Over the last two years, the world has adapted to online learning and working. Most of us have been working from our homes since late 2019. Similarly, students have also had to adjust to online learning. Everyone had to get used to it, whether they were school students or college students. While all students faced some online learning challenges, engineering students probably had it worse.
Engineering is a field that requires a great deal of technical knowledge. It is also a field of study where practical experiments have more importance than theory. That is why online learning for engineering students was so challenging to manage.
This article will provide some of the significant online learning challenges that engineering students have faced.
What Are Some Online Learning Challenges of Engineering Students?
Check out below some of the leading online learning challenges that have troubled engineering students over the past few years.
Table of Contents
Lack of Access to Technology
Even though most engineering students in the USA had the necessary equipment to study online, this was not true for everyone. We must not forget that there are students who are not financially strong. These students could not afford a laptop of their own or did not have a fast broadband connection.
These things may seem essential to us. However, a chunk of America still struggles with the necessities. Students from these households could not attend online classes or finish their assignments online. During this time, many companies began offering online assignment help in the USA for these students.
No Practical Education
As mentioned before, engineering is a discipline where practical learning is crucial. You cannot become a sound engineer studying theory alone. During Covid-19, one significant online learning challenge for engineering students was not having access to a lab.
Teachers did their best to impact practical knowledge through online workshops and tutorials. Teachers and students both did what they could in that situation. However, this lack of practical learning is a gap they could not fill.
Shortage of Online Faculty
There is no shortage of reputed engineering professors in the country. However, many of them were not equipped for online teaching. This was another one of the online learning challenges for engineering students.
Many of the engineering professors of different engineering streams were not able to cope with the online medium of teaching. They were not able to conduct virtual labs. Many of them had never used Zoom before.
The ones that could teach online successfully had to make themselves available to students at odd hours to clear their doubts. Good communication between students and teachers is an integral part of online learning. For a stream as complex as engineering, you need as much communication as possible.
Trouble Staying Motivated
When students have to attend online classes all day, it can lead to mental fatigue. Staring at the computer screen for endless hours becomes monotonous. During this time, students lose their motivation to study.
Engineering is a complex stream to study. Without actual human interaction in a classroom, it can get tricky. There are only so many Zoom classes your mind can take. One of the most significant challenges of online learning for engineering students was to stay motivated while on video calls.
A lot of the video calling experience can be frustrating if the internet connection is slow. You spend a lot of time asking, “can you see my screen?” or “can you hear me?”. This is pretty relatable, I feel.
Managing Assignments
During regular classes, students can work together and get help in completing assignments. They can organize study groups and take notes. However, completing projects can seem like a lonely road with online learning.
So, for example, if you need electrical engineering assignment help, you would need to consult various online resources. Many students who are not so tech-savvy found that a real challenge.
It would be better if students could create an online community to help each other, even if that help was outside of classroom timings.
Missing Out on Internships
Final year internships are a big part of completing your engineering degree. Many students look forward to getting some practical experience from them. It is their first look into the corporate world they wish to join after becoming engineers.
With Covid-19 and online learning, these internships became impossible. Many students resorted to virtual internships. These virtual internships were great for students as they did not feel left out of a meaningful experience.
However, just like online classes cannot give the whole experience of a real classroom, the same goes for these virtual internships. It was another example of everyone trying hard to do their best in a challenging situation.
Conclusion
In 2022, most of us will have returned to our everyday lives. With a majority of us vaccinated and back at work or school. However, many organizations are continuing with online education.
They have learned from the past two years. They have started to address the online learning challenges mentioned in this article. Some of the changes include –
- More online faculty to help students with their challenges
- Setting up more virtual labs to try and teach practical learning
- More interactive online internships
- A more collaborative online classroom environment
Hopefully, these changes will lead to an improved overall learning experience for online engineering students.
