Undergraduate students’ experiences of online learning in accounting education during COVID-19: a South African case study

Abstract

This article reports on students’ experiences of learning in an undergraduate Accounting Education module at one university in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Qualitative research was applied as a research methodology to explore students’ experiences. Ten students were purposively selected from an Accounting Education class that had participated in online learning during the COVID-19 era. The choice of a phenomenological case study as a design type enabled the researcher to focus on a few participants who had experiences of learning Accounting Education online, and who could relate these experiences. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews and focus-group discussion were used to generate data, and thematic analysis was used to analyse this data. The Digital Equity Theory has been used to conceptualise the study through its dimensions of digital equity. Findings show that undergraduate Accounting Education students experienced unreliable internet and network connections, and a flexible learning environment and enhanced opportunities for learning. Understanding students’ experiences of learning online in an undergraduate Accounting Education module has implications for online learning as it may provide valuable lessons from a shift to online learning which Accounting Education teachers in emerging economies can learn from, and advocate for institutional reforms needed to ensure resilience in future disruptions.