Interaction Identified as both a Challenge and a Benefit in a Rapid Switch to Online Teaching during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The recent emergence and subsequent global spread of COVID-19 has forced a rapid shift to online and remote learning at veterinary schools. Students in a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine program were taught using a real-time online platform for one semester, with recorded synchronous lectures and tutorials, virtual laboratories, and clinical skills classes where possible. Students in all years of the program were surveyed twice, 8 weeks apart to assess their perceptions of online teaching and to identify challenges they experienced. Using a 10-point Likert scale, students agreed that they could achieve their learning outcomes using online learning with no more difficulty than with face-to-face teaching, allocating average scores of 7.6 and 8.2 at each time point. Students were overwhelmingly positive about the impact of online teaching on time-management of their learning due to the loss of travel time. They enjoyed aspects of teaching such as recorded lectures, online polls quizzes, and chat-boxes that allowed more student-focused learning. However, there were concerns about the reduction in face-to-face interactions including loss of classroom atmosphere and reduced interaction with peers. Students experienced technical problems in a median of 20% of lectures (range 10%–50%) at the first survey and 10% at the second (range 10%–50%). Increased use of strategies to optimize peer interactions is recommended to facilitate student learning using online platforms. Moving forward beyond the pandemic, allowing flexible time management and a shift toward student-centered learning using strategies such as flipped classrooms may be beneficial.