Experiences of post-graduate students of Shiraz University regarding online education during Covid-19 crisis: A phenomenological approach

With the outbreak of the coronavirus and the subsequent closure of universities and higher education centers in Iran, higher education officials were forced to offer education through learning management systems and online education systems. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the lived experience of postgraduate students of Shiraz University regarding online education during the Covid-19 crisis, relying on phenomenological methods. Data collection was done using semi-structured interviews. Accordingly, based on a targeted sampling approach and standardized method, graduate students who used online education were selected, and 22 students were finally interviewed upon reaching data saturation. Interview analysis was performed using a Colaizzi model and thematic analysis method. After extraction and categorization of the themes, 4 main themes including 14 sub-themes were obtained.  The main themes included education (including five sub-themes: creating new educational opportunities and experiences, promoting media literacy, changing learning responsibility, changing teaching methods, and reducing participation in learning) , infrastructure (including four sub-themes: Internet connection issues, lack of public access to the Internet, poor quality of audio and video, and poor system support), flexibility (including two sub-topics: student freedom of action and lack of time and space restrictions), and economy (including four sub-themes: Internet connection fees, buying hardware, saving time, and transportation cost). Due to the problems and disadvantages mentioned by the students, it is necessary to upgrade the network infrastructure to provide quality online education.