Virtual education during the pandemic from the perspective of Peruvian teachers in rural schools

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire educational system migrated to the virtual modality, bringing with it social, technological, psychological challenges, etc. In this context, rural schools, which had various shortcomings since before the pandemic, became a scenario where the teaching work and, consequently, student learning was harmed in various aspects. Therefore, this research sought to collect the experiences of secondary school teachers on virtual education that was implemented in rural areas of Peru due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The methodology was qualitative, phenomenological and interviews were conducted with 23 teachers. The initial impact of the school closures drastically changed the educational dynamic, leading to great uncertainty;in response, teachers went out in search of their students despite the geographical and technological difficulties. Likewise, the digital gap worsened, teachers did not receive help from some authorities, family support was diverse and educational programs were reduced, affecting learning opportunities. Everything would indicate that the pre-existing educational, social and technological gaps in rural areas have worsened and it is expected that the new public policies will address this problem as soon as possible.

Phubbing, family atmosphere and self-esteem in Peruvian teenagers in the context of social isolation

Social interaction is a key point in the development of human beings. The smartphones, internet or other technological sources, for instance, is changing the way teenagers interact with their peers and families. This is why, in the context of social isolation due to Covid-19, is important to know the relationship between phubbing, family atmosphere and self-esteem in teenagers. The research had a quantitative approach, correlational scope, cross-sectional non-experimental design, and a sample of 332 teenagers from Lima, Peru. It was found that phubbing relates negatively to teenager’s self-esteem (-.47) and family atmosphere (-.48). It was also evident a positive correlation between self-esteem and family atmosphere (.51). Furthermore, there was not found significative differences regarding gender, age, kind of school or study modality. Phubbing and self-esteem show diverse results according to the teenager's family constitution. Finally, the number of hours that the teenager devotes to the use of mobile phone relates negatively to self-esteem and family atmosphere, but positively to phubbing. In light of the above and as a conclusion, everything suggests that the behaviors associated with phubbing relate negatively to family atmosphere and also to teenagers' self-esteem;which turns phubbing into a dangerous issue to teenagers' development. © 2021, Hipatia Editorial. All rights reserved.