Reflections on Online EFL Assessment: Challenges and Solutions

Some higher education bodies still favor traditional assessment despite the advanced technology in the marketplace. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the gap between the contemporary marketplace, which heavily relies on ICT environments, and pedagogical practices. This research explores this particular gap by identifying the weakness and challenges in online assessment in order to form suggestions that can lead to reforming assessment in line with the 21st Century rubrics and skills as promoted by -Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN). It adopts the GAP analysis, designed as follows: the ideal scenario of online assessment is presented, followed by the current situation of online assessment worldwide, and finally a discussion of both conditions to bridge the gap between the two scenarios. The paper concludes that the concept of assessment needs further changes to cope with the marketplace's requirements and the 21st century digitalized environment. © 2021 IEEE.

Higher Education in COVID-19: From Emergency to Sustainable Remote Education

Many higher education sectors (HEs) worldwide have adopted different digital platforms and systems to ensure the continuity of educational delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. The adopted methods include both asynchronous and synchronous learning by providing eLearning solutions that solve the current crises of the pandemic, including the inconveniences caused by quarantines and lockdown. This improvised learning mode has led to adopting blended learning and distance learning, a form of emergency remote education (ERE) created to solve the disruptions of the pandemic but not to sustain education in the long run through a sustained form of remote education (SRE). This paper explores the difference between these two forms of education through a gap analysis model that shows the current educational practices and the ideal eLearning environment that can serve as sustained remote education. In addition, the deficiencies and pitfalls of emergency remote education are addressed to bridge the gap and transfer this education form into a permanent but sustainable remote education system. Finally, the paper concludes with recommendations and solutions to sustain remote education in the Post COVID-19 phase. © 2021 IEEE.

Sustaining Work Continuity through Hybrid Work Environments: Tracking Systems

Work continuity is one of the most critical issues that have emerged due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The different public and private sectors have suffered from the consequent disruption, leading to numerous cases of work discontinuity. The pandemic experience is an example of a national crisis where sustaining work and duties comprise a serious challenge, but it has also introduced the concept of remote and hybrid working. This paper explores sustaining work continuity through hybrid work environments by analyzing the different challenges and threats that would lead to work discontinuities, including culture, technology, geography, focusing on the public sector experience in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It mainly questions the efficiency and quality of services provided by public sector institutions during the pandemic in addition to employees' satisfaction with the continuity of remote work as a permanent alternative to the traditional ways of in-person attendance. In order to deduce feasible and pragmatic solutions, the adopted methodology integrates two approaches to analyze data, which substantially relies on the Institute of Public Administration in Bahrain (BIPA) and other academic resources. First, the collected data is analyzed through the Design Thinking approach, and then the addressed problems and possible solutions are validated through two Delphi Protocol rounds. In terms of building hybrid environments, a model has been adopted based on looking into employee and customer satisfaction by extracting a number of indicators related to the sustainability of work continuity. The paper concludes with recommendations that would improve work continuity during and after crises through hybrid work systems and policies that would assure smooth work performance and effective internal and external communication. © 2021 IEEE.

Sustaining higher education through Elearning in post COVID-19

For years, academic bodies worldwide insisted on the classroom’s traditional setting while expressing substantial reluctance towards using online courses. However, eLearning has emerged as the only alternative to the traditional classroom after the lockdown of COVID-19. The Higher Education bodies have adopted eLearning as a solution, which posed an expected challenge to the traditional theories of pedagogy and academic bodies. With the eLearning laboratories and applications, most education bodies have managed to sustain their curricula delivery. In this sense, eLearning has emerged as a successful tool that sustains Higher Education in crisis and emergency times. However, it is not an option to sustain education as a long-term pedagogical tool. Therefore, this paper explores the educational system’s potential changes worldwide after COVID-19, where eLearning is the feasible medium to sustain Higher Education by adopting a curriculum based on integrating eLearning. It is descriptive and analytical in nature, and it is based on previous studies and research that have explored eLearning as an educational necessity. The literature review is explored by adopting the SWOT model to analyse the pros and cons of implementing eLearning in Higher Education. The SWOT analysis offers suggestions to avoid repeating recurrent deficiencies and mistakes when adopting an eLearning curriculum in the Post COVID-19 period by exploring the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Based on the analysis and findings, the paper concludes that eLearning is inevitable in the Post COVID-19 era since it has proved its success and sustainability once the threats and weaknesses are addressed and resolved. © 2020 IEEE.