Students’ adaptability in online learning based on Malaysian students’ perception

Abstract

The education field has undergone a new norm due to the pandemic of COVID-19 and it can be seen that new techniques and improvements can be applied among the educators and students. In a Malaysian context, it is revealed that a majority of universities have enhanced the quality of teaching via online platforms such as Cisco Webex, Google Meet, Zoom and many more that provide the medium for instructional delivery. However, it is also imperative to view the situation from the students’ perspectives in order to identify the issues that have occurred throughout the online learning process. The current study is conducted to identify the level of adaptability among students towards online learning and it consists of several components such as physical, spiritual, and emotional aspects. The respondents were selected through purposive sampling from selected local universities in Malaysia where about 316 students participated. This study was done quantitatively, and the results were analysed using Smart PLS 3.2.8. The findings showed that there were high values of Cronbach alpha and composite reliability which indicates that students agreed with the items in all the constructs in terms of physical (α=0.879, CR=0.906), spiritual (α =0.863, CR=0.901), emotional (α=0.953, CR=0.961) and adaptability (α=0.913, CR=0.931). The validity (AVE) of all the constructs were also in the acceptable range. It reveals that the physical, spiritual, and emotional components are imperative in order to ensure students could adapt with the new norm of online learning during the pandemic of COVID-19. Other than that, it shows that a balance well-being could hinder problems related to tough learning situation especially in online learning.