Abstract
This study explored students’ views on improving the quality of online learning using an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design, commencing with a qualitative phase and followed by quantitative data collection and analysis. In the qualitative phase, individual interviews with ten college students and a focus group discussion with seven students revealed nine key themes, including empowering learning opportunities, optimizing access to online resources, enhancing digital skills development and collaboration, fostering engagement through supportive relationships, leveraging multimedia platforms, addressing challenges and inequities, improving communication strategies, and emphasizing continuous educational improvement. These themes informed the construction of a survey instrument for the quantitative phase. In the quantitative phase, responses from 200 college students were analyzed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). The EFA results identified four underlying dimensions of students’ views on enhancing online learning quality: (1) empowered and accessible learning opportunities, (2) digital skills development and collaborative learning, (3) enhanced communication and support systems, and (4) addressing inequities and promoting continuous improvement. These dimensions provide a robust framework for understanding and improving the online learning experience from the students' perspective. The findings highlight the importance of integrating accessible resources, fostering digital competence, enhancing support networks, and addressing structural inequities to improve online education. Recommendations include implementing student-centered digital pedagogies, expanding technical support services, promoting equitable access to online education, and encouraging continuous feedback mechanisms to ensure dynamic and responsive learning environments.