the challenges and opportunities of online learning during the covid-19 pandemic from the perspective of technical and vocational university students

The covid-19 pandemic caused all the educational institutions to shut down in order to keep the social distancing. in this situation, online learning was the best solution for continuing education. the present study aimed to investigate the challenges and opportunities of online education from the perspective of students taking english as a general course in technical and vocational university during the covid-19 pandemic. the platform selected for using technology toward the learning process in this regard was adobe connect. the implemented research instrument was a valid 19 item questionnaire designed to estimate the respondents’ opinions on challenges and benefits of online learning during the covid-19 pandemic. the method used to analyze the data from the survey was frequency and percentage response. the participants of this study were 115 female students taking general english in technical and vocational university, their age range was 18- 23 years old. most of the participants never participated in any online learning programs before the pandemic. the study was conducted in the second semester of 2021-2022.the study reveals that the students encountered several difficulties during online learning. most of these problems are related to technical and communication challenges. “unstable internet connection” and “lack of interactions with teachers” were the most rated challenges that participants confronted during their online learning experience. the most common advantages of online learning are the accessibility of online material, the ability to record the session and flexibility of the place of learning. despite its various advantages, like convenience and flexibility aspects, most students agreed that the implementation of online learning was not as effective as face-to-face learning in the classroom and they preferred to attend face-to-face classes. the results of this study showed that e-learning mode can be an advancement in education, if it is well prepared and properly implemented. additionally, in order to improve the online learning environment students and teachers should be trained in technology.