has become an indispensable part of modern education all over the world especially in the last 20 years. One of the fields where teaching through online education has been popular and widespread is foreign language teaching. Thus, the pre-service English language teachers’ online learning experiences in their departments can be significant for both their future teaching practices and teacher education in designing and implementing the online courses for students studying in English language teaching (henceforth ELT) departments. To this end, this study aimed at understanding ELT students’ online learning experiences in online courses delivered asynchronously either as supplementary to face-to-face courses or through content that is directly delivered online independent of face-to-face courses. Apart from figuring out learners’ opinions about online learning, the effects of their online learning experiences on their study practices were scrutinized throughout the study. Designed as a qualitative study, the data were collected from 41 ELT department students in a state university and analyzed qualitatively based on identifying common themes and categories. The findings of the study showed that students held both positive and negative opinions regarding online learning. Additionally, it was found that online learning contributed to students in terms of gaining e-autonomous study skills.

Keywords

• English language teaching,online learning,asynchronous learning,e-autonomy

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