It’s that time of year again! The weather is wet and windy, and social media is awash with seasonal advertisements, urging us to purchase the perfect gift and embrace the spirit of Christmas. Whether or not we celebrate Christmas, this time of year presents specific challenges.

For many of us, it’s not such a jolly time, and winter significantly impacts our daily lives. This is especially true for online learning students. In this week’s blog post, we will explore the unique challenges that this season presents and how it can exacerbate the barriers students face in progressing their studies. We will also consider the meaningful support that tutors can provide during this time.

There are many factors that influence student participation in online learning. Previous studies have noted the importance of access to sufficient resources, support, learner motivation and technical skills amongst others (Muilenburg and Berge, 2005; Bastos et al, 2022).  It therefore becomes particularly challenging when the winter period affects students in other ways. In some cases, factors might exacerbate the issues impacting on participation in online learning or, at the very least, adding another layer of complexity to existing issues.

Financial Pressure and Access to Resources

Many of us will acknowledge that this time of year can bring extra financial pressure. This is also true for online students who may be balancing studies with other demanding areas of life, like caregiving and work. At the very least increased financial stress can reduce student focus and engagement with academic tasks.  Financial stress can also impact on access to resources for online learning students – following the pandemic, the concept of Digital Poverty became an increasing concern within the HE sector and the UK as a whole. For educational establishments this was a direct result of the necessary adaptation of online learning. It should also be noted that many students who choose to learn flexibly (by engaging in online study) already suffer financial inequity (Jones et al, 2023). The Office for Students (OfS, 2020) defines digital poverty as the lack of one of a list of essential digital resources, including suitable hardware/software, reliable internet access, technical support or an appropriate study space. Taking the example of reliable internet access, it is known that, nationally, there is a surge in internet usage during the winter period, mainly around Christmas time (Acres, 2023) – this can be impacted within the home by the presence of extra visitors, events such as the end of school/university term and severe weather.  Appropriate study space can similarly become an issue due to changes in our home lives over the winter period.

The cost of living crisis is reported to be accelerating the impact of digital exclusion (NPC, 2024).  Financial issues often arise within the winter months and these issues can significantly impact digital inclusion – online students may have to make choices around affordability of devices and reliable internet access.

Emotional and Mental Health

Concerns about finances are a primary source of stress and anxiety as reported by the Mental Health Foundation (2022) so financial concerns occurring during wintertime can be important factors contributing to poor mental health. Recent analysis by TASO (2023) suggests that between 2016/17 and 2022/23, the percentage of undergraduate students who reported mental health difficulties increased from 6% to 16%. The current Cost-of-Living crisis adds to this challenge. Winter brings shorter days and colder temperatures.  According to NHS inform, “the winter blues, or seasonal affective disorder (SAD)”, affects around 2 million people in the UK. Symptoms that impact on studying online might include low mood, lack of sleep and lack of concentration. Additionally, SAD can exacerbate existing mental health problems (Mind, 2022).

Christmas also brings extra stresses for online students who may have wider responsibilities than traditional ‘brick’ university students. It would be quite easy to feel overwhelmed by a deadly cocktail of the demands of online studying, festive expectations and familial tensions.

Distractions and Motivations

We all know the festive season can be a distraction, with social obligations and holiday preparations taking up valuable study time for students. The Christmas season may bring added pressure to participate in family events or social gatherings, which can then reduce time for rest and self-care. Motivation levels are affected by the lack of daylight, in turn affecting mood and energy levels, making it harder to stay focused on coursework. The winter period can coincide with decreased engagement in online studies. Gillett-Swann (2017) reported that participation within flexible online spaces for learning ‘decreased significantly’ from week three of a learning programme, moving toward no interaction by week five.  Consider, for example, the Open University’s most popular module start date which occurs at the beginning of October. Arriving at the fifth week of studies would land our online students right at the beginning of the winter period. What affect might this timing have on engagement with online studies?

Tutor Support

It may seem that the factors analysed above may best be addressed at an institutional or wider level, but there are still impacts that academic tutors can make to the online learning student experience to maintain academic momentum and wellbeing. Suggested interventions might include:

• Checking in on students known to have existing issues that may be exacerbated by the season.
• Reviewing online student activity and any other available analytical data to determine those who might be at risk regarding engagement with their studies.
• Communicating important deadlines, learning events and contact times further in advance. This will give students additional flexibility to plan their online studies around seasonal pressures and anticipated problems.
• Providing targeted communication in your ‘out of office’ auto-replies to include signposting to sources of pastoral support and direct links to important resources.

References

Acres, T. (2023) As UK braces for new internet traffic record, here are some tips to help your broadband at Xmas. Available at: https://news.sky.com/story/as-uk-braces-for-new-internet-traffic-record-here-are-some-tips-to-help-your-broadband-at-xmas-13028049. (Accessed: 13 December 2024).

Bastos, R. A. et al. (2021) ‘Solutions, enablers and barriers to online learning in clinical medical education during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: A rapid review’, Medical Teacher, 44(2), pp. 187–195. doi: 10.1080/0142159X.2021.1973979.

Gillett-Swan, J. (2017) ‘The challenges of online learning: Supporting and engaging the isolated learner,’ Journal of Learning Design, 10(1), p. 20. https://doi.org/10.5204/jld.v9i3.293.

Jones, G. et al. (2023) We must not Dodge Financial Equity for Flexible Learning, Wonkhe. Available at: https://wonkhe.com/blogs/we-must-not-dodge-financial-equity-for-flexible-learning (Accessed: 13 December 2024).

Mental Health Foundation (2022) Stress, anxiety and hopelessness over personal finances widespread across UK Available at: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/about-us/news/stress-anxiety-and-hopelessness-over-personal-finances-widespread-across-uk (Accessed: 13 December 2024)

Mind (2022) What is seasonal affective disorder (SAD)?. Available at: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad/about-sad/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0–6BhCBARIsADYqyL_RDype6LTEUc3D8HPpNNgIrwSu1Luvrek6Gz-Ep0rqNlQeNWp1qJoaAnOZEALw_wcB (Accessed: 13 December 2024).

Muilenburg, L. Y. and Berge, Z. L. (2005) ‘Student barriers to online learning: A factor analytic study’, Distance Education, 26(1), pp. 29–48. doi: 10.1080/01587910500081269.

NHS Inform (2024) Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) | NHS Inform. https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/mental-wellbeing/low-mood-and-depression/beating-the-winter-blues (Accessed: 13 December 2024).

NPC – New Philanthropy Capital (2024) Digital and financial exclusion in the UK: what’s driving it? Available at: https://www.thinknpc.org/blog/digital-and-financial-exclusion-in-the-uk-whats-driving-it-and-how-can-we-turn-the-tide/. (Accessed: 13 December 2024).

Office for Students (2020) ‘Digital Poverty’ risks leaving students behind, Office for Students. Available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-and-events/press-and-media/digital-poverty-risks-leaving-students-behind/ (Accessed: 13 December 2024).

TASO (2023) Student mental health problems have almost tripled, study finds. Available at: https://taso.org.uk/news-blog/student-mental-health-problems-have-almost-tripled-study-finds/ (Accessed: 13 December 2024).

How do you support your online learning students over this time of year? Share your experiences and tips with colleagues by leaving a reply below.