Digital readiness and its effects on higher education students’ socio-emotional perceptions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The current study investigated how ready higher education students were for emergency remote teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic and how this influenced their socio-emotional perceptions. Results of N = 1,826 higher education students indicate that they seem to be ready for digital learning. A k-means cluster analysis revealed two groups of students that significantly differed with respect to their readiness for digital learning (in terms of technology equipment availability, prior experiences with e-learning, and skills for digital learning). Finally, students’ socio-emotional perceptions, that is, stress-related emotions (worries, tension, joy, and overload) as well as social and emotional loneliness significantly differed due to cluster membership. Hence, the study points a need for support of higher education students in successfully coping with the challenges of emergency remote studying.

Keywords:

• Readiness for digital learning
• COVID-19 pandemic
• cluster analysis
• socio-emotional perceptions

Acknowledgments

We thank the university for supporting our study. We thank colleague Rudolf Kammerl for his support in the preparation and implementation of the survey. We thank Karin Lee and Miguelina Nuñez for proof-reading the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential competing interest was reported by the author(s).

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marion Händel

Marion Händel is an educational psychologist and post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Psychology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. Her research is on processes of self-regulated learning in various learning contexts. She is currently focusing on digital learning in higher education.

Melanie Stephan

Melanie Stephan is a doctoral student at the Department of Education, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. She is interested in emotions of higher education students and media education.

Michaela Gläser-Zikuda

Michaela Gläser-Zikuda is full professor at the Department of Education, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. She focuses on instructional quality, self-regulated learning, and emotions in higher education.

Bärbel Kopp

Bärbel Kopp is full professor at the Department of Education and Vice President Education at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. In her research she focuses on aspects of heterogeneity and inclusion in education.

Svenja Bedenlier

Svenja Bedenlier is an assistant professor at the Innovation in Learning Institute, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. Her research interests are digitalization in international higher education, open and distance education.

Albert Ziegler

Albert Ziegler is a full professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. His research focuses on excellence and endogenic and exogenic resources of learning.