Fourteenth International Conference on e-Learning & Innovative Pedagogies

Abstract

More than 1.5 billion students and learners worldwide were affected by school and university closure due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (UNESO, 2021). Although students reflected that online learning provided them with more flexibility and overcame the obstacles of time and space (Mather & Sarkans, 2018), students, particularly international students, face numerous challenges at the same time. This study reviews the most common challenges that international students are having with online learning in higher education. The authors first review international students’ online learning literature (Chen et al., 2020; Ilonga et al., 2020; Kaisara & Bwalya, 2021; Karkar-Esperat, 2018; Muuro et al., 2014), followed by mining written data specific to the concepts of challenges in higher education. Data was limited to those generated within the recent 6 years (2014 thru 2020) and was analyzed and coded. International students were found to be facing four types of challenges in online learning, including technology challenges (Bonk & Lee, 2017; Ilonga et al., 2020; Kaisara & Bwalya, 2021), conceptual and instructional challenges (Araka et al., 2021; Chen et al., 2020; Ilonga et al., 2020); environmental challenges (Albá Duran & Oggel, 2019; Kaisara & Bwalya, 2021; Muuro et al., 2014); and constructional challenges (Bailey & Gruber, 2020; Mather & Sarkans, 2018; Ng, 2006). This session first introduces the findings of the study and then opens to discuss the further implications. The results contribute to research in online learning pedagogy and support associated with international students in higher education.