Exploring Public Sentiment on Online Learning During Covid-19: A Twitter-based Analysis

Research Article
Open access

Exploring Public Sentiment on Online Learning During Covid-19: A Twitter-based Analysis

Yang Yang 1* , Shiyu Zhang 2 , Wenting Lin 3 , Ting Wen 4
  • 1 School of Journalism and Culture Communication, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China    
  • 2 Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human, New York University, New York, USA    
  • 3 Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London, London, United Kingdom    
  • 4 College of Literature and Journalism, Chongqing College of Humanities, Science & Technology, Chongqing, China    
  • *corresponding author Jerryyang1025@163.com
CHR Vol.68
ISSN (Print): 2753-7072
ISSN (Online): 2753-7064
ISBN (Print): 978-1-80590-075-7
ISBN (Online): 978-1-80590-076-4

Abstract

This study investigates the evolution of public sentiment toward online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, utilizing Twitter data collected between April 2020 and December 2021. By using MDCOR for topic identification and SENA for sentiment analysis, the study examined changes in affective responses across major online learning platforms including Zoom, Udemy, Canvas and Coursera. It was observed that positive emotions were most prominent in the early stages of the pandemic, as online learning became crucial due to social distancing. However, while platforms relying on synchronous interactions, such as Zoom, were associated with negative emotions like frustration and fatigue, more flexible, skill-based platforms like Coursera and Udemy consistently received favorable feedback. The findings reveal the varied emotional responses to different online learning features, providing insights into the factors shaping user experience. These insights can inform the future development of online learning platforms and strategies aimed at improving educational effectiveness.

Keywords:

Online learning, COVID-19, Data analysis, Social media, Twitter

Yang,Y.;Zhang,S.;Lin,W.;Wen,T. (2025). Exploring Public Sentiment on Online Learning During Covid-19: A Twitter-based Analysis. Communications in Humanities Research,68,124-143.
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References

[1]. World Health Organization. (2020). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

[2]. Red Cross. (2020, April 21). What social distancing means. Red Cross. https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/news/2020/coronavirus-what-social-distancing-means.html

[3]. Hosseinzadeh, P., Zareipour, M., Baljani, E., & Moradali, M. R. (2022). Social Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic. A Systematic Review. Investigación Y Educación En Enfermería, 40(1). https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.iee.v40n1e10

[4]. Aristovnik, A., Karampelas, K., Umek, L., & Ravšelj, D. (2023). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on online learning in higher education: a bibliometric analysis. Frontiers in Education, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1225834

[5]. García-Peñalvo, F. J., Corell, A., Abella-García, V., & Grande-de-Prado, M. (2020). Recommendations for Mandatory Online Assessment in Higher Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Lecture Notes in Educational Technology, 85–98. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7869-4_6

[6]. Keser Aschenberger, F., Radinger, G., Brachtl, S., Ipser, C., & Oppl, S. (2022). Physical home learning environments for digitally-supported learning in academic continuing education during COVID-19 pandemic. Learning Environments Research, 26, 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-022-09406-0

[7]. Fry, K. (2001). E‐learning markets and providers: some issues and prospects. Education + Training, 43(4/5), 233–239. https://doi.org/10.1108/eum0000000005484

[8]. Dorn, E., Hancock, B., Sarakatsannis, J., & Viruleg, E. (2020, December 8). COVID-19 and learning loss—Disparities grow and students need help. McKinsey & Company. https://wasa-oly.org/WASA/images/WASA/5.0%20Professional%20Development/4.2%20Conference%20Resources/Winter/2021/covid-19-and-learning-loss-disparities-grow-and-students-need-help-v3.pdf

[9]. Pozo, J.-I., Pérez Echeverría, M.-P., Cabellos, B., & Sánchez, D. L. (2021). Teaching and Learning in Times of COVID-19: Uses of Digital Technologies During School Lockdowns. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.656776

[10]. Lockee, B. B. (2021). Online education in the post-COVID era. Nature Electronics, 4(1), 5–6. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-020-00534-0

[11]. Zhang, L., Carter, R. A., Qian, X., Yang, S., Rujimora, J., & Wen, S. (2022). Academia’s responses to crisis: A bibliometric analysis of literature on online learning in higher education during COVID‐19. British Journal of Educational Technology, 53(3), 620–646. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13191

[12]. Schwartz, H. L., Ahmed, F., Leschitz, J. T., Amra Uzicanin, & Uscher-Pines, L. (2020). Opportunities and Challenges in Using Online Learning to Maintain Continuity of Instruction in K–12 Schools in Emergencies. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/working_papers/WRA200/WRA235-1/RAND_WRA235-1.pdf

[13]. Reich, J. (2015). Rebooting MOOC Research. Science, 347(6217), 34–35. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1261627

[14]. Bhuiyan, N., & Baghel, A. (2005). An overview of continuous improvement: from the past to the present. Management Decision, 43(5), 761–771. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740510597761

[15]. Li, C., & Lalani, F. (2020, April 29). The COVID-19 pandemic has changed education forever. This is how. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-education-global-covid19-online-digital-learning

[16]. Willcox, K., Sarma, S., & Lippel, P. (2016). ONLINE EDUCATION POLICY INITIATIVE Online Education: A Catalyst for Higher Education Reforms. http://eadtu.eu/documents/Publications/SD/MIT_Online_Education_Policy_Initiative_April_2016.pdf

[17]. Lang, I. G. (2021). EU COVID-19 Certificates: A Critical Analysis. European Journal of Risk Regulation, 12(2), 298–307. https://doi.org/10.1017/err.2021.24

[18]. Grannis, S. J. (2021). Interim Estimates of COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Against COVID-19–Associated Emergency Department or Urgent Care Clinic Encounters and Hospitalizations Among Adults During SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 (Delta) Variant Predominance — Nine States, June–August 2021. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 70. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7037e2

[19]. Kirzinger, A., Sparks, G., Hamel, L., Lopes, L., Kearney, A., Stokes, M., & Brodie, M. (2021). Poll Finding. http://dig.abclocal.go.com/wtvd/docs/KFF%20Vaccine%20Monitor%20Report%20-%20embargoed%20until%205%20AM%20ET%20Wednesday%20August%204.pdf

[20]. Perez, J. Jr. (2021, May 13). Teachers union leader calls for ‘fully reopening’ schools this fall. Politico. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/13/teachers-union-leader-full-school-reopening-488032

[21]. Sato, S. N., Condes Moreno, E., Rubio-Zarapuz, A., Dalamitros, A. A., Yañez-Sepulveda, R., Tornero-Aguilera, J. F., & Clemente-Suárez, V. J. (2024). Navigating the New Normal: Adapting Online and Distance Learning in the Post-Pandemic Era. Education Sciences, 14(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14010019

[22]. Barrot, J. S., Llenares, I. I., & del Rosario, L. S. (2021). Students’ online learning challenges during the pandemic and how they cope with them: The case of the philippines. Education and Information Technologies, 26(7321–7338). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10589-x

[23]. Cedeño, T. D., Rocha, I. C., Ramos, K., & Uy, N. M. (2021). Learning Strategies and Innovations among Medical Students in the Philippines during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Medical Students, 9(1), 77–79. https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2021.908

[24]. Lemann Foundation. (2021, September 24). Remote learning in Brazil during the pandemic. Lemann Foundation. https://www.lemannfoundation.org/news/remote-learning-in-brazil-during-the-pandemic

[25]. Lemann Foundation. (2021, September 24). Remote learning in Brazil during the pandemic. Lemann Foundation. https://www.lemannfoundation.org/news/remote-learning-in-brazil-during-the-pandemic

[26]. Kotera, Y., Ting, S.-H., & Neary, S. (2020). Mental health of Malaysian university students: UK comparison, and relationship between negative mental health attitudes, self-compassion, and resilience. Higher Education, 81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00547-w

[27]. Pink, S., Horst, H. A., Postill, J., Hjorth, L., Lewis, T., & Tacchi, J. (2016). Digital ethnography : principles and practice. Sage.

[28]. Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! the Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003

[29]. Knoll, J. (2016). Advertising in social media: a review of empirical evidence. International Journal of Advertising, 35(2), 266–300. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2015.1021898

[30]. Dixon, S. J. (2023, November 15). Twitter: Number of Users Worldwide 2019-2020 | Statista. Statista; Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/303681/twitter-users-worldwide/

[31]. Sayce, D. (2010, March 3). Number of tweets per day? David Sayce. https://www.dsayce.com/social-media/tweets-day/

[32]. Canché, M. S. G. (2023). Machine driven classification of open-ended responses (MDCOR): An analytic framework and no-code, free software application to classify longitudinal and cross-sectional text responses in survey and social media research. Expert Systems with Applications, 215, 119265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2022.119265.

Cite this article

Yang,Y.;Zhang,S.;Lin,W.;Wen,T. (2025). Exploring Public Sentiment on Online Learning During Covid-19: A Twitter-based Analysis. Communications in Humanities Research,68,124-143.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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Volume title: Proceedings of 3rd International Conference on Interdisciplinary Humanities and Communication Studies

ISBN：978-1-80590-075-7(Print) / 978-1-80590-076-4(Online)
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Conference website: https://2024.icihcs.org/
Conference date: 26 December 2024
Series: Communications in Humanities Research
Volume number: Vol.68
ISSN：2753-7064(Print) / 2753-7072(Online)

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References

[1]. World Health Organization. (2020). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

[2]. Red Cross. (2020, April 21). What social distancing means. Red Cross. https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/news/2020/coronavirus-what-social-distancing-means.html

[3]. Hosseinzadeh, P., Zareipour, M., Baljani, E., & Moradali, M. R. (2022). Social Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic. A Systematic Review. Investigación Y Educación En Enfermería, 40(1). https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.iee.v40n1e10

[4]. Aristovnik, A., Karampelas, K., Umek, L., & Ravšelj, D. (2023). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on online learning in higher education: a bibliometric analysis. Frontiers in Education, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1225834

[5]. García-Peñalvo, F. J., Corell, A., Abella-García, V., & Grande-de-Prado, M. (2020). Recommendations for Mandatory Online Assessment in Higher Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Lecture Notes in Educational Technology, 85–98. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7869-4_6

[6]. Keser Aschenberger, F., Radinger, G., Brachtl, S., Ipser, C., & Oppl, S. (2022). Physical home learning environments for digitally-supported learning in academic continuing education during COVID-19 pandemic. Learning Environments Research, 26, 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-022-09406-0

[7]. Fry, K. (2001). E‐learning markets and providers: some issues and prospects. Education + Training, 43(4/5), 233–239. https://doi.org/10.1108/eum0000000005484

[8]. Dorn, E., Hancock, B., Sarakatsannis, J., & Viruleg, E. (2020, December 8). COVID-19 and learning loss—Disparities grow and students need help. McKinsey & Company. https://wasa-oly.org/WASA/images/WASA/5.0%20Professional%20Development/4.2%20Conference%20Resources/Winter/2021/covid-19-and-learning-loss-disparities-grow-and-students-need-help-v3.pdf

[9]. Pozo, J.-I., Pérez Echeverría, M.-P., Cabellos, B., & Sánchez, D. L. (2021). Teaching and Learning in Times of COVID-19: Uses of Digital Technologies During School Lockdowns. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.656776

[10]. Lockee, B. B. (2021). Online education in the post-COVID era. Nature Electronics, 4(1), 5–6. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-020-00534-0

[11]. Zhang, L., Carter, R. A., Qian, X., Yang, S., Rujimora, J., & Wen, S. (2022). Academia’s responses to crisis: A bibliometric analysis of literature on online learning in higher education during COVID‐19. British Journal of Educational Technology, 53(3), 620–646. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13191

[12]. Schwartz, H. L., Ahmed, F., Leschitz, J. T., Amra Uzicanin, & Uscher-Pines, L. (2020). Opportunities and Challenges in Using Online Learning to Maintain Continuity of Instruction in K–12 Schools in Emergencies. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/working_papers/WRA200/WRA235-1/RAND_WRA235-1.pdf

[13]. Reich, J. (2015). Rebooting MOOC Research. Science, 347(6217), 34–35. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1261627

[14]. Bhuiyan, N., & Baghel, A. (2005). An overview of continuous improvement: from the past to the present. Management Decision, 43(5), 761–771. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740510597761

[15]. Li, C., & Lalani, F. (2020, April 29). The COVID-19 pandemic has changed education forever. This is how. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-education-global-covid19-online-digital-learning

[16]. Willcox, K., Sarma, S., & Lippel, P. (2016). ONLINE EDUCATION POLICY INITIATIVE Online Education: A Catalyst for Higher Education Reforms. http://eadtu.eu/documents/Publications/SD/MIT_Online_Education_Policy_Initiative_April_2016.pdf

[17]. Lang, I. G. (2021). EU COVID-19 Certificates: A Critical Analysis. European Journal of Risk Regulation, 12(2), 298–307. https://doi.org/10.1017/err.2021.24

[18]. Grannis, S. J. (2021). Interim Estimates of COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Against COVID-19–Associated Emergency Department or Urgent Care Clinic Encounters and Hospitalizations Among Adults During SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 (Delta) Variant Predominance — Nine States, June–August 2021. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 70. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7037e2

[19]. Kirzinger, A., Sparks, G., Hamel, L., Lopes, L., Kearney, A., Stokes, M., & Brodie, M. (2021). Poll Finding. http://dig.abclocal.go.com/wtvd/docs/KFF%20Vaccine%20Monitor%20Report%20-%20embargoed%20until%205%20AM%20ET%20Wednesday%20August%204.pdf

[20]. Perez, J. Jr. (2021, May 13). Teachers union leader calls for ‘fully reopening’ schools this fall. Politico. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/13/teachers-union-leader-full-school-reopening-488032

[21]. Sato, S. N., Condes Moreno, E., Rubio-Zarapuz, A., Dalamitros, A. A., Yañez-Sepulveda, R., Tornero-Aguilera, J. F., & Clemente-Suárez, V. J. (2024). Navigating the New Normal: Adapting Online and Distance Learning in the Post-Pandemic Era. Education Sciences, 14(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14010019

[22]. Barrot, J. S., Llenares, I. I., & del Rosario, L. S. (2021). Students’ online learning challenges during the pandemic and how they cope with them: The case of the philippines. Education and Information Technologies, 26(7321–7338). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10589-x

[23]. Cedeño, T. D., Rocha, I. C., Ramos, K., & Uy, N. M. (2021). Learning Strategies and Innovations among Medical Students in the Philippines during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Medical Students, 9(1), 77–79. https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2021.908

[24]. Lemann Foundation. (2021, September 24). Remote learning in Brazil during the pandemic. Lemann Foundation. https://www.lemannfoundation.org/news/remote-learning-in-brazil-during-the-pandemic

[25]. Lemann Foundation. (2021, September 24). Remote learning in Brazil during the pandemic. Lemann Foundation. https://www.lemannfoundation.org/news/remote-learning-in-brazil-during-the-pandemic

[26]. Kotera, Y., Ting, S.-H., & Neary, S. (2020). Mental health of Malaysian university students: UK comparison, and relationship between negative mental health attitudes, self-compassion, and resilience. Higher Education, 81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00547-w

[27]. Pink, S., Horst, H. A., Postill, J., Hjorth, L., Lewis, T., & Tacchi, J. (2016). Digital ethnography : principles and practice. Sage.

[28]. Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! the Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003

[29]. Knoll, J. (2016). Advertising in social media: a review of empirical evidence. International Journal of Advertising, 35(2), 266–300. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2015.1021898

[30]. Dixon, S. J. (2023, November 15). Twitter: Number of Users Worldwide 2019-2020 | Statista. Statista; Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/303681/twitter-users-worldwide/

[31]. Sayce, D. (2010, March 3). Number of tweets per day? David Sayce. https://www.dsayce.com/social-media/tweets-day/

[32]. Canché, M. S. G. (2023). Machine driven classification of open-ended responses (MDCOR): An analytic framework and no-code, free software application to classify longitudinal and cross-sectional text responses in survey and social media research. Expert Systems with Applications, 215, 119265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2022.119265.

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