senior high school experience in pandemic essay

What Life Was Like for Students in the Pandemic Year

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In this video, Navajo student Miles Johnson shares how he experienced the stress and anxiety of schools shutting down last year. Miles’ teacher shared his experience and those of her other students in a recent piece for Education Week. In these short essays below, teacher Claire Marie Grogan’s 11th grade students at Oceanside High School on Long Island, N.Y., describe their pandemic experiences. Their writings have been slightly edited for clarity. Read Grogan’s essay .

“Hours Staring at Tiny Boxes on the Screen”

By Kimberly Polacco, 16

I stare at my blank computer screen, trying to find the motivation to turn it on, but my finger flinches every time it hovers near the button. I instead open my curtains. It is raining outside, but it does not matter, I will not be going out there for the rest of the day. The sound of pounding raindrops contributes to my headache enough to make me turn on my computer in hopes that it will give me something to drown out the noise. But as soon as I open it up, I feel the weight of the world crash upon my shoulders.

Each 42-minute period drags on by. I spend hours upon hours staring at tiny boxes on a screen, one of which my exhausted face occupies, and attempt to retain concepts that have been presented to me through this device. By the time I have the freedom of pressing the “leave” button on my last Google Meet of the day, my eyes are heavy and my legs feel like mush from having not left my bed since I woke up.

Tomorrow arrives, except this time here I am inside of a school building, interacting with my first period teacher face to face. We talk about our favorite movies and TV shows to stream as other kids pile into the classroom. With each passing period I accumulate more and more of these tiny meaningless conversations everywhere I go with both teachers and students. They may not seem like much, but to me they are everything because I know that the next time I am expected to report to school, I will be trapped in the bubble of my room counting down the hours until I can sit down in my freshly sanitized wooden desk again.

“My Only Parent Essentially on Her Death Bed”

By Nick Ingargiola, 16

My mom had COVID-19 for ten weeks. She got sick during the first month school buildings were shut. The difficulty of navigating an online classroom was already overwhelming, and when mixed with my only parent essentially on her death bed, it made it unbearable. Focusing on schoolwork was impossible, and watching my mother struggle to lift up her arm broke my heart.

My mom has been through her fair share of diseases from pancreatic cancer to seizures and even as far as a stroke that paralyzed her entire left side. It is safe to say she has been through a lot. The craziest part is you would never know it. She is the strongest and most positive person I’ve ever met. COVID hit her hard. Although I have watched her go through life and death multiple times, I have never seen her so physically and mentally drained.

I initially was overjoyed to complete my school year in the comfort of my own home, but once my mom got sick, I couldn’t handle it. No one knows what it’s like to pretend like everything is OK until they are forced to. I would wake up at 8 after staying up until 5 in the morning pondering the possibility of losing my mother. She was all I had. I was forced to turn my camera on and float in the fake reality of being fine although I wasn’t. The teachers tried to keep the class engaged by obligating the students to participate. This was dreadful. I didn’t want to talk. I had to hide the distress in my voice. If only the teachers understood what I was going through. I was hesitant because I didn’t want everyone to know that the virus that was infecting and killing millions was knocking on my front door.

After my online classes, I was required to finish an immense amount of homework while simultaneously hiding my sadness so that my mom wouldn’t worry about me. She was already going through a lot. There was no reason to add me to her list of worries. I wasn’t even able to give her a hug. All I could do was watch.

“The Way of Staying Sane”

By Lynda Feustel, 16

Entering year two of the pandemic is strange. It barely seems a day since last March, but it also seems like a lifetime. As an only child and introvert, shutting down my world was initially simple and relatively easy. My friends and I had been super busy with the school play, and while I was sad about it being canceled, I was struggling a lot during that show and desperately needed some time off.

As March turned to April, virtual school began, and being alone really set in. I missed my friends and us being together. The isolation felt real with just my parents and me, even as we spent time together. My friends and I began meeting on Facetime every night to watch TV and just be together in some way. We laughed at insane jokes we made and had homework and therapy sessions over Facetime and grew closer through digital and literal walls.

The summer passed with in-person events together, and the virus faded into the background for a little while. We went to the track and the beach and hung out in people’s backyards.

Then school came for us in a more nasty way than usual. In hybrid school we were separated. People had jobs, sports, activities, and quarantines. Teachers piled on work, and the virus grew more present again. The group text put out hundreds of messages a day while the Facetimes came to a grinding halt, and meeting in person as a group became more of a rarity. Being together on video and in person was the way of staying sane.

In a way I am in a similar place to last year, working and looking for some change as we enter the second year of this mess.

“In History Class, Reports of Heightening Cases”

By Vivian Rose, 16

I remember the moment my freshman year English teacher told me about the young writers’ conference at Bread Loaf during my sophomore year. At first, I didn’t want to apply, the deadline had passed, but for some strange reason, the directors of the program extended it another week. It felt like it was meant to be. It was in Vermont in the last week of May when the flowers have awakened and the sun is warm.

I submitted my work, and two weeks later I got an email of my acceptance. I screamed at the top of my lungs in the empty house; everyone was out, so I was left alone to celebrate my small victory. It was rare for them to admit sophomores. Usually they accept submissions only from juniors and seniors.

That was the first week of February 2020. All of a sudden, there was some talk about this strange virus coming from China. We thought nothing of it. Every night, I would fall asleep smiling, knowing that I would be able to go to the exact conference that Robert Frost attended for 42 years.

Then, as if overnight, it seemed the virus had swung its hand and had gripped parts of the country. Every newscast was about the disease. Every day in history, we would look at the reports of heightening cases and joke around that this could never become a threat as big as Dr. Fauci was proposing. Then, March 13th came around--it was the last day before the world seemed to shut down. Just like that, Bread Loaf would vanish from my grasp.

“One Day Every Day Won’t Be As Terrible”

By Nick Wollweber, 17

COVID created personal problems for everyone, some more serious than others, but everyone had a struggle.

As the COVID lock-down took hold, the main thing weighing on my mind was my oldest brother, Joe, who passed away in January 2019 unexpectedly in his sleep. Losing my brother was a complete gut punch and reality check for me at 14 and 15 years old. 2019 was a year of struggle, darkness, sadness, frustration. I didn’t want to learn after my brother had passed, but I had to in order to move forward and find my new normal.

Routine and always having things to do and places to go is what let me cope in the year after Joe died. Then COVID came and gave me the option to let up and let down my guard. I struggled with not wanting to take care of personal hygiene. That was the beginning of an underlying mental problem where I wouldn’t do things that were necessary for everyday life.

My “coping routine” that got me through every day and week the year before was gone. COVID wasn’t beneficial to me, but it did bring out the true nature of my mental struggles and put a name to it. Since COVID, I have been diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety. I began taking antidepressants and going to therapy a lot more.

COVID made me realize that I’m not happy with who I am and that I needed to change. I’m still not happy with who I am. I struggle every day, but I am working towards a goal that one day every day won’t be as terrible.

Coverage of social and emotional learning is supported in part by a grant from the NoVo Foundation, at www.novofoundation.org . Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage. A version of this article appeared in the March 31, 2021 edition of Education Week as What Life Was Like for Students in the Pandemic Year

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Graduating seniors reflect on starting high school as the COVID-19 pandemic began

Jenny Brundin

The class of 2024 started their high school careers during COVID-19, an experience that colored the next four years. Graduating seniors in Colorado say it was tough, but many feel stronger for it.

Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Zoom Parties, Missed Proms, Uncertain Futures. High School Seniors Share What It’s Like to Come of Age During a Pandemic

G en Xers graduated as 9/11 changed the world forever. Millennials graduated into a job market decimated by the Great Recession. Now, in 2020, Gen Z could very well be renamed Generation Pandemic. The young adults graduating from high school this year will be defined by their Zoom educations and viral TikToks, but also by their lost summer jobs and unpredictable futures. Fourteen high school seniors from around the world told TIME what it’s like to enter a society that’s being completely reshaped.

Lorraie Forbes, 17

Lorraie lives in Brooklyn and recently joined the U.S. Navy.

I am supposed to report for boot camp in September. I’m trying to prepare myself physically and mentally, but it’s hard because the gyms are closed. I’m upset about pools being closed too, because part of the Navy physical–screening test is swimming. I’m a terrible swimmer. This was the time I needed to practice. I’ve been working out three to six hours a day at home. I have a barbell, dumbbell and a pull-up bar and am using random household items: chairs for dips and my scale to measure out 10 lb. of books or bags of sugar.

I pray all the time. Meditating on the Word I get on Sunday helps me keep myself sane. It also helps to keep myself occupied, so I’ve been making myself and my sister a detailed schedule every day. Online school has been a challenge, especially because I can’t look at a computer for long without my vision getting blurry and getting headaches. And my school isn’t teaching right now—they just hand you work, give you a due date, and that’s it.

I’m also involved in social- and political-justice activism. All the accounts of recent police brutality have made me rethink my career after I leave the Navy. We’ve been seeing how the system wasn’t made for people of our kind. All of these incidents, especially in my area in Brownsville, have made me want to pursue a career in law enforcement: to change the system from within. —As told to Andrew R. Chow

Louis Maes, 17

Louis lives in Bordeaux, France, and hopes to pursue a law degree but has not committed to a university.

Before the lockdown , I was living a nonstop life. Between preparing for my final exams and attending competitive handball competitions, I never stopped. But when I found myself stuck at home with my two younger siblings and parents with an unlimited amount of free time, I turned toward the thing I love most: making music .

Since lockdown began, I have written more than 20 songs—polyphonic electronic music with lyrics. When you find yourself in a bubble, alone, it forces you to reflect. I write music about my life, which lets me reflect on who I want to be when lockdown ends and my adult life begins. My songs are about love, solitude and growing up. It’s also given me the chance to appreciate the life I’ve had so far. Spending so much time with my family during my last year living at home has brought us closer.

Before lockdown, my dream was to work in the music industry. But these past few weeks have shown me that music can be a huge part of my life without being my career. It will always be there.

In some ways, this has shown me that all difficult periods can be nourishing. Of course, there have been hard days. I love solitude but not for this long. But the bad days have helped me create some very sincere music.

Over the past few months, I’ve realized that life will always be unstable. If you look at history, there have always been crises —moments of uncertainty and unrest. I think it’s about learning how to live within them. —As told to Mélissa Godin

Kamryn Sneed, 18

Kamryn lives in Durham, N.C., and received a scholarship to attend North Carolina Central University in the fall.

I cried the whole first month. I was just watching my senior year go by, and it really hurt. I’ve seen each class have a prom, I’ve seen each class graduate. We’re having a drive-in graduation ceremony at Southpoint [Mall].

All the families have to stay in their cars as the graduates walk across the stage, 6 ft. apart . I like that they’re doing this, but it’s still not the same. We didn’t get our senior pictures taken, so my mom’s sorority sister bought me a photo shoot [at home]. I was having so much fun. My family bought me a prom dress, and I’m going to have a miniprom in my yard.

Colleges are saying they’re going to close campus. People always say those are the best four years of their life, and I want those to be my best four years. I don’t want college if I don’t get the full experience. Walking on campus, meeting new people, going to the caf, making beats on the table. I want that. I don’t want just schoolwork. So far we had a virtual open house—that was actually fun.

I want to be an oral surgeon and a dentist. I still want to be a doctor. It’s been my dream since second grade. I feel like we’ll grasp the virus before I graduate college, but the future is a huge fear. We can’t live life like we did before. It’s made me think of the road differently. Right now we’re just floating. —As told to Jamie Ducharme

María Victoria Cárdenas Guerra, 18

María Victoria lives in Buenos Aires and plans to attend the University of Buenos Aires.

I thought I had lived through every kind of crisis. I’m Venezuelan, and the political and migratory crisis brought me to Colombia and then Argentina. I grew up acutely aware of how fragile our society and economy were. But I never worried about health.

Since the pandemic started, my worldview has completely changed. I grew up in countries where the government was not doing what they were supposed to do, but I always thought that Europe and North America had it figured out—I saw them as these utopias. But when I watched the news and saw how badly some authorities there were handling the crisis , it made me angry. This pandemic has made me want to study political science and economics so that I can positively influence people’s lives.

In many ways, this has forced me to become an adult. My parents were visiting family in Venezuela when the lockdown was announced and have not been able to re-enter the country. I’m living on my own, taking classes throughout the day and caring for the household in the evening. My parents send me money for food and things like that. In my spare time, I’ve been working on an auto-biography, and a series of short stories about feminism in Argentina. I’ve always loved writing, and lockdown has been an opportunity to focus on projects I’ve been dreaming about since I was 13 years old.

Of course, there are days when I feel sad. I watched the graduating class celebrate together last year and was so looking forward to experiencing that myself. But when I look at how many people are suffering, it makes me really grateful that I can stay home, eat and finish my education.

I don’t know if this pandemic will make us—our generation—paranoid. But I think it will make us really involved in everything from health to economic to political issues. I don’t think it is a negative thing to grow up like this. After all, this pandemic shows us how far we can go when we do what is best for everyone. —As told to Mélissa Godin

Lauren Ulrich, 17

Lauren lives in Rolla, Mo., and plans to attend Indiana University Bloomington

My main passion in life is the environment. It’s what I’ve been working so hard for: to have an impactful career and work to protect it. But while I was spending all my time in classes, journalism, internships and advocacy groups, I kind of lost touch with why I cared about the environment. With this free time, I’ve been able to spend more time in nature.

I live pretty close to part of the Mark Twain National Forest. I’ve been hiking a lot—I even went swimming in a river near my house, even though it’s pretty cold here still. When I was little, I would just go swimming somewhere for the fun of it. But I haven’t done that in a long time. When I jumped back in, that was a special moment for me: to let go of how serious I’ve been these last few years. I’ve been almost like my old self again.

I’ve almost been intentionally trying to take a break from worrying about issues that aren’t in my immediate control. Climate change is something I am incredibly passionate about, and I believe we need to be doing everything we can do to prevent it. But I’m learning through this experience that I can’t do everything. I need to make sure I’m as healthy as possible, so that I can make a bigger impact in the future. Knowing our economy is so unstable right now definitely makes me nervous, because I didn’t have a stable career path in the first place, and I especially don’t now. But I’m still going to do it: I know it’s what I’m meant to do. —As told to Andrew R. Chow

Kiana Aaron, 17

Kiana lives in Chicago, Ill., and plans to attend the University of Vermont in the fall.

I go to Chicago Bulls Prep; it’s a public charter school, a really good school, and I’m not just saying that. I went to a bad middle school; we didn’t really learn anything. Usually, I would get to school around 6:45 a.m. Sometimes I would work out, but most of the time I’d go to office hours, usually for chemistry. I had my AP Chem test yesterday and it went OK. But it’s weird; I don’t know how I feel about the AP testing this year, I don’t know if it’s fair. I did the best I could. After school, I would stay for more office hours or go to Wicker Park and stay there as long as possible, because it’s really hard to do homework at my house. I don’t have the best home life, so being at school is always more comfortable. Not being there feels weird. I miss my friends and especially my teachers.

Time feels so warped now; the days don’t feel separate. I wake up, eat breakfast, try to do some work. I’m just stuck with my mom and my brother’s dad and my little brother. I love him, and I love helping with him, but he’s always loud. It’s more the aura in my house; as soon as I walk in, it’s like, “Ugh!” My mom went back to work two weeks ago, and now I just wait for her to come home everyday. She provides everything for me and my siblings, but I have to do everything at home during the day, basically, now that she’s working. I help my brother with his classes, too. I have my phone, but I’m waiting to get a laptop from my school, because Bull has been sending laptops to kids.

My friend and I started an Instagram account sharing our class’s college plans. A lot of kids have messaged saying they’re really appreciative. The expectations are really high for us, so that’s what makes not having a graduation and not having a prom the sad part. Our school is so strict, that is the one time to have fun, and now we’re not having it. I had already gotten a dress — thank God it was not super expensive. It’s red, and on the top it’s a corset, and sparkly. I miss getting dressed up, but I have been doing my makeup; it’s really calming.

I applied for a summer enrichment program with the University of Vermont, but that might just be online now. I’ve been trying to get a job, but it’s really hard. I’m frustrated. My birthday is May 27, and I guess I’ll dress up, do my makeup really nice, have a photo shoot by myself. I want to make some cookies I’ve seen on TikTok . That’s pretty much it. —As told to Raisa Bruner

Zoey Meyer, 18

Zoey lives in Cape Town, South Africa, and hopes to attend university but has not yet committed to one.

Since I was a little girl, I’ve wanted to be a lawyer. I’ve always liked the idea of giving people justice. But seeing how some police officers have treated black and white people differently under lockdown has made me want to be a lawyer even more. It is not fair that two groups of people are treated so differently.

Lockdown has been hard for me and my family. Before all of this, I worked at a restaurant. I loved my job. And I needed to work because my parents can’t afford to give us extra things. We have food and a roof over our heads, but we pay for extra things like going out with our friends, clothes, toiletries. It not only gave me the money I needed but it helped me come out of my shell. I was shy, but that job forced me out of my comfort zone. Now, my boss says she won’t be able to give me another shift until they can recuperate their losses. My dad also lost his job. My brother and I have run out of toiletries. We don’t have a lot to begin with so this is really affecting us.

The thing I miss most is going to school. I miss having a purpose. Online school is not the same. Not everyone has wifi or data—mine cuts out a lot—so online classes are really difficult for some of us. There are also so many moments we will miss: our matriculation ball, walking around in our grad jackets and feeling proud.

But I know that all these challenges will make me a stronger, harder working and independent person. Before the pandemic, I already faced adversity. I don’t live in a very safe area. It terrifies me to think that there is crime right out my window. And now, this lockdown has made life more difficult. But I’ve learnt that we can put a stop to the whole world and that we will still be OK. —As told to Mélissa Godin

Addison Bilodeau, 17

Addison lives in Greenland, N.H. She plans to attend Coastal Carolina University.

To pay for college, I need to work. I usually work at a restaurant across the water in Maine, and throughout the school year I was like, “Oh, I’ll just work in the summer and put in more hours.” But now that the restaurant is closed I don’t know if that’s a possibility anymore, which is kind of nerve-racking. It definitely could impact going to college for me. I already put my deposit down, and my parents are helping me a lot. But there’s housing, books, meal plans. Hopefully the restaurant will reopen or I’ll find somewhere else to work. I will probably also have to take out more in student loans. My mom works for Marriott Hotels, and she’s on furlough. She’s very stressed but also embracing it: she’s started so many projects around the house. Our whole house is painted a different color now.

@addiemorocks_24 #아웃웨스트챌린지 this account is becoming very pet friendly ♬ OUT WEST (feat. Young Thug) - JACKBOYS & Travis Scott

I’ve also been getting back into crafts. Yesterday the superintendent allowed us to come into school for a socially distant pottery class, where we were allowed to glaze our finished pieces and take them home. Today I’m taking old clothes and sewing and tie-dyeing them. I started gardening, and we just got chicks to raise as chickens. And I also started taking part in a pen-pal program through school with seniors at a nursing home, who aren’t allowed to see anyone or have anyone come in.

These projects are definitely a good distraction because when I turn on my phone, it’s just all news about the outbreak and it’s overwhelming. In some ways it does allow me to get off my phone more. Before, I would come home from school, get on my phone, watch TV, do homework. Now I get off Zoom and just want to go outside. Being able to do something that takes my mind off of it and makes me feel normal is really helpful. —As told to Andrew R. Chow

Buey Grossman, 17

Buey lives in Ketchum, Idaho, and is an aspiring ski racer. His home county had one of the highest COVID-19 case rates in the U.S. by early April.

I’m an alpine ski racer, and I compete in four different events: slalom, giant slalom, Super G and downhill. This was my second year as a FIS athlete, which means competing with everyone 17 and up. We were actually at a race here, one of the last qualifiers, when we found out about coronavirus. At that race, I figured out I had qualified for U.S. nationals, but then the next day, I also found out that U.S. nationals were canceled. I’d like to ski at least D1 in college, so my plan was to take a gap year with the Team Clif Racing Academy, and go down to New Zealand in the summer. We’re hopefully still trying to do that, but I’m not sure what’s going to happen because of the circumstances.

I didn’t really think anyone I knew was going to get it when the virus first came here, but a lot of my friends got it, and a lot of our parents’ friends got it, and I know a few people who have died from it. I wasn’t expecting that. When we first started quarantining, my parents were really strict, not letting me leave the house whatsoever. I use my phone, but I’m not the most social person online, so that was tough. It got a little better when I was allowed to go backcountry skiing or hiking or just started taking my dog for a walk. Prom was canceled, and our senior quest [outdoors trip], and graduation. The school decided we’ll be doing a drive-by diploma pickup.

For spring term of senior year at my school, you can either take classes like normal or do a senior project. I chose to try kayaking blindfolded, and to run a Class 5 rapid with my blindfold on. I’ve always been a kayaker, so I started paddling local runs with a visual impairment and getting down the guiding technique. I decided to test it this month, right at the confluence of the Payette River where the South Fork and North Fork meet. The biggest takeaway was understanding the difference between perceived danger and actual danger, and being able to cope with the fear you’re feeling, but not let that control you or take over. You have to focus on the actual dangers that are there, and be prepared. But it’s good to adapt and make the best of it. —As told to Raisa Bruner

Megan Lee, 17

Megan lives in Hong Kong and hopes to go college in the fall, but is undecided.

In Hong Kong , lockdown started in late January or early February. So we started our online learning very early. Our school was able to adapt really well. I lost a lot of time with my friends, but getting to spend more time with my family is -really nice. My brother was in university in Canada, but he came home. I was scared our living habits would clash, but I think it actually brought us a lot closer because we were forced to spend time together. It kind of like made our friends closer too—we were able to find out who our true friends are.

On House Party (a group video–chatting service), seven or eight of us like to play Cards Against Humanity. It’s usually a game we play in person with real cards, but we tried it virtually, and it was actually really fun. And we love to make TikToks. They’re very bad. We have very low engagement, but it’s always fun to do them and laugh at each other.

It’s my last year playing basketball. Every single year I would represent the school at our Southeast Asia competition. This was supposed to be my last year. We were supposed to go to Singapore with the team. It got canceled, and I was very sad about it because it’s the last time I would get to play with my team and my friends.

I know that the rest of the summer will be kind of like how things are right now. My family was hoping that maybe when the quarantine measures are relaxed, we can go somewhere close like Vietnam or Japan to celebrate the end of high school. My universities that I’ve applied to haven’t said that the fall term will be postponed until January or will be online classes, so I’m looking forward to being able to resume normal life again, kind of, but in a different environment, whether it be at the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong or St. Andrews in Scotland. I’m just hoping, but I don’t think U.K. schools will postpone their fall term.

A lot has changed. Because I don’t know whether or not I’ll get to go to school—medicine is something I feel like I really need to be taught in person—I’ve been considering maybe taking a gap year. A lot of my friends have taken this into consideration as well. I would spend half of the time traveling and doing volunteer work and the other half probably gaining work experience and, like, doing internships and stuff. Not only that, but because of corona, I’ve learned a lot about the medical field and the different departments that need help. It’s kind of changed my thoughts about medicine—I’m maybe considering going into the intensive-care unit. —As told to Amy Gunia

Romy Stevens, 17

Stevens lives in Cape Town, South Africa, and is applying to universities for next year.

In these past weeks in lockdown I have completely cycled through the five stages of grief. Denial: I’m living my life exactly as I always do except everything must be done from inside the house. Plus no wasting time in traffic. Anger: way too many projects. Online school is really awful. We are definitely still learning and getting all our work done, but there is something physically and emotionally draining about sitting in front of the screen for 6 hours a day. And then when school is over you still have to do homework. You can never escape school because the borders between school and home have become blurred. Bargaining: I missed this stage, but most of the country went through it as we tried to get rights to go outside (we can now exercise outside from 6-9 a.m. yay). Depression : last week I was miserable. Definitely a case of the lockdown blues. Acceptance: This week I am feeling much better. I probably just had to go through the stage of crying for three days to feel a bit better.

Generally the whole situation really sucks because we are missing out on all the fun parts of our matric [senior] year. This is the last year to spend time with our friends, many of whom will be travelling overseas or going to different universities next year and so we won’t see them anymore.

I do have it much better than the majority of our population. We have a very resourced school which is still able to teach us during lockdown and most of us are relatively safe and comfortable in our houses with Internet access—so many students have no access to education at the moment, and may not have enough food or a safe place at home.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by 7k ieb victims (@ieb.memes_2020)

The one good thing that has come from this is we are forced to make more of an effort to connect with people. You do not just have the school day in common with everyone anymore and you cannot just rely on seeing people at school so you have to make an effort to contact them. For my group of friends it has been really nice because we’ve had time to contact the exchange students and our friends who have emigrated again. I have never had so many video calls in my life. Being able to contact my friends on Instagram, Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp video call is absolutely amazing and it is keeping me sane but it would really be nice just to give them a hug.

This Instagram account is the most wonderful representation of how South African teens are feeling at the moment: ieb.memes_2020 . Every year a different student runs an account that represents our final year. Usually it just consists of subject related memes with a lot of stressing and procrastination, but this year there is obviously a COVID twist. —As told to Mélissa Godin

Dhruv Krishna, 17

Dhruv lives in Allentown, Pa., and plans to attend the University of Virginia this fall.

We were on spring break when the corona hype hit the U.S. At first we were like, “Oh, this is cool, we get another couple days.” But those days turned into months, and then it hit us we would never see each other in person as a group again. We’ve been working for seven semesters, and this was supposed to be the best one.

We just finished AP-exam week. To celebrate, me and my friends are probably going to go to the parking lot. I’ve also been trying to manage the Team Arnav Foundation, which is definitely a struggle at this point. I founded it for my twin brother, who passed away from osteosarcoma in 2018. I didn’t want anyone else to have to go through that. We’ve raised about $60,000 to sponsor new [cancer] research so far. We had plans to do a charity run this spring. Of course, that can’t happen anymore. As a small business, it’s hard to keep going because the resources aren’t there. But we’re scheduling another run for when this is all over. This is a lifelong pursuit.

A silver lining has been reconnecting with so many old friends—elementary school friends, summer-camp friends—on Zoom calls. Everyone’s craving connection. Our school does Netflix parties. The most recent one was Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. We also FaceTime and stay up really late, like 4 or 5 a.m., just talking about stupid things. I wasn’t big on video games before, but now we’re doing ones we can all join in, like Call of Duty. My parents are very understanding because of the situation, but they’re also urging me to get outside and not spend all day looking at the screen. I’m working my way through reading the classics, which is a tedious challenge. Right now I’m on Jane Eyre. I just finished Pride and Prejudice and Great Expectations.

This fall, I’m supposed to go to the University of Virginia, and I’m keeping all my fingers and all my toes crossed we can go on campus. I’m excited to not only be away from these same four walls—my house, my bedroom—but also to meet new people and try new things. At home there are a lot of memories of my brother. This is the first time I’ve been alone for a summer at home, so it all feels foreign and different. I’m not entirely confident life will go back to normal, but I’m hopeful we can put all of this behind us. —As told to Raisa Bruner

Enrique Carrasco, 17

Enrique lives in El Paso, Tex., since emigrating from Mexico as a child. He plans to attend La Salle University in the fall.

At school, I would find happiness by bringing happiness to other people. Whenever I see someone who’s down, I feel like it’s my responsibility to bring them back up, to make them feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves. And that’s without a doubt much harder to do from home. I’ve been making memes of inside jokes for my classmates. I’ve kept in touch with the kids from my class because we have a big group chat going, but my best friend and I aren’t really the type to text each other, so we’ve kind of drifted apart because of that. He lives in Mexico, so I haven’t seen him in a really long time.

I was also president of El Otro Lado, which is Spanish for “the other side.” In the program, we take schools from out of town, and we show them what life is like on the border. The moment that things started getting real bad [with the coronavirus], the schools that we had left canceled all their trips. I was really, really disappointed.

It’s really a feeling of worry that has clouded over me. This idea that I’ve built for myself since the beginning of the year—the classic going out of state to college, you know, small town to big town, meeting new people, the whole college experience—might not be possible. I signed D1 for water polo, and I’ve been practicing from home, so that come August if the school does reopen and my season is still on, I can still be competing at the level that I was competing at before. The pools are closed, but I have a pool at home. I spend about six or seven hours a week practicing, and, apart from that, and schoolwork, I’ve been spending a lot of time with my mom. We recently finished watching Narcos: Mexico and The House of Flowers .

I’m worried about what’s going to happen, but, mostly, I miss seeing my friends. Hanging out, doing our shenanigans, and just making memories—that’s the biggest part. —As told to Anna Purna Kambhampaty

Milly Parvin, 18

Milly lives in London and plans to attend University College London.

With all the uncertainty, I don’t know if I’m going to experience the first few months at a university campus like I’d planned, so I’m quite nervous and confused about my short term future. Longer term, I’m inspired by the work I’ve seen teachers doing. The education system isn’t going to be the same after this, and the pandemic has shown that teachers are key workers too. Now I want to be a headteacher and run a school one day; I want to be the person that pushes others to reach their goals.

Through this time, I’ve wanted to add spirituality into my routine a bit more, and to work on my relationship with God. Now that it’s Ramadan, we have a lot of traditions. Normally I would help volunteer at my local mosque when we pray at night. A really big thing for us is sharing food—for the first three days of Ramadan, our family shares food with our community. This time, my sister and I realized how much we missed being together and sharing our neighbor’s brownies. For Eid, we would get dressed up and go out for dinner, but of course that’s not going to be happening. It’s just quite sad that we can’t enjoy our traditional routines.

Sometimes you just need to scribble down your thoughts, and I do that with poetry. My mum will always say, “Why don’t you give your friends a call?” I find that hard because I want to see my friends, not just call them. When you scribble down the words—whether it rhymes or not—it allows you to express how you feel at that time. I like to post it online to relate to other young people.

In my poetry, I say that we will greet everyone with salaam , which means peace. Peace is what we really need after all of this, and I’m looking forward to just being able to say that we got through this, and being so proud that we did it. —As told to Suyin Haynes

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Students’ experience of online learning during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A province‐wide survey study

Lixiang yan.

1 Centre for Learning Analytics at Monash, Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University, Clayton VIC, Australia

Alexander Whitelock‐Wainwright

2 Portfolio of the Deputy Vice‐Chancellor (Education), Monash University, Melbourne VIC, Australia

Quanlong Guan

3 Department of Computer Science, Jinan University, Guangzhou China

Gangxin Wen

4 College of Cyber Security, Jinan University, Guangzhou China

Dragan Gašević

Guanliang chen, associated data.

The data is not openly available as it is restricted by the Chinese government.

Online learning is currently adopted by educational institutions worldwide to provide students with ongoing education during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Even though online learning research has been advancing in uncovering student experiences in various settings (i.e., tertiary, adult, and professional education), very little progress has been achieved in understanding the experience of the K‐12 student population, especially when narrowed down to different school‐year segments (i.e., primary and secondary school students). This study explores how students at different stages of their K‐12 education reacted to the mandatory full‐time online learning during the COVID‐19 pandemic. For this purpose, we conducted a province‐wide survey study in which the online learning experience of 1,170,769 Chinese students was collected from the Guangdong Province of China. We performed cross‐tabulation and Chi‐square analysis to compare students’ online learning conditions, experiences, and expectations. Results from this survey study provide evidence that students’ online learning experiences are significantly different across school years. Foremost, policy implications were made to advise government authorises and schools on improving the delivery of online learning, and potential directions were identified for future research into K‐12 online learning.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

• Online learning has been widely adopted during the COVID‐19 pandemic to ensure the continuation of K‐12 education.
• Student success in K‐12 online education is substantially lower than in conventional schools.
• Students experienced various difficulties related to the delivery of online learning.

What this paper adds

• Provide empirical evidence for the online learning experience of students in different school years.
• Identify the different needs of students in primary, middle, and high school.
• Identify the challenges of delivering online learning to students of different age.

Implications for practice and/or policy

• Authority and schools need to provide sufficient technical support to students in online learning.
• The delivery of online learning needs to be customised for students in different school years.

INTRODUCTION

The ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic poses significant challenges to the global education system. By July 2020, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2020) reported nationwide school closure in 111 countries, affecting over 1.07 billion students, which is around 61% of the global student population. Traditional brick‐and‐mortar schools are forced to transform into full‐time virtual schools to provide students with ongoing education (Van Lancker & Parolin,  2020 ). Consequently, students must adapt to the transition from face‐to‐face learning to fully remote online learning, where synchronous video conferences, social media, and asynchronous discussion forums become their primary venues for knowledge construction and peer communication.

For K‐12 students, this sudden transition is problematic as they often lack prior online learning experience (Barbour & Reeves,  2009 ). Barbour and LaBonte ( 2017 ) estimated that even in countries where online learning is growing rapidly, such as USA and Canada, less than 10% of the K‐12 student population had prior experience with this format. Maladaptation to online learning could expose inexperienced students to various vulnerabilities, including decrements in academic performance (Molnar et al.,  2019 ), feeling of isolation (Song et al.,  2004 ), and lack of learning motivation (Muilenburg & Berge,  2005 ). Unfortunately, with confirmed cases continuing to rise each day, and new outbreaks occur on a global scale, full‐time online learning for most students could last longer than anticipated (World Health Organization,  2020 ). Even after the pandemic, the current mass adoption of online learning could have lasting impacts on the global education system, and potentially accelerate and expand the rapid growth of virtual schools on a global scale (Molnar et al.,  2019 ). Thus, understanding students' learning conditions and their experiences of online learning during the COVID pandemic becomes imperative.

Emerging evidence on students’ online learning experience during the COVID‐19 pandemic has identified several major concerns, including issues with internet connection (Agung et al.,  2020 ; Basuony et al.,  2020 ), problems with IT equipment (Bączek et al.,  2021 ; Niemi & Kousa,  2020 ), limited collaborative learning opportunities (Bączek et al.,  2021 ; Yates et al.,  2020 ), reduced learning motivation (Basuony et al.,  2020 ; Niemi & Kousa,  2020 ; Yates et al.,  2020 ), and increased learning burdens (Niemi & Kousa,  2020 ). Although these findings provided valuable insights about the issues students experienced during online learning, information about their learning conditions and future expectations were less mentioned. Such information could assist educational authorises and institutions to better comprehend students’ difficulties and potentially improve their online learning experience. Additionally, most of these recent studies were limited to higher education, except for Yates et al. ( 2020 ) and Niemi and Kousa’s ( 2020 ) studies on senior high school students. Empirical research targeting the full spectrum of K‐12students remain scarce. Therefore, to address these gaps, the current paper reports the findings of a large‐scale study that sought to explore K‐12 students’ online learning experience during the COVID‐19 pandemic in a provincial sample of over one million Chinese students. The findings of this study provide policy recommendations to educational institutions and authorities regarding the delivery of K‐12 online education.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Learning conditions and technologies.

Having stable access to the internet is critical to students’ learning experience during online learning. Berge ( 2005 ) expressed the concern of the divide in digital‐readiness, and the pedagogical approach between different countries could influence students’ online learning experience. Digital‐readiness is the availability and adoption of information technologies and infrastructures in a country. Western countries like America (3rd) scored significantly higher in digital‐readiness compared to Asian countries like China (54th; Cisco,  2019 ). Students from low digital‐readiness countries could experience additional technology‐related problems. Supporting evidence is emerging in recent studies conducted during the COVID‐19 pandemic. In Egypt's capital city, Basuony et al. ( 2020 ) found that only around 13.9%of the students experienced issues with their internet connection. Whereas more than two‐thirds of the students in rural Indonesia reported issues of unstable internet, insufficient internet data, and incompatible learning device (Agung et al.,  2020 ).

Another influential factor for K‐12 students to adequately adapt to online learning is the accessibility of appropriate technological devices, especially having access to a desktop or a laptop (Barbour et al., 2018 ). However, it is unlikely for most of the students to satisfy this requirement. Even in higher education, around 76% of students reported having incompatible devices for online learning and only 15% of students used laptop for online learning, whereas around 85% of them used smartphone (Agung et al.,  2020 ). It is very likely that K‐12 students also suffer from this availability issue as they depend on their parents to provide access to relevant learning devices.

Technical issues surrounding technological devices could also influence students’ experience in online learning. (Barbour & Reeves,  2009 ) argues that students need to have a high level of digital literacy to find and use relevant information and communicate with others through technological devices. Students lacking this ability could experience difficulties in online learning. Bączek et al. ( 2021 ) found that around 54% of the medical students experienced technical problems with IT equipment and this issue was more prevalent in students with lower years of tertiary education. Likewise, Niemi and Kousa ( 2020 ) also find that students in a Finish high school experienced increased amounts of technical problems during the examination period, which involved additional technical applications. These findings are concerning as young children and adolescent in primary and lower secondary school could be more vulnerable to these technical problems as they are less experienced with the technologies in online learning (Barbour & LaBonte,  2017 ). Therefore, it is essential to investigate the learning conditions and the related difficulties experienced by students in K‐12 education as the extend of effects on them remain underexplored.

Learning experience and interactions

Apart from the aforementioned issues, the extent of interaction and collaborative learning opportunities available in online learning could also influence students’ experience. The literature on online learning has long emphasised the role of effective interaction for the success of student learning. According to Muirhead and Juwah ( 2004 ), interaction is an event that can take the shape of any type of communication between two or subjects and objects. Specifically, the literature acknowledges the three typical forms of interactions (Moore,  1989 ): (i) student‐content, (ii) student‐student, and (iii) student‐teacher. Anderson ( 2003 ) posits, in the well‐known interaction equivalency theorem, learning experiences will not deteriorate if only one of the three interaction is of high quality, and the other two can be reduced or even eliminated. Quality interaction can be accomplished by across two dimensions: (i) structure—pedagogical means that guide student interaction with contents or other students and (ii) dialogue—communication that happens between students and teachers and among students. To be able to scale online learning and prevent the growth of teaching costs, the emphasise is typically on structure (i.e., pedagogy) that can promote effective student‐content and student‐student interaction. The role of technology and media is typically recognised as a way to amplify the effect of pedagogy (Lou et al.,  2006 ). Novel technological innovations—for example learning analytics‐based personalised feedback at scale (Pardo et al.,  2019 ) —can also empower teachers to promote their interaction with students.

Online education can lead to a sense of isolation, which can be detrimental to student success (McInnerney & Roberts,  2004 ). Therefore, integration of social interaction into pedagogy for online learning is essential, especially at the times when students do not actually know each other or have communication and collaboration skills underdeveloped (Garrison et al.,  2010 ; Gašević et al.,  2015 ). Unfortunately, existing evidence suggested that online learning delivery during the COVID‐19 pandemic often lacks interactivity and collaborative experiences (Bączek et al.,  2021 ; Yates et al.,  2020 ). Bączek et al., ( 2021 ) found that around half of the medical students reported reduced interaction with teachers, and only 4% of students think online learning classes are interactive. Likewise, Yates et al. ( 2020 )’s study in high school students also revealed that over half of the students preferred in‐class collaboration over online collaboration as they value the immediate support and the proximity to teachers and peers from in‐class interaction.

Learning expectations and age differentiation

Although these studies have provided valuable insights and stressed the need for more interactivity in online learning, K‐12 students in different school years could exhibit different expectations for the desired activities in online learning. Piaget's Cognitive Developmental Theory illustrated children's difficulties in understanding abstract and hypothetical concepts (Thomas,  2000 ). Primary school students will encounter many abstract concepts in their STEM education (Uttal & Cohen,  2012 ). In face‐to‐face learning, teachers provide constant guidance on students’ learning progress and can help them to understand difficult concepts. Unfortunately, the level of guidance significantly drops in online learning, and, in most cases, children have to face learning obstacles by themselves (Barbour,  2013 ). Additionally, lower primary school students may lack the metacognitive skills to use various online learning functions, maintain engagement in synchronous online learning, develop and execute self‐regulated learning plans, and engage in meaningful peer interactions during online learning (Barbour,  2013 ; Broadbent & Poon,  2015 ; Huffaker & Calvert, 2003; Wang et al.,  2013 ). Thus, understanding these younger students’ expectations is imperative as delivering online learning to them in the same way as a virtual high school could hinder their learning experiences. For students with more matured metacognition, their expectations of online learning could be substantially different from younger students. Niemi et al.’s study ( 2020 ) with students in a Finish high school have found that students often reported heavy workload and fatigue during online learning. These issues could cause anxiety and reduce students’ learning motivation, which would have negative consequences on their emotional well‐being and academic performance (Niemi & Kousa,  2020 ; Yates et al.,  2020 ), especially for senior students who are under the pressure of examinations. Consequently, their expectations of online learning could be orientated toward having additional learning support functions and materials. Likewise, they could also prefer having more opportunities for peer interactions as these interactions are beneficial to their emotional well‐being and learning performance (Gašević et al., 2013 ; Montague & Rinaldi, 2001 ). Therefore, it is imperative to investigate the differences between online learning expectations in students of different school years to suit their needs better.

Research questions

By building upon the aforementioned relevant works, this study aimed to contribute to the online learning literature with a comprehensive understanding of the online learning experience that K‐12 students had during the COVID‐19 pandemic period in China. Additionally, this study also aimed to provide a thorough discussion of what potential actions can be undertaken to improve online learning delivery. Formally, this study was guided by three research questions (RQs):

RQ1 . What learning conditions were experienced by students across 12 years of education during their online learning process in the pandemic period? RQ2 . What benefits and obstacles were perceived by students across 12 years of education when performing online learning? RQ3 . What expectations do students, across 12 years of education, have for future online learning practices ?

Participants

The total number of K‐12 students in the Guangdong Province of China is around 15 million. In China, students of Year 1–6, Year 7–9, and Year 10–12 are referred to as students of primary school, middle school, and high school, respectively. Typically, students in China start their study in primary school at the age of around six. At the end of their high‐school study, students have to take the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE; also known as Gaokao) to apply for tertiary education. The survey was administrated across the whole Guangdong Province, that is the survey was exposed to all of the 15 million K‐12 students, though it was not mandatory for those students to accomplish the survey. A total of 1,170,769 students completed the survey, which accounts for a response rate of 7.80%. After removing responses with missing values and responses submitted from the same IP address (duplicates), we had 1,048,575 valid responses, which accounts to about 7% of the total K‐12 students in the Guangdong Province. The number of students in different school years is shown in Figure  1 . Overall, students were evenly distributed across different school years, except for a smaller sample in students of Year 10–12.

The number of students in each school year

Survey design

The survey was designed collaboratively by multiple relevant parties. Firstly, three educational researchers working in colleges and universities and three educational practitioners working in the Department of Education in Guangdong Province were recruited to co‐design the survey. Then, the initial draft of the survey was sent to 30 teachers from different primary and secondary schools, whose feedback and suggestions were considered to improve the survey. The final survey consisted of a total of 20 questions, which, broadly, can be classified into four categories: demographic, behaviours, experiences, and expectations. Details are available in Appendix.

All K‐12 students in the Guangdong Province were made to have full‐time online learning from March 1, 2020 after the outbreak of COVID‐19 in January in China. A province‐level online learning platform was provided to all schools by the government. In addition to the learning platform, these schools can also use additional third‐party platforms to facilitate the teaching activities, for example WeChat and Dingding, which provide services similar to WhatsApp and Zoom. The main change for most teachers was that they had to shift the classroom‐based lectures to online lectures with the aid of web‐conferencing tools. Similarly, these teachers also needed to perform homework marking and have consultation sessions in an online manner.

The Department of Education in the Guangdong Province of China distributed the survey to all K‐12 schools in the province on March 21, 2020 and collected responses on March 26, 2020. Students could access and answer the survey anonymously by either scan the Quick Response code along with the survey or click the survey address link on their mobile device. The survey was administrated in a completely voluntary manner and no incentives were given to the participants. Ethical approval was granted by the Department of Education in the Guangdong Province. Parental approval was not required since the survey was entirely anonymous and facilitated by the regulating authority, which satisfies China's ethical process.

The original survey was in Chinese, which was later translated by two bilingual researchers and verified by an external translator who is certified by the Australian National Accreditation Authority of Translators and Interpreters. The original and translated survey questionnaires are available in Supporting Information. Given the limited space we have here and the fact that not every survey item is relevant to the RQs, the following items were chosen to answer the RQs: item Q3 (learning media) and Q11 (learning approaches) for RQ1, item Q13 (perceived obstacle) and Q19 (perceived benefits) for RQ2, and item Q19 (expected learning activities) for RQ3. Cross‐tabulation based approaches were used to analyse the collected data. To scrutinise whether the differences displayed by students of different school years were statistically significant, we performed Chi‐square tests and calculated the Cramer's V to assess the strengths of the association after chi‐square had determined significance.

For the analyses, students were segmented into four categories based on their school years, that is Year 1–3, Year 4–6, Year 7–9, and Year 10–12, to provide a clear understanding of the different experiences and needs that different students had for online learning. This segmentation was based on the educational structure of Chinese schools: elementary school (Year 1–6), middle school (Year 7–9), and high school (Year 10–12). Children in elementary school can further be segmented into junior (Year 1–3) or senior (Year 4–6) students because senior elementary students in China are facing more workloads compared to junior students due to the provincial Middle School Entry Examination at the end of Year 6.

Learning conditions—RQ1

Learning media.

The Chi‐square test showed significant association between school years and students’ reported usage of learning media, χ 2 (55, N  = 1,853,952) = 46,675.38, p  < 0.001. The Cramer's V is 0.07 ( df ∗ = 5), which indicates a small‐to‐medium effect according to Cohen’s ( 1988 ) guidelines. Based on Figure  2 , we observed that an average of up to 87.39% students used smartphones to perform online learning, while only 25.43% students used computer, which suggests that smartphones, with widespread availability in China (2020), have been adopted by students for online learning. As for the prevalence of the two media, we noticed that both smartphones ( χ 2 (3, N  = 1,048,575) = 9,395.05, p < 0.001, Cramer's V  = 0.10 ( df ∗ = 1)) and computers ( χ 2 (3, N  = 1,048,575) = 11,025.58, p <.001, Cramer's V  = 0.10 ( df ∗ = 1)) were more adopted by high‐school‐year (Year 7–12) than early‐school‐year students (Year 1–6), both with a small effect size. Besides, apparent discrepancies can be observed between the usages of TV and paper‐based materials across different school years, that is early‐school‐year students reported more TV usage ( χ 2 (3, N  = 1,048,575) = 19,505.08, p <.001), with a small‐to‐medium effect size, Cramer's V  = 0.14( df ∗ = 1). High‐school‐year students (especially Year 10–12) reported more usage of paper‐based materials ( χ 2 (3, N  = 1,048,575) = 23,401.64, p < 0.001), with a small‐to‐medium effect size, Cramer's V  = 0.15( df ∗ = 1).

Learning media used by students in online learning

Learning approaches

School years is also significantly associated with the different learning approaches students used to tackle difficult concepts during online learning, χ 2 (55, N  = 2,383,751) = 58,030.74, p < 0.001. The strength of this association is weak to moderate as shown by the Cramer's V (0.07, df ∗ = 5; Cohen,  1988 ). When encountering problems related to difficult concepts, students typically chose to “solve independently by searching online” or “rewatch recorded lectures” instead of consulting to their teachers or peers (Figure  3 ). This is probably because, compared to classroom‐based education, it is relatively less convenient and more challenging for students to seek help from others when performing online learning. Besides, compared to high‐school‐year students, early‐school‐year students (Year 1–6), reported much less use of “solve independently by searching online” ( χ 2 (3, N  = 1,048,575) = 48,100.15, p <.001), with a small‐to‐medium effect size, Cramer's V  = 0.21 ( df ∗ = 1). Also, among those approaches of seeking help from others, significantly more high‐school‐year students preferred “communicating with other students” than early‐school‐year students ( χ 2 (3, N  = 1,048,575) = 81,723.37, p < 0.001), with a medium effect size, Cramer's V  = 0.28 ( df ∗ = 1).

Learning approaches used by students in online learning

Perceived benefits and obstacles—RQ2

Perceived benefits.

The association between school years and perceived benefits in online learning is statistically significant, χ 2 (66, N  = 2,716,127) = 29,534.23, p  < 0.001, and the Cramer's V (0.04, df ∗ = 6) indicates a small effect (Cohen,  1988 ). Unsurprisingly, benefits brought by the convenience of online learning are widely recognised by students across all school years (Figure  4 ), that is up to 75% of students reported that it is “more convenient to review course content” and 54% said that they “can learn anytime and anywhere” . Besides, we noticed that about 50% of early‐school‐year students appreciated the “access to courses delivered by famous teachers” and 40%–47% of high‐school‐year students indicated that online learning is “helpful to develop self‐regulation and autonomy” .

Perceived benefits of online learning reported by students

Perceived obstacles

The Chi‐square test shows a significant association between school years and students’ perceived obstacles in online learning, χ 2 (77, N  = 2,699,003) = 31,987.56, p < 0.001. This association is relatively weak as shown by the Cramer's V (0.04, df ∗ = 7; Cohen,  1988 ). As shown in Figure  5 , the biggest obstacles encountered by up to 73% of students were the “eyestrain caused by long staring at screens” . Disengagement caused by nearby disturbance was reported by around 40% of students, especially those of Year 1–3 and 10–12. Technological‐wise, about 50% of students experienced poor Internet connection during their learning process, and around 20% of students reported the “confusion in setting up the platforms” across of school years.

Perceived obstacles of online learning reported by students

Expectations for future practices of online learning – RQ3

Online learning activities.

The association between school years and students’ expected online learning activities is significant, χ 2 (66, N  = 2,416,093) = 38,784.81, p < 0.001. The Cramer's V is 0.05 ( df ∗ = 6) which suggests a small effect (Cohen,  1988 ). As shown in Figure  6 , the most expected activity for future online learning is “real‐time interaction with teachers” (55%), followed by “online group discussion and collaboration” (38%). We also observed that more early‐school‐year students expect reflective activities, such as “regular online practice examinations” ( χ 2 (3, N  = 1,048,575) = 11,644.98, p < 0.001), with a small effect size, Cramer's V  = 0.11 ( df ∗ = 1). In contrast, more high‐school‐year students expect “intelligent recommendation system …” ( χ 2 (3, N  = 1,048,575) = 15,327.00, p < 0.001), with a small effect size, Cramer's V  = 0.12 ( df ∗ = 1).

Students’ expected online learning activities

Regarding students’ learning conditions, substantial differences were observed in learning media, family dependency, and learning approaches adopted in online learning between students in different school years. The finding of more computer and smartphone usage in high‐school‐year than early‐school‐year students can probably be explained by that, with the growing abilities in utilising these media as well as the educational systems and tools which run on these media, high‐school‐year students tend to make better use of these media for online learning practices. Whereas, the differences in paper‐based materials may imply that high‐school‐year students in China have to accomplish a substantial amount of exercise, assignments, and exam papers to prepare for the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), whose delivery was not entirely digitised due to the sudden transition to online learning. Meanwhile, high‐school‐year students may also have preferred using paper‐based materials for exam practice, as eventually, they would take their NCEE in the paper format. Therefore, these substantial differences in students’ usage of learning media should be addressed by customising the delivery method of online learning for different school years.

Other than these between‐age differences in learning media, the prevalence of smartphone in online learning resonates with Agung et al.’s ( 2020 ) finding on the issues surrounding the availability of compatible learning device. The prevalence of smartphone in K‐12 students is potentially problematic as the majority of the online learning platform and content is designed for computer‐based learning (Berge,  2005 ; Molnar et al.,  2019 ). Whereas learning with smartphones has its own unique challenges. For example, Gikas and Grant ( 2013 ) discovered that students who learn with smartphone experienced frustration with the small screen‐size, especially when trying to type with the tiny keypad. Another challenge relates to the distraction of various social media applications. Although similar distractions exist in computer and web‐based social media, the level of popularity, especially in the young generation, are much higher in mobile‐based social media (Montag et al.,  2018 ). In particular, the message notification function in smartphones could disengage students from learning activities and allure them to social media applications (Gikas & Grant,  2013 ). Given these challenges of learning with smartphones, more research efforts should be devoted to analysing students’ online learning behaviour in the setting of mobile learning to accommodate their needs better.

The differences in learning approaches, once again, illustrated that early‐school‐year students have different needs compared to high‐school‐year students. In particular, the low usage of the independent learning methods in early‐school‐year students may reflect their inability to engage in independent learning. Besides, the differences in help seeking behaviours demonstrated the distinctive needs for communication and interaction between different students, that is early‐school‐year students have a strong reliance on teachers and high‐school‐year students, who are equipped with stronger communication ability, are more inclined to interact with their peers. This finding implies that the design of online learning platforms should take students’ different needs into account. Thus, customisation is urgently needed for the delivery of online learning to different school years.

In terms of the perceived benefits and challenges of online learning, our results resonate with several previous findings. In particular, the benefits of convenience are in line with the flexibility advantages of online learning, which were mentioned in prior works (Appana,  2008 ; Bączek et al.,  2021 ; Barbour,  2013 ; Basuony et al.,  2020 ; Harvey et al.,  2014 ). Early‐school‐year students’ higher appreciation in having “access to courses delivered by famous teachers” and lower appreciation in the independent learning skills developed through online learning are also in line with previous literature (Barbour,  2013 ; Harvey et al.,  2014 ; Oliver et al.,  2009 ). Again, these similar findings may indicate the strong reliance that early‐school‐year students place on teachers, while high‐school‐year students are more capable of adapting to online learning by developing independent learning skills.

Technology‐wise, students’ experience of poor internet connection and confusion in setting up online learning platforms are particularly concerning. The problem of poor internet connection corroborated the findings reported in prior studies (Agung et al.,  2020 ; Barbour,  2013 ; Basuony et al.,  2020 ; Berge,  2005 ; Rice,  2006 ), that is the access issue surrounded the digital divide as one of the main challenges of online learning. In the era of 4G and 5G networks, educational authorities and institutions that deliver online education could fall into the misconception of most students have a stable internet connection at home. The internet issue we observed is particularly vital to students’ online learning experience as most students prefer real‐time communications (Figure  6 ), which rely heavily on stable internet connection. Likewise, the finding of students’ confusion in technology is also consistent with prior studies (Bączek et al.,  2021 ; Muilenburg & Berge,  2005 ; Niemi & Kousa,  2020 ; Song et al.,  2004 ). Students who were unsuccessfully in setting up the online learning platforms could potentially experience declines in confidence and enthusiasm for online learning, which would cause a subsequent unpleasant learning experience. Therefore, both the readiness of internet infrastructure and student technical skills remain as the significant challenges for the mass‐adoption of online learning.

On the other hand, students’ experience of eyestrain from extended screen time provided empirical evidence to support Spitzer’s ( 2001 ) speculation about the potential ergonomic impact of online learning. This negative effect is potentially related to the prevalence of smartphone device and the limited screen size of these devices. This finding not only demonstrates the potential ergonomic issues that would be caused by smartphone‐based online learning but also resonates with the aforementioned necessity of different platforms and content designs for different students.

A less‐mentioned problem in previous studies on online learning experiences is the disengagement caused by nearby disturbance, especially in Year 1–3 and 10–12. It is likely that early‐school‐year students suffered from this problem because of their underdeveloped metacognitive skills to concentrate on online learning without teachers’ guidance. As for high‐school‐year students, the reasons behind their disengagement require further investigation in the future. Especially it would be worthwhile to scrutinise whether this type of disengagement is caused by the substantial amount of coursework they have to undertake and the subsequent a higher level of pressure and a lower level of concentration while learning.

Across age‐level differences are also apparent in terms of students’ expectations of online learning. Although, our results demonstrated students’ needs of gaining social interaction with others during online learning, findings (Bączek et al.,  2021 ; Harvey et al.,  2014 ; Kuo et al.,  2014 ; Liu & Cavanaugh,  2012 ; Yates et al.,  2020 ). This need manifested differently across school years, with early‐school‐year students preferring more teacher interactions and learning regulation support. Once again, this finding may imply that early‐school‐year students are inadequate in engaging with online learning without proper guidance from their teachers. Whereas, high‐school‐year students prefer more peer interactions and recommendation to learning resources. This expectation can probably be explained by the large amount of coursework exposed to them. Thus, high‐school‐year students need further guidance to help them better direct their learning efforts. These differences in students’ expectations for future practices could guide the customisation of online learning delivery.

Implications

As shown in our results, improving the delivery of online learning not only requires the efforts of policymakers but also depend on the actions of teachers and parents. The following sub‐sections will provide recommendations for relevant stakeholders and discuss their essential roles in supporting online education.

Technical support

The majority of the students has experienced technical problems during online learning, including the internet lagging and confusion in setting up the learning platforms. These problems with technology could impair students’ learning experience (Kauffman,  2015 ; Muilenburg & Berge,  2005 ). Educational authorities and schools should always provide a thorough guide and assistance for students who are experiencing technical problems with online learning platforms or other related tools. Early screening and detection could also assist schools and teachers to direct their efforts more effectively in helping students with low technology skills (Wilkinson et al.,  2010 ). A potential identification method involves distributing age‐specific surveys that assess students’ Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills at the beginning of online learning. For example, there are empirical validated ICT surveys available for both primary (Aesaert et al.,  2014 ) and high school (Claro et al.,  2012 ) students.

For students who had problems with internet lagging, the delivery of online learning should provide options that require fewer data and bandwidth. Lecture recording is the existing option but fails to address students’ need for real‐time interaction (Clark et al.,  2015 ; Malik & Fatima,  2017 ). A potential alternative involves providing students with the option to learn with digital or physical textbooks and audio‐conferencing, instead of screen sharing and video‐conferencing. This approach significantly reduces the amount of data usage and lowers the requirement of bandwidth for students to engage in smooth online interactions (Cisco,  2018 ). It also requires little additional efforts from teachers as official textbooks are often available for each school year, and thus, they only need to guide students through the materials during audio‐conferencing. Educational authority can further support this approach by making digital textbooks available for teachers and students, especially those in financial hardship. However, the lack of visual and instructor presence could potentially reduce students’ attention, recall of information, and satisfaction in online learning (Wang & Antonenko,  2017 ). Therefore, further research is required to understand whether the combination of digital or physical textbooks and audio‐conferencing is appropriate for students with internet problems. Alternatively, suppose the local technological infrastructure is well developed. In that case, governments and schools can also collaborate with internet providers to issue data and bandwidth vouchers for students who are experiencing internet problems due to financial hardship.

For future adoption of online learning, policymakers should consider the readiness of the local internet infrastructure. This recommendation is particularly important for developing countries, like Bangladesh, where the majority of the students reported the lack of internet infrastructure (Ramij & Sultana,  2020 ). In such environments, online education may become infeasible, and alternative delivery method could be more appropriate, for example, the Telesecundaria program provides TV education for rural areas of Mexico (Calderoni,  1998 ).

Other than technical problems, choosing a suitable online learning platform is also vital for providing students with a better learning experience. Governments and schools should choose an online learning platform that is customised for smartphone‐based learning, as the majority of students could be using smartphones for online learning. This recommendation is highly relevant for situations where students are forced or involuntarily engaged in online learning, like during the COVID‐19 pandemic, as they might not have access to a personal computer (Molnar et al.,  2019 ).

Customisation of delivery methods

Customising the delivery of online learning for students in different school years is the theme that appeared consistently across our findings. This customisation process is vital for making online learning an opportunity for students to develop independent learning skills, which could help prepare them for tertiary education and lifelong learning. However, the pedagogical design of K‐12 online learning programs should be differentiated from adult‐orientated programs as these programs are designed for independent learners, which is rarely the case for students in K‐12 education (Barbour & Reeves,  2009 ).

For early‐school‐year students, especially Year 1–3 students, providing them with sufficient guidance from both teachers and parents should be the priority as these students often lack the ability to monitor and reflect on learning progress. In particular, these students would prefer more real‐time interaction with teachers, tutoring from parents, and regular online practice examinations. These forms of guidance could help early‐school‐year students to cope with involuntary online learning, and potentially enhance their experience in future online learning. It should be noted that, early‐school‐year students demonstrated interest in intelligent monitoring and feedback systems for learning. Additional research is required to understand whether these young children are capable of understanding and using learning analytics that relay information on their learning progress. Similarly, future research should also investigate whether young children can communicate effectively through digital tools as potential inability could hinder student learning in online group activities. Therefore, the design of online learning for early‐school‐year students should focus less on independent learning but ensuring that students are learning effective under the guidance of teachers and parents.

In contrast, group learning and peer interaction are essential for older children and adolescents. The delivery of online learning for these students should focus on providing them with more opportunities to communicate with each other and engage in collaborative learning. Potential methods to achieve this goal involve assigning or encouraging students to form study groups (Lee et al.,  2011 ), directing students to use social media for peer communication (Dabbagh & Kitsantas,  2012 ), and providing students with online group assignments (Bickle & Rucker,  2018 ).

Special attention should be paid to students enrolled in high schools. For high‐school‐year students, in particular, students in Year 10–12, we also recommend to provide them with sufficient access to paper‐based learning materials, such as revision booklet and practice exam papers, so they remain familiar with paper‐based examinations. This recommendation applies to any students who engage in online learning but has to take their final examination in paper format. It is also imperative to assist high‐school‐year students who are facing examinations to direct their learning efforts better. Teachers can fulfil this need by sharing useful learning resources on the learning management system, if it is available, or through social media groups. Alternatively, students are interested in intelligent recommendation systems for learning resources, which are emerging in the literature (Corbi & Solans,  2014 ; Shishehchi et al.,  2010 ). These systems could provide personalised recommendations based on a series of evaluation on learners’ knowledge. Although it is infeasible for situations where the transformation to online learning happened rapidly (i.e., during the COVID‐19 pandemic), policymakers can consider embedding such systems in future online education.

Limitations

The current findings are limited to primary and secondary Chinese students who were involuntarily engaged in online learning during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Despite the large sample size, the population may not be representative as participants are all from a single province. Also, information about the quality of online learning platforms, teaching contents, and pedagogy approaches were missing because of the large scale of our study. It is likely that the infrastructures of online learning in China, such as learning platforms, instructional designs, and teachers’ knowledge about online pedagogy, were underprepared for the sudden transition. Thus, our findings may not represent the experience of students who voluntarily participated in well‐prepared online learning programs, in particular, the virtual school programs in America and Canada (Barbour & LaBonte,  2017 ; Molnar et al.,  2019 ). Lastly, the survey was only evaluated and validated by teachers but not students. Therefore, students with the lowest reading comprehension levels might have a different understanding of the items’ meaning, especially terminologies that involve abstract contracts like self‐regulation and autonomy in item Q17.

In conclusion, we identified across‐year differences between primary and secondary school students’ online learning experience during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Several recommendations were made for the future practice and research of online learning in the K‐12 student population. First, educational authorities and schools should provide sufficient technical support to help students to overcome potential internet and technical problems, as well as choosing online learning platforms that have been customised for smartphones. Second, customising the online pedagogy design for students in different school years, in particular, focusing on providing sufficient guidance for young children, more online collaborative opportunity for older children and adolescent, and additional learning resource for senior students who are facing final examinations.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

There is no potential conflict of interest in this study.

ETHICS STATEMENT

The data are collected by the Department of Education of the Guangdong Province who also has the authority to approve research studies in K12 education in the province.

Supporting information

Supplementary Material

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (62077028, 61877029), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong (2020B0909030005, 2020B1212030003, 2020ZDZX3013, 2019B1515120010, 2018KTSCX016, 2019A050510024), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangzhou (201902010041), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (21617408, 21619404).

SURVEY ITEMS

Yan, L , Whitelock‐Wainwright, A , Guan, Q , Wen, G , Gašević, D , & Chen, G . Students’ experience of online learning during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A province‐wide survey study . Br J Educ Technol . 2021; 52 :2038–2057. 10.1111/bjet.13102 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]

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10 COVID-19’s Affect on Education, Specifically in High Schools

Melissa Kostecki

Introduction

Our country, The United States of America, has been heavily impacted by the global pandemic, COVID-19, in numerous ways. One major aspect of our country that has had to heavily adjust to these new safety protocols is our education system, specifically high schools. A typical day of high school no longer looks like a day from 8 am to 3 pm, with extracurricular activities following school to socialize. Now, high schools all around the United States have had to switch to virtual learning, to protect students’ and teachers’ health. This dramatic change in high schools has been challenging, but it has shown how strong our education system is. COVID-19 has challenged and modified the way high schools are now functioning by forcing online learning technology to advance rapidly, having to introduce and create new ways of learning, and adjusting the education system to the new norms of our society. This topic relates to STS because without the technology we have today, virtual learning would not be possible. Advancements in learning technology have allowed high schools around the world to function during this time.

Impact on Learning Technology in Secondary Education

To begin, a major part that high school systems have had to change is the learning technology being used to hold virtual classes. High schools and technology companies have had to figure out quickly what is needed to make virtual learning easy and available to all students. Holding virtual classes requires high schools to have various online learning resources to help students succeed and stay on track during this time. The main application used by most high school students is called Zoom . Zoom is an online communication application that is used to hold virtual classes. Teachers have many tools avail able on this application to help make virtual classes more interactive. Certain features that teachers enjoy include, “Many teachers take advantage of the Zoom feature that allows for recording conversations and saving chat transcripts so students can refer to them later” ( Lieberman 2). Zoom is an easy-to-use application that allows high school teachers to interact with students by sharing their screens with the class and viewing their students through web came ras. But, with most high schoo ls around the country using this tool, it has forced Zoom to advance its technology very rapidly so that it’s able to cater to the number of users that need it.

The rapid increase in Zoom users has challenged the application. Lieberman (2020) noted, “The surge of new users, including 90,000 schools and the rapid increase in users has also led to increased scrutiny of the security limitations” (1). Clearly, there has been a rapid increase in the number of high schools that are relying on this application, which has caused slight defects as Zoom continues to improve its system. But, without this technology, it would make learning online much more difficult and could cause some students to fall behind in school. Luckily, with learning technology advancements like Zoom, virtual learning is manageable and more interactive.

Creating New Technology to Make High School Learning Interactive

It is evident that high school students are concerned about their futures and they feel that what their school may be doing is not enough for them to stay on track. So, from this information, it’s evident that students’ futures may have to be put slightly on pause for them to get back on track. High schools around the United States should begin to implement online resources to help high school students stay on track with their goal of college. Resources can include how to study for standardized tests and faculty helping students with their college applications. As our education system continues to endeavor during this time, each day more and more new learning techniques continue to be implemented to help students. But, it’s evident that more needs to be done to make students feel prepared for the future during this time. As high schools continue to advance their online systems, more resources will likely be available to help students thinking about life after high school during this time.

Impact on High School Student’s Social Interaction & Mental Health

“This dramatic change in high schools has been challenging, but it has shown how strong our education system is.”

As our society begins to adjust to the new norms of our society of maintaining six feet apart from others, wearing a mask in public, and staying home if you’re sick, our interaction with each other has changed. A main part of the high school experience is interacting with classmates inside and outside of the classroom ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1). High school students are missing out on memories like prom, graduation, and sporting events. All of this uncertainty for when high school will return to normal has created a lot of anxiety and stress for students ( Kreitz 1). But, being in a global pandemic gives students the only option of dealing with this situation and creating solutions. High schools around the country have begun making solutions like, making their extracurricular clubs meet virtually. One high school in Texas has shifted their club fair to be virtual, so students still have the opportunity to stay in contact with peers and make new friends. A teacher Vivian Hernandez (2020) describes the importance of social interaction during this time, “When educators sponsor a student club, they’re building community, they bring students together, student clubs do not have to stop because of COVID-19, they may be more important now than ever” (1). Interaction with others will help make high school students feel less lonely during this time. High schools around the country are creating new ways to hold regular student sessions like this, which shows how high schools can come together to support one another. 

Luckily, thanks to the technology we have, high school students can easily learn from home. Without computers, e-textbooks, and online applications, it would be impossible to continue to go through the school year. And although students are missing the structure of the normal school day, this will only make high school institutions stronger for the future.  Dr. Michael Krüger, Coordinator of the International Education Management noted in an interview that despite the complexity of the new teaching and learning arrangements, he is surprised how focused everyone is and how much has been achieved. Krüger believes the lessons learned from these experiences will have a lasting impact on their teaching and help strengthen the educational system ( Wawa , 1). As an education system, all members of high schools have worked to strengthen their learning techniques and to adapt to the new norms of our society during this time. 

Connection to STS Theory

The topic of how education has changed in high schools across the country due to COVID-19 relates to the STS theory of social constructivism. Social constructivism describes that science & technology are importantly social, that they are always active, and that they do not provide a direct route from nature to ideas. The main aspects of this theory is seen throughout this chapter. The technology that has been created to make virtual learning easier and more engaging was shaped by teachers, students, and parents’ biases based on what they believed to be the best way of learning virtually. Also, science and technology are very active during this time and are constantly changing since as we begin to test new ways of learning, our high schools are learning what methods are efficient and what is not, changing them accordingly. Lastly, the technology being used is not an actual description of nature and is not displaying the normal techniques that would be used to teach high school students.

To conclude, COVID-19 has impacted the high schools around our country significantly. But, through the technology available to students, the education system has been able to reach new limits and introduce new ways of learning using virtual-technology that have never been used before. Now, new ways of learning will be implemented into school days when things go back to normal. Although there are rising concerns about students not performing as well or being prepared, high schools around the country have been able to adapt to a one of a kind situation and have been able to continue to teach through the learning technology that is available to our society. Students’ social interaction and mental health has also shifted during this time, but communities are coming together to support one another and create new ways to interact so that each student feels happy. COVID-19 has challenged and modified the way high schools are now functioning, by forcing learning technology to advance rapidly, having to introduce and create new ways of learning, and adjusting the education system to the new norms of our society. Through this global pandemic, we’ve seen how strong our education system in high schools really is.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Operating schools during COVID-19: CDC’s Considerations. ” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/schools.html .

Chick, Robert C., et al. “Using Technology to Maintain the Education of Residents during the COVID-19 Pandemic.”  Journal of Surgical Education , vol. 77, no. 4, 2020, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1931720420300842.

Fox, Michelle. “Go to college or skip it? High school students face a new reality due to coronavirus.” CNBC, 24 Apr. 2020, https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/24/high-school-students-face-a-new-reality-due-to-coronavirus.html.

Hernandez, Vivian. “Creating Online Clubs for Students During Remote Learning.” Edutopia,  28 Sep. 2020, https://www.edutopia.org/article/creating-online-clubs-students-during-remote-learning .

Kreitz, Mary. “The Impact of COVID-19 on high school students.” Child & Adolescent Behavioral Health, 2020,   https://www.childandadolescent.org/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-high-school-students/.

Lieberman, Mark. “Zoom Use Skyrockets During Coronavirus Pandemic, Prompting Wave of Problems for Schoo ls .” E ducationWeek , 3 Apr. 2020, https://www.edweek.org/technology/zoom-use-skyrockets-during-coronavirus-pandemic-prompting-wave-of-problems-for-schools/2020/04  Accessed 4 Dec. 2020.

Wawa, Brenda. “COVID-19 and Higher Education: Interview with Dr. Michael Krüger .” Academic Impact, 2020,   https://academicimpact.un.org/content/covid-19-and-higher-education-interview-dr-michael-kr%C3%BCger .

“Woman in Pink Shirt Sitting by the Table While Smiling” by Julia M Cameron is in the Public Domain

“Photo of Child Sitting by the Table While Looking at the Imac” by Julia M Cameron is in the P ublic Domain

COVID-19: Success Within Devastation Copyright © 2020 by Melissa Kostecki is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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What I Learned During the Pandemic

17 students, kindergarten through high school, on their schools, their teachers, their families and their country.

Over the past year, millions of students found themselves in uncharted territory. Many were forced, practically overnight, to adjust to a new reality, one in which the adults — parents, teachers, administrators, all of us — struggled to figure out what to do.

Today, many of those students remain in virtual learning, and there is much uncertainty about when that might change. The data suggest that getting students back to the classroom needs to be an urgent priority, especially for Black and Hispanic students , and students from low-income backgrounds.

Recently, we interviewed students from across the country about their educational experiences, and their lives, during the pandemic. Some of our questions were about school, but others were about what students have learned more broadly — about themselves, their families, their teachers and their country. The students we spoke to have struggled with virtual learning or socially distanced classrooms, but they’ve also learned to adapt — in some cases, better than the adults. And parents: As much as they’re driving you nuts, you’re making them crazy, too.

Interviews have been edited and condensed.

Joseph Powell, 6, kindergarten

Full-time in-person at wood elementary, tempe, ariz..

LEFT: Joseph Powell on his first day of school this academic year. RIGHT: Joseph plays at a gymnasium. (Photos courtesy of Jonathan and Stephanie Powell)

What do you know about the coronavirus?

That we can’t go anywhere fun.

Do you stay home, or are you able to go to school normally?

I’m able to go to school pretty normally.

What’s your favorite thing about school?

My favorite thing about school is doing math.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I want to be a dad and a teacher. I look up to my dad, and I look up to my teacher.

Why do you look up to them?

Because they love me.

[Joseph’s dad asks]: Does it bother you wearing a mask all day at school?

Uh, kind of. Look at my mask! It’s “Star Wars.”

That is so cool! Where did you get that mask?

My nana and dada made it.

If you’ve got to wear one all day, it better be a really cool one. Do you want to ask me any questions?

My favorite animal is wolves.

Why do you like wolves?

Because we are the wolves. [Dad: That’s our school mascot.] That’s our school mascot.

Vivaan Pai, 7, first grade

Full-time virtual at bay meadows elementary, orlando.

LEFT: Vivaan Pai’s first day of school in August 2020. RIGHT: Vivaan’s remote learning setup. (Photos courtesy of the family)

Can you tell me about your school?

You can go to the cafeteria and buy stuff from it. Like, you can go into the kitchen and get chocolate milk and uh ... I forgot, because it’s been a long time. In coronavirus, I’ve forgotten all this stuff.

What can you tell me about the virus?

It’s really dangerous. Like for some people, they’ve died. My mom and dad told me that. I hear it on the news sometimes, too.

Do you prefer in-person learning or virtual?

I prefer going in person, but the reason I don’t go to school is because wearing a mask, it’s hard to do for six hours.

Is there anything that you feel you missed out on, being out of school for the last year?

My tooth, it was wiggling one day when I was at home. It came out. I was in kindergarten and my teacher had a chart of how many people lost their teeth. I wish I was in school so I could tell her.

Allyson Rodriguez, 8, second grade

Full-time virtual at james elementary, kansas city, mo..

LEFT: Allyson Rodriguez loves her little space where she does homework. RIGHT: Allyson with a roller coaster she made for her Girl Scout troop using recycled materials. She named it Daisy Rollercoaster after her troop. (Photos by Maria Yepez)

Do you prefer learning in person or at home?

I like learning from home. But I still miss my friends.

Tell me why you like learning at home better.

I feel much more safe. I don’t want to get sick from covid-19. I think it’s really, really dangerous for kids.

Do you know anyone who has gotten sick from it?

My grandma, but she survived.

What do you like about being at home?

I don’t have to wait for my parents to come pick me up, and I don’t have to miss them.

How do you feel about going back to school in person?

Well, for now, I want to stay home until covid-19 is, like, totally gone. I want to go back to school when they make a vaccine for kids, because I think it’s not really fair that they have a vaccine for adults but not for kids.

Do you have any questions for me?

I asked my mom if the president is going to see this.

Maybe. Is there anything you want to tell him?

What I want to tell him is that he’s really good. He’s very nice. And you know about the people that, like, don’t have papers? I liked when he wrote the law, and he changed it.

And my mom also told me about when there is a family trying to get, like, let’s say from Mexico to the United States, to Missouri. If one of the guards catches them, my mom told me that if they had kids, they would take them away from [their parents] and they will put them in cages. And [the guards] would say to the people that they feed them, that they’ve done really good. But the kids say they’ve done really bad. I want to tell the president that he’s made much better decisions than the other president.

Billie Null, 8, second grade

Full-time virtual at takoma park elementary, takoma park, md..

LEFT: Billie Null’s first day of school in 2020. RIGHT: Billie and her brother, Henry, participate in a virtual yoga session. (Photos by Taryn Null)

How has coronavirus changed the way you attend school?

I’ve been doing a pod with my best friend, and that’s been really fun. My parents set it up, and they hired a college student every day to watch us. I really prefer in-person school, but, I mean, it could be worse. I do have a pod. Otherwise, I’d be really lonely.

What have you learned about yourself over the last year?

I’ve learned that I really like skateboarding. [My dad] got me a skateboard, and he actually built me a ramp in the backyard so I can skate on that.

What have you learned about your family?

Well, one of the things I’ve learned is that I can get very angry with them, because I’m with them, like, maybe, I don’t know, 20 hours a day. [Laughs.] But I’ve also learned that my dad really likes getting us hot chocolate.

How do you feel about going back to in-person school?

I think I’m doing really good in school, but I think for kids my age, it is really important for us to be able to interact with kids. And I think the sooner, the better. But if we go back to school and we’re all on computers, just doing Zoom learning anyways with the kids at home, I don’t think it’s worth it. Of course, some parents have to send their kids to school because they may have in-person jobs. But my mom works from home and I think what we’re doing is working out great.

Have you thought about what you want to be when you grow up?

I want to be a child therapist, actually. It’s something that not a lot of kids my age really think about. But I’m having trouble being at home so much that I want to help kids.

Graysen Lopez, 8, third grade

Full-time virtual at astor k-8, portland, ore..

LEFT: Graysen Lopez on his first day of school in August 2019. RIGHT: Graysen in September 2020. (Photos by Brie Kelley)

What’s the hardest thing about learning virtually?

There are a lot of glitches. Some people don’t have that good of a computer. Some people don’t have computers at all. So schools have to, like, get computers and give them to the kids. And first of all, I think that it’s cool that they are doing that. Second of all, people have tech issues, like sometimes [the teacher] gets kicked off the meeting and then everyone just goes crazy, like: “The teacher left! What do we do?” Two or three minutes later, they all scream, “She’s finally back!” So there’s a lot more chaos.

Is there anything you missed getting to do in person last year?

The talent show, definitely. Because we still got to do a talent show, but it was on something called Flipgrid, and we couldn’t go onstage. I did hula-hooping. I did it to a song, and my little brother — it was a while ago, so he wasn’t a year yet — but he just had his little butt shaking in the background, just wiggling.

Are there any advantages to learning virtually?

I have ADHD, and sometimes I’m like, oh, I just need to do something. I can do that now and then go back on screen and get back to task. It’s very helpful. When our class calls are over, I can dance. I don’t think I could do that [in school] or I’d have to do it in front of a lot of people. That would be awkward.

Michelle Gallegos, 9, third grade

LEFT: Michelle Gallegos attends a science class as her brother looks on. RIGHT: Michelle waits for a friend’s virtual party to start. (Photos by Elissa Gallegos)

Where do you set up to do your schoolwork?

Well, I’m usually in my room, but when I don’t have any Internet, I go to my mom and dad’s room.

Does the Internet act up at your house a lot?

Yes, like, I was in the middle of a test yesterday, a really big test, and I lost connection. I was very mad.

How do you feel about virtual learning?

I really like it because you get to see whoever is taking care of you almost every day. Sometimes you don’t because they’re at work, but my dad’s also doing online working, so I really like it.

The only thing that I don’t really like about not doing face-to-face is I really miss my friends.

What have you learned about your teachers over the last year?

They’re really smart, and I’m glad that they’re making me smart.

David Chevez, 9, fourth grade

Full-time virtual at bradley elementary, boston.

Are you going in to school?

I’m staying at home because we’re really scared about covid right now.

How do you feel about the idea of going back to school in person?

I feel a little bit scared and nervous about it. But I feel a little fine, because I know we’re always going to be wearing a mask. It’s not really a problem for me, wearing a mask all day long. When I’m outside, I always have to wear a scarf since I have asthma.

What I’ve learned about myself is that I like reading a lot more.

What have you learned about the country?

That it’s not always easy to have, like, a little sickness, and some people are struggling with it.

Joaquin Gallinar, 11, fifth grade

Full-time virtual at mesita elementary, el paso.

LEFT: Joaquin Gallinar doing schoolwork from home. RIGHT: Joaquin on his first day of school this academic year. (Photos by Carlos Gallinar)

What does learning at home look like for you?

It’s a lot boringer, because you have to, like, sit down all day. Before covid it was fun. I liked recess, like most kids. I liked learning in person.

What do you miss the most?

I miss playing basketball with my friends in the freezing cold morning. Because that was just really fun.

What did you learn about yourself this year?

That I just need to slow down. I can have a lot of stuff going on, but I just need to slow down and have, like, today — not in the future, not in the past. Today, you know?

Was that something you struggled with at the beginning of this?

I was watching, like, three movies a day on the couch, because I was so bored. And then I started to pick up [that] nothing’s really happening. And so I had to be creative, not on the screen all day.

What did you learn about your family this year?

They can be really annoying but also funny at the same time. My sister plays her flute all day because she has band, and my dad is like [laughs] — he’s trying to be funny, but, like, he’s just being annoying. My mom, she’s not really annoying. She just asks me to do chores and stuff, normal mom stuff.

What are you most looking forward to, when this is over?

I’m looking forward to middle school, to getting the feel of middle school — if it’s bad, like the movies say it is, or if it’s good. My sister says it’s good.

Amora Bernabe, 12, sixth grade

Full-time virtual at our lady of lourdes elementary, pine ridge indian reservation, porcupine, s.d..

How has school changed for you since the start of the pandemic?

It’s changed a lot because I can’t see my friends. I can see them virtually, but they’re kind of scared to turn on their cameras.

Why are they scared to turn on their cameras?

Since we start so early, they don’t want to, like, really show their faces because they’re still tired. And, I don’t know, they’re afraid that someone might judge them because they’re in their pajamas or something.

Do you know anyone who’s been personally affected by covid?

In October, me and my family got covid, but we didn’t get it as bad as a few other people I know that had gotten it really bad.

How do you feel about the idea of going back?

I’m excited. I’m just ready to go. Like, I would actually go to school if they let me in a heartbeat because I miss it.

Because you miss your friends?

Yeah. I miss having them make me laugh.

I’ve learned that they are really funny. They’re smart and kind of, like, courageous. I’d say that because I know they’re all trying to do something to keep us safer, you know?

What did you learn about your teachers over the last year?

I think they’re lonely themselves, because, I mean, I know they spend time with the other teachers, but all my teachers keep saying, “I can’t wait to see you guys.” And I kind of feel like they’re lonely.

Ellie Jones, 12, seventh grade

Full-time in-person at oxford middle, oxford, miss..

How does your day begin?

When I get here, I get my temperature checked and then we have the school check-in thing where we have to fill out this health form. It asks you if you had a fever, if you’ve traveled and if you’ve been, like, around people who have had [covid].

Has any part of it been difficult?

Sometimes I get a little mad because my friends don’t have their masks on properly. I try to keep my mask on all the time just for other people. A lot of people don’t think it’s as important. And I just kind of let them do their thing.

One time, I accidentally clicked something [on the health form] and they called me to the nurse. So I guess if you have symptoms or something, you get called to the nurse and she asks you questions about it.

Is there anything you feel you’ve missed out on because of the pandemic?

This year, they canceled the school dance, and it was going to be my first dance. It feels important to me. I’m a very social type of person, and I always looked forward to school dances because I watch a lot of TV shows.

They actually get frustrated. [My mom] teaches all high school students, ninth grade. So if I was talking about my mom, I’ve learned that there’s a lot more work that had to be done during the pandemic outside of school because she had a lot of stuff to do.

Kylie Shulman, 13, eighth grade

Full-time virtual at tyee middle, bellevue, wash..

Does it feel like you’re doing more or less work now?

There’s a huge workload, which is really rough because a lot of teachers probably assume that because you’re spending all day at home that you have a lot of time. But it’s kind of the opposite this year. Everything feels more stressful.

Sometimes I feel like I don’t know how to interact with people socially anymore. Do you ever experience that?

Yeah. Sometimes I’ll be on a walk with my family and I’ll see someone that I know, and they’ll say hello. I just freeze up because I don’t know how to respond. [Laughs.] Because, yeah, it’s very different than just typing “hi” in the chat. Like you have to say it with your mouth and use hand gestures, but you don’t really know how to do that anymore.

What did you learn about the country this year?

I learned that if we just all stop for a second, we can join together and we can make real change, and that Gen Z is a pretty powerful generation. We have changed a lot in the world.

Over the summer, everyone was posting stuff about Black Lives Matter. They were going to protests, they were signing petitions. They have been advocating for what they know is right and making sure that change actually happens, and that it’s not a trend to say “Black lives matter,” it’s what is happening and what needs to happen.

Connor Shaw, 15, ninth grade

Full-time virtual at preble high, green bay, wis..

It’s easier because it’s more at your pace, but I definitely want to be back in school. I don’t like being away from other kids or teachers.

Is there anything you feel like you’ve missed out on?

I missed spring sports and fall sports. But I also missed being able to talk to other people.

Do you feel like it’s important to have a “normal” high school experience?

Yeah. I’m fortunate that it’s only my freshman year, and I’m glad that it’s not my senior year and I’m missing the end of high school. I can’t wait to get the actual high school experience.

Jaxon Balmer, 15, ninth grade

Full-time virtual at st. tammany parish public schools, mandeville, la..

Ever since [in-person] school ended, I just grew a lot lazier when it came to a lot of things. I used to be a lot more of a go-getter. And I guess I just didn’t really care anymore and just kind of did whatever I wanted to do. And so I’ve recently been changing that.

What kinds of things did you feel like you were giving up on?

One of them was talking to my friends. I guess everyone noticed that the only person I really talked to during the pandemic was my girlfriend, because we had met right before it all started. And since we’re long-distance and stuff, we only are allowed to talk on FaceTime anyway.

Was it hard starting a relationship in a pandemic?

I think it actually made it a lot easier for us to, like, build our knowledge of one another. Because if the pandemic wouldn’t have been here, she would have been doing something else with her friends. I would have just been at home doing whatever. We kind of took that time and we talked to each other.

Has the virus affected you or anyone you know?

My mom actually had it back in October. It really affected her. My step-grandparents had it too. But they didn’t seem to take it as bad as my mom did. She’s fine now.

I’ve learned that our country is not the best place to be. Nowhere in the world is really a good place to be anymore, but I was really hoping that America could pull through and be kind of a symbol for what we can be doing right in the world. But I realized that’s not the case.

Serenity Corbin-Banks, 15, 10th grade

Full-time virtual at cristo rey philadelphia high, philadelphia.

How has school changed for you in the last year?

We’re not in the building anymore. And I never thought I would miss the building so much, oh my gosh. It’s a little bit harder to connect with my teachers because I’m not physically there. So it’s like: Hey, I have a question; okay, I have to send you a private message in a chat. I’m a people person, so that was definitely my biggest, hardest thing.

Can you tell me more about what you miss?

Definitely the building. I love this building. I hated walking to the fourth floor because the steps would kill you — it felt like a horrible workout. But I miss it. I would give so much to do that workout at 7:55 in the morning right now.

I feel like my grades are a little bit better in a virtual setting. The way covid is going right now, I feel a little bit safer in the house with my own personal setting, and I feel like I have more control. I have time to plan my lessons, and that’s just a little better for me because I’m a control freak.

What are you most looking forward to this school year?

I’m looking forward to it ending. I loved my sophomore year — it’s been great to me — but I’m looking forward to my junior year.

That they are annoying, but I still love them. I love that they are annoying. [Laughs.]

Jourdan Duncan, 17, 11th grade

Full-time virtual at benjamin e. mays high, atlanta.

LEFT: Jourdan Duncan on his first day of school in 2019. RIGHT: Jourdan at his schoolwork station on his first day of school in 2020. (Photos by Brendalynne Duncan)

Is there anything coming up this school year that you hope you can do in person?

Well, first of all, of course, going back to school normally. Second of all, I’m looking forward to taking the SAT and the ACT in person. I’m looking forward to just coming back to school and interacting with my classmates, because I am the junior class president. So I just want to get back and get things running.

I had a mind-set when the pandemic began and we started virtual learning that I won’t have to do this, I won’t have to do that, and it kind of sidetracked me. But of course, as time progresses and you get different types of classes, it motivates you to want to actually do more work and get it done before you have to worry about it at a later time.

What are you most excited to do when the pandemic is over?

One thing, of course, is just experiencing senior year. I just want to get that full senior experience.

Liya Gebremeskel, 17, 12th grade

Two days in person, three days virtual at greeley west high, greeley, colo..

What’s been difficult about the shift to virtual learning?

My mom goes to work at JBS [meat-processing facility] at 3 a.m., or 2. So in the morning, I’ve got to wake up, make coffee for her and make breakfast while I’m learning online.

Who’s in the house with you when you’re doing virtual learning?

I have two younger brothers, and I have a little sister. It’s hard. We only have two rooms, and all of us are learning online. I try to be in my room, and my sister is taking classes there, so she’ll say, “Oh no, you have to be over there. My teacher can hear you.” I am like, then where do you want me to be?

So the last time I had a presentation I literally presented to my class in the bathroom because I did not have a room to do it. And then my brother came in. I was like, “What are you doing? I’m trying to present!” He was like, “I’m trying to use the restroom.” I’m like, “You guys just literally kicked me out from the room.” It’s hard. That’s why I really want to go [full-time] in person.

What are you looking forward to in the future?

I just want to graduate and then go to college. So I really have to apply for a scholarship. If I get a scholarship — that’s so exciting! — I can go to college and learn.

What have you learned about the country over the last year? [Gebremeskel came to the United States as a refugee from Ethiopia about four years ago.]

One thing I like about America is the school. Because back in Ethiopia they teach you, but it’s hard. They literally hit you with a stick if you don’t do your homework. And it was way too expensive. And here you just get to learn, but you don’t have to pay.

If my dad was here it would be good, so he could see me graduate from high school. That’s all I want. But he’s not here. It’s been two years since we started his case. I’m so sorry I’m crying.

[Liya turned off her camera for a long moment.]

I try not to cry, but it’s really sad, because my dad’s not here and he’s by himself back home and he misses his children. He always calls to ask us if we’re okay. There is a lot happening back home. The president of Ethiopia is having a war with the Tigray people. It’s not really good, what’s happening. I can see through social media what [the president is] doing; people getting killed, children are going hungry. And then my dad still tells us he’s okay because he doesn’t want us to feel bad. He said, “Oh, I’m fine, Liya.” Yeah, it’s a lot.

Olivia Mashiana, 17, 12th grade

Full-time in-person at unalakleet school, unalakleet, alaska.

LEFT: Olivia Mashiana making sushi for culture day at her school. RIGHT: Olivia on her first day of school this academic year. (Photos by Kristen Mashiana)

How did school change for you in the pandemic?

In school we have to wear masks. Our desks are separated pretty far apart. We can’t go into certain parts of the school at certain times just to, like, avoid congregating and mixing with the middle-schoolers and elementary kids.

Sports have changed a lot. And traveling. Basketball is super big here. And now they can’t travel and people can’t travel here, and that’s like the whole point, to compete, and they can’t do it now. [Mashiana’s school district is one of the most remote in the country. Sports teams travel to away games by plane.]

Does your school feel different than it was before?

Our school has always been a chaotic space, lots of people moving around, everybody going to different places, and now it’s just sort of quiet, mellowed out. Everybody keeps to themselves. A lot of kids have issues wearing masks in school.

Are you able to have prom this year, and what happened last year?

Last year, we did not have prom. They set up the whole prom court and they voted on the radio, but everybody did their own thing on prom night. This year I think we’re going to have prom because now they set a regulation of how many people can be in the gym, and it’s 80 people and only 40 to 50 people go to prom. So I think it’s going to happen. I’m not 100 percent sure. I hope so.

Are you worried about missing milestones?

I’m definitely scared to not have the full graduation experience, because my adviser is talking about having a virtual graduation ceremony. And I don’t know, I’ve always looked forward to having the big, like, community-is-watching-me graduation. I hope that still happens. But I do think I’m missing out on some things. The seniors are super celebrated in our school, and lots of activities happen surrounding graduation and senior prom and stuff like that, so I hope things go back to normal soon.

Do you have plans for after you graduate?

I would like to — God willing that I’m accepted — go to the University of Washington.

I have seen so many things kind of fall apart so quickly and easily, and it just amazes me how people can go into a mind-set of chaos in a matter of days and not think about how it’s affecting other people. It’s saddening and disappointing to see how easily things went downhill so quickly. I’m hoping that things are getting better. But I had a lot more faith in the American people, and they sort of let me down.

About this story

Marin Cogan is a writer based in Washington. Design by Clare Ramirez.

Photo illustration by Gluekit; based on photos of, from left, Connor Shaw (by Theresa Shaw), Joseph Powell (courtesy of Jonathan and Stephanie Powell), Joaquin Gallinar (by Carlos Gallinar), Graysen Lopez (by Brie Kelley), Billie Null (by Taryn Null) and Kylie Shulman (by Ngina Shulman)

How to Write About Coronavirus in a College Essay

Students can share how they navigated life during the coronavirus pandemic in a full-length essay or an optional supplement.

Writing About COVID-19 in College Essays

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Experts say students should be honest and not limit themselves to merely their experiences with the pandemic.

The global impact of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, means colleges and prospective students alike are in for an admissions cycle like no other. Both face unprecedented challenges and questions as they grapple with their respective futures amid the ongoing fallout of the pandemic.

Colleges must examine applicants without the aid of standardized test scores for many – a factor that prompted many schools to go test-optional for now . Even grades, a significant component of a college application, may be hard to interpret with some high schools adopting pass-fail classes last spring due to the pandemic. Major college admissions factors are suddenly skewed.

"I can't help but think other (admissions) factors are going to matter more," says Ethan Sawyer, founder of the College Essay Guy, a website that offers free and paid essay-writing resources.

College essays and letters of recommendation , Sawyer says, are likely to carry more weight than ever in this admissions cycle. And many essays will likely focus on how the pandemic shaped students' lives throughout an often tumultuous 2020.

But before writing a college essay focused on the coronavirus, students should explore whether it's the best topic for them.

Writing About COVID-19 for a College Application

Much of daily life has been colored by the coronavirus. Virtual learning is the norm at many colleges and high schools, many extracurriculars have vanished and social lives have stalled for students complying with measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.

"For some young people, the pandemic took away what they envisioned as their senior year," says Robert Alexander, dean of admissions, financial aid and enrollment management at the University of Rochester in New York. "Maybe that's a spot on a varsity athletic team or the lead role in the fall play. And it's OK for them to mourn what should have been and what they feel like they lost, but more important is how are they making the most of the opportunities they do have?"

That question, Alexander says, is what colleges want answered if students choose to address COVID-19 in their college essay.

But the question of whether a student should write about the coronavirus is tricky. The answer depends largely on the student.

"In general, I don't think students should write about COVID-19 in their main personal statement for their application," Robin Miller, master college admissions counselor at IvyWise, a college counseling company, wrote in an email.

"Certainly, there may be exceptions to this based on a student's individual experience, but since the personal essay is the main place in the application where the student can really allow their voice to be heard and share insight into who they are as an individual, there are likely many other topics they can choose to write about that are more distinctive and unique than COVID-19," Miller says.

Opinions among admissions experts vary on whether to write about the likely popular topic of the pandemic.

"If your essay communicates something positive, unique, and compelling about you in an interesting and eloquent way, go for it," Carolyn Pippen, principal college admissions counselor at IvyWise, wrote in an email. She adds that students shouldn't be dissuaded from writing about a topic merely because it's common, noting that "topics are bound to repeat, no matter how hard we try to avoid it."

Above all, she urges honesty.

"If your experience within the context of the pandemic has been truly unique, then write about that experience, and the standing out will take care of itself," Pippen says. "If your experience has been generally the same as most other students in your context, then trying to find a unique angle can easily cross the line into exploiting a tragedy, or at least appearing as though you have."

But focusing entirely on the pandemic can limit a student to a single story and narrow who they are in an application, Sawyer says. "There are so many wonderful possibilities for what you can say about yourself outside of your experience within the pandemic."

He notes that passions, strengths, career interests and personal identity are among the multitude of essay topic options available to applicants and encourages them to probe their values to help determine the topic that matters most to them – and write about it.

That doesn't mean the pandemic experience has to be ignored if applicants feel the need to write about it.

Writing About Coronavirus in Main and Supplemental Essays

Students can choose to write a full-length college essay on the coronavirus or summarize their experience in a shorter form.

To help students explain how the pandemic affected them, The Common App has added an optional section to address this topic. Applicants have 250 words to describe their pandemic experience and the personal and academic impact of COVID-19.

"That's not a trick question, and there's no right or wrong answer," Alexander says. Colleges want to know, he adds, how students navigated the pandemic, how they prioritized their time, what responsibilities they took on and what they learned along the way.

If students can distill all of the above information into 250 words, there's likely no need to write about it in a full-length college essay, experts say. And applicants whose lives were not heavily altered by the pandemic may even choose to skip the optional COVID-19 question.

"This space is best used to discuss hardship and/or significant challenges that the student and/or the student's family experienced as a result of COVID-19 and how they have responded to those difficulties," Miller notes. Using the section to acknowledge a lack of impact, she adds, "could be perceived as trite and lacking insight, despite the good intentions of the applicant."

To guard against this lack of awareness, Sawyer encourages students to tap someone they trust to review their writing , whether it's the 250-word Common App response or the full-length essay.

Experts tend to agree that the short-form approach to this as an essay topic works better, but there are exceptions. And if a student does have a coronavirus story that he or she feels must be told, Alexander encourages the writer to be authentic in the essay.

"My advice for an essay about COVID-19 is the same as my advice about an essay for any topic – and that is, don't write what you think we want to read or hear," Alexander says. "Write what really changed you and that story that now is yours and yours alone to tell."

Sawyer urges students to ask themselves, "What's the sentence that only I can write?" He also encourages students to remember that the pandemic is only a chapter of their lives and not the whole book.

Miller, who cautions against writing a full-length essay on the coronavirus, says that if students choose to do so they should have a conversation with their high school counselor about whether that's the right move. And if students choose to proceed with COVID-19 as a topic, she says they need to be clear, detailed and insightful about what they learned and how they adapted along the way.

"Approaching the essay in this manner will provide important balance while demonstrating personal growth and vulnerability," Miller says.

Pippen encourages students to remember that they are in an unprecedented time for college admissions.

"It is important to keep in mind with all of these (admission) factors that no colleges have ever had to consider them this way in the selection process, if at all," Pippen says. "They have had very little time to calibrate their evaluations of different application components within their offices, let alone across institutions. This means that colleges will all be handling the admissions process a little bit differently, and their approaches may even evolve over the course of the admissions cycle."

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High school revisited: Students reflect on their year away from campus

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As high schoolers throughout Southern California prepare for a return to the classroom for this first time in a year, we asked students to share their experiences. Attending Zoom classes during the pandemic has been difficult for teens, but they are a resilient group. Will there be prom? Will they be able to walk through graduation? What will the start of college be like? Here are their stories in their own words:

Kaitlyn Nguyen, 18, senior, Village Academy High School, Pomona

It is hard to wrap my head around the fact that my high school career is coming to an end; each day seems to pass by in the blink of an eye. This year was full of challenges and loss, but it also came with unforgettable memories and lessons.

As a senior, one of the most daunting challenges I had to face was the college application process. Oftentimes when looking at these applications it was easy for me to get intimidated by the process, but during this time I am glad that I had the support of my family, friends and local nonprofit organization, Bright Prospect (BP).

Despite the difficulties of figuring out virtual meetings, BP has been working hard to help meet the needs of students such as myself. While going through the college process I was fortunate enough to have a personal college coach, Juan Carlos Mora, who was introduced to me through the BP private college program.

Juan mentored me through the college process, while also helping me navigate my final year of high school. We often meet a few times a month, and during these times, although most of it was spent on filling out applications and discussing potential colleges, we also spent time just talking and building a connection, which is one of the most essential things we need during this time. Not only was I given a coach, who made the college application fun, I was also given a lifelong friend through this process and I could not be more thankful.

Early on in the process, I decided to apply as an early decision applicant to the University of Pennsylvania. Juan encouraged me to look into Penn, and through my research I came to the realization that this was the school for me. I came to this conclusion primarily because of Penn’s commitment to community service and community advocacy work, which has been something that I have been passionate about growing up. I am happy to say that I have been accepted into the University of Pennsylvania as a first-generation college student of Vietnamese descent.

Terrell Weaver, 17, senior, Alain Leroy Locke College Preparatory Academy

For my senior year, I did not expect it to be like this ....

I’ve watched my older brother and sister graduate, go to prom, and all the senior activities that seniors do for the last year of high school. I feel like it isn’t fair, for not just me but all the seniors in my class. We all have waited for this moment in our lives and now it’s been taken away from us due to COVID-19. We will never get a chance to experience something like this for ourselves again.

The one positive thing that came out of the pandemic was that my family and I were able to stay safe and no one was exposed to COVID-19. Also through it all I was able to maintain good grades. I will be attending Cal State Northridge in the fall. I hope to be in the athletic business, doing what I love — being involved with sports.

This year has taught me a lot about patience and balance. It took a lot to transfer to distance learning and still succeed. My friends and family helped me get through this by spending time together in a safe manner. By supporting me, whether it’s sitting going over my homework or hanging out spending quality time.

Max Menache, 18, senior, Beverly Hills High School

That was THE question consuming most of my thoughts during the pandemic. What if football season wasn’t canceled? What if I was still physically in school? What if this virus affects my goals and dreams forever? As a high school senior, I’d been looking forward to playing football with my teammates in what could’ve been my most important and impactful season. Sadly, my experience was the opposite. The pandemic overshadowed everything and there was nothing I could do to get back on the field. I felt powerless.

While I had enough highlights on film from my junior year to get recruited, many seniors I knew were not as lucky. They were desperate to play, to show their talents and secure a spot on a college team. With a delayed start date and an extremely short season, high school football resumed in California, resulting in a drop of college football openings. Still, I looked for opportunities to become a better athlete. I spent the whole pandemic year preparing for the next chapter of my life. I had some lifting equipment at home and family friends offered me their home gyms to continue training. Most of the tracks around my neighborhood were closed; I found parks with ample room to run.

Although this past year was quite unpredictable, it seems we are starting to win the fight against the pandemic. I think the worst is behind us as we now have a better understanding of the virus. Life is slowly going back to normal. I’m headed to Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., where I will play football and track. I can’t wait to hear the crowd cheering us on. I’m looking forward to attending classes and meeting my professors and classmates in person instead of spending my days staring at a screen. I’m really excited for what the future holds.

Emily Chen, 17, senior, San Gabriel High School

The surprise of this pandemic isolation year is finding out I am capable of being a homebody. By nature, I am very gregarious, love to perform, always very involved in everything at school, very social. My perfect day pre-COVID-19 would have been being in a crowd of friends. Now I take comfort in my room and don’t feel the urge to go out — and rarely do.

During the lockdown, two things helped me and were basically my only social interaction. The six of us in the Young Aspiring Writers With Power (YAWP) club had weekly check-ins to share our highs and lows. Then, because no sports were permitted, I started a twice-weekly Zoom workout for our cross-country and track team members. This spring, Zoom auditioned for the SGHS May musical production “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” and got the part of Sally, Charlie’s little sister. The Zoom rehearsals have been great experience for all of us.

I watched my older sister go to prom and graduation and couldn’t wait for my turn. I have a prom replacement plan with two friends to go to my sister’s backyard in our dresses, socially distanced, to make some sort of memory.

I applied to 15 colleges and it was very hard to find the motivation in solitary confinement. I am deciding between UC Berkeley and UC San Diego. But I am persistent, maybe even stubborn, and do everything until I finish. I won’t give up.

Julio Flores, 17, senior, Alain Leroy Locke College Preparatory Academy

Being a senior in the 2020-21 school year is hard for everyone. It’s difficult to not experience memorable activities like prom, homecoming, graduation and so much more.

Being at home in distance learning while taking care of younger siblings has been a difficult challenge because things go sideways, like having a power outage, Wi-Fi outages, technical difficulties with devices. I have to make split decisions to make sure me and my brothers are fully learning and not missing anything.

Academics is just the tip of the iceberg. Being at home means chores and helping my siblings. It can get difficult looking toward the future — applying to college, scholarships, financial aid etc. ... I decided to find a way to let it all out and take my mind off things. What better way to relieve stress than to work out. I invited my brothers to join me, bonding, being healthy and creating memories.

Late in the evening, waiting for my parents to come home, I help in any way I can. We bond as a family watching a movie, playing video games or simply talking about our day. I am enjoying the time I have with them before moving away to my dream school.

This year has definitely taught me to conquer and overcome anything and stay dedicated to my goals for the best.

Julio will attend UC Merced.

Maxime Garcia, 17, senior, Whitney High School, Cerritos

School has always been my second home. I live two minutes away, so I was happily there from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., participating in all the activities I could. Since seventh grade, I’ve got involved in everything and have always been able to overcome obstacles in my way, until the pandemic hit. All of a sudden, my life vanished; no more staying late to make decorations, no more weekend drama practices, and nothing to keep me active. For months, I was walking from my bed to the kitchen, with the occasional stop to pet my dog, and that was it.

I cried for weeks when it was confirmed we wouldn’t be going back. I had been waiting for five years to relax and enjoy all the perks of being a senior. I had no choice but to focus on college and move on. I was lucky to have a few close friends supporting me. We’ve talked almost every day and for first semester, I would do online school with one of my friends, since we had all of the same classes! When the holiday spike hit, we had to do online school on our own and my motivation took a huge decline, especially as a second-semester senior.

Compared to the beginning of the year, when there was lots of buzz and anticipation to return, I do not want to go back to school in person.

We want to focus on a safe, in-person graduation. I want to celebrate with my classmates one last time before we go our separate ways, and have it be as safe as possible for all of us.

Maxime will attend Cal State Long Beach.

Ryan Fung, 17, San Gabriel High School

I’ve learned that life can change in a moment. My pandemic lesson is to take action right away on something I want to do because it’s impossible to get time back.

I’m an outgoing person, and feeling lonely at home has made me lose happiness and motivation. However, I learned to find comfort in my newfound appreciation for nature. I moved in with my older sister, Winnie, and I have since been able to hike frequently and walk at the beach with her dog. My friends and I have also connected through an innovative concept: Zoom game night. When my friend Dylan first organized the event, we found ourselves competitively shouting at one another once again — this time through our computer screens.

It has been difficult to miss out on events like Friday night football games and prom, but the free time has allowed me to pick up hobbies such as cooking. Some highlights include a matcha mille crepe cake and my copy of Vox Kitchen’s lomo saltado.

Excluding friends and good food, teachers and school staff have motivated me to finish high school strong. Counselors have been available to support me through the college application process, which has been especially significant as a first-generation college-bound student.

Ryan will attend Brown University or Dartmouth College.

Alya Mehrtash, 17, senior, Beverly Hills High School

Since I was in middle school, I’ve always imagined my picture-perfect senior year, and as I witnessed many older friends of mine experience that throughout my first three years at BHHS, the anticipation for my own senior year only grew. Not being able to experience that ideal situation that I’ve always looked forward to has been devastating, to say the least. I’ve discussed this with some of my peers before, and many of us agree that, so far, it really has felt like we’re doing junior year all over again rather than experiencing senior year and all the unforgettable experiences that are supposed to come with it, like prom, for example.

Of course, there have been both pros and cons to online school: I can easily roll out of bed two minutes before class starts and still be early, I can snack whenever I want, the list goes on. But I’m someone who thrives off of human interaction. I love being around people, and COVID has obviously made that incredibly difficult. I miss my relatives, my friends, my teammates and my teachers more than I can really describe.

As time has gone by, however, I’ve grown to accept that these are the cards that I’ve been dealt, and I’m really trying to make the most of it whenever I get the chance. This is not to say that this has been easy, but it’s something that has definitely helped me enjoy certain aspects of my abnormal senior year more.

This last year has really tested me and a lot of my friends. We’ve been posed with obstacles we would have never even imagined two years ago, but it’s also greatly contributed to my growth as a student, leader and individual. I’m still upset about the way my senior year has panned out thus far, but I’ve also grown to appreciate so many things I once overlooked, like the power of a seemingly simple hug, and that is something I will definitely carry with me in the future. I’m hopeful for the rest of the year, and I’m looking forward to closing out my high school experience with my friends in whatever COVID-safe ways we can.

Raven Ferrer, 18, senior, Mark Keppel High School, Alhambra

This is my second year in the Aspiring Medical Professionals Academy, which is a school within a school at Mark Keppel High. The academy lead, Ms. [Lakia] Mozell, tells us the AMP experience gives us a great foot in the door for the Cal State nursing program. I’m interested in becoming a PA [physician’s assistant] or a physician or maybe being in healthcare administration.

In mid-April, I am opting to return to the AUSD [Alhambra Unified School District] in-person afternoon enrichment classes to work with Ms. Mozell for the upcoming pharmacy tech exam.

The hardest part of this COVID year has been being constantly online — I feel like I am on call the entire day and it is draining. It’s challenging, but now online learning feels normal. Since elementary school I’ve always been an overachiever

I learned I am more resilient than I thought and realized I can’t sink into self-pity — I learned to pick myself up quickly. And I found a change of scene helped. So I’d “vacation” at my grandmother’s.

Raven will attend UC San Diego.

Kendall Tam, 18, senior, Mark Keppel High School, Alhambra

What I learned during the pandemic lockdown is I am more independent than I knew. I found out it’s OK to be by myself.

But hardest thing about this year has been being alone — just not seeing anyone at all.

We invented new ways to connect. As part of ASB (Associative Student Body), we started a podcast KUWK — Keeping Up With Keppel — to help all the students stay connected.

Since we had no basketball at school until March 26, I’ve been running with my brother and practicing shooting and dribbling at home.

It was hard to motivate myself to write the college application essays but I would write one and take the next day off and look at it again. I want to be a teacher or a counselor. This year has gone by fast — even with no school on campus.

Kendall will attend UC Riverside or UC Irvine.

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Christina House is a staff photojournalist with the Los Angeles Times. She officially joined the visual journalism team in 2017 after 10 years as a freelance photographer. House grew up in Long Beach and is a graduate of Cal State Fullerton. Her love for photography started when she visited the Philippines, her mother’s native country, at age 7. That unforgettable experience inspired her to pick up a camera. House won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography and the 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Domestic Photography for “Hollywood’s Finest,” an intimate look into the life of a pregnant 22-year-old woman living on the street. She received the 2021 Cliff Edom New America Award and was honored in the portrait series category for her work on “Game Changers: A Celebration of Women in Sports” from the 2021 National Press Photographers Assn.’s Best of Photojournalism awards.

Genaro Molina is an award-winning staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times. He has worked in journalism for more than 35 years starting at the San Francisco Chronicle. Molina has photographed the life and death of Pope John Paul II, the tragedy of AIDS in Africa, the impact of Hurricane Katrina, and Cuba after Castro. His work has appeared in nine books and his photographs have been exhibited extensively including at the Smithsonian Institute and the Annenberg Space for Photography.

Mel Melcon started out with the Los Angeles Times in 1984 as a summer intern, worked on a freelance basis from 1985 to 1997 and then was hired full time. Melcon likes to capture the offbeat and funny side of life in his images. He left The Times in 2024.

Francine Orr was a staff photojournalist for the Los Angeles Times from 2000-24. Previously, she was a staff photographer at the Kansas City Star. Orr served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Yap, Federated States of Micronesia. While there, she learned how to be a quiet observer and gained a love for stories. She was raised in Colorado and earned bachelor’s degrees in both history and art from the University of Saint Mary. In 2022, Orr received the coveted Dart Award for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma and the National Headliner Award. She also won the 2020 Meyer “Mike” Berger and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature photography in 2012.

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The Class of COVID: Treasure Coast seniors fell behind, missed traditions but are moving on

Freshman year began with fun and excitement for Jensen Beach High School senior Ja'Asia Davis.

There were football games, pep rallies and hanging out with friends at school. Then, just as everyone was anticipating a restful spring break in early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic became the unwelcomed legacy of the Class of 2023.

"Our first two years of high school were taken away from us," said Davis, 18.

This year's class — the Class of COVID — has been damaged academically and socially, educators and experts say.

"They had a very turbulent high school time," said St. Lucie County schools Deputy Superintendent Helen Wild.

This year's seniors have the unique distinction of spending their entire high school experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were freshmen when a two-week shutdown in spring 2020, to stop COVID from spreading, stretched out into nine weeks. After two additional years of restrictions, learning loss and periods of mandated social isolation, this year's graduates finally have had what most consider a "normal" year of high school.

While educators are optimistic the impact of the pandemic during formative high school years won't be long-lasting, there remains concern among both educators and students that this group is susceptible to mental-health issues and learning loss because of it.

Cheated by the pandemic

"This group of high schoolers has been cheated a little bit in terms of not having that full experience," said Kristopher Kaliebe, psychiatry professor at the University of South Florida. "In the long run, I think they'll be OK. But I do think it was a lesser experience for them."

Closing schools, even temporarily, caused greater anxiety for students at a time when even adults were feeling stress from the pandemic, Kaliebe said.

"They're in a stage of life where social interactions are very important," Kaliebe said. "And they were pulled away from their group. They were stopped from doing their activities. They were stopped from a lot of the rituals of growing up and engaging socially."

Students already struggling with anxiety and academics were impacted even more, he said.

"If you're an anxious person, you did have a lot more to worry about. If you have social anxiety, and then you're stuck at home for a while, it makes it very hard for you to engage," Kaliebe said. Giving students an option to stay home and continue learning virtually wasn't helpful for students who are normally introverted, even if it seems better for them initially. Students with social anxiety need to be in environments where they continue using social skills and be exposed to things which are anxiety-provoking, but also help them to overcome their concerns, he said

Learning remotely wasn't the same, Davis said.

A time of confusion

"It was confusing," Davis said. "You couldn't really focus on what the teacher was saying. We couldn't learn what we should have."

Jensen Beach High School senior Christopher Velazquez, 18, learned early on that virtual classes weren't helping him learn.

"When I was online, I couldn't focus. I wasn't (mentally) there," he said.

Districts almost immediately recognized the problem, as students disappeared from sight. Some failed to turn in assignments, others struggled with learning remotely.

Jensen Beach High School senior Deanna Allen, 18, struggled mentally, even when she returned to school sophomore year.

"It was hard for me," said Allen, who plans to attend Indian River State College in the fall. "Regaining friends was really hard. My motivation went down."

By the fall of 2020, districts encouraged students to return to school, implementing safety measures such as mask mandates, one-way hallways and desks spread 6 feet apart.

Indian River County schools changed the high school schedule to block periods that allowed students to earn eight credits a semester instead of the usual seven, said Superintendent David Moore.

"That allowed us to offer an extra class to help kids get back on track," Moore said. "That was a huge success because it allowed us to do remediation — an extra math class (and) an extra reading class. And not take away those fun classes (such as) band or drama. We were able to do both at the same time."

Keeping those electives helped keep students in school, Moore said.

St. Lucie County schools sent out counselors, principals and teachers to get students physically back in school.

"We used every strategy we could think of," Wild said. "We went to houses, hotels, their last known address. We wanted to find them and get them back."

Students drop out of school every summer, but districts wanted to make sure students weren't leaving because of the pandemic.

"We wanted to know they were safe and they were getting an education," Wild said.

Districts continued offering virtual classes the second year of the pandemic, giving students an option to remain distanced. Students who tested positive or who were exposed through close contact with COVID-19 were quarantined and temporarily sent home to learn remotely.

Districts used federal COVID-19-relief money to help students catch up academically and recover from failed courses. They held intensive free summer programs, included free meals and transportation, to get students back on the graduation track.

Martin County schools hired additional graduation coaches to prepare students for standardized testing and get credits needed for their diplomas. Keeping students focused and motivated to continue trying was crucial, said Jensen Beach High School graduation coach Corinne Peters-Dictor.

Sometimes, it was necessary to let the students have their moments of complaining and disappointment, she said.

"You give them that time, then we come back the next day and say, 'We're going to refocus,'" Peters-Dictor said. "Then the student feels successful."

Diplomas might be in jeopardy

Standardized testing requirements could mean some students might not earn their diplomas, even if they meet all other requirements. Florida mandates students pass the algebra end-of-course exam and the state's 10th grade reading test — or equivalent scores on the SAT or ACT. Students who fail the standardized tests earn a certificate of completion.

Students who took algebra freshman year had to take the end-of-course test months later because testing was canceled in the spring of 2020. Many missed what would have been their first attempt to take the math test, Wild said.

The state had raised the scores students needed to use the SAT and ACT as an equivalent to passing the state's standardized tests, starting with this year's class. But after pleas from educators, students and families, Gov. Ron DeSantis Tuesday signed a bill allowing seniors to use the previous lower ACT and SAT scores to get their diplomas. Students may also use an equivalent math score from the Postsecondary Education Readiness Test or PERT, something that won't be allowed next year.

The state waived the testing requirement for the classes of 2020 and 2021.

This spring a new test replaces the FSA. Students on their last chance to pass math or reading before graduation will have to do it with a new test, using their knowledge from an old curriculum.

Davis was one of those students at risk of not getting her diploma. The last time around, she missed passing the required math test by one point.

It's not fair, said Davis, who took algebra in the ninth grade but missed the last nine weeks and the chance to take the end-of-course exam the same semester because of COVID-19.

"I lost out on all the learning I needed to pass (the test)," she said. Davis plans to keep trying, even after graduation, because she doesn't want to settle for a certificate of completion after all her hard work. She plans to attend Bethune-Cookman University in the fall to study nursing.

Velazquez, who wants to study cybersecurity or real estate at IRSC, was in the same situation. He scored one point below the passing ACT score. He wants to keep trying to pass the test for his diploma, which he needs to enroll in college.

"If COVID was never a thing, I would have passed for sure last year," Velazquez said.

Dealing with loneliness, but moving on

Learning remotely was lonely, students said. Conversation with friends was awkward when they returned. While students identifying as being introverted were happier with remote learning, the style wasn't the best for them. Students lost months and years of learning key socialization skills, educators said.

"I'm more of a hands-on learner," said Jensen Beach High School senior Heidi Samuel, 18, who was quarantined three times when she returned to in-person school her sophomore year. "It was harder to get an understanding of everything."

English language learners such as Jensen Beach High School student Juan Torres, 18, found it even more difficult. School was where he learned to communicate with non-Spanish speakers since moving to Florida from Venezuela, he said.

"It was bad for me (when he returned in person sophomore year)," Torres said. "I did not know how to start a conversation."

Conversations with his non-Spanish-speaking friends required using the Google Translate app, he said.

"It was awkward," he said.

Vero Beach High School senior Kristina Gregg, 17, was attending virtual school when the COVID-19 shutdown hit in 2020. Then her socialization outlet — the theater — closed down. Zoom rehearsals and meetings weren't the same as being in person, she said.

She tried to continue with the Indian River County's virtual school as a sophomore, but then realized the workload was greater than what she previously had. She returned to in-person education for the second semester.

"I needed to go back (to school), and I needed to join the high school," she said. "That's when things started to feel a little more normal."

Theater productions were allowed to resume, but students had to wear masks and try to stay socially distanced, Gregg said.

"We were kind of standoffish with each other. We didn't know what was OK, and what was safe," she said.

Some students went through an adjustment period when they returned, almost having to re-learn classroom rules, in some cases, educators said. Schools experienced an uptick in fights on campus as students became re-acquainted with each other, Moore said.

It wasn't all bad, however. Educators and students found some positives in the pandemic. Technology advanced quickly and students learned how to communicate remotely through Zoom meetings. Many students discovered which style of learning fit them best.

They also learned resiliency. And determination, which educators say will come to define this year's generation of students. Many feel they came out stronger. And that they will be OK, no matter what comes their way in the future.

“They developed good habits and grit,” Wild said. “They really did improve.”

Students recognized how they learned best, and that made them stronger, Peters-Dictor said.

"They got a tremendous life experience," she said.

Applying to college, in some cases, was a little more simplified. Musical theater colleges allowed students to submit auditions through Zoom, Gregg said, which made applying a little easier because she didn't have to travel throughout the country.

Gregg would have been limited in the number of musical theater college applications she submitted if she had to travel to auditions, she said. She also used her time to develop her singing voice, watching online videos and recording herself to find where she needed to improve.

"During COVID, I feel that was my largest period of growth," she said. "I think I came out a stronger person than if I didn't experience that."

She became used to learning online, so that she now is comfortable with different styles of learning. She also learned to be flexible and adapt to different situations.

Some students say they've moved on from the experience.

"We don't feel like we missed out on a lot of stuff," said John Carroll High School senior Vinny Fashona, who plans to attend the University of Central Florida in the fall. "No one really thinks about it anymore."

Colleen Wixon is the education reporter for TCPalm.com. Contact her at [email protected] or 772-978-2235.

• Open access
• Published: 14 July 2022

The impact of virtual learning on students’ educational behavior and pervasiveness of depression among university students due to the COVID-19 pandemic

• Fatima M. Azmi   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9275-0965 1 ,
• Habib Nawaz Khan   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3519-264X 2 &
• Aqil M. Azmi   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0983-2861 3  

Globalization and Health volume  18 , Article number:  70 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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One of the worst pandemics of recent memory, COVID-19, severely impacted the public. In particular, students were physically and mentally affected by the lockdown and the shift from physical person-to-person classrooms to virtual learning (online classes). This increased the prevalence of psychological stress, anxiety, and depression among university students. In this study, we investigated the depression levels in Saudi Arabian university students who were learning virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic and examined its impact on their educational proficiency.

The study focused on two points: first, examining the depression levels among undergraduate students in Saudi Arabia, by adapting the Zung (Self-Rating Depression Scale) questionnaire. Second, whether there is an association between the levels of depression and various distress factors associated with virtual (online) learning resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on students’ educational behaviors. The questionnaire was prepared using a monkey survey and shared online, via email, and on WhatsApp groups, with participants in two universities, a public and private university in the largest city of Saudi Arabia. A total of 157 complete responses were received. Data were analyzed using SPSS-24, the chi-square test, descriptive statistics, and multilinear regression.

The results indicated that three-fourths of the university students suffered from different depressive symptoms, half of which had moderate to extreme levels of depression. Our study confirmed that a boring virtual (online) learning method, stress, fear of examinations, and decreased productivity were significantly associated with increased depression. In addition, 75% and 79% of the students suffered from stress and fear of examinations, respectively. About half of the students were associated with increased depression. The outcome also indicated that female students experienced extreme depression, stress, and fear of examinations more than males.

These findings can inform government agencies and representatives of the importance of making swift, effective decisions to address students’ depression levels. It is essential to provide training for students to change their educational experience mindset, which might help decrease "depression and stress-related growth." There is also a need to search for a better virtual teaching delivery method to lessen students' stress and fear of examinations.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the highly contagious coronavirus (COVID-19) a global pandemic [ 1 ]. As the cases of COVID-19 increased, China, and many other countries practiced partial or complete lockdowns. It is estimated that this drastic measure helped save 3 million lives across 11 European nations [ 2 ]. Toward the end of January 2022, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide was 360,578,392, and 5,620,865 confirmed deaths. The number of people who received vaccination doses globally was 9,679,721,754 [ 3 ].

To contain the virus, the lockdown caused academic disruptions. This resulted in the indeterminate closure of schools, universities, various institutes, shopping malls, and centers of economic activities [ 4 , 5 ]. Repetitive activities, transfer of educational mode to distance (virtual) learning, and change in social life amplified the prevalence of psychological stress, anxiety, depression, and acute stress reactions among university students [ 6 ]. Sociodemographic factors associated with low mental health include financial constraints, old age, infection risk, and fear of losing a relative or friend. In addition, COVID-19 pandemic-related educational stress may be attributed to (in no particular order): (a) transformed teaching and assessment methods; (b) skepticism about university education; (c) technological worries about online courses [ 7 , 8 ]; (d) uncertainty about the future because of academic disruptions; (e) fear of failing examinations; (f) inability to concentrate during lectures, and many more factors. All these factors have been detected in universities across the world [ 9 , 10 ]. A global study that inspected students’ experiences in about 62 different countries, including a university in the United States, found that students expressed worries about their academic achievements and professional careers and feelings of dullness, anxiety, and frustration [ 9 ]. Students in China also reported increased sadness, anger, anxiety, and fear [ 11 ]. The occurrence of depression, psychological distress, and anxiety from pandemics differed from country to country. A study in Italy reported that 15.4% of Italians suffered from extremely high levels of depression, 12.6% were highly stressed, and 11.5% were highly anxious [ 12 ]. In Malaysia, it was reported that severe to extremely severe levels of depression and anxiety were found in 9.2% and 13.2% of the subjects, respectively. Moderate stress was found in 9.5% of subjects, and severe to highly severe stress was found in 6.6% of subjects [ 13 ]. Furthermore, students in Switzerland manifested a decrease in social interface and higher levels of stress, anxiety, and loneliness [ 14 ]. Adults have also reported declining physical activity, while food eating increased during pandemic quarantine periods compared to previous times [ 15 ].

The first COVID-19 case appeared in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) on March 2, 2020 [ 16 ], while the lockdown was imposed on March 8, 2020. To keep students on track due to the pandemic, the education delivery mode was switched to virtual learning. It has been over one year since teaching was transferred online, and many countries worldwide have tried to revert to the standard path of education by opening schools and universities. Although the COVID-19 vaccine is available worldwide, some countries are still practicing lockdown because of the appearance of several more contiguous variants of the coronavirus, such as Delta, a SARS-CoV-2 strain that was first spotted in India [ 17 ]. The spread of COVID-19 presents a serious risk; in mid-April 2022, the confirmed cases in KSA were 751,717, out of which 736,910 had recovered, and 9,055 deaths were recorded [ 18 ].

The psychological consequences of COVID-19 have been observed and described in KSA. Al-Hanawi et al. [ 19 ] reported different levels of distress in 40% of the general Saudi population because of COVID-19. Moreover, Alkhamees et al. [ 20 ] reported moderate to severe psychological effects in 23.6% of the general Saudi population. In another study of the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on Saudi Arabian residents, Alyami et al. [ 21 ] stated that the percentages of mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe levels of depression were 41%, 20%, 6.2%, and 3.2%, respectively. Furthermore, Khoshaim et al. [ 22 ] reported that about 35% of students experienced moderate to extreme anxiety levels. Azmi et al. [ 23 ] observed that 75% of students suffered from various levels of depression, while 41% suffered from low levels of self-esteem.

Likewise, another study found that 35% of students in the western and northern regions of KSA had high rates of distress [ 24 ]. Following the observed rise of psychological disorders, the authorities posted health messages and distributed procedures to the public. For example, during the pandemic, the Saudi Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) [ 25 ] supplied a precautionary manual for mental and social health focused on prevention, pressure, and fear control. From the foregoing, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on the physical and mental health of the public in general and students in particular, as university students are among those most severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this study, we investigated the depression levels of university students in Riyadh, the capital and largest city in KSA, who were learning virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also assessed the impact of virtual learning on their educational behaviors. The following questions were explored during the investigation:

What are the levels of depression among university students?

What is the impact of virtual learning on students’ educational behaviors and what are the relationship between depressive symptoms they exhibited and virtual learning?

To answer the second question, we explored the relationship between the levels of depression and various distress factors associated with virtual learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on students’ educational behaviors. These factors were divided into two main categories: Category 1 dealt with factors relating to how virtual learning has affected students’ feelings from an educational perspective. Category 2: dealt with factors relating to how virtual learning affected students’ understanding of subjects/learning materials.

Once we ascertain the current levels of depression and their impact on students’ educational behavior, we may embark on helping them cope with the extraordinary situation. Hopefully, this will help lower their elevated depression levels. Furthermore, we hope our study will guide policymakers in searching for innovative ways of online teaching to make learning less stressful and more productive.

Design and sampling procedure

This study examines depression levels and investigates virtual learning-related distress factors, which might predict the increased level of depressive symptoms among university students in Riyadh City during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research design

We conducted a descriptive survey-based study to obtain responses from students at large universities in Riyadh, the capital of KSA. The total size of the target population of the city of Riyadh is about 7 million [ 26 ]. The sampled population of both universities’ undergraduate students was approximately 0.027 million (27,000). The male-to-female ratio of undergraduate students at King Saud University (KSU) is about 67%: 33%; the male-to-female ratio of undergraduate students at Prince Sultan University (PSU) is about 28%: 72%, as this is a female-dominated university. Since the sampled population was largely heterogeneous, we minimized the heterogeneity by dividing the given population into sub-populations to obtain sampling units that are homogeneous internally and heterogeneous externally. Hence, we used a stratified random sampling technique, which is more appropriate than other sampling techniques for obtaining better estimates of the parameters of interest. To ensure the efficiency of the estimates, we used the proportional allocation technique to determine the sample size.

A Monkey survey was used to prepare the questionnaire, following the approval of PSU’s Institutional Review Board. The questionnaire included demographic questions, such as gender, age, and college. Zung’s Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS), with 20 items on a 4-point Likert scale, was used to measure depression. The questionnaire also had questions to address distress factors associated with virtual learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The students were asked to read all the questions carefully and answer them.

The survey was written in English and Arabic side by side. A subject expert translated the questionnaire from Arabic to English. Thereafter, five more experts checked the same questions for more corrections and authenticity. The actual online survey took place from March to April 2021. The survey was voluntary, and the informed consent of the students was sought. We received reasonable responses from the students; however, we also received some incomplete responses. The missing/incomplete responses were discarded from the study so that the estimated results were not compromised. The valid responses received from males and females were 49.7% and 50.3%, respectively.

Measuring instruments

Demographic data and personal characteristics, such as age, gender, and area of study, were recorded.

Depression measure

The ZSDS was used to measure the levels of depression. The tool is a 20-item self-reporting assessment device used for measuring depression levels [ 27 , 28 ]. This is divided into 10 positively worded and 10 negatively worded items. The latter items were reversely scored. Each item was scored on a Likert-type scale as follows: 1 =  Never , 2 =  Sometimes , 3 =  Often/most of the time , and 4 =  Always . The total raw scores ranged from 20–80, and when converted into the depression index (termed "ZSDS index"), the range becomes 25–100. To determine the level of depression, we classified the ZSDS index into four classes (levels). Therefore, ZSDS index scores were considered "normal" from 25–49, "Mildly Depressed,” from 50–59, “Moderately Depressed” from 60–69, and “Severely Depressed” from 70 and above [ 27 ]. In [ 29 ], the author translated the ZSDS measure into Arabic and further validated it. Question 6, “I still enjoy sex,” was deemed offensive religiously and culturally. Therefore, it was rephrased to “I enjoy looking at, talking to, and being with attractive women/men,” which is culturally more appropriate. The accuracy of the new version was verified in [ 29 ]. The Arabic and English languages were used side by side to prepare the questionnaire. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of this study was 0.87, showing high internal consistency.

Data on distress factors associated with virtual learning

Data on distress factors associated with virtual learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic were divided into two categories. The first category dealt with questions on how virtual learning due to the pandemic affected students’ feelings from an educational perspective and caused a) lack of motivation/boredom, b) stress, c) worry and fear of exams, and d) decreased productivity. The second category dealt with questions on virtual learning and its effect on students’ understanding of subjects/materials, such as a) It needs more self-effort to understand, b) It made learning and understanding harder for them, c) They need more time to understand the subject, i.e., the understanding pace became slower, d) Virtual learning is boring, and e) they had difficulty solving problems in academic subjects and writing down the solutions correctly. The answer to each question was either “Yes” or “No.”

Finally, the questionnaire had an open-ended question that offered students a chance to express in their own words how the lockdown and virtual teaching had affected their educational advancement.

Data analysis

Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 24 software. The categorical variable demographic data were analyzed descriptively to determine the essential characteristics of the sample and were presented as counts and percentages. The level of depression index among university students in Riyadh, and its association with gender, age, and their field of education, was analyzed using the chi-square test and descriptive statistics. Multilinear regression analysis was performed to investigate the connection between depression levels and various factors associated with virtual learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The statistically significant level was set at \(p \le 0.05.\)

Demographic characteristics

The total number of participants was 157 university students. Table 1 shows the demographic characteristics of the participants.

Students’ levels of depression and demographic variables

In the univariate analysis, chi-square tests were used to determine the associations between students’ demographic variables and the ZSDS level. Table 2 displays the association between depression levels with gender, age, and college. Among the demographic variables, only the association with gender was statistically significant at \({\chi }^{2}\) = 20.229, and p  < 0.001, while the association with age and college was not significant. A total of 74.4% of the students had various levels of depression. Of these, 37%, 21.7%, and 16% had mild, moderate, and severe depression levels, respectively. In addition, females (28%) had more depressive symptoms than males (4%).

Educational distress factors associated with virtual learning and descriptive statistics

The factors related to virtual learning sequel to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its impact on students’ educational behaviors were divided into two categories. Questions on virtual learning's effect on students' feelings from an educational perspective (Category 1) had four items, each with a "Yes" or "No" answer. Likewise, questions on virtual learning and its effect on students’ understanding of the subjects/materials (Category 2) had five items, each with a “Yes” or “No” answer. Table 3 demonstrates the descriptive statistics. In the first category, the highest percentage was feeling worried and having a fear of exams (79%), followed by stress (75.2%), lack of motivation, and decreased productivity (70%, each). In the second category, the highest percentage was 78%, who felt they had to put extra self-effort into understanding and studying.

Furthermore, 74.5% felt that virtual learning was more challenging for them to understand than physical learning. In addition, 73% said virtual learning was slow and extra time was needed to understand and learn the concepts, while 64% found it boring. Finally, 58.6% had difficulty solving problems and submitting properly written answers (for math and computer science subjects).

Distress factors related to virtual learning and depressive symptoms

Multilinear regression analysis was used to study whether various distress factors related to virtual learning can influence depressive symptoms among students.

The first category, which dealt with students’ feelings from the educational point of view, hypothesized that lack of motivation, stress, worry/fear of examinations, and decreased productivity would significantly impact the development of depressive symptoms among students.

Multi-regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses, with the Zung depression index as a dependent variable. The results show that 24.6% of the variance in Zung’s depression index can be accounted for by four predictors, collectively \(, F(4, 152) = 12.414, p < 0.001\) . Looking at the unique individual contribution of the predictors, the result shows that worry and fear of exams ( \(\beta =0.290, t=3.589, p<0.001)\) , stress ( \(\beta =0.202, t=2.566, p=0.011<0.05)\) , and decreased learning amount and not being productive ( \(\beta =0.211, t=2.783, p=0.006<0.05)\) , statistically significantly contributed to worsening depressive symptoms. The predictor, feeling lack of motivation, did not significantly impact developing depressive symptoms.

The second category dealt with virtual learning and its effect on students’ understanding of the subjects/materials. It was hypothesized that the need for extra self-effort to understand the subject, learning became harder, learning became slower, learning was boring, and difficulty in solving problems and writing answers properly would have a statistically significant impact on developing depressive symptoms among students.

Multi-regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses, with Zung’s depression index as a dependent variable. The test showed that 13% of the variance in Zung's depression index can be accounted for by the five predictors, collectively \(, F(5, 151) = 4.505, p < 0.001\) . Looking at the unique individual contribution of the predictors, the result shows that learning is not much fun or exciting ( \(\beta =0.250, t=3.060, p=0.003<0.05)\) , and facing difficulty in solving questions and writing answers properly ( \(\beta =0.176, t=2.067, p=0.05<0.05)\) , were statistically significantly associated with worsening depressive symptoms. While the other three predictors, learning became harder, learning became slower, and the need to put extra self-effort did not contribute significantly to depressive symptoms, as shown in Table 4 .

Furthermore, we explored two distress factors, stress, and worry/fear of exams, which contributed statistically significantly to worsening depressive symptoms. Using the chi-square test, we examined the association of the distress factors with depression levels; that is, what extent does stress or worry/fear of exams contribute to moderate or severe depression. The results showed a statistically significant association between stress and moderate to severe levels of depression ( \({\chi }^{2}\) = 17.179, and p  < 0.001). Likewise, there was a statistically significant association between worry/fear of exams and moderate to severe levels of depression ( \({\chi }^{2}\) = 30.236, and p  < 0.001), Table 5 .

The association between stress or worry/fear of exams and gender was examined using the chi-square test. There was a statistically significant association between these two factors and gender, with more females having higher stress levels (54%) than males (41%). Also, worry/fear of exams manifested in 60% of females and 40% of males during virtual learning, sequel to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results are presented in Table 6 .

Open-ended questions

The questionnaire ended with an open-ended question, in which students were asked to write in their own words how the lockdown has affected their educational advancement. Excerpts of the negative comments from students are outlined below:

“Virtual teaching and exam resulted in increased cheating." “Virtual teaching caused difficulty in understanding the subject, which resulted in lowering my grades.” "I have to sit in the same room with my siblings while learning online, as my home is small. So, I cannot concentrate at all; it just makes me very frustrated.”

From their comments, it is clear that a virtual learning environment is entirely different from a physical classroom teaching environment where exams are conducted with invigilators proctoring.

Significantly few students provided positive comments.

"Virtual teaching made me understand better and increased productivity and my grades."

In this study, we investigated the severity of depressive symptoms among university students while learning virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on educational behaviors in KSA We collected samples from different universities in Riyadh. The total number of complete responses was 157. The Zung Self-Rating Depression measure was used to measure depression levels. Our results indicate that 75% of the students suffer from different levels of depression (37%, 22%, and 16% of the students reported mild, moderate, and extremely severe levels of depression, respectively). This result is consistent with an American study, which reported that 44% of students in the USA experienced an augmented level of depressive thoughts [ 30 ].

The association between the levels of depression and various distress factors associated with virtual learning due to the pandemic and its impact on students’ educational behaviors was explored using multilinear regression. These factors are divided into two main categories: Category 1: These factors relate to how virtual learning has affected students’ feelings from an educational perspective. This consists of four items: lack of motivation, stress, worry/fear of exam, and decreased productivity. Category 2 factors relate to how virtual learning has affected students’ understanding of the subjects/materials. This category has five items, including need of extra self-effort, need to study harder, learning is slower, virtually learning is boring, difficulty in solving problems, and writing properly.

Consistent with our hypotheses, we confirmed that stress, worry/fear of examinations, and decreased productivity were significantly associated with an increased level of depression. Another recognized factor that contributes significantly to a higher risk of developing depressive symptoms among university students is that virtual teaching and learning becomes boring. Furthermore, students faced difficulty in solving mathematics and science problems and writing the answers properly due to online teaching. A few other factors, such as lack of motivation, learning became more complex and slower, and the need to put extra self-effort contributed to developing depressive symptoms.

Our results indicate that 75% of the students suffer from stress, and about half (47%) have high levels of depression. This is consistent with the results in [ 13 ]. Our findings also indicate that 79% of the students suffer from fear of exams, and about half of them (47%) experience moderate to severe levels of depression. It is usual for some students to have worries and fear for exams; however, it is highly unusual for more than three-fourths of the students to experience fear and worry. This is a clear indication that the changed mode of lecture delivery and exam administration because of COVID-19 has a significant role in raising depression levels among university students. Our findings indicate that a higher percentage of females experience extreme levels of depression than males (28% of females compared to only 4% of males), stress (59% females, vs. 41% males), and worry/fear of exams (60% females, vs. 40% males). This finding is consistent with many studies concerning college students, in which females were at a higher risk of suffering psychologically during virtual learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic [ 9 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. Another study showed that Vietnamese female students had a higher percentage of depression compared to male students [ 34 ]. Furthermore, Huange et al. [ 35 ] reasoned that Chinese females experienced more anxiety than males during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, we assert that feamles are more commonly inclined toward depression and anxiety disorders than males [ 36 ].

The results of the open-ended responses demonstrated the students’ frustration and stress relating to online learning. In contrast, very few students positively indicated that online learning and studying from home felt relaxing.

COVID-19 has been a catastrophic experience. Although it has largely subsided, new variants are causing apprehension among health officials. Our research found that 75% of university students in Saudi Arabia suffer from some degree of depression. Half of these students showed moderate to extreme levels of depression. This is greater than the expected depression level in the overall population. Our study confirms that stress, worry, and fear of examinations, decreased productivity, and the fact that virtual learning is boring are significantly associated with increased depression. Our findings also indicate that 75% (79%) of the students suffer from stress (fear of exams), and that about half of them have increased levels of depression. It should be noted that the students are 18–24 year olds. This is consistent with the study [ 22 ], which found that psychological distress, stress, and anxiety were higher in the younger age group during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Remarkably, more female students experienced extreme depression, stress, and fear of exams than male students. This result supports previous reports that females were at higher risk of psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 9 , 31 , 32 , 33 ].

Our observation calls for instant attention and sustenance for students. There is a requirement to explore potential coping policies that have been shown to be effective during pandemics [ 37 ]. The results of our research might direct policymakers to develop distress management protocols as part of their policy for dealing with future pandemics [ 38 ]. It is essential to provide training for students to redirect their educational experience mindset to focus on the “bright side” and expand instances that may guide "depression and stress-related growth.” A flexible mindset can also help students adapt to new ways of learning and developing tremendous gratitude for life. In addition, there is a need to explore better online teaching delivery methods to lower students’ stress and fear of exams.

Study strengths and limitations

The strength of this study is that it was conducted after students had received virtual teaching for more than one year because of the Pandemic. Therefore, this study accurately reflects students’ depression levels and how these impact their educational behaviors in KSA.

Furthermore, the study was conducted in Riyadh, the capital of KSA, hence our study sample is more reflective of the Saudi student population. Moreover, the depression assessment tool for the study, the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, is a reliable, universally acceptable scale.

The limitation of our study is that the sample was not randomly selected from all university students, as a convenience sampling method was used.

Availability of data and materials

The raw data supporting the results of this study will be made available by the corresponding author without undue reservation.

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Fatima Azmi would like to thank Prince Sultan University for funding the project and covering the publication fees.

This work was supported by a research project grant [Grant number: COVID-19-DES-2020–43] from Prince Sultan University, KSA.

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Azmi, F.M., Khan, H.N. & Azmi, A.M. The impact of virtual learning on students’ educational behavior and pervasiveness of depression among university students due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Global Health 18 , 70 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-022-00863-z

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Mini review article, distance learning in higher education during covid-19.

• 1 Department of Pedagogy of Higher Education, Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Kazan, Russia
• 2 Department of Jurisprudence, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Moscow, Russia
• 3 Department of English for Professional Communication, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
• 4 Department of Foreign Languages, RUDN University, Moscow, Russia
• 5 Department of Medical and Social Assessment, Emergency, and Ambulatory Therapy, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, Russia

COVID-19’s pandemic has hastened the expansion of online learning across all levels of education. Countries have pushed to expand their use of distant education and make it mandatory in view of the danger of being unable to resume face-to-face education. The most frequently reported disadvantages are technological challenges and the resulting inability to open the system. Prior to the pandemic, interest in distance learning was burgeoning, as it was a unique style of instruction. The mini-review aims to ascertain students’ attitudes about distant learning during COVID-19. To accomplish the objective, articles were retrieved from the ERIC database. We utilize the search phrases “Distance learning” AND “University” AND “COVID.” We compiled a list of 139 articles. We chose papers with “full text” and “peer reviewed only” sections. Following the exclusion, 58 articles persisted. Then, using content analysis, publications relating to students’ perspectives on distance learning were identified. There were 27 articles in the final list. Students’ perspectives on distant education are classified into four categories: perception and attitudes, advantages of distance learning, disadvantages of distance learning, and challenges for distance learning. In all studies, due of pandemic constraints, online data gathering methods were selected. Surveys and questionnaires were utilized as data collection tools. When students are asked to compare face-to-face and online learning techniques, they assert that online learning has the potential to compensate for any limitations caused by pandemic conditions. Students’ perspectives and degrees of satisfaction range widely, from good to negative. Distance learning is advantageous since it allows for learning at any time and from any location. Distance education benefits both accomplishment and learning. Staying at home is safer and less stressful for students during pandemics. Distance education contributes to a variety of physical and psychological health concerns, including fear, anxiety, stress, and attention problems. Many schools lack enough infrastructure as a result of the pandemic’s rapid transition to online schooling. Future researchers can study what kind of online education methods could be used to eliminate student concerns.

Introduction

The pandemic of COVID-19 has accelerated the spread of online learning at all stages of education, from kindergarten to higher education. Prior to the epidemic, several colleges offered online education. However, as a result of the epidemic, several governments discontinued face-to-face schooling in favor of compulsory distance education.

The COVID-19 problem had a detrimental effect on the world’s educational system. As a result, educational institutions around the world developed a new technique for delivering instructional programs ( Graham et al., 2020 ; Akhmadieva et al., 2021 ; Gaba et al., 2021 ; Insorio and Macandog, 2022 ; Tal et al., 2022 ). Distance education has been the sole choice in the majority of countries throughout this period, and these countries have sought to increase their use of distance education and make it mandatory in light of the risk of not being able to restart face-to-face schooling ( Falode et al., 2020 ; Gonçalves et al., 2020 ; Tugun et al., 2020 ; Altun et al., 2021 ; Valeeva and Kalimullin, 2021 ; Zagkos et al., 2022 ).

What Is Distance Learning

Britannica defines distance learning as “form of education in which the main elements include physical separation of teachers and students during instruction and the use of various technologies to facilitate student-teacher and student-student communication” ( Simonson and Berg, 2016 ). The subject of distant learning has been studied extensively in the fields of pedagogics and psychology for quite some time ( Palatovska et al., 2021 ).

The primary distinction is that early in the history of distant education, the majority of interactions between professors and students were asynchronous. With the advent of the Internet, synchronous work prospects expanded to include anything from chat rooms to videoconferencing services. Additionally, asynchronous material exchange was substantially relocated to digital settings and communication channels ( Virtič et al., 2021 ).

Distance learning is a fundamentally different way to communication as well as a different learning framework. An instructor may not meet with pupils in live broadcasts at all in distance learning, but merely follow them in a chat if required ( Bozkurt and Sharma, 2020 ). Audio podcasts, films, numerous simulators, and online quizzes are just a few of the technological tools available for distance learning. The major aspect of distance learning, on the other hand, is the detailed tracking of a student’s performance, which helps to develop his or her own trajectory. While online learning attempts to replicate classroom learning methods, distant learning employs a computer game format, with new levels available only after the previous ones have been completed ( Bakhov et al., 2021 ).

In recent years, increased attention has been placed on eLearning in educational institutions because to the numerous benefits that have been discovered via study. These advantages include the absence of physical and temporal limits, the ease of accessing material and scheduling flexibility, as well as the cost-effectiveness of the solution. A number of other studies have demonstrated that eLearning is beneficial to both student gains and student performance. However, in order to achieve the optimum results from eLearning, students must be actively participating in the learning process — a notion that is commonly referred to as active learning — throughout the whole process ( Aldossary, 2021 ; Altun et al., 2021 ).

The most commonly mentioned negatives include technological difficulties and the inability to open the system as a result, low teaching quality, inability to teach applicable disciplines, and a lack of courses, contact, communication, and internet ( Altun et al., 2021 ). Also, misuse of technology, adaptation of successful technology-based training to effective teaching methods, and bad practices in managing the assessment and evaluation process of learning are all downsides of distance learning ( Debeş, 2021 ).

Distance Learning in a Pandemic Context

The epidemic forced schools, colleges, and institutions throughout the world to close their doors so that students might practice social isolation ( Toquero, 2020 ). Prior to the pandemic, demand for distance learning was nascent, as it was a novel mode of education, the benefits and quality of which were difficult to judge due to a dearth of statistics. But, in 2020, humanity faced a coronavirus pandemic, which accelerated the shift to distant learning to the point that it became the only viable mode of education and communication ( Viktoria and Aida, 2020 ). Due to the advancements in digital technology, educators and lecturers have been obliged to use E-learning platforms ( Benadla and Hadji, 2021 ).

In remote education settings for higher education, activities are often divided into synchronous course sessions and asynchronous activities and tasks. In synchronous courses, learners participate in interactive and targeted experiences that help them develop a fundamental grasp of technology-enhanced education, course design, and successful online instruction. Asynchronous activities and tasks, on the other hand, include tests, group work assignments, group discussion, feedback, and projects. Additionally, asynchronous activities and tasks are carried out via interactive video-based activities, facilitator meetings, live webinars, and keynote speakers ( Debeş, 2021 ).

According to Lamanauskas and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė (2021) , ICT should be attractive for learners. Additionally, student satisfaction with ODL has a statistically significant effect on their future choices for online learning ( Virtič et al., 2021 ). According to Avsheniuk et al. (2021) , the majority of research is undertaken to categorize students’ views and attitudes about online learning, and studies examining students’ perspectives of online learning during the COVID-19 epidemic are uncommon and few. There is presently a dearth of research on the impact on students when schools are forced to close abruptly and indefinitely and transition to online learning communities ( Unger and Meiran, 2020 ). So that, the mini-review is aimed to examining the students’ views on using distance learning during COVID-19.

In order to perform the aim, the articles were searched through ERIC database. We use “Distance learning” AND “University” AND “COVID” as search terms. We obtained 139 articles. We selected “full text” and “Peer reviewed only” articles. After the exclusion, 58 articles endured. Then content analyses were used to determine articles related to students’ voices about distance learning. In the final list, there were 27 articles ( Table 1 ).

Table 1. Countries and data collection tools.

In the study, a qualitative approach and content analyses were preferred. Firstly, the findings related to students’ attitudes and opinions on distance learning were determined. The research team read selected sections independently. Researchers have come to a consensus on the themes of perception and attitudes, advantages of distance learning, disadvantages of distance learning, and challenges for distance learning. It was decided which study would be included in which theme/s. Finally, the findings were synthesized under themes.

Only 3 studies ( Lassoued et al., 2020 ; Viktoria and Aida, 2020 ; Todri et al., 2021 ) were conducted to cover more than one country. Other studies include only one country. Surveys and questionnaires were mostly used as measurement tools in the study. Due to pandemic restrictions, online data collection approaches were preferred in the data collection process.

Students’ views on distance learning are grouped under four themes. These themes are perception and attitudes, advantages of distance learning, disadvantages of distance learning, and challenges for distance learning.

Perception and Attitudes Toward Distance Learning

Students’ attitudes toward distance learning differ according to the studies. In some studies ( Mathew and Chung, 2020 ; Avsheniuk et al., 2021 ), it is stated that especially the students’ attitudes are positive, while in some studies ( Bozavlı, 2021 ; Yurdal et al., 2021 ) it is clearly stated that their attitudes are negative. In addition, there are also studies ( Akcil and Bastas, 2021 ) that indicate that students’ attitudes are at a moderate level. The transition to distance learning has been a source of anxiety for some students ( Unger and Meiran, 2020 ).

When the students’ satisfaction levels are analyzed, it is obvious from the research ( Gonçalves et al., 2020 ; Avsheniuk et al., 2021 ; Bakhov et al., 2021 ; Glebov et al., 2021 ; Todri et al., 2021 ) that the students’ satisfaction levels are high. In some studies, it is pronounced that the general satisfaction level of the participants is moderate ( Viktoria and Aida, 2020 ; Aldossary, 2021 ; Didenko et al., 2021 ) and low ( Taşkaya, 2021 ).

When students compare face-to-face and online learning methods, they state that online learning has opportunities to compensate for their deficiencies due to the pandemic conditions ( Abrosimova, 2020 ) and but they prefer face-to-face learning ( Gonçalves et al., 2020 ; Kaisar and Chowdhury, 2020 ; Bakhov et al., 2021 ). Distance learning is not sufficiently motivating ( Altun et al., 2021 ; Bozavlı, 2021 ), effective ( Beltekin and Kuyulu, 2020 ; Bozavlı, 2021 ), and does not have a contribution to students’ knowledge ( Taşkaya, 2021 ). Distance education cannot be used in place of face-to-face instruction ( Aldossary, 2021 ; Altun et al., 2021 ).

Advantages of Distance Learning

It is mostly cited advantages that distance learning has a positive effect on achievement and learning ( Gonçalves et al., 2020 ; Lin and Gao, 2020 ; Aldossary, 2021 ; Altun et al., 2021 ; Şahin, 2021 ). In addition, in distance learning, students can have more resources and reuse resources such as re-watching video ( Önöral and Kurtulmus-Yilmaz, 2020 ; Lamanauskas and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė, 2021 ; Martha et al., 2021 ).

Distance learning for the reason any time and everywhere learning ( Adnan and Anwar, 2020 ; Lamanauskas and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė, 2021 ; Todri et al., 2021 ). There is no need to spend money on transportation to and from the institution ( Lamanauskas and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė, 2021 ; Nenakhova, 2021 ). Also, staying at home is safe during pandemics and less stressful for students ( Lamanauskas and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė, 2021 ).

Challenges and Disadvantages of Distance Learning

Distance learning cannot guarantee effective learning, the persistence of learning, or success ( Altun et al., 2021 ; Benadla and Hadji, 2021 ). Students state that they have more works, tasks, and study loads in the distance learning process ( Mathew and Chung, 2020 ; Bakhov et al., 2021 ; Didenko et al., 2021 ; Nenakhova, 2021 ). Group working and socialization difficulties are experienced in distance learning ( Adnan and Anwar, 2020 ; Bozavlı, 2021 ; Lamanauskas and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė, 2021 ). The absence of communication and face-to-face interaction is seen a disadvantage ( Didenko et al., 2021 ; Nenakhova, 2021 ).

It is difficult to keep attention on the computer screen for a long time, so distance-learning negatively affects concentration ( Bakhov et al., 2021 ; Lamanauskas and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė, 2021 ). In addition, distance education prompts some physical and psychological health problems ( Kaisar and Chowdhury, 2020 ; Taşkaya, 2021 ).

Devices and internet connection, technical problems are mainly stated as challenges for distance learning ( Abrosimova, 2020 ; Adnan and Anwar, 2020 ; Mathew and Chung, 2020 ; Bakhov et al., 2021 ; Benadla and Hadji, 2021 ; Didenko et al., 2021 ; Lamanauskas and Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė, 2021 ; Nenakhova, 2021 ; Taşkaya, 2021 ; Şahin, 2021 ). In addition, some students have difficulties in finding a quiet and suitable environment where they can follow distance education courses ( Taşkaya, 2021 ). It is a disadvantage that students have not the knowledge and skills to use the technological tools used in distance education ( Lassoued et al., 2020 ; Bakhov et al., 2021 ; Didenko et al., 2021 ).

The purpose of this study is to ascertain university students’ perceptions about distant education during COVID-19. The study’s findings are intended to give context for developers of distant curriculum and higher education institutions.

According to Toquero (2020) , academic institutions have an increased need to enhance their curricula, and the incorporation of innovative teaching methods and tactics should be a priority. COVID-19’s lockout has shown the reality of higher education’s current state: Progressive universities operating in the twenty-first century did not appear to be prepared to implement digital teaching and learning tools; existing online learning platforms were not universal solutions; teaching staff were not prepared to teach remotely; their understanding of online teaching was sometimes limited to sending handbooks, slides, sample tasks, and assignments to students via email and setting deadlines for submission of completed tasks ( Didenko et al., 2021 ).

It is a key factor that student satisfaction to identify the influencers that emerged in online higher education settings ( Parahoo et al., 2016 ). Also, there was a significant positive relationship between online learning, social presence and satisfaction with online courses ( Stankovska et al., 2021 ). According to the findings, the attitudes and satisfaction levels of the students differ according to the studies and vary in a wide range from positive to negative attitudes.

According to the study’s findings, students responded that while online learning is beneficial for compensating for deficiencies during the pandemic, they would prefer face-to-face education in the future. This is a significant outcome for institutions. It is not desirable for all students to take their courses entirely online. According to Samat et al. (2020) , the one-size-fits-all approach to ODL implementation is inapplicable since it not only impedes the flow of information delivery inside the virtual classroom, but it also has an impact on psychological well-being because users are prone to become disturbed.

In distance learning, students can have more resources and reuse resources such as re-watching videos. So, distance learning has a positive effect on achievement and learning. Alghamdi (2021) stated that over the last two decades, research on the influence of technology on students’ academic success has revealed a range of good and negative impacts and relationships, as well as zero effects and relationship.

The result also shows that distance education prompts some physical and psychological health problems. Due to the difficulty of maintaining focus on a computer screen for an extended period of time, remote education has a detrimental effect on concentration. There is some evidence that students are fearful of online learning in compared to more traditional, or in-person, in-class learning environments, as well as media representations of emergencies ( Müller-Seitz and Macpherson, 2014 ).

Unsatisfactory equipment and internet connection, technical difficulties, and a lack of expertise about remote learning technology are frequently cited as distance learning issues. Due to the pandemic’s quick move to online education, many schools have an insufficient infrastructure. Infrastructure deficiency is more evident in fields that require laboratory work such as engineering ( Andrzej, 2020 ) and medicine ( Yurdal et al., 2021 ).

Conclusion and Recommendation

To sum up, students’ opinions and levels of satisfaction vary significantly, ranging from positive to negative. Distance learning for the reason any time and everywhere learning. Distance learning has a positive effect on achievement and learning. Staying at home is safe during pandemics and less stressful for students. Distance education prompts some physical and psychological health problems such as fear, anxiety, stress, and losing concentration. Due to the pandemic’s quick move to online education, many schools have an insufficient infrastructure. Future researchers can investigate what distance education models can be that will eliminate the complaints of students. Students’ positive attitudes and levels of satisfaction with their distant education programs have an impact on their ability to profit from the program. Consequently, schools wishing to implement distant education should begin by developing a structure, content, and pedagogical approach that would improve the satisfaction of their students. According to the findings of the study, there is no universally applicable magic formula since student satisfaction differs depending on the country, course content, and external factors.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

This manuscript has been supported by the Kazan Federal University Strategic Academic Leadership Program.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Keywords : ICT, distance learning, COVID-19, higher education, online learning

Citation: Masalimova AR, Khvatova MA, Chikileva LS, Zvyagintseva EP, Stepanova VV and Melnik MV (2022) Distance Learning in Higher Education During Covid-19. Front. Educ. 7:822958. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.822958

Received: 26 November 2021; Accepted: 14 February 2022; Published: 03 March 2022.

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Copyright © 2022 Masalimova, Khvatova, Chikileva, Zvyagintseva, Stepanova and Melnik. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Alfiya R. Masalimova, [email protected]

† ORCID: Alfiya R. Masalimova, orcid.org/0000-0003-3711-2527 ; Maria A. Khvatova, orcid.org/0000-0002-2156-8805 ; Lyudmila S. Chikileva, orcid.org/0000-0002-4737-9041 ; Elena P. Zvyagintseva, orcid.org/0000-0001-7078-0805 ; Valentina V. Stepanova, orcid.org/0000-0003-0495-0962 ; Mariya V. Melnik, orcid.org/0000-0001-8800-4628

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The State of E-Learning in Higher Education in the Era of the Pandemic: How do we move Forward?

General Education in Russia During COVID-19: Readiness, Policy Response, and Lessons Learned

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In this chapter, we analyze nationwide measures taken in Russia to organize the education system during the pandemic. We show the opportunities and limitations for responses associated relative to the previous policy phase. Special attention is paid to the peculiarities of a system reaction to the situation of a pandemic in a federative country with heterogeneous regions. In contrast to several other countries that adopted a single national strategy, different scenarios were implemented in Russian regions. We investigate the factors that influenced the scenarios and management decisions at the national and regional levels of the country. We highlight differences in the nature and dynamics of measures taken to organize learning in the first (spring–summer 2020) and second (autumn–winter 2020) waves of the pandemic. We also analyze the subjective experience and wellbeing of students and teachers during a pandemic. As the empirical base, we use data from several large sociological studies conducted in the Russian Federation over the past six months on the issues of school closures, distance learning, and the “new normal.” This provides a new perspective for studying the increasing education gap between children with different socioeconomic status due to the pandemic.

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9.1 introduction.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed an unprecedented challenge to over 44,000 schools, 16.3 million students, and 2.16 million teachers in Russian schools (Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, 2020a ). The government has had to solve the complicated problem of providing constitutional guarantees of universal free secondary general education while minimizing the immediate health risks for students and teachers as well as the spread of infection through schools.

In this paper, we describe the situation in which the Russian education system found itself during the COVID-19 pandemic and the education policy measures adopted by the government at the federal and territorial levels. We examine the contextual factors that influenced decision making and reflected the specifics of the country’s territorial structure and education management system. We highlight the differences between measures for ensuring the functioning of the education system during the first and second waves of the pandemic and their dependence on the epidemiological situation. Lastly, we discuss the impact and lessons learned from the experience during the pandemic for student quality and wellbeing and the future development of the education system (including policies aimed at families and teachers, digitization, and management models).

The empirical section of the chapter focuses on the subjective wellbeing (SWB) of Russian schoolchildren during the quarantine. We consider this topic to be especially important in the representation of the Russian case because: (1) the topic of subjective wellbeing as a part of the educational process and results has been traditionally ignored by Russian educational policy; (2) subjective wellbeing in the Russian Federation is on average lower than the OECD average (OECD, n.d.); and (3) in the context of a pandemic, subjective wellbeing may be a significantly more important indicator of how well an education system is doing. In addition to a general analysis of the factors associated with subjective wellbeing during school closures for quarantine, we focus on inequality in subjective wellbeing—what happens to children with different socioeconomic status? Against the background of increasing inequality in educational outcomes amidst the pandemic, it is critical for us not to overlook any possible widening gap in subjective wellbeing as this could be a much more dangerous effect of the pandemic on the education system.

9.2 Methodology, Data, and Limitations

We use Russian federal statistics on education and related indicators, such as demographic and economic ones, to identify and describe the context of the education policy. To analyze the administrative decisions adopted for mitigating the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, we drew upon open sources (official websites of national, regional, and municipal government agencies, school websites, and mass media) and interviews with different regional and municipal government officials (over 20 full-length online interviews through Skype). These interviews were conducted by the Higher School of Economics Institute of Education during the period March–October 2020. To assess the readiness of teachers, students, and families for distance learning, we used the results of international studies such as PISA and TALIS (OECD, 2018 ). To study changes in teaching and learning practices, the labor and living conditions of teachers and students, and the reaction of families to the new study regime, we used the results of sociological surveys administered by governmental and non-governmental organizations, including the School Barometer International Study (Isaeva et al., 2020a ).

The goal of the empirical part of the study was to identify and compare the level of subjective wellbeing of Russian schoolchildren before school closures in the spring of 2020 and at the present time (winter 2020). We use data from a study by the HSE Institute of Education. The data was collected in November–December 2020. To assess the situation before the first school closures in spring 2020, we employed retrospective questions about the students’ state at that time.

The survey examined four Russian regions: Moscow, Kaliningrad, Leningrad, and Tyumen Regions. The sample of education organizations within each region was stratified by the type of locality (urban or rural) and the socioeconomic status of the school (low, middle, high). The stratified random sample was selected among all the schools of these regions with the help of information obtained during previous studies on the quality of education (e.g., number of computers). The final sample of the present study comprised 7,355 students between the ages of 8 and 19 (grades 4–11) from 99 Russian schools in the Moscow, Kaliningrad, Leningrad, and Tyumen Regions.

The student questionnaires included questions about students’ main socio-demographic and economic characteristics (age, gender, parents’ higher education, home possessions), their subjective wellbeing before the closure of schools and at the present time (identical set of questions about the periods “before” and “after”), and their ways of interacting with school during the absence of face-to-face education. In addition to the students’ answers, the survey made use of school-level variables: share of teachers with the higher qualification category; number of computers connected to the internet per student; percent of students whose parents have a higher education; and type of school area (urban or rural).

We based our questionnaire on a combination of instruments to assess the subjective wellbeing of schoolchildren: Holistic Student Assessment (Malti et al., 2018 ) and assessment of students’ distress level (Goodman, 2009; Brann et al., 2018). According to the theoretical framework, student subjective wellbeing includes several components, of which the following were used in the present study: (1) orientation on physical activity, (2) optimism, and (3) level of distress. We assume that these components are especially important in the context of a pandemic when students may suffer from anxiety and the lack of physical activity. To measure the level of each component, the questionnaire presented 3–5 different statements with responses on an ordinal scale. Some respondents who provided identical responses to all questions were excluded from the analysis. Hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to calculate the overall indicator of subjective wellbeing. We tested a theoretical two-level model, where the first level measured the orientation on physical activity, optimism, and stress level, while the second level measured subjective wellbeing. The results of our analysis confirmed the high quality of this model for two cases: before and after the closure of schools (Appendix 1). The resulting values of the subjective wellbeing score and its components before and after the closure of schools were then used for the purpose of further analysis.

To compare the level of subjective wellbeing of the same students in the studied regions before and after the closure of schools, we made a pairwise comparison of indicators using the t-test for dependent samples. A similar methodology was used to check if there were any differences in the change of subjective wellbeing during the period of pandemic for students with different amounts of home possessions. Using descriptive analysis, we examine how students communicated with their schools during the pandemic. The next step was to use multilevel modeling to assess individual and school factors connected with student SWB before and after school closures and with its variation over the period in question. To assess the changes in subjective wellbeing, we subtracted the current value of the level of wellbeing from its level before school closures. During the final stage, we used ANCOVA analysis to compare the mean indicators of subjective wellbeing in four regions while controlling for significant relevant individual and school factors. The inclusion of covariates in the analysis led to a better assessment of the differences connected directly to regional factors rather than to the students’ family or school.

9.3 The Russian Education System in the Face of the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic

To understand the reaction of the Russian education system to the pandemic, we must consider how education policy measures are discussed and implemented at the federal and regional levels. First and foremost, Russia’s vast territory and heterogeneous spatial development led to significant differences in both the infection rate and the readiness to organize education activities during a pandemic throughout Russian regions (Mau et al., 2020 ; World Bank, 2018 ).

Russian indicators of “computerization” and “connection of schools” to the internet are above the OECD average (OECD, 2018 ). At the same time, the speed of broadband internet connections is lower in Russia than the world average, amounting to 45 Mbps. Only 76.9% of Russian households have access to the internet, and only 73.6% of them have access to broadband internet (Information Society in the Russian Federation, 2020 ). A favorable situation exists in approximately 40% of Russian regions as they have high indicators in both factors (availability of high-speed internet and computer technologies).

Russian regions have different levels of urbanization. Some regions, especially in Siberia and the Far East, have large numbers of small settlements with a poorly developed digital infrastructure. School students living in these areas experienced the greatest difficulties in distance learning. At the same time, the remoteness of villages and the small size of schools were grounds for keeping schools open in those regions.

Difficulties with organizing distance learning disproportionally affected economically disadvantaged and multi-child families. About 4 million economically disadvantaged individuals in Russia are schoolchildren between the ages of 7 and 16. Every sixth Russian inhabitant between the ages of 0 and 17 lives in a multi-child family. The different distributions of these families across regions led to various difficulties in providing such children with computer technologies. The problems were particularly acute in North Caucasian regions and several regions in Central Russia, including the Moscow and Leningrad Regions. In contrast, the cities that formed the nuclei of these regions (Moscow and Saint Petersburg) did not suffer from such difficulties. Different resource availabilities in cities and their surroundings contributed to the growing inequality of school students during the pandemic.

In terms of distance learning infrastructure, different collections of digital resources and the Russian Electronic School national distance learning platform had been created at the federal level before the beginning of the pandemic. Some regions had also set up their own digital platforms and services that could be used for distance learning; the best-known example is the Moscow Electronic School. In recent years, a market has emerged of private digital education resources and services for both distance and blended learning. Contracts with various digital platforms have been signed by separate regions, municipalities, and general education organizations, giving them an advantage during the pandemic.

Another major factor was the federative structure of the state and the division of responsibilities between federal executive agencies, regions, and municipalities that hindered the implementation of a unified state strategy for the entire school system. Most schools in Russia are managed by local municipal agencies. Free schooling in Russia is financed by regional governments. The maintenance and renewal of school property (buildings, equipment, etc.) is financed by local municipal agencies. Federal education management agencies set the standards for education outcomes and the conditions that must be met to attain them. The federal government also sets the principal models for organizing the system’s work, including the assessment of education quality, the professional development of teachers, the organization of inclusive education, digitization, etc.

During the pandemic, this distribution of powers resulted in the following situation: the Federal Ministry of Education established the general principles for education organizations (banned mass events, created norms of social distancing, etc.), implemented national measures (launched digital platforms with learning and teaching materials, organized televised lessons), changed the dates and form of the state final certification, and monitored measures taken at the territorial level. At the same time, decisions on extending vacations, closing/opening schools, and classes, fixing the end of the school year and other organizational matters were made at the regional and municipal levels. Regions and municipalities were responsible for assuring the digital infrastructure such as the availability and quality of internet access as well as the provision of PCs and laptops to teachers and students. It frequently turned out that the regions with the least financial resources for solving these problems were the same regions with the greatest needs.

In addition to the distribution of managerial powers, there is relevant background of relations between federal and regional government agencies. Over the past 5 years, the Federal Ministry of Education has de facto centralized decision making and limited the autonomy of regions in choosing the subjects and development models of general education. For this reason, after the pandemic began, many regions waited for instructions from the federal ministry. Nevertheless, the latter stressed the rights and responsibilities of regions in deciding which measures should be taken in response to the pandemic. This was quite unexpected for some regions.

9.4 Education Policy at Different Levels During the COVID-19 Pandemic: General Trends

The first cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Russia in February 2020. The disease began to spread in early March 2020. The development of the epidemic corresponded to the widespread international model of two disease waves and peaks. The first peak of the epidemic (11,656 new cases daily) occurred in early May 2020. The incidence of the disease subsequently fell until September 2020. This was followed by the second wave of the pandemic between September and December 2020 with a peak (29,935 new cases daily) before the beginning of the winter holidays and school vacation.

The strategy of the Russian education system differed considerably between the two waves of the pandemic. During the first wave, a nationwide lockdown was introduced for all intents and purposes, and most schools switched to distance education. During the second wave, the restrictions greatly differed from region to region, and most schools remained open.

Moreover, as our study shows, school closures during the quarantine had little to do with the real incidence rate of the disease (see Fig. 9.1 a,b). Due to the limited access to data on the incidence rate of the disease among children and on the impact of school closures on disease incidence, the decisions to close schools for quarantine or switch to distance study were made based on general federal policy.

a New cases of disease and the number of schools closed for quarantine during the first wave of the pandemic. b New cases of disease and the number of schools closed for quarantine during the second wave of the pandemic

After the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing enacted rules for the organization of educational activities after the quarantine, including cancelling mass events, dividing classes (to limit contact), implementing disinfection measures, and introducing special measures during the state final certification.

The Russian Ministry of Education initiated and/or supported the following key organizational and technological solutions:

Cancelling the unified final state certification after the 9th grade

Postponing the dates of the unified state exam (USE) after the 11th grade

Cancelling the USE for students who do not plan to enter university

Hotlines for school directors and regional education management agencies to answer questions about the organization of distance learning

TV projects for senior high school students for broadcasting lessons

Providing schoolchildren from particularly disadvantaged families with computers for distance learning

The Russian Ministry of Education allowed regions to make their own decisions based on the local epidemiological situation about the partial premature termination of the school year and about extending school vacations and changing quarantine regimes. The Russian Ministry of Education also introduced several distance learning platforms from which regions could choose.

Nevertheless, these support measures did not work immediately. Each region had to make its own choice based on different factors. In some cases, regional education management agencies announced the early termination of certain (non-core) classes for students in grades 1–8. This led to the reduction of study loads and internet traffic. This took place in some Siberian regions and regions along the Volga River.

Several regions signed special agreements with internet providers for delivering internet services at reduced rates or free of charge and using secondary regional resources for distance learning needs. They also signed agreements with mobile network operators for lower internet rates and special packages for teachers and students. Some regions also used various other mechanisms such as creating mirror sites and hosting education resources. In some regions, internet providers offered internet traffic for distance learning at low rates or virtually free of charge to economically disadvantaged families. Several private online platforms (Yandex Textbook, Uchi.ru) provided free content to support schoolchildren and prevent academic lag.

The lack of computers in families for organizing distance study was compensated by different regions in various ways. In some areas (such as the Moscow Region), school notebooks were offered to families. Other regions (such as the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia) bought computers to offer them to families. In Saint Petersburg and other regions, computers for families were bought with the help of sponsors. Finally, as we mentioned above, the federal government launched a fundraising campaign for purchasing computers for families in need.

To help teachers organize the study process from home, some regions offered school computers to teachers and provided them with technical assistance in configuring home computers and connecting them to the internet. The federal government implemented the project “Education Volunteers,” in which senior students from teaching colleges helped teachers who were unfamiliar with computer technologies to master the basics of organizing distance learning.

In many regions, education development institutes and municipal curricular offices helped teachers by offering express courses and consultations on working in the new format, recorded video guides and training webinars, opened tutor centers, and organized consulting by curricular association directors and teachers who had won professional competitions. Other regional initiatives catered to parents. Hotlines were setup to consult and assist both parents and children using the new distance learning format. These hotlines were staffed by specialists from education management agencies, education psychologists, school counselors, and teachers. In different regions, schools provided support for low-income families distributing food products and even ready meals.

The regions that were the best-positioned to deal with COVID-19 had prior experience in organizing distance learning in bad weather conditions. In these regions, online study was quickly and efficiently deployed, while teachers were much better prepared for the distance learning format. The same was true of individual education organizations that had already begun to develop digital environments before the pandemic, actively used electronic agendas, maintained up-do-date sites stocked with different content, and participated in social media groups. All these instruments were easily adapted to serve the needs of distance learning.

As the first wave of the pandemic showed, distance learning was best organized in territories in which regional and local management teams took the initiative without waiting for directions from federal education management agencies.

All schools in Moscow and the Moscow Region were given the opportunity to work on a high-quality platform with a full range of content. The Republic of Tatarstan invited its schools to use several different education platforms simultaneously for different subjects and grades. At the same time, internet access was almost completely lacking in rural schools in several South Siberian regions, forcing teachers to bring homework assignments to collection points (such as village stores), from where they were gathered by parents and students. Some regions in the Far East, South Siberia, and Far North organized education with the help of televised educational programs.

No analytic or preparatory work for the new school year was conducted during the summer holidays (June–August). No nationwide programs for improving the availability and quality of internet access and computer technologies were implemented, either.

During the first wave of the pandemic in the spring, many parents, teachers, and education managers at different levels believed that the pandemic was a temporary emergency that would soon end without requiring the education system to make any major changes. Some parents, teachers, and students did not believe in COVID-19 or considered its danger to be greatly exaggerated. The skeptical attitude of some teachers, parents, and schoolchildren to the risks and dangers of the pandemic, especially during the first wave in the spring, as well as the belief that the quarantine would not last long led to a certain inertia and reactionism of managerial decisions.

Interviews with officials of regional and municipal education management agencies have shown that the uncertainty and lack of clear forecasts about the development of the pandemic, especially during its initial period, led regions and schools to take quick short-term measures. These measures had small time horizons and were based on the expectation of a rapid return to the usual format of face-to-face learning. The distance learning format was viewed as a temporary emergency measure that did not require any major investments of resources. In addition, the tendency to downplay the pandemic and its consequences for schools was also linked to the lack of clear and unambiguous instructions from the federal government by the respondents. The freedom allotted to regional, municipal, and school managers to take their own decisions was often interpreted as a sign that the federal government did not know what to do in the circumstances. On the other hand, the lack of control from above was seen as an opportunity to avoid “awkward” measures that could irritate parents, teachers, and students.

Due to the increased loads during the distance learning period and the prolongation of the school year, teachers were given an additional leave before the start of the new school year. Most teachers, parents, and students expected the school year to start in the traditional place-based format. Regions partially implemented local preparatory measures for preparing schools for the school year: renovating and re-equipping buildings, providing high-speed internet access, and training teachers.

Second wave

In October, it became clear that the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic had already begun in Russia. Federal government agencies had not issued any teaching or organizational recommendations by the beginning of the second wave, stressing that regions should make all managerial decisions on their own. Only in early October did the Russian Ministry of Education elaborate and publish recommendations on amending study programs in view of the coronavirus infection and recommendations on using information technologies (Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, 2020c , d ). The Ministry published practical recommendations on organizing the work of teachers in the distance learning format only in November (Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, 2020b ). In these conditions, regions continued to provide curricular support to schools and train teachers on their own.

The second wave was a lot more extensive and serious than the first. The prevalence and incidence rate of the disease increased. Nevertheless, this situation did not lead to the mass transition of the education system to the distance learning format, as had been the case during the first wave (Fig. 9.2 ).

Distribution of place-based and distance learning formats in the Russian Federation in October–November 2020 (Mertsalova et al., 2021 )

In October–November 2020, 55 regions kept schools in the place-based format (with isolated transitions to quarantine regimes and distance learning when the minimum prevalence rate of the disease was surpassed), while 30 regions made a partial transition to the distance learning format. While different regions put different grades into distance learning, almost none of them applied this measure to primary schools; the mass distance learning format also did not affect schools with small student bodies, as a rule. 70% of schoolchildren continued to study in the place-based format in October–November. Only 0.1% of all schools were closed entirely for quarantine. Footnote 1

By late December, the total number of closed schools had decreased, even though the incidence rate of the disease continued to grow. Only 64 schools in 20 regions were still closed (0.16% of all schools) in late December (Fig. 9.3 ).

Prolongation of fall break in Russian regions (Mertsalova et al., 2021 )

At the same time, some regions with high incidence rates did not adopt distance learning. 37 regions did not extend the fall break, while 48 regions extended the fall break by 1–3 weeks. Vacation prolongation was the most widespread anti-pandemic measure in Russian regions (a prolongation of 2 weeks in 40 regions and 3 weeks in 8 regions). Once again, many regions with high incidence rates refused to prolong school vacation, and only 39% of regions with high incidence rates converted schools to distance learning. Moreover, regions with similar conditions sometimes took different decisions. For example, Moscow put middle and high school students on distance learning, while Saint Petersburg retained place-based education for all schoolchildren, even though the incidence rates and risks of infection in Saint Petersburg were no lower than in Moscow. In some cases, parental protests over distance learning along with electoral worries discouraged government officials from making changes. Parental anxieties grew despite repeated assurances that distance learning would not be introduced under any circumstances (Kommersant, 2020 ). Thus, anti-pandemic measures during the second wave were chosen more based on social and political factors than objective assessments of the risks.

An important role was played by political signals from the federal center based on fears of aggravating social and economic problems due to the pandemic. Another major factor was growing popular discontent. Parents’ tensions and mistrust of the distance learning format grew as the pandemic progressed. A survey conducted in mid-April showed that 63% of parents believed that schools had successfully shifted to distance learning, while 17% of parents disagreed (Public Opinion Foundation, 2020 ). In a survey in May, 55% of surveyed parents of final-year students expressed their discontent with the organization of distance learning (Rambler News Service, 2020 ). By the start of the following school year, 93% of parents believed that study should be implemented in a place-based format. This was motivated by the assertion that face-to-face study allows children to communicate and socialize (30%) and leads to better education quality (20%), better knowledge (17%) and direct contacts with teachers (16%); in addition, parents believe that they cannot educate their children as well as teachers (14%) (Russian Public Opinion Research Center, 2020 ). Some mass media even launched an information campaign claiming that the government was planning to abandon place-based education altogether after the end of the pandemic.

9.5 Consequences and Lessons of the Coronavirus Pandemic

The experience of transforming the general education system in Russia in the conditions of the pandemic has produced important consequences and lessons for the development of Russian education both today and in the future. Russian experts agree that the reorganization of education during the pandemic, especially during the first wave, led to losses in the quality of education on account of changes in the employed technologies and the reduction in study time (due to prolonged vacations as well as schools and classes put in quarantine). With regards to technology, distance learning is not yet fully able to replace face-to-face learning, according to most teachers, parents, and students. Many distance lessons have suffered from poor quality, simplified content, and the lack of interactivity and feedback. The reduction in study time depended on the school and the subject. Subjects calling for student participation (physical education, art, music, technology, etc.) were particularly affected.

At the same time, the national system for education quality assessment does not provide open data about education losses, as we have already mentioned. According to World Bank forecasts, Russian schoolchildren will lose about 16 points on the PISA reading score or 1/3–1/2 year of study on average (World Bank Group, 2020 ). The Ministry of Education postponed the annual national tests (taken by all school students simultaneously and in the same format) from April to the beginning of the school year to serve as “initial assessments that would be used to correct the study process” (RG, 2020 ).

The very idea of conducting a monitoring and diagnostic study of the readiness of students for the new school year and their academic lag due to the extraordinary study circumstances in March–May 2020 was considered very important for both theoretical and practical reasons. The large sample (6 million people) could have been used to identify typical problems and difficulties faced by students and elaborate recommendations for teachers on the format of curricular materials for place-based and distance learning formats. The analysis of the identified problems could have also served as a guideline for private producers of educational content, including designers of digital platforms. However, no analysis of the sort was conducted, and the results were neither discussed by the expert and teacher communities nor used as sources for planning teacher retraining courses and the work of education psychologists. The Ministry’s methodological recommendations invited schools and teachers to analyze the results of the national tests themselves and to submit within two weeks a proposed scheduled of working with students experiencing academic problems (Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, 2020e ). Thus, the national tests led to an additional workload being put on teachers in the absence of all informational and curricular support from the federal government.

During the first semester of the new school year, no national measures (extra classes, prolonged school year, vacation programs, etc.) were taken to compensate for losses in education quality that affect student trajectories and labor market prospects, despite recommendations by international organizations (UNESCO, 2020 ). Our analysis shows that few regions and schools implemented such measures at their own initiative. The introduction of such measures aimed both at students completing school during the current year as well as planning to enter vocational colleges and universities and at the entire student body that has been adversely affected by the pandemic remains a key yet open item on the agenda.

Another major negative consequence is the deterioration of the subjective wellbeing and psychological health of students because of the adverse impact of living conditions during the pandemic (including the lack of social interaction, face-to-face communication between children, and communication between children and adults during mutual activities; strained family relations; reduced physical activity; and significantly reduced external support for study). 78% of surveyed parents spoke about the growing discomfort of their children due to the lack of communication with peers, noting that this is a very important function of school. Only half of surveyed parents (49.3%) said that teachers interacted with pupils in the distance learning format and organized direct communication. A similar share (49.6%) noted that teachers provided feedback to students about study and assessment results (Isaeva et al., 2020a ). Psychological problems resulting from self-isolation and distance learning were found among 83.8% of Russian schoolchildren: 42.2% purportedly suffered from depression and 41.6% from asthenia (TASS, 2020 ).

In the context of the data already available, we decided to conduct a separate study. We were less interested in the absolute picture of the subjective wellbeing of schoolchildren than in whether the patterns of changes differ for children with different SES. Additionally, we looked for indirect evidence of whether schools “lose” children during quarantine by examining the characteristics and frequency of interaction between the school and the child.

Subjective wellbeing and psychological health of students

Researchers now predominantly ignore such topics, focusing instead on the analysis of objective losses in the quality of learning due to digital inequality (Engzell et al., 2020 ; Robinson et al., 2020 ; Van Lancker & Parolin, 2020 ). They disregard the theme of subjective wellbeing, although psycho-emotional problems due to school closures, lack of traditional summer vacations, illnesses of close relatives, and an uncertain future may have an even bigger impact on students (Ghosh et al., 2020 ). At the same time, certain international monitoring studies (OECD, 2017 ) assess subjective satisfaction with life. Promoting subjective wellbeing is the third of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, 2020 ). This is particularly relevant during worldwide pandemics such as COVID-19. In the present study, we analyze contextual factors at the school and individual levels related to different SWB trends of Russian school students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The notion of wellbeing is understood in different ways depending on the context. However, it is clear that wellbeing is a complex notion that cannot be measured by a single indicator (Borgonovi & Pál, 2016 ). Wellbeing studies traditionally examine all participants of the educational process—children (Yu et al., 2018 ), parents (Buehler, 2006 ), teachers (Mccallum et al., 2017 )—and the connections between them (Casas et al., 2012 ; McCallum & Price, 2010 ). In the OECD framework, wellbeing comprises 11 indicators, including personal security and social connections (OECD, 2017 ). In this paper, we focus only on subjective wellbeing, ignoring other dimensions such as health. We define wellbeing as “the assessments, whether positive or negative, that people make of their own lives” (Diener, 2006 ).

Many organizations, besides OECD, make international comparative studies about the contextual factors that determine the subjective wellbeing of school students. For example, a study by Korean scholars shows that subjective wellbeing is best predicted by variables from the micro level of children’s life (family, school and close community), while economic and broader national contextual factors are less or not at all significant (Lee & Yoo, 2015 ). However, another study shows that national factors are, on the contrary, quite important: the better the public health, material wellbeing, and education system in a country, the higher the children’s subjective wellbeing (Bradshaw et al., 2013 ). At the same time, the comparison of rural and urban territories within a single country traditionally shows that rural children have a higher level of subjective wellbeing (Gross-Manos & Shimoni, 2020 ; Rees et al., 2017 ). Nevertheless, this trend may only apply to countries with a sufficiently high overall standard of living in rural areas (Requena, 2016 ).

Regarding studies of the impact of inequality (whether economic or territorial) on the subjective wellbeing of children, a survey of 15 different countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa demonstrated a positive connection with a child’s home possessions yet no connection with economic inequality indicators at the national level (Main et al., 2019 ). Studies of so-called “rich societies” paint a different picture: the wellbeing of children at the national level is connected with the level of economic inequality in a country yet not with the mean wage (Pickett & Wilkinson, 2007 ). At the same time, other studies show that the lower the general socioeconomic level of the neighborhood in which children grow up, the lower their subjective wellbeing (Laurence, 2019 ). However, this paper indicates that there is no direct connection here: disadvantaged communities have more negative and fewer positive social interactions, which results in lower wellbeing (Ibid.).

Researchers from Yale University and Columbia Business School show that the higher the income inequality in a country, the higher the level of subjective wellbeing. Although this does not directly apply to children, it is an important consideration since the authors conduct an extensive analysis of the contradictory nature of statistics in this field (Katic & Ingram, 2017 ). Objective aspects of wellbeing are unequally distributed by gender, age, class, and ethnicity and are strongly associated with life satisfaction (Western & Tomaszewski, 2016 ). Although there are relatively few studies of the effect of specific factors on subjective wellbeing, especially in the case of children, we attempt to do so in this study. There are many studies on the relation between subjective wellbeing and age, which show that most developed countries have U-shaped SWB curves with a minimum at the age of 40–50 (Steptoe et al., 2015 ). At the same time, the objective and subjective SES of people is connected to changes to the SWB in at least a 4-year perspective (Zhao et al., 2021 ).

In the present study, we examine the existence of similar trends for children over a short-term period. Clearly, a country’s social policies are important in the long term: children are happier if they live in favorable conditions and safe communities, attend good schools, etc. (Bradshaw, 2015 ). However, we cannot examine such policies here. Instead, we look at the impact of certain factors “here and now” rather than in the long term.

One example of the questions that were included in the survey as a component of wellbeing scale is the statement: “There are more good than bad things in my life.” Respondents were asked to agree or disagree with this claim. It can be seen from Table 9.1 that the distribution of answers for the period before school closures differs from answers about the current situation. We can see a widening pattern for opposite categories, which is also true for the SWB index as a whole.

A comparison of the level of subjective wellbeing of students before the closure of schools in the spring and at the present time shows that this indicator fell on average in most of the studied regions (Fig. 9.4 ). Significant decreases in the level of wellbeing were observed in the Kaliningrad Region (t = 3.14, p = 0.001), Leningrad Region (t = 1.76, p = 0.039) and Moscow Region (t = 1.65, p = 0.050). The latter experienced the greatest decrease. At the same time, the wellbeing of children in the Tyumen Region increased slightly over this period, although this increase was not significant (t = -1.58, p = 0.943).

Student subjective wellbeing before and after school closures

Assessment of the change in wellbeing during the pandemic for groups of students with different amount of home possessions reveals alarming results. We found that in the group of students with comparatively low level of home possessions there was a significant decrease in wellbeing during the pandemic (t = 2.42, p = 0.016). On the other hand, students from families with middle and high levels of home possessions did not experience any significant changes in subjective wellbeing. This illustrates growing inequality between students from different families in the period of school closures (Fig. 9.5 ).

Student subjective wellbeing in families with different amount of home possessions

Among all other socio-demographic characteristics, only student age was significantly related to a change in wellbeing in the pandemic period. Younger students aged 8–10 years claimed a slight increase in subjective wellbeing after school closures (t = -5.27, p = 0.000). At the same time, students from 11 to 14 years old had significantly lower results on the subjective wellbeing scale after school closures (t = 3.34, p = 0.001 and t = 2.98, p = 0.003). In addition, no significant changes in subjective wellbeing were found for students aged 15 years and older (Fig. 9.6 ).

Student subjective wellbeing for different age groups

As for communication with school, it appears that about 11% of all students lost almost all contact with their schools. Only 89% of respondents stated that they received messages from school almost every day. Other students received messages from school once a week or even less. Of all the means of communication with students, schools used emails most often (84%). In addition, 32% of students claimed that they communicated with school by video calls (Fig. 9.7 ).

Communication with school

Our study of factors contributing to student subjective wellbeing showed that school characteristics did not play a key role in the state of children. No school characteristic (school resources, student body, area) had a significant connection with the subjective wellbeing of students if individual and regional factors were included in the model. Significant individual characteristics both before and after school closures included gender, age, parents’ higher education, and home possessions (e.g., car, television, computer, air conditioner, etc.) (Fig. 9.8 ). Footnote 2 Girls had a lower level of subjective wellbeing than boys; the same was true for older students in comparison to younger. At the same time, the parents’ education and the number of home possessions had a positive relationship with the subjective wellbeing. The region in which the student lives also had an effect: the subjective wellbeing of students in the Tyumen Region was higher than in other regions both before school closures and in the winter of 2020.

Factors of student subjective wellbeing before and after school closures

Our analysis confirms the results of prior SWB studies. In particular, our findings that primary school students had higher subjective wellbeing than older students before and after school closures, while boys sustainably felt better than girls, are consistent with recent major studies of student subjective wellbeing (Lampropoulou, 2018 ).

Measurements of the level of SWB since the closure of schools show that subjective wellbeing had fallen less for students with numerous home possessions (Fig. 9.9 ). Footnote 3 Another important factor is student interaction with schools during the absence of face-to-face learning: students who received information from their school by email or through online platforms showed a more stable level of subjective wellbeing. At the same time, the older the student, the more his or her subjective wellbeing decreased over the period in question. With regards to regional differences, the greatest changes in SWB were observed in the Kaliningrad and Moscow Regions while the least changes were observed in the Tyumen Region.

The change was measured as SWB before school closure minus SWB after school closure.

Finally, we made a comparative analysis of the level of student subjective wellbeing in 4 regions after school closures while controlling significant individual factors of wellbeing (gender, age, parents’ education, home possessions) as well as the level of subjective wellbeing before school closures (Fig. 9.10 ). The inclusion of covariates into the analysis helped to identify differences that arose between regions during the absence of face-to-face learning and that were not connected with the individual characteristics of student families and their level of subjective wellbeing before school closures. Our analysis showed that a significantly high level of wellbeing was observed in the Tyumen Region during the period of the survey. Other regions had a lower (and roughly similar) level of student subjective wellbeing (with corrections for student individual characteristics).

Factors of student subjective wellbeing since school closures

Can schools help to overcome the instability of subjective wellbeing during distance learning? Our analysis shows that they do have some levers at their disposal. The use of online platforms by schools to communicate with students studying at a distance is correlated with higher SWB stability during the pandemic. This measure is simple to implement. At the state level, one must elaborate commonly accepted protocols for the interaction between schools and students during emergency situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. There is also a need for programs for developing social skills and skills for coping with emotions. In the context of current problems and difficulties, such programs are particularly urgent (during both school closures and the return to “normal” life) (Lampropoulou, 2018 ).

Looking at the broader research and policy context, it would also be important to study the impact of national factors on student subjective wellbeing. Another area is quasi-experimental studies of the connection between the wellbeing of adults and the wellbeing (or even the presence) of children. It has been shown already that the pandemic has had, on average, a negative impact on the SWB of all families and that, moreover, these effects differ for families with and without children (Möhring et al., 2020 ).

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Appendix 9.1

WLSMV algorithm; χ 2  = 857.248; df = 37; p = 0.000; CFI = 0.98; TLI = 0.98; RMSEA = 0.05; 90% confidence interval [0.052; 0.058]; SRMR = 0.03 (Fig. 9.11

Results of hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis (Subjective wellbeing before school closures in the spring of 2020)

Appendix 9.2

WLSMV algorithm; χ 2  = 1186.103; df = 37; p = 0.000; CFI = 0.99; TLI = 0.98; RMSEA = 0.06; 90% confidence interval [0.062; 0.068]; SRMR = 0.035 (Fig. 9.12

Results of hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis (Subjective wellbeing at the time of the survey in November–December 2020)

Appendix 9.3

See Table 9.2 .

Appendix 9.4

See Table 9.3 .

Appendix 9.5

See Table 9.4 .

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Kosaretsky, S., Zair-Bek, S., Kersha, Y., Zvyagintsev, R. (2022). General Education in Russia During COVID-19: Readiness, Policy Response, and Lessons Learned. In: Reimers, F.M. (eds) Primary and Secondary Education During Covid-19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81500-4_9

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Optimistic About the War in Ukraine, Putin Unleashes a Purge at Home

Despite years of criticism, President Vladimir V. Putin has only now changed his defense minister and allowed high-level corruption arrests.

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By Paul Sonne and Anatoly Kurmanaev

Reporting from Berlin

Periodic outcries over incompetence and corruption at the top of the Russian military have dogged President Vladimir V. Putin’s war effort since the start of his invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

When his forces faltered around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, the need for change was laid bare. When they were routed months later outside the city of Kharkiv, expectations of a shake-up grew. And after the mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin marched his men toward Moscow, complaining of deep rot and ineptitude at the top of the Russian force, Mr. Putin seemed obliged to respond.

But, at each turn, the Russian president avoided any major public moves that could have been seen as validating the criticism, keeping his defense minister and top general in place through the firestorm while shuffling battlefield commanders and making other moves lower on the chain.

Now, with the battlefield crises seemingly behind him and Mr. Prigozhin dead, the Russian leader has decided to act, changing defense ministers for the first time in more than a decade and allowing a number of corruption arrests among top ministry officials.

The moves have ushered in the biggest overhaul at the Russian Defense Ministry since the invasion began and have confirmed Mr. Putin’s preference for avoiding big, responsive changes in the heat of a crisis and instead acting at a less conspicuous time of his own choosing.

“We have to understand that Putin is a person who is stubborn and not very flexible,” said Abbas Gallyamov, a former Putin speechwriter who now lives outside Russia. “He believes that reacting too quickly and rapidly to a changing situation is a sign of weakness.”

The timing of Mr. Putin’s recent moves is most likely a sign that he has greater confidence about his battlefield prospects in Ukraine and his hold on political power as he begins his fifth term as president, experts say.

Russian forces are making gains in Ukraine , taking territory around Kharkiv and in the Donbas region, as Ukraine struggles with aid delays from the United States and strained reserves of ammunition and personnel . Top officials in the Kremlin are feeling optimistic.

“They likely judge the situation within the force as stable enough to punish some in the military leadership for its prior failures,” said Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian military and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Demand for change at the top of the Russian military has been pent up since the invasion’s earliest days, when stories circulated about Russian soldiers going to war without proper food and equipment and losing their lives while answering to feckless military leaders.

The anger crested with an aborted uprising led last year by Mr. Prigozhin , who died in a subsequent plane crash that U.S. officials have said was most likely a state-sanctioned assassination .

Mr. Prigozhin , a caterer turned warlord who grew rich on state contracts, was an unlikely messenger. But he put high-level corruption on the minds of Russia’s rank and file and the public more broadly, releasing profanity-laced tirades against Sergei K. Shoigu, then the defense minister, and Russia’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov. At one point, Mr. Prigozhin filmed himself in front of a pile of dead Russian fighters and denounced top officials for “rolling in fat” in their wood-paneled offices.

His subsequent failed mutiny showed that the problems festering in the Defense Ministry under Mr. Shoigu for over a decade had boiled over and that the populace craved renewal, said a person close to the ministry who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive topics.

The Russian leader now appears to be moving against the very officials that Mr. Prigozhin had been attacking.

The first harbinger of change arose last month with the arrest of Timur Ivanov , a protégé of Mr. Shoigu and the deputy defense minister in charge of military construction projects whom the Russian authorities have accused of taking a large bribe. He has denied wrongdoing. Mr. Ivanov previously attracted the attention of Aleksei A. Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation for his and his wife’s conspicuously lavish lifestyle, including yacht rentals on the French Riviera.

Then, this month, days after Mr. Putin began his new term as president, the Kremlin announced that he had replaced Mr. Shoigu and chosen Andrei R. Belousov, one of his longtime economic advisers, as the new defense minister. Mr. Shoigu was moved to run the Russian Security Council, where he would still have access to the president but would have little direct control over money.

Mr. Belousov has no military experience . But he boasts a relatively clean image and a long government career untainted by large corruption scandals.

“If you want to win a war, corruption at a larger scale impacting the results on the battlefield is, in theory at least, not something you want,” said Maria Engqvist, the deputy head of Russia and Eurasia studies at the Swedish Defense Research Agency.

Still, Ms. Engqvist called high-level corruption in Russia “a feature, not a bug.”

“Corruption is a tool to gain influence, but it can also be used against you at any given time, depending on whether you say the wrong thing at the wrong time or make the wrong decision at the wrong time,” she said. “So you can be ousted with a reasonable explanation that the public can accept.”

Ms. Engqvist said the changes also raised questions about how long General Gerasimov would stay in his position as chief of the general staff and top battlefield commander in Ukraine.

The arrests at the Defense Ministry have gathered pace this month, with four more top generals and defense officials detained on corruption charges. Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, denied on Thursday that the arrests represented a “campaign.”

The corruption charges against top Defense Ministry officials have come alongside promises of greater financial and social benefits for the rank-and-file soldiers, an apparent attempt to improve morale and mollify populist critics.

Mr. Belousov used his first remarks after his nomination as defense minister to describe his plans to cut bureaucracy and improve access to health care and other social services for veterans of the war. And on Thursday, the speaker of Russia’s lower house of Parliament, Vyacheslav V. Volodin, and Finance Minister Anton G. Siluanov expressed support for exempting fighters in Ukraine from proposed income-tax increases.

The high-level arrests are unlikely to root out vast corruption in the Russian military establishment, but they could make top officials think twice before stealing at a particularly large scale, at least for a period, said Dara Massicot, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“It will introduce a chill into the system and make everyone pause as they try to figure out the new code of accepted behavior,” Ms. Massicot said.

Beyond sending an anticorruption message, at least one of the arrests seemed to be aimed at settling a political score.

Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov, a top Russian commander who led forces holding off Ukraine’s counteroffensive, chided the Russian military leadership in a widely seen recording last year after he was removed from his post. He was apprehended on Tuesday on fraud charges, according to the state news agency TASS. He denied wrongdoing, his lawyer said.

“The bottom line is that the war exposed a lot of different problems — corruption, incompetence and openness to public expressions of insubordination — that the leadership feels a need to address,” said Samuel Charap, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. “Now is a good time to do this, precisely because there isn’t a short-term acute risk on the battlefield.”

Paul Sonne is an international correspondent, focusing on Russia and the varied impacts of President Vladimir V. Putin’s domestic and foreign policies, with a focus on the war against Ukraine. More about Paul Sonne

Anatoly Kurmanaev covers Russia and its transformation following the invasion of Ukraine. More about Anatoly Kurmanaev

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The decision by the Biden administration to allow Ukraine to strike inside Russia  with American-made weapons fulfills a long-held wish by officials in Kyiv  that they claimed was essential to level the playing field.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested that Ukraine’s use of U.S.-supplied arms could expand beyond the current limitation  to strikes in the Kharkiv area.

Top Ukrainian military officials have warned that Russia is building up troops near northeastern Ukraine , raising fears that a new offensive push could be imminent.

Zelensky Interview: In an interview with The New York Times, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine challenged the West  over its reluctance to take bolder action.

Fleeing a War Zone: A 98-year-old Ukrainian grandmother stumbled past corpses and bomb craters  to escape Russia’s attacks.

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