Students’ perceptions of challenges in online reading and their affective responses: A focus group study

Abstract

In the present-day digital landscape, the internet serves as an essential medium for learning and acquiring information. As reliance on internet-based reading increases, it is necessary to address and resolve the difficulties encountered by the readers in this medium. Keeping this objective in mind, this study investigates the challenges faced by students and the affective responses they evoke while reading on the websites for educational purposes. Three focus group discussions were conducted with six participants each to explore the students’ perceptions and experiences while reading through websites. Four themes emerged related to the challenges of website reading such as: (i) distractions and interruptions, (ii) information overload, (iii) difficulty in using active reading strategies like highlighting and annotating, and (iv) difficulties while using hyperlinks. The results further show that these challenges evoked various unfavorable affective responses in the readers depending on the challenge they faced. The study concludes that these challenges and the ensuing emotional responses are likely to detract from the seamless reading experience and diminish the enjoyment derived from learning. Understanding such challenges faced by students while reading through websites is important for educators in making necessary interventions to enhance the effectiveness of online reading and learning.