VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY THANDAR AUNG EXPLORING STUDENTS’ ONLINE LEARNING EXPERIENCES: A CASE STUDY OF MYANMAR DURING THE CHALLENGING TIME MASTER'S THESIS VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY THANDAR AUNG EXPLORING STUDENTS’ ONLINE LEARNING EXPERIENCES: A CASE STUDY OF MYANMAR DURING THE CHALLENGING TIME MAJOR: GLOBAL LEADERSHIP CODE: 8310210.01QTD RESEARCH SUPERVISORS: Prof. YASUSHI KATSUMA Prof. NGUYEN TUAN ANH Hanoi, 2022. ii Statement of commitment With personal honor, I guarantee that this study’s result is my own and it does not violate the regulation on prevention of plagiarism in academic and scientific research activities at Vietnam Japan University (Issued together with Decision No 700/QĐ-ĐHVN dated 30/9/2021 by the Rector of Vietnam Japan University).
This study is submitted in the fulfillment of requirement for the master’s degree in Global Leadership. Signature: Thandar Aung Date: September- 2022 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study could not have been completed without the contribution of numerous people’s different kinds of support. I would like to appreciate those who supported and helped me in many ways to accomplish this thesis paper. First and foremost, I would like to express my grateful thanks to my supervisors Prof.
Katsuma Yasushi and Prof. Nguyen Tuan Anh for their helpful suggestions, guidance and supervision. I wish to extend special thanks to Dr. Ryu Jung Hyun for her encouragement, insightful comments, and inspiration throughout the two-year period of my master’s degree.
Moreover, I would like to convey my gratitude to the Japan ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) organization for the full scholarship and MGL family for their continuous assistance during my time at VJU. Besides, I wish to express my great gratitude to responsible persons of the National University of the Union of Myanmar (NUUM) and Spring University Myanmar (SUM) for allowing me to collect data for my thesis. I am also eternally grateful to all participants in both surveys and interview processes. Last but not least, none of my efforts would have been possible without my family’s and friends’ unconditional love, endless support and encouragement.
All in one, I would like to extend my warmest thanks to all the people who have supported me throughout my academic years. iv ABSTRACT Students in Myanmar are struggling to access continuing education due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and military coup. Since 2020, education has changed dramatically with significant growth of online learning institutions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, the declaration of national emergency after the military coup in February 2021 has forced Myanmar people to expand online learning platforms for continuous education.
In this regard, it is necessary to investigate the actual status of online education during a crisis in Myanmar. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate students’ online learning experiences in two online education institutions called the National University of the Union of Myanmar (NUUM) and the Spring University Myanmar (SUM). In this case, this study explored students’ online learning challenges, motivation as well as satisfaction with online learning. Furthermore, this study also evaluated the appropriate solutions to challenges and ways to enhance online learning development.
This study was provided as descriptive and exploratory research through a mixed method analysis according to the findings, internet connection and electricity problems could be regarded as the main challenges for online learning in Myanmar. However, students have a high level of motivation to continue their online courses, as well as they, are satisfied with the current online learning environment. In regard to proper ways, alternating controversial thinking towards modern online education could be an essential way to education development in Myanmar. Additionally, education institutions should emphasize the quality of online courses for online education sustainability in Myanmar.
Last but not least, policymakers should investigate the ground situation of the online learning environment and implement appropriate policies under the current situation in Myanmar. Accordingly, it is necessary to implement rules and regulations for online education development in Myanmar following the current situation analysis. Keywords: Online learning, Students’ experiences, Challenges, Motivation, Satisfaction v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ……………….i LIST OF FIGURES .………………………………ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS …………….iii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION …………………………………………….1 Background of Study …………………………………………………….3 Scope of the Study ………………………………………….…………………………5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW …………………….2 Online Learning Challenges ………………………………………………………….3 Students’ motivation in online learning ……………………………….4 Students’ satisfaction with online learning ………………………………………….5 Online education environment in Myanmar …………………………………………13 2.6 Online education development ………………………………………………………14 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY….4 Significance of Study ……………………………………….6 Expected Research Findings ……………………………….……………………… 19 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.1 General Characteristics of the Respondents ……………….2 Online Learning Challenges ……………………………….3 Students’ motivation in online learning .4 Students satisfaction with online learning ………………….5 The Role of NUUM/SUM in Myanmar’s Online Education ……………………….6 Possible solutions and Proper ways …………………………….47 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ……….1 Summary of key findings ………………………………………….1 Online Learning Experiences ………………………………………………………54 5.2 Student satisfaction with online learning ……….3 Possible solutions and Proper ways ……….3 Recommendation for the further research ……………. Survey Questionnaire in English ….
Interview Guide in English and Burmese …….71 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 3. The Analytical Framework Developed By The Author Based On The Constructivist Learning Theory And Previous Literature. Respondents’ Online Courses. Respondents’ Current Residential Location.
Respondents’ Motivation Level In Online Learning. Respondents’ Satisfaction Level With Online Learning. 44 i LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 The Typology Of The Problem Statement .1 Conceptual Framework Of The Study. Respondents’ Online Education Institutions.
Respondents’ Online Courses. Respondents’ Online Learning Challenges. Respondents’ Motivated Factors. Respondents’ Demotivated Factors.
The Respondents’ Rating On Motivation Level. Respondents’ Rating On Their Satisfaction Level. 45 ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNICEF: United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund IAU: International Association of Universities ESN: Erasmus Student Network SAC: State Administrative Council NUG: National Unity Government CDM: Civil Disobedience Movement SUM: Spring University Myanmar NUUM: National University of the Union of Myanmar BACI: Burmese American Community Institute MOE: The Ministry of Education iii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of Study Regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, an estimated 1.5 billion students around the world are out of school. Therefore, the worldwide academic communities have to explore compatible teaching and learning ways due to the global health crisis and it leads to online education (United Nations, 2021).
Therefore, the significant shift revealed the challenges to handle economic, mental and physical resistance including difficulties for online learning during the spread of the virus (United Nations, 2021). Education institutions have adopted alternative learning platforms for continuing education since the beginning of the Covid-19 global health crisis (UNESCO, 2020). Most universities around the world have postponed on-site classes since the beginning and they have faced many difficulties till now (UNESCO, 2020, p 41). The virus of Covid-19 was spread to all areas in the Asia Region by March 2020 after the pandemic was first reported in January 2020 (UNICEF & UNESCO, 2021).
In Asia, India and Indonesia were highly affected by Covid-19 while Lao PDR, Timor, Vietnam and Cambodia had low numbers of infections. According to the report of UNICEF and UNESCO, It is hard to identify the exact number of infections as there are still ongoing rising cases and affecting those living in the region. However, it can be seen that the pandemic had disrupted the people’s lives and children’s education journey even though the countries had different policy responses to Covid-19 as an emergency plan. Among them, crisis management in the education sector composed school closures as the main policy response to control public transmission (UNICEF & UNESCO, 2021).
According to the reasons, all countries including Asian countries developed a learning plan for students’ continuing learning during the pandemic. In that event, online delivery mechanisms using internet connection came to practice in most countries even though using technology did not reach all students (UNICEF & UNESCO, 2021). The sub- regional reports highlighted the major difficulties regarding online learning in Asia. In this regard, the quality of online learning was affected by the lack of technological infrastructure while students had inadequate skills to accelerate learning tools (UNICEF & 1 UNESCO, 2021).
Regarding the pandemic responses, some countries including Korea, Indonesia and Afghanistan were able to quickly develop their continuous learning pathways in specific policies rather than other countries in the Asia region (UNICEF & UNESCO, 2021, p18). Regarding the challenges, students faced mental issues including anxiety, stress and isolation, technical problems as well as health issues as a consequence of the outbreak. However, the higher education community including educational institutions and students assumed that the adaptation of online learning techniques was regarded as an achievement in the academic community regardless of some challenges (IAU & ESN, 2020, p 3). It could be claimed that the academic education community should consider online education as a long-term technique rather than crisis management (IAU & ESN, 2020, p 3).
It could be stated that there are also lessons learned in an online learning environment according to UNICEF and UNESCO’s regional report in 2021. Under the circumstances, the low level of involvement of local key actors in education, the requirement of distance teaching and instruction skills and the weakness in spreading online learning approaches in the region could be improved for online education reforms and development in the region. However, the widespread use of online learning tools could be regarded as a new pathway for educational improvement in Asia (UNICEF & UNESCO, 2021, p18). In Myanmar, the public education system, especially in the higher education sector has been disrupted by the authorities with parrot-fashion learning methods since the 1962 Burmese coup d'état (Yan, 2022, p.
For example, out-of-date curricula, ignorance of contemporary cases and insufficient learning materials are usual things in government-run schools called public sector education in Myanmar. Rose Metro from the University of Missouri mentioned that the education policy for inclusive education should consider all ethnicities, socio-economic groups, genders and areas for the construction of Myanmar’s national curriculum (Yan, 2022). On the other hand, the education institutions in both the public and private sectors of Myanmar have been closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic since 2020. Moreover, on 2 February 1, 2021, the military seized power and declared a national emergency in Myanmar.
In this case, the military quickly seized control of Myanmar’s three main sectors such as legislative, administrative and judicial powers (Goldman, 2021). After the Covid- 19 pandemic interrupted the education system for over a year, the State Administrative Council (SAC) of Myanmar was forced to reopen both public and private universities and educational institutions on June 1, 2021. Therefore, the civilian government called the National Unity Government (NUG) established the Ministry of Education which worked to provide continuous education during the crisis (Burmese Entrepreneur, 2021). Moreover, a large number of teachers and students have participated in the Civil disobedience Movement (CDM) which is against the coup d'état by the military.
The growing popularity of the CDM as Myanmar’s defender of democracy has been nominated for the 2022 Nobel peace prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee (AFP, 2021). In the current situation, normal public education programs cannot be established concerning security issues because NUG has declared a pro-democracy people’s defensive war against the military forces (Yan, 2022, p. Teachers, students and education staff participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement defy the junta regime by refusing to attend school under the junta’s Ministry of Education (KrAsia Writers, 2021). In this case, the contemporary education system has forced both teachers and students to explore alternative learning pathways including online learning platforms (KrAsia Writers, 2021).
Likewise, the key stakeholders in education such as the NUG, the organizations of teachers and students, non-governmental organizations, international and local education institutions, ethnic education groups and other actors are providing online learning platforms as an alternative way to access education while the junta is forcing to reopen the formal education institutions across the country.