Impact of Covid 19 on UK universities and advantages and disadvantages of online learning

This report analyzes the impact of Covid 19 on UK universities and the advantages and disadvantages of online learning. It includes a discussion on the financial challenges faced by universities, initiatives taken by universities during Covid 19, and the advantages and disadvantages of online learning. The essay section includes a self-evaluation of the research topic and its conduct. The subject, course code, and college/university are not mentioned.

S1 INDIVIDUAL
PORTFOLIO

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION-..........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1: REPORT...........................................................................................................................3
Analysing the Covid 19 impact on UK universities and Describing advantages and
disadvantages of the Covid 19:....................................................................................................3
Disadvantages of the online classes:............................................................................................5
TASK 2: ESSAY..............................................................................................................................7
Self evaluated reflection on the above research topic and its conduct........................................7
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES...............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION-
Academic skills are defined as a talent or the habits that benefit an individual's academic activity
like learning, report writing, and creative thinking and communicating. The academic skills are
the skills that help and encourage students for becoming efficient learners for getting higher
success in their careers. These are the skills that helps students in learning different activities and
pursuing them whenever required. Covid 19 a disease that started spreading in 2019 caused
major universities of UK to shut down at the time of lock-down which impacted them seriously
and encouraged these universities to transit offline student learning to the online learning through
different technologies and the innovations. In this report we are going to see the impact of Covid
19 on different universities all over the world and further in this report we are going to analysis
the advantages and the disadvantages of the learning online due to Covid 19.
TASK 1: REPORT
Analysing the Covid 19 impact on UK universities and Describing advantages and disadvantages
of the Covid 19:
Covid 19 is the infectious diseases caused by the virus SARS-SOV2 that spread over the world
and caused economic and social disruptions. Covid was the reason of increased inflation
worldwide. Not only this because of the corona virus many countries went on lock down for the
safety of its people and that leads to serious impact on the universities of the world.
Impact of Covid 19 on different universities- the coronavirus pandemic has impacted most of the
world universities. The universities went on online classes than the offline classes but most of the
universities also started struggling with the financial challenges on domestic as well as on the
global level which took many institution on major recessions (Gopal, Singh, and Aggarwal,
2021). The first challenge for most of the universities was related with the cash flow. As many
universities lost the fees they used to charge such as parking fees, dining charges and other such
axillary revenues and the same time the universities had to face unexpected expenses like the
refund fees. Not only this, In short span of time many universities had to go for new operation
and the new structure to provide students the classes and the leaning via the online technology.
For many institutions the already financial constraint, the cost of operations after the pandemic,

unexpected and unanticipated expenses and the decline of enrolments in the universities has
started threatening their solvency and forcing them for mergers and the closures.
Initiatives used by different universities during Covid 19- the coronavirus pandemic caused
extraordinary challenges for the education sector as the universities all over the world were shut.
The lock down force universities to shift traditional base of learning to the online learning which
was done through different platforms like the zoom, teams, G-meet and various other platforms
(Pokhrel, and Chhetri, 2021). Research team of many universities started preparing online
questionnaire to find the students interest in the activities they want to continue and to work on
the sessions they don't find interesting to indulge in during online classes. There were group
interviews and the regular meet ups for having interaction with the students and to solve doubts
of the students if they have any (García-Morales, and et.al.,2021).
Advantages of online classes:
Online learning is the learning that take place over the internet. This is also referred as a distance
learning and this started getting attention at the time of Covid 19, here are some advantages of
online learning (Manea, Macavei, and Pribeanu, 2021).
Customized learning experience: Online learning offers students access to the diverse material
that is available on the internet (Sharma, Palvia, and Kumar,2017). This material includes things
such as videos, photos, and e-books and such other services that can lead to the customized
experience of learning. This customized experience was not available to the students at the time
of traditional learning. Teachers are also using this material to provide students with the better
experience of online learning. This customized experience always helps students in learning
easily and this helps them to be motivated and interested in the class. The extra content available
online offers dynamic approach in studies.
Flexibility- Online learning provides students the flexibility in time to manage, organize and to
learn as online classes allowed students to learn from anywhere in the world without the need of
going actual to the physical campus. Flexibility of time attracted many students to learn and
complete their classes on time. Not only this the students started taking interest in the topics that
are being thought in the class. This flexibility of time benefited not only the students but the
teachers also as they were able to take live classes from the place they feel best within their
interest. Online classes provided flexibility to both the teacher and the students.

Wider ranges of courses- After covid19 many institutions and the universities started providing
online courses and the different programmes. These are the programmes that can be availed by
any student from any country in the world by paying reasonable fees or some amount of
payment. This helped students worldwide to avail best for their interest as the options of studying
has increased and now is not limited to the particular course in the local city. There is no need to
move to another city for full term courses. This is leading students to learn things online easily
and at a very reasonable prices.
Time to learn technical skills- this was the time when all the major institution in the world
shifted to the online learning because of the restriction that countries had, the online learning was
done through zoom, google meet ups to provide students the online classes daily. These benefited
an individual in learning technical skills and different social media platforms. The students
learning online can become a master in digital skills by knowing different course learning
systems and navigating different digital learning materials easily. This technical skills will not
only help them in their student life but will also help them in their career growth.
Easy access to the teachers: the time when the teacher is not there as the gap is greater in
between both the persons. When the question is asked with the teacher in the class the professor
need to answer it as it his prior duty even the person need to answer the question as the time
management is big issue in the schools and universities (Dumford, and Miller, 2018). But in the
case of the online classes the student can mail the teacher the number and the types of the
question they want to ask from them. The worry about the different questions from different
students also don't come in between. So, the students can have more attention from their
respective professors.
The comfort in the home: the students experience the benefit of the home studying as there are
no dress codes in the online classes. The work can be done in the pj's and the comfortable home
clothings (Urokova, 2020). The student can take the classes anywhere in the house let it be the
couch or bed. Individual can even listen to the classical music as well in the background while
the chatting is going on with the classmates.
Disadvantages of the online classes:
Online feedbacks are limited: in the classrooms the feedbacks from the side of the teacher can

be given instantly. The students can have the personal attention from the teachers but in the case
of e-learning the things are different. There are struggles in the case of online learnings. The
students that are regular face lack of the personalized feedbacks from the professors. This forced
the online learning providers with some alternative way of feedback providing. This is still seem
to be felt as the untouched area of the online learning. It will take relevant time to be seen as the
area of conduct and proved to be effective.
Cause of social isolation: the online learning methods have seemed the students to go under the
contemplation, lack of interaction and remoteness. This results in the social isolation for both the
teachers and the student causing lack of human communication in the lives of both the professor
and the students (Purwanto, 2020). Social isolation in the lack communication and interaction
leads towards the several health issues like stress, negative thoughts and anxiety. The social
isolation also lack up with the blended learning environment and the monetization of the students
in the face to face interactions.
Lack of skills and development in the online students: online learning methods are proven
effective for the students going online in the academic knowledge. But the development of the
communicating skills is the area of higher concern during the online lessons. Due to the lack of
face to face interaction in between the teachers and the students, the students find it difficult to
communicate (Rahayu, and Wirza, 2020). They also face difficulties in the team working and
team setting. Negotiation of the communicating skills of the students it is seemed to be difficult
to excel their knowledge and some often fails to pas their personal knowledge to their colleagues.
Cheating prevention during the online assessment is complicated issue: the one of the
biggest disadvantage of online learning is that the student continues to cheat from the various
methods. Online student can cheat on the assessment pursued and those are taken in their own
personalized environment, and they use their personal gadgets so there are more cheating and
disadvantage can be taken for this online learning module. Without the proper identification and
the verification of the systems the students may use the third party soft wares and this will also
result in the wholly fraudulent and the test result are positive but in the negative way.
Online tutors focus on theory rather than the practice: this drawback of the online learning
needs to be fixed by using more innovative online platforms for the online learnings. The
problem arises out there is that the tutors and professors taking the online classes focus more on

giving the theoretical knowledge rather than giving them the practical knowledge. The reason
behind this is that explaining and giving them the theoretical knowledge is easier as compared to
giving them the practical knowledge (Park, and Kim, 2020). Even after using the face to face
interaction classrooms and due to lack of personal interaction the implementation of the practical
knowledge as compared to the theoretical knowledge is easier in prior to the practical
knowledge.
Limited discipline in online learning: all the discipline in the classrooms are not created can
not be used in the online tutorials. Online learning is more suitable for the social science or the
humanities but is not considered that suitable for the fields like medical and engineering. The
point at which the education system is that need to be upgraded to let the higher studies of the
universities like engineering and the medical science studies to be taught on the online platforms.
But still it is disadvantage as no online lectures can substitute the traditional classes for the
medical studies and the engineering studies. The educational systems are yet on the lower side
for the development of the online classes of the higher universities studies.
TASK 2: ESSAY
Self evaluated reflection on the above research topic and its conduct
The year 2020 shook the entire world in the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic which
negatively affected various institutions. One of the worst hit were all the academic institutions
worldwide that are usually based on the offline modes of teaching where education is imparted
through traditional learning. But due to unfortunate turn of events in the form of the Covid 19
furore all the schools, colleges, and universities inadvertently shut down therefore severely
impacting all the concerned individuals especially students and teachers (Sujarwo and et.al.,
2020).
The above academic report has analyzed and illustrated all the aspects associated to the
pandemic along with its benefits and disadvantages. In this task section I will be demonstrating a

self-evaluation by going through the main findings of the report topic by topic in conjunction
with what I personally learned from it. This evaluation will also contain my own understandig of
academic integrity, the technicalities that went inot the making of the report such as research and
referencing, and a few challenges I faced in this study.
The onset of Covid 19 led to a number of lockdowns, curfews, and similar other
restrictions on the social, personal, and professional lives of everyone but work didn't stop. The
work from home scenario through online portals has been the norm and in case of education,
online classes became the platform for teaching and learning. As can be seen from the above
report the impact of Covid 19 on UK universities have been portrayed. I observed that apart from
the geographical challenges such as distance and remote learning, financial difficulties also
started emerging due to economic stagnation and high rates of unemployment and recession.
It led me to realize that in short period of time, the educational scenario in almost all the
UK universities started looking bleak with the gradual disappereance of traditional learning
methods. As per my comprehension this hampered the holistic growth and devlopment of
learners to a great extent as virtual communication became the sole basis of interactive sessions.
More importanly I recognized the increasing trend of sedentary lifestyle among youths and
adults and its harmful repercussions on their health as all the tasks and activities were being done
through long hours of sitting at home.
After treading along this analytical overview of the Covid 19 led educational spectacle I
extensively learned from the subsequent findings in the report that talked about the advantages of
online classes and learning. I found out about several beneficial aspects of this ominous
pandemic within the learning curriculum such as the importance of time management skills that
every student or individual learned to develop and adapt in their lives. Further I discovered the
advantageous skills that can be put to use in our daily routine such as the art of being flexible in
our various tasks which led to the fast completion and timely submission of assigned work
(Fatonia and et.al., 2020). Next I learnt the wide scope of topics that were made accessible to the
students and teachers alike by using different types of software programmes thereby enlarging
the base of studying options and platforms.
This further leads me to another benefit of online learning which is the enhancement of
technical know how. I think that it is of utmost importance to be able to delve into the technical

aspects of learning or doing things as most of the activities in this digital age are being done
through online modes that require a technical understanding and knowledge of the same. I noted
from my own personal experience too that many online learning tools were used in the process of
conducting online classes such as Zoom, Cisco Webex, Google Classroom. Google Meet,
Edmodo, Microsoft Teams, Telegram, Whatsapp, TedEd, and many more that helped shape the
teaching techniques for easy and smooth learning.
However, in the process of gathering the research material for this study, I also came
across several disadvantages of online learning during Covid 19. These comprised of the non-
usability of online class modes for conducting practical exams and field tasks which are quite
integral parts of the academic syllabus. The next drawback was the Internet connectivity issues
that I myself along with many others had faced over the course of the Covid era.
This led me to strongly believe that at many junctions of the educational process the
traditional methods remain effectively unparalleled. Another disadvantage involved the monetary
issues faced by several students because possessing electronic gadgets for learning is not
economically feasible for every household. This became one of the widespread hurdles in the
remote rural areas. A lack of or limited knowledge of accessing the electronic devices by teachers
for the online teaching platform also posed an obstacle in the the process of imparting knowledge
(Danchikov and et.al., 2021).
After an observant learning of all the things discussed above I figured out the
labyrynthine process of gathering and compiling data that I found in various forms such as
published articles, research papers, journals, news pieces, and PDF texts. Along this entire report
writing process I actually enjoyed learning about all the different topic findings which not only
deepened my knowledge into certain things but also opened new doors of reflection on
heterogenous factors of studying such as proper referencing. The entire process of compiling this
report taught me how to source the data, edit the written content, which text is important, which
is not, and most importantly the art of writing relevant content. Moreover I discovered the ethical
significance of a non-plagiarized content that serves the true purpose of report writing.
There were some problems I faced during piecing together this report such as poor time
management, irregular research methodologies, information-based discrepancies, and my own
lack of focus and limited experience. Nonetheless I am determined to keep on learning more

from my practical mistakes and I will keep on striving to know more and work better. Lastly I
am proud to say that conducting this report made me learn new things that I was not yet aware
of.
CONCLUSION
The above report has critically analyzed that the online teaching mode has been a saviour
for both students and teachers alike during the troublesome Covid 19 pandemic. Countries like
the United Kingdom like all others faced some strenuous academic situations amidst the gobal
epidemic. Keeping the research topic in loop the report has methodically observed and illustrated
the related benefits and disadvantages of the online learning mode among universities. It has also
shed light on several critical factors associated with the topic. Furthermore the study has
included a detailed self-evaluation that has entailed personal reflections in an essay format.

REFERENCES
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