Perspective and experience of university students during Covid-19

After the huge and sudden change in the teaching-learning methodology at the University that the pandemic generated, we thought it necessary to study the perspective of the students on this experience. We carried out an exploratory survey from a qualitative approach, following an inductive logic of construction of categories from the data, with a sample of 67 students. Categories: personal sphere, positioning with respect to the institution, the teaching staff and ICT. For such analysis, we used the software Atlas.ti (Version 8.4). In conclusion, to improve similar situations, it is essential to include accompaniment and emotional support, in addition to reinforcing their resources and technological skills.

Resistance to technological precariousness in Colombian rural schools during the Covid-19 shutdown

The objective of this work is to present how teachers in rural schools with precarious conditions of technological resources in Colombia were able to overcome the challenges of teaching during the Covid-19 Pandemic and how they found out other strategies to keep working despite the lock down in schools and the entire country. The approach of this study was qualitative and the methodology used privileged the elements of the narrative research through the production and analysis of 65 testimonial stories coming from key actors in Colombian rural education, among which were teachers, principals and coordinators, officials from the Ministry of Education and consultants with experience executing national projects, all of them with a meaningful experience in rural education. The conclusions regarding the ways of overcoming the technological precariousness can be understood from two perspectives: the first has to do with the uses of analog and digital technologies -radio, WhatsApp, Facebook, digital platforms and traditional forms such as guides, printed material, books, brochures- that operated as communicative and educational interfaces. The second, refers to the work of teachers in relation to pedagogical care and hospitality gestures. These two aspects show how teachers who have no resources, either, resist despite the technological precariousness of their schools during the lock down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This study does not exempt government entities from their historical responsibility of overcoming social and digital inequality in the Colombian rural areas. © 2022 FahrenHouse. All rights reserved.

The Changing Role of Learning Resource Centre in Providing ICT Based Services during the Covid-19 Pandemic

The current study focuses on the numerous duties of "Academic Learning Centres” within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Novel Corona Virus pandemic has created new problems for all stakeholders inside the education system. Given the extrinsic obstacles of delivering services during a public health crisis, the unexpected emergence of the virus pushed libraries to migrate to digital platforms whenever possible and deliver acceptable remote services to users. The purpose of this study is to discover how technology became an impediment for India's best educational institutes during the Covid-19 situation. The current article assists library professionals in improving their skill set in accordance with things and serving information as a responsible citizen of the country. © 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Digital Competence A Case Study of Preservice Teacher Education Students in the Sultanate of Oman

The study looked into how COVID-19 affected the digital competence of a group of preservice teacher education students at a higher education institution in the Sultanate of Oman. The paper examined students' digital profile in five areas namely information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, digital content creation, safety and problem solving. Data from 32 undergraduate students was collected by utilizing DigComp, a European Commission digital skills self-assessment tool and findings from a survey. The digital competence framework measures the set of skills, knowledge and attitudes that describes what it means to be digitally competent. These skills are important for students to be effective global citizens in the 21st century. The results of the study revealed that the majority of the students scored Level 3 (Intermediate) in their self-assessment competency test score. The majority of the students perceived that their digital competence improved significantly as the result of online learning which was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The rationale of this investigation is that it helps educators understand the students' level of digital competence and the students' perspectives on ICT skills. In turn, it informs us the ways to monitor the students' digital progress and the next steps in developing their digital competency © 2023, International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications.All Rights Reserved.

Technology-Enhanced and Student-Centered Learning as a Method to Foster Students' ICT Competence and Problem Coping Skills

The aim of this research-to-practice full paper is to present the results of most recent analyses of the long-term school pilot project named "learning office approach". The learning office represents an alternative branch of a technology-oriented vocational secondary school in Europe encompassing the grades K9-K13 and has been implemented at the IT department in 2016. Students of a learning office cohort have flexible course schedules allowing them to choose between several subjects on a daily basis, which in turn enables differentiation and individualization: Students seeking help or striving to deepen their knowledge and skills may visit chosen subjects more often. Since learning office subjects do not rely on lectures and direct instruction, teachers become facilitative coaches helping students become self-responsible learners and study in a self-driven, self-directed way, which in turn fosters their 21st century skills.The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting emergency remote teaching strategies demonstrated the supreme importance of digital competences and self-efficacy: Students were abruptly required to work autonomously with digital systems and study at home in a self-driven way. Since the learning office heavily relies on students working with digital educational material and tools in a self-directed and student-centered way, the question arises if learners show indications of increased ICT competences and self-efficacy in the learning office.This paper evaluates the interplay of students' self-reported ICT skills, school-specific self-efficacy, and academic performance in the learning office approach and traditional classrooms. Based on an extensive literature review, a questionnaire was developed and distributed among all 552 students of the grades 9-13 and students' final grades of the winter term 2021/22 were analyzed. The results show a significant increase in self-perceived problem coping skills and ICT competences in the learning office approach, including the sub-scales "general ICT self-concept", "communication", "process and store", and "generate content". We conclude that technology-enhanced student-centered approaches, such as the learning office, are a viable method to foster students' 21st century digital skills. © 2022 IEEE.

Influence of teacher's, ICT skills on the adoption of an e-learning management system in Sport Psychology during the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper analyzes the effects of technical skills, i.e., information and communications technology (ICT) skills, in adopting e-learning systems in sports psychology using the Madrasati platform (MP) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. In this regard, Web-based questionnaire survey responses on the Madrasati forum are investigated. Statistical significance was established using IBM SPSS Statistics (SPSS) software with a Cronbach's alpha value of 0.607 and a p-value of less than 0.05. The study concluded that during the COVID-19 pandemic, by a shift to e-learning and distance education in sports psychology, 62.7% of students had improved ICT skills compared to their email skills. Furthermore, using the Madrasati platform for e-learning did not require a detailed course explanation, with 48.4% of students with high skill levels also in agreement. Finally, a demographic comparison of students' ICT skills with students' characteristics showed that with students using the Madrasati platform, the students' ICT skills were highly improved. Reliability statistics of the research hypothesis showed a Cronbach's alpha value of 0.607 and a Cronbach's alpha value based on the standardized item of 0.552, indicating quite a high level of internal consistency for our scale with this specific sample.

Information and communication technology (ICT) skills and job satisfaction of primary education teachers in the context of Covid-19. Theoretical model

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that educational systems must have an online component or even a substitute. However, the efforts for this necessary transition fall largely on the teaching staff, who have been forced to quickly adapt their activities to a virtual environment. In this study, a theoretical model for analyzing how teachers' information and communications technology (ICT) skills and the integration of these technologies influence the improvement of teaching and teacher job satisfaction is introduced. The model also pays special attention to the gender gap related to the use of ICT in teaching. At the empirical level, the model is validated on a sample of 257 Spanish primary school teachers, using the partial least squares (PLS) structural equation method. The results of the analysis show that, although the teachers' ICT skills help them improve their teaching activities, such skills do not have a direct impact on teachers' job satisfaction. However, teachers who integrate ICTs into their teaching activities not only improve their results and lighten their wor-kload but also enjoy higher job satisfaction, which translates into more motivated and committed teachers. In addition, teachers' ICT skills influence job satisfaction in different ways depending on gender. Although, for female teachers, the integration of ICT increases their job satisfaction, the results show that, for male teachers, this integration should gene-rate improvements in teaching to yield enhanced job satisfaction. As the main implication, it is recommended to invest in teachers' ICT skills, as these lead to enhanced efficiency and motivation and enable the change toward an ICT-based teaching model. © 2022, El Profesional de la Informacion. All rights reserved.

Face to face or blended learning? A case study: Teacher training in the pedagogical use of ICT.

We are experiencing a transitional period in education: from the traditional, face to face teaching model to new teaching and learning models that apply modern pedagogical approaches, utilize technological achievements and respond to current social needs. For a number of reasons including the recent pandemic covid-19 situation, technology enhanced distance learning, seems to gain ground against traditional face to face teaching and in fact, in a sharp way. Acknowledging that changes in education need time, research and careful steps in order to be successfully applied and established at large scale, in this paper we attempt to compare face to face ("traditional") teacher training with teacher training through a blended learning approach/ model. The latest combines characteristics of both face to face and distance learning models. The case study is based on a large-scale in-service teacher training initiative which has been taking place in Greece for over a decade to train teachers in the utilization and application of digital technologies in the teaching practice (i.e. B-Level ICT Teacher Training). The B-Level ICT Teacher Training was initially based exclusively on face to face teaching but it was later adapted to a specially designed blended learning model which combined both face to face and synchronous distance sessions, accompanied by asynchronous activities and supported by specific e-learning platforms and tools. The comparison refers to the effectiveness of the two models/ approaches, as it derives from teacher trainees' performance, especially in the framework of the certification procedure that takes place through nationwide, independent exams that follow the training and assesses the relevant knowledge and skills acquired. Research findings point out better performances of a small or marginal scale for the teachers of various specialties who participated in blended learning teacher training programs compared to those who participated in traditional teacher training programs. Actually, it is shown that blended learning model trainees i) feel more comfortable to participate in the exams for the certification of knowledge and skills acquired, ii) have some better success rate and iii) get a bit higher grades in these exams. Thus, it can be argued that learning outcomes of the blended learning application in this teacher training initiative, overstep those of the "traditional" model in a small scale and with some slight differentiations among teacher specialties.

The Transversal Competencies of Vietnamese Primary Students and The Relationship With Online Learning Activities During The COVID-19 Pandemic

In the context of globalization, ICT is increasingly applied in a wide range of educational activities, especially during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Vietnam, switching from face-to-face to online teaching has been one of the fulfilled objectives of continuing educational activities. This paper is among the first studies to evaluate primary school students' transversal competencies in this context. Through an online survey, 661 fifth-grade students self-assessed their transversal competencies, e.g. problem-solving skills, creative skills, ICT skills, and social and cross-cultural skills. ANOVA analysis revealed that the use of ICT skills and Social and cross-cultural skills among students in private schools is greater than that of students in public schools. In addition, the results of the Pearson correlation analysis pointed out that students' transversal competencies have a strong positive correlation with online learning activities. These findings not only contribute to supporting Vietnamese educational institutions and educational policymakers to adjust online teaching activities to enhance transversal competencies for primary school students but are also a valuable reference for countries with similar backgrounds. © 2022 Published by KURA Education & Publishing.

Online Teaching During COVID-19: Exploration of Challenges and Their Coping Strategies Faced by University Teachers in Pakistan

The provision and practice of an online environment have become the main challenge for many institutes including universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the use of an online learning system was used by the majority of the teachers through an understanding of the adoption of ICT with the major challenges faced by them during the teaching–learning process. It has been found through this study that the teachers are lacking in ICT literacy. Therefore, they are facing online classroom management and connectivity issues throughout their journey during COVID-19. This study aims to explore the challenges and coping strategies faced by university teachers during the pandemic of COVID-19. A qualitative research method with a case study approach was used to get an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon of online teaching during COVID-19. Interviews were collected from eleven teacher educators (TEs) of the university. After analyzing the data, nine themes were generated with major findings, that is, connectivity issues, online teaching methods and techniques, learning environment for online teaching and learning, and challenges faced by teachers. The study findings are a good sought of addition and contribution for the university policymakers to evaluate, influence, and ensure the successful implementation of the e-learning system. Additionally, it is a suggestion for the university management to arrange some workshops or training programs for TEs to improve productivity and performance during their online teaching. Copyright © 2022 Sahito, Shah and Pelser.

Analysis of Teachers’ Needs Related to Their Professional Digital Skills: Reflection on the pre-Corona State in Slovakia and Impact of the First Wave of the Pandemic on These Needs

The paper presents in short philosophy on which professional profile of a teacher in Slovakia, within which teacher’s digital skills are included as a part of one of the profile’s key competences, and strategies of teachers’ digital competences development based on the national school policy. In more details, there is assessed the state of Slovak teachers’ level of digital literacy and teachers’ needs regarding their further education in the concerned area before the Corona pandemic has appeared. This assessment is done in two focuses. One of them is focus on in-service teacher population and the other one is assessment of pre-service training of teacher trainees and needs of its continuous innovation. Following the pre-Corona research findings there is a proposal of recommendations creating a basis for designing an optimal basis of pre-service teacher training on shaping teacher trainees’ professional digital literacy. However, in the last part of the paper these recommendations are re-evaluated due to the challenges related to teachers’ professional digital literacy, which have occurred under the influence of the Corona pandemic situation on all forms of education. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Perceptions of Engineering Faculty Members of Online Teaching Due to COVID-19

The global pandemic situation posed the challenge of modifying teaching at all educational levels. Higher education also had to transform its face-to-face learning, to distance teaching. This paper focuses on the faculty members' perception about the sudden change that they had to make to maintain a high-quality teaching in the context of a Spanish technical university. An ad-hoc survey was responded by 577 faculty members. It analyzed the effort and time spent compared to their previous teaching, the use of different ICTs, the difficulties perceived and their preferences of future teaching and training modalities. The faculty show that it has been much costlier than usual, regardless of their age or seniority. There has been progress in ICT knowledge and use, especially for faculty members who have not received prior training, and 57% of faculty members intend to incorporate modifications in their future teaching, such as new resources and materials, after-class questionnaires and distance mentoring. In any case, the older and with higher category faculty are inclined towards the face-to-face format for future teaching, while the younger ones and from initial professional categories bet on digitization to some extent. The online assessment stands out as a great difficulty. Also, the students' low participation, the greater workload and time spent and the inability to receive feedback from students due to lack of eye or personal contact have been pointed out as the difficulties to carry out adequate monitoring. In short, the digital divide in university teaching has found in the emergency remote teaching an opportunity to promote the improvement of learning, facilitating the revision of pedagogical approaches, updating methodologies and evaluation strategies that will promote the digital transformation of university education.

The perception of ICT skills and challenges of usage of technologies among the library professionals of the Gujarat State during the COVID 19: a comprehensive study.

It is witnessed that the role of technology became crucial, and people are dependent on technologies to continue creative, professional, and academic activities during a pandemic situation when most of the libraries were not accessible physically worldwide. This study aims to know the level of ICT skills, competencies, usage of technologies, challenges, and services offered by library professionals of Gujarat state, India during the lockdown period. Due to the emergence of advanced technologies, the omnipresence of the internet, the explosive growth of e-resource, and pandemic situation, it is imperative for library professionals to acquire new ICT skills, techniques and apply them to disseminate information and reach out to library patrons. This study reveals how library professionals provided services and resources to users when they need resources/ information and which techniques/ methods library professionals adopted to fulfill the requirements of patrons during COVID-19. The methods adopted by patrons to access library resources were also studied. The 100 questionnaires were circulated via social media and email to library professionals of Gujarat state and 77 (77%) responses received in this study.