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Background: On-line education in a way was a forced introduction in our education system in wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers as well as students became a part of this shift in education delivery mostly by force and rather by choice. However, in the short run itself it was realised that while shifting to this new-medium has its own challenges it also comes with its own set of advantages. Background: This research paper attempts to study and analyse the perception of teachers in hospitality education towards on-line education. Objective of study is to identify the major challenges and benefits of hospitality education as perceived by faculty members. Methodology: Descriptive research design was employed. The study was conducted by administering a structured questionnaire among faculty members of various IHMs and analysis of data was done. Locale is pan-India reached through google questionnaire method with a sample size of 50 faculty members from different IHMs in the country. Data was analysed with the help of excel tools, bar diagrams and graph. Results: Research revealed that in spite of the sudden paradigm shift in the macro environment faculty members responded well to the challenge of optimising learning for students in an on-line mode. Initially 80% faculty members found this shift challenging but now 80 percent believe that blended learning is future. Assessments and sustaining interest of students however are major challenges with 82 and 84 percent of faculty members respectively agreeing to this being a major issue. Conclusion: Teachers perceive blended learning to be a norm in future. It is perceived that while it's very difficult to impart skill training in an on-line mode, for theoretical classes this could be a preferred mode.
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Amidst the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, distance education, where the learning process is conducted online, has become the norm. Campus-based programs and courses have been redesigned in a timely manner which was a challenge for teachers not used to distance teaching. Students' engagement and active participation become an issue;add to that the new emerging effects associated with this setup, such as the so-called "Zoom fatigue", a term coined recently by some authors referring to one's exhaustion feeling that stems from the overuse of virtual meetings. In realising this problem, solutions were suggested in the literature to help trigger students' engagement and enhance teachers' experience in online teaching. This study analyses these effects along with our teachers' experience in the new learning environment and concludes by devising some recommendations. To attain the above objectives, we conducted online interviews with six of our teachers, transcribed the content of the videos and then applied the inductive research approach to assess the results. © 2022 Owner/Author.
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The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on education provision worldwide. School leaders, teachers and parents found themselves in uncharted circumstances, which hugely impacted their roles in promoting children's learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the roles played by leaders, teachers, and parents during the COVID-19 crisis. This paper discusses teaching and learning in this time of crisis. The study sampled 10 head teachers, 60 schoolteachers and 57 parents representing 10 primary schools in five districts in the Lindi region of Tanzania. A postmodernism lens was applied to respond to questions about the strengths and weaknesses of support structures, such as parents, teachers, and local and central government, in the era of COVID-19. Data indicate that teachers, parents, and even the government, had to try various approaches to shift between different roles involved in addressing learning demands in the era of COVID-19 in Tanzania. Generally, the study identifies complex tensions between the support structures, that had been brought on by the pandemic. It is through understanding the complex tensions and balancing various roles that we can begin to understand the teaching and learning landscape in times of crisis. © 2023 Society for Research and Knowledge Management. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
While past technology acceptance studies focus on organization readiness, little is known about the acceptance behavior under sudden institutional coercive pressure. Against COVID-19 and distance teaching, this study explores the relationship between digital transformation readiness, adoption intention, digital transformation success, and sudden institutional coercive pressure based on the readiness research model and institutional theory. Surveying 233 college teachers who participated in distance teaching under COVID-19 in Taiwan for model and hypothesis validation using the partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach. This result shows that (1) Teacher, social/public, and content readiness are crucial to distance teaching. Individuals, organizational resources, and external stakeholders influence distance teaching success and adoption; and (2) Sudden institutional coercive pressure has a negative moderated effect on teachers' readiness and adoption intention. When teachers are unprepared to implement distance teaching, this unanticipated epidemic and sudden institutional coercive pressure will accelerate and enhance their intention. The study provides government, educational policymakers, and teachers with a better understanding of distance teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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This paper attempts to present the challenges and issues of inclusion in distance teaching and learning as experienced by Czech university teachers and students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article offers analytical insights into how the virtual university environment and classrooms were affected by the pandemic crisis. Although several international studies have been conducted on COVID and distance education, only a few have explored in detail the topic of inclusion by covering both the perspectives of university teachers and students. Our results are based on a questionnaire survey of teachers and a pilot questionnaire survey of students administered at a public university in the Czech Republic. Further, the findings highlight the inclusion of students with special needs in the context of the pandemic crisis to provide up-to-date perspectives from university teachers and students on issues related to inclusivity in the teaching and learning environment. The study indicates that more support and further training to teachers are needed regarding issues of inclusion to help bring online learning to the same level as education in brick-and-mortar schools. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Distance Education is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
Background and Objectives: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neuro-developmental disorder which is mostly caused by deficits in social interactions. Lack of physical activity and poor nutritional habits are common problems in these patients which may be exaggerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The study aims to assess the effect of functional training along with online nutrition education on inflammatory biomarkers in children with ASD. Subjects and Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 80 children with ASD (age=9.73+or-1.29 years, weight=49.94+or-2.08 kg, height=146.08+or-40 cm, body mass index=24.71 +or-1.48 kg/m2) were randomly divided into four groups of training, education, training+ education, and control. The interventions lasted for 8 weeks. The inflammatory biomarkers including white blood cell (WBC) count, C-reactive protein (CRP) level, neutrophil count, eosinophil count, and basophil count were assessed (using blood samples collected from antecubital vein) before and after the interventions. Results: There was no significant difference between the groups before the interventions (P>0.05). After the intervention, the results showed a significant decrease in WBC (P<0.001), CRP (P=0.001), neutrophils (sig.=0.009), and eosinophil (P=0.003) in all groups. Basophil count decreased in all groups (P=0.01) except in the education group. Conclusion: Functional training and online nutrition education are beneficial interventions for management of inflammatory biomarkers in children with ASD which can be used during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Students' well-being at school influences their motivation for learning and their learning outcomes. One of the challenges for teachers during the school closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic was therefore the school-related well-being of students. This mixed methods research describes the way teachers in Amsterdam, Zaandam and Almere organized their teaching during the (partial) school closure in the first lockdown (March 2020) and analyzed its influence on students' well-being at school. The study focused specifically on well-being of students in relation to their classmates and teacher. 534 students completed a questionnaire about their school related well-being, and 52 teachers were interviewed. On average, there was no difference in students' school related well-being before and after the period of school closure. The interviews revealed differences between teachers regarding the organization of their distance teaching which correlated to the well-being of students. The organization of contact between students, the extent to which students were reached and the nature of the lesson content offered (repetition and/or new material) correlated with students' well-being at school. The results of this research can support schools in organizing distance teaching.
ABSTRACT
Education is a fundamental right and the COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic and disruptive impact on all involved in education. During that period measures constantly influence universities in all sorts of manners. This article aims to review and synthesize the findings of the international literature related to the impact of COVID-19 on higher education at global level and on that base to describe and analyze the measures implemented by the government and the higher education community in Bulgaria. It does not aim by any means to present in details the situation in different regions or countries of the world. In general, with the outbreak of the crisis academic teaching was catapulted into the virtual world and thus it entered into a new age. Therefore, the time frame of the research article is limited to the 2020-2021 period and its scope covers the key theme identified with the impact of COVID-19 on higher education institutions in the broad sense, including all areas of universities, and challenges faced by these institutions across the world to enter into the new age of education. A special focus of the research is the approach followed in Bulgaria, as in many other countries in the world, to accelerate and adopt online and distance learning models, to introduce necessary measures and to make the best use of available resources, tools and teaching strategies. The findings suggest that the emergency solutions adopted are to be considered as innovative, useful and successful although it will take time to find out how the quality of learning has been affected by the shift from face-to-face to hybrid and to online teaching. Obviously, there are some important lessons that have to be learned so that we can try to repair the damage caused by COVID-19's interruptions to core academic activities – teaching and learning. © 2023, University of National and World Economy. All rights reserved.
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This study analyzed the widespread distance teaching/learning impact in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and assessed distance teaching/learning's effects on students' intelligence. The distance teaching/learning impact results were evaluated based on the extensive sample tests conducted by applying the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI) methodology. The tests conducted in January–September 2022 were compared with those conducted in the same age groups in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021. The research data were processed in the following three stages: Stage I. Overview of the general situation of the research data concerning the variables. The descriptive statistics method was applied when calculating the percentages representing the students' verbal, non-verbal, and general IQ. Stage II. Estimation of the statistically significant differences between the independent variables. Stage III. Review of the research data. The descriptive statistics method was applied, and the WASI methodology was used to assess the effects of distance teaching/learning on the IQ of 1–12-grade students in the 2017–2019 and 2021–2022 periods. The test sample size was over 2000 respondents who engaged in the study questionnaires and surveys. The effects of distance teaching/learning were assessed in many relevant aspects to identify which factors considerably impacted students' intelligence during distance teaching/learning. Also, a more extensive analysis of these factors was performed to reveal which of them, during the period of distance teaching/learning, (1) greatly influenced students' verbal IQ, (2) significantly impacted students' non-verbal IQ, and (3) had a substantial impact on students' general IQ. The results of the 2021 tests, conducted after the announcement of the official end of distance teaching/learning due to the pandemic, showed that distance teaching/learning affected students' IQ positively. Such results can be associated with an increased number of self-study independent tasks, which in turn influenced the growth of creativity. The IQ tests of students born in 2009 revealed that the total IQ of test participants gradually decreased in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022 respectively. These results might have been influenced by the then-prevalent education system, favoring educational programs that do not promote IQ development. It is believed that the parents of children born in Lithuania in 2009 were provided more favorable conditions for raising children than the EU standards. Notably, the IQ of students of aged 6–15 tended to grow from 2017 to 2021, but in 2022, a dramatic drop was observed. The restricted socialization and deficiency of live communication could pose one of the primary reasons for the drop in their IQ. The analysis also showed that distance teaching/learning negatively affected all student groups by age. Age groups differed to a positive and negative extent;e.g., during the research, the most considerable negative effect in the student group aged 6–10 years and the uniqueness of students born in 2009, i.e., the overall highest average IQ of students born that year (134 in 2018), were noticed. However, during the five years afterward, students' IQs decreased (119 in 2022). The analysis of the socio-economic environment allowed for determining a positive trend that could have been influenced by the most favorable program for families established by the government at that time. Furthermore, the study concluded that distance learning had an apparent adverse effect on the IQ of individuals in the 6–19 age group.
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This research aims to examine the technological pedagogical content knowledge of physical education and sports teachers who conduct their courses remotely in the distance education process. A total of 254 physical education and sports teachers, 81 female and 173 male teachers, participated in the research in the 2020-2021 academic year. As data collection tools, Graham et al., (2009) and adapted into Turkish by Timur and Tasar (2011), the "Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Self-Confidence Scale" (TPACK) and the "Personal Information Form" developed by the researchers were used. The data obtained in the study were analyzed using the SPSS 25 package program. As a result of the study, it was concluded that there are significant differences in the sub-dimensions of the physical education and sports teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge self-confidence according to gender, distance education background, computer education status, having a personal computer and teachers' educational status. It has been observed that the technological pedagogical content knowledge self-confidence of physical education and sports teachers is generally high.
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The present paper employed instructors' views to address the facilitating and complicating factors in distance teaching of Turkish. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview form consisting of five questions. The questions were designed by the author and reviewed by two Turkish language teaching specialists. The data were collected through one-on-one online interviews with the participants over Microsoft Teams. To increase the reliability, the participants' responses, deciphered by the author one Turkish language teaching specialist were explored for interrater consistency. According to the formula proposed by Miles and Huberman, the consistency was found to be 0.94. Accordingly, the difficulties in distance teaching of Turkish were addressed within two themes: technical and teaching-oriented problems. Yet, the participants brought positive remarks on personal, technological, and financial aspects of distance Turkish teaching. Besides, the emerging views regarding educational materials were grouped under distance education platforms and digital tools. The measurement and evaluation problems were also discussed under the reliability of exams and types of language skills assessment. Finally, the recommendations brought by the instructors for distance Turkish teaching were themed under three headings: recommendations for technology, materials, and practice. Overall, future comparative research may employ a larger sample of instructors working in other Turkish language centers and compare the findings. Moreover, further research may seek the attitudes of larger groups of instructors within a quantitative design to suggest more generalizable results. Or, the subject may be addressed by mixed-design research to bring a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon. © The Author(s) 2023.
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Purpose: The study aims to provide relevant information on the educational processes experienced by university students in Spain during the period of compulsory confinement. To this end, the key factors of the emergency educational model implemented by the country's universities have been analysed. Design/methodology/approach: The study investigated, through qualitative, exploratory research and 30 in-depth interviews, how university students have lived the process of change to alternative forms of education during the crisis, what training experiences stand out and what factors related to virtual education they identify as relevant keys. Findings: Participants usually focus on three main topics: (1) The impacts of changes in training development with regard to methodologies and forms of assessment;(2) The facilities and difficulties in this new modality of online training;and (3) The consequences of the crisis on higher education in the medium and long term. Originality/value: Students participating in the study offer relevant and critical information on the adaptations developed by Spanish universities during the Coronavirus crisis. This information can be fundamental for the conscious decision making of the institutions, so that they can develop educational processes more adequate to the needs and possibilities of the university students in times of crisis. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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The aim of this study was to investigate STEM teachers' attitude towards STEM Distance Teaching (DT), as well as their perceived barriers and training needs. A mixed survey was conducted on 158 STEM teachers in secondary education who taught their courses fully online due to COVID-19. The results revealed that STEM teachers perceive STEM DT quite positively, but their attitude can be affected by several factors, such as the efficiency of the schools' digital infrastructure, as well as their gender, age, and STEM teaching subject. The qualitative thematic analysis identified several barriers to efficiently applying STEM DT, including the (i) lack of students' interaction and engagement, (ii) inefficiency of digital infrastructure, (iii) lack of students' and teachers' digital skills, (iv) lack of space/equipment, and (v) increased teaching workload. The generated themes of training needs highlighted the need for targeted and adjusted training to every STEM discipline, as well as training on DT tools and pedagogies. Finally, the results indicated the STEM teachers' need for psychological support and consulting. © 2022 by the authors.
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During the COVID-19-related school closures teachers and students were challenged to suddenly switch to digital teaching at a distance. In particular, the challenge was to organize high-quality teaching in which students stay on task. Familiarity with technology may have helped to master the situation. However, only few studies so far have examined the quality of digital distance teaching (e.g., cognitive activation) during school closures and its relation to students' learning (e.g., effort investment). Moreover, systematic research concerning the role of familiarity with technology-enhanced teaching and learning acquired during face-to-face teaching is yet lacking. In our study, we used data from 729 ninth graders to investigate how student-observed learning activities when using technology at a distance were related to students' effort in learning in two subjects (mathematics, German). In addition, we examined whether student-perceived cognitive activation mediated this relation. Finally, the sample provides the unique opportunity to examine the role of familiarity, as some of the classes had been randomly equipped with tablet computers one year before the school closures and thus had the opportunity to gain familiarity with using technology in the classroom. Results from structural equation models showed that student-observed learning activities were associated with students' learning effort in both subjects. Student-perceived cognitive activation mediated this association. Familiarity with face-to-face technology-enhanced teaching gained before the COVID-19 pandemic appeared to be less important for high-quality digital distance teaching. Thus, infrastructural measures, such as equipping schools with digital devices so that teachers and students can familiarize themselves with technology, do not seem to be decisive for high-quality digital (distance) teaching-at least in the case of short-term change from face-to-face to digital distance teaching, as was necessary during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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This article depicts how COVID-19 affected practical teaching at Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Department of Measurement. It introduces the subject of Electrical Measurement and its hands-on laboratory classes. The course applies to more than 100 undergraduate students per semester. Since COVID-19 mainly affected the teaching of the hands-on laboratory courses, the article narrates how the COVID-19 lockdown has changed classes. An experience with the rapid transformation of lectures during the lockdown focusing on the hands-on laboratory classes is discussed, and the improvements that have been done to preserve its objectives, but also to adapt them to another possible lockdown, and the need to switch to the distance teaching, is revealed. The changes have been inspired by the results of a survey carried out among more than 250 students. The outline of the laboratory tasks transformation with an emphasis on the possibility of switching the real face-to-face measurement to the distance teaching remote lectures is described. The change includes reducing the number of laboratory tasks taught while preserving most of the objectives. All 11 new laboratory tasks are described in detail, and it is discussed how the possible change from hands-on to remote classes will affect every task. © 2022 International Measurement Confederation (IMEKO). All rights reserved.
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In Spring 2020, the Finnish government declared a state of emergency over the Coronavirus outbreak, which lead to schools moving to remote teaching, cancelling all kind of event in society, recommending social distancing and the government encouraging children and adults to take walks. This article sets out to identify and discuss contradicting, complementing, entangling discourses on temporality in a public diary written by teenagers during a pandemic. The data consists of a corona diary published in a local newspaper, through which 34 pupils aged 13 to 16 provide their version of how a day unfolded during six weeks of the beginning of the state of emergency. The identified discourses include: regulation through temporality, change through temporality, normality and normativity through temporality, living present, acceleration and deceleration.
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The paper presents results of the research on pre-service student teachers' assessment of the usefulness of their distance teaching practicum during COVID-19 for their professional development. The sample included 238 student teachers in the 3rd and 4th years of the bachelor's degree programme as well as those in the master's degree programme at the Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana. The students answered the online questionnaire after completing their teaching practicum in spring 2020. The results show that the majority of the students spent more than half of their time during the teaching practicum preparing various teaching materials for the pupils. About a fifth of the students provided individual help to pupils, while only a small share of them conducted their lessons via videoconferencing. The 3rd year students rated the usefulness of preparing teaching materials and the overall usefulness of the distance teaching practicum statistically significantly lower than their senior colleagues. Whether the teaching practicum is implemented in an online environment or "live”, it is important to insist that student teachers assist their pupils in all phases of the teaching process and adapt it to their individual characteristics and needs to the greatest extent possible. © University of Deusto.
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Lockdowns imposed by many countries on their populations at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis forced teachers to adapt quickly and without adequate preparation to distance teaching. In this paper, we focus on one of the most formidable challenges that teachers faced during the lockdowns and even in the post-lockdown emergency period, namely, developing assessment that maintains the pedagogical continuity that educational institutions typically require. Based on the results of a previous study, focused on the analysis of answers to an open-ended questionnaire administered to a population of 700 teachers from France, Germany, Israel and Italy, a semi-structured interview series was designed and implemented by the authors of this paper with a small group of teachers. The transcripts of these interviews were analysed according to the interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology, with the aim of investigating teachers' own perspectives on the following: (a) the difficulties with which they had to contend, with respect to the question of assessment; (b) the techniques adopted to deal with these difficulties; and (c) the ways in which the lockdown experience could affect the future evolution of teachers' assessment practices. This analysis supported us in formulating hypotheses concerning the possible long-term effects of lockdown on modes of assessment in mathematics.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has dismantled many long-established systems in society. Distance learning has rapidly replaced traditional classes at school. Keeping all other activities open, educational institutions were closed first to contain COVID-19 transmission when the number of cases started to rise, causing a massive adverse impact on education and students' well-being. Students of lower socio-economic classes are dealing with the worst consequences as they are not able to afford the means of online schooling, especially in low- and middle-income countries like Bangladesh.
ABSTRACT
Distance online learning connects students to education opportunities without having to be present at the institution offering the learning module. This case study involved development of a dual on-campus and distance course into a fully online course. It required a student-focused approach and an innovative application of learning technologies, additional resources and learning frameworks to encourage student engagement, independent learning and growth of critical-thinking skills. Changes to the design of the teaching approach and the use of technology improved the quality and quantity of interaction and communication between staff–students and students–students and facilitated a hands-on learning experience for online students interacting asynchronously. Student engagement with the course material, other students and teachers increased compared to previous years. Additional resource videos, learning and assessment guides (written and video), and online field trips helped develop critical-thinking skills and connectedness of learning to real-world applications. Recommendations are provided of learning approaches that could be used by other educators in different subject courses.