We were like Zoom beings : insider perspectives on student learning during the initial shift to online classes in Sweden at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Universities worldwide transitioned to online learning during the COVID- 19 pandemic, leading to a digital revolution in higher education. The aim of this study is to give a unique insider’s perspective of how students experienced the shift to online learning within a Qualitative Methods course at the beginning of the pandemic. Our data is comprised of a thematic analysis of three focus group discussions (FGDs) with the Master’s in Public Health Sciences programme students at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, on their experiences of learning and applying qualitative methods online. The findings showed different processes of adaptation to the learning environment at the early stages of the pandemic. Use of digital technologies for online education were learnt and re-embodied by students, to the point they eventually defined themselves as “Zoom beings”. An overarching theme describes the process of students’ re-embodiment of their student-researcher role in a dematerialized online classroom. The adaptation to the learning process resulted in growing pains, but also enabled student to foresee complementarity of online and physical worlds. Understanding the students’ experiences of the sudden switch to online learning can guide the adaptation for potential future disruptions of campus-based teaching.