<i>Retracted:</i> Virtual learning anxiety: A case study of Pedagogical University (Ukraine)

Abstract This paper deals with the after‐effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic in the educational sphere. The authors aim to report the results of an observational study that was focused on the perceptions of virtual learning in students and teachers of Bogdan Khmelnytsky Melitopol State Pedagogical University during the first (March 2020) and the second (December 2020) lockdowns in Ukraine. The following objectives are set: to analyse scientific literature on virtual learning anxiety; to explore the participants' emotional state when studying/working online; to find out a list of digital tools, virtual platforms and messengers preferred by students and teachers; and to identify the most common challenges and benefits of virtual learning/teaching. In the study, anxiety in virtual learning is defined as a psychological state of a person caused by unawareness of modern digital technologies, lack of properly developed ICT skills, and misuse of virtual learning tools which result in distress, dissatisfaction and uncertainty. The authors come to the conclusion that technological and psychological training of both students and teachers should go in line and function as a holistic system in order to reduce virtual learning anxiety. Potential solutions to overcome the challenges and create an effective virtual learning community are given. Context and implications Rationale for this study School and university educational systems had to adjust to the changes caused by a global pandemic. In spite of the fact that virtual learning was already introduced in the educational process of Ukraine before the COVID‐19 pandemic, its use was often defined as short term within the framework of the university curriculum and was only of an optional character. The task of modern society is to provide students and teachers with knowledge, attitudes and practice regarding the pandemic to eliminate anxiety in virtual education. It is important to investigate the overall state of research in the field of virtual learning anxiety and stress in both university students and teachers. For this reason, it is necessary to explore the perceptions of virtual learning among university students and teachers. The authors conducted the research at the Bogdan Khmelnytsky Melitopol State Pedagogical University during the first (March 2020) and second (December 2020) lockdowns in Ukraine. Why the new findings matter It is shows which processes related to e‐learning/teaching should be conducted: enhance the online transformation of higher education at a government level; organise training courses of developing students' and teachers' ICT skills; introduce online education methods for lecturers; organise in‐depth training courses for teachers which deal with interactive online teaching methods; form students' individual learning trajectories; develop online multidisciplinary courses; monitor the level of satisfaction of students and lecturers of the online education organisation for the accumulation of statistical data in the dynamics. Implications for researchers The results of the research would be useful in the process of overcoming the anxiety of university students and teachers about e‐learning/teaching. Academics are called upon to simulate and research certain scenarios in an attempt to create a suitable algorithm of action that educational institutions might be able to adopt in case similar circumstances arise again. Subsequent qualitative research should be done at the national level of Ukraine to profoundly evaluate the challenges that have been faced by students and teachers while studying and teaching in a virtual environment.