Mietta Johnson spent five days a week, nine hours a day, in her beauty therapy course at Perth’s North Metropolitan TAFE, but after only four weeks, she says she was forced to drop out.
The 21-year old says she thought she would be able to juggle her full-time course with work, but the financial burden of not being able to continue her usual working hours and sustain a liveable income became overwhelming.
“I’m originally from Margret River but have been renting up here in Perth with housemates for the last 3 years I thought I would finally be able to support myself and go to TAFE after saving some money from working, however I was four weeks in and had to stop,” she says.
Ms Johnson says if her TAFE course had offered the option to complete part-time or online, she would have pursued her studies that way.
“Rent is very expensive, petrol is very expensive, so I really try and select how often I drive and prioritise public transport. I miss out on buying a lot of foods. I need to have certain foods to help my health, such as red meat to help my iron, but I can’t even afford it.”
For many young students trying to support themselves in a cost-of-living crisis, the dream of higher education is often difficult and unattainable.
When the Covid-19 pandemic forced people into isolation, higher education facilities such as TAFEs and Universities had to work around the restraints of lockdown, with many of these institutions forced to move to online learning.
Pre-recorded lectures, group zoom tutorials and collaborative online working spaces were set up to a higher standard than they ever were before.
Conjoint Associate Professor Cathy Jones has conducted research in higher education student engagement. Her 2017 research paper Guidelines for Improving Student Outcomes in Online Learning, was a vital tool used by many Australian universities throughout the transition to online learning during Covid.
She says with the increasing number of students choosing to study online, universities need to treat their online delivery of content with as much importance as face-to-face teaching.
“We tend to focus on the students we can see in the classroom, and we can quite often forget about the others,” she says.
“Often online delivery is a bit patchy as it largely depends on how good the online teachers are, which can vary from course to course, but I do think Covid has definitely contributed to change which has led to universities’ taking online delivery much more seriously.”
Conjoint Associate Professor Cathy Jones
Assoc Prof Jones admits the flexibility of online learning makes higher education more accessible to students who cannot attend on campus programs due to work and family commitments, and also for students who live regionally.
“There are lots of students who find coming to campus a real barrier but really enjoy studying in person, but many of them have part-time jobs, they’ve got to work to be able to keep the money coming in, so if they can do some of it online and some of it on campus then great,” she says.
Ellen MacDonald is a hybrid Curtin University student, completing half of her units online and half in-person.
She says, having the choice to study online has allowed her to continue working full-time, and pick up on her classes at a time that is convenient for her. However, she says there is undoubtedly a hidden cost.
“I do work full-time, 12 hour shifts, 6am-6pm. I work the majority of days that I am not at uni, and I am a supervisor at my work which can be quite demanding,” Ms MacDonald says.
“I think studying online tends to me more flexible than coming onto campus, some days classes don’t necessarily line up with my work schedule, so I definitely do think studying online is more beneficial for people who do work fulltime.”
Ms MacDonald says while the flexibility that online classes offer is very appealing, she doesn’t feel as engaged as she does when she studies on campus.
“I do find on campus classes more engaging. You do have that face-to-face connection with a teacher and can stay back and get that help from a teacher as well, where is I find online classes can be quite challenging to be so independent if you don’t have guidance and support from an academic professional,” she says.
Students such as Mietta and Ellen, believe higher education institutions must continue to improve their quality of digital education, providing the same level of academic support, and resources as on-campus learning.