A Predictive Model for Assessing Satisfaction with Online Learning for Higher Education Students During and After COVID-19 Using Data Mining and Machine Learning Techniques: A Case of Jordanian Institutions

Higher education institutions confronted an escalating unexpected pressure to rapidly transform throughout and after the COVID-19 pandemic, by replacing most of the traditional teaching practices with online-based education. Such transformation required institutions to frequently strive for qualities that meet conceptual requirements of traditional education due to its agility and flexibility. The challenge of such electronic learning styles remains in their potential of bringing out many challenges, along with the advantages it has brought to the educational systems and students alike. This research came to shed the light on several factors presented as a predictive model and proposed to contribute to the success or failure in terms of students' satisfaction with online learning. The study took the kingdom of Jordan as a case example country experiencing online education while and after the covid -19 intensive implementation. The study used a dataset collected from a sample of over "300” students using online questionnaires. The questionnaire included "25” attributes mined into the Knime analytics platform. The data was rigorously learned and evaluated by both the "Decision Tree” and "Naive Bayes” algorithms. Subsequently, results revealed that the decision tree classifier outperformed the naïve bayes in the prediction of student satisfaction, additionally, the existence of the sense of community while learning electronically among other reasons had the most contribution to the satisfaction. Copyright © 2023 by SCITEPRESS - Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Instructors Experience of using Cloud Computing Based Applications in Saudi Arabia

With the recent global spread of the COVID-19 (also known as the corona virus) pandemic, several governments have attempted to control its transmission through preventive and precautionary measures. Education is one of the factors that has been impacted by the pandemic. As a result, to limit the spread of the virus, many countries adopted distance education instead of traditional education to ensure the continuity of the educational process. Cloud computing is a technology that offers numerous advantages in the field of education. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was one of the countries that had decided and continues to use various cloud platforms for distance education. In this study, we look at how effective cloud computing platforms are in the learning process in Saudi Arabian schools. The primary goal of this research was to investigate the teacher's ability to access different cloud computing services, as well as their ease of use and utility, by evaluating the effectiveness of these platforms as a mode of teaching before and after the pandemic. A total of 559 male and female schoolteachers' data was collected using self-administered questionnaires in Al-Bahah region and was analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics software. The analysis of this study expanded our understanding on the possibility of using educational platforms across schools in the kingdom. The findings also revealed that the use of cloud platforms during the pandemic increased by 28% in the region which have now become integral part of education. Furthermore, the findings revealed that teachers frequently encountered difficulties in implementing cloud-based educational processes, particularly in rural and mountainous areas. © 2023 IEEE.

Hybrid Education in Higher Education on the Example of Students' Experiences in Post-pandemic Reality

The article concerns the experiences of students related to hybrid education conducted in the first semester of the academic year 2021/2022. The aim of the study was to find out the opinions of students on hybrid education conducted at The Maria Grzegorzewska University and to compare it with traditional education and distance education. The subject of the research was, among others, the readiness of students to participate in hybrid learning, assessing its quality and other related experiences. The research used the method of diagnostic survey. The obtained results indicate that students rate their readiness to participate in hybrid education higher than the readiness of lecturers to conduct it. They see the possibility of using a hybrid approach to education and science, organization of education and health. They indicate convenience, organization and health safety as the most important advantages and social costs, student attitudes and technical problems as the most important disadvantages of hybridization. The article also presents the expectations of students in relation to the systemic sanctioning of hybrid education. It was suggested to use the lessons learned by developing and testing the effectiveness of a hybrid approach, the potential of which is undeniable and scientifically proven. © The Author(s).

Hybrid Education in Higher Education on the Example of Academic Teachers' Experiences in Post-pandemic Reality

The article concerns the experiences of academic teachers related to hybrid education at the end of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic. The aim of the study was to understand the lecturers' perspective on hybrid education implemented in the first semester of the 2021/2022 academic year at The Maria Grzegorzewska University and an attempt to compare it with traditional education and distance education. The subject of the research was, among others, readiness to implement hybrid teaching, university support for lecturers in the field of hybrid teaching and the diversity of experiences of academic teachers. The research used the method of diagnostic survey. The obtained results indicate that the lecturers declare their readiness to conduct hybrid teaching, especially in the case of their own or students' illness, or random factors that make it impossible to conduct full-time classes or top-down legal regulations. They appreciate the organizational support of their immediate supervisor and the opportunity to make up for classes that have not taken place in a hybrid form. The lecturers highly assess the level of their own involvement in the preparation and conduct of classes, as well as the quality of their didactic work. They see the possibility of using a hybrid approach not only in teaching but also in their self-improvement, work organization and maintaining health. At the same time, they indicate the shortcomings and difficulties related to didactics, social, technical, and organizational aspects, as well as systemic deficiencies. Based on the results, recommendations related to the use of hybrid education in post-pandemic academic education were developed. © The Author(s).

Taking a mass participant course in digital design from local to online during the Covid-19 pandemic

During the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, the traditional education structure as we know it has been largely transformed due to lockdowns and social distancing. This study is a detailed description of how a normally face-to-face undergraduate course in digital design with laboratory sessions at the University of Iceland was transformed into a fully online based course. We show the essentialities required to transform the lectures and laboratory sessions from local to online. Furthermore, we compare the students' performance during the online teaching with that of previous students who participated in local teaching. © 2022 IEEE.

Safe: Cryptographic Algorithms and Security Principles Gamification

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused dramatic changes in our daily lives. Cyber-attacks have been increasing because of the shift from on-site to online studying and working. Many users have been victims of those attacks without knowing or did not know how to respond to them. Today, there are many cyber-security awareness initiatives;however, they do not seem impactful as victims increase. Unfortunately, these initiatives use traditional education methodology that is considered insufficient nowadays due to the significant growth in technology. Digital native students who came to the world having technology all around them find learning strategies unattractive and disengaging. Hence, staying connected with technology development and changing learning methodologies accordingly is essential. This paper gives an overview of the solution being developed. A cyber-security educational game that includes 11 levels, each level goes over a certain topic, in which players will not be able to pass the level unless they have a certain score of competence in the designated topic. Our project aims to provide a gamified interactive learning experience that educates, develops, enhances creativity and decision-making skills in the field of Information Security. © 2022 IEEE.

Comparative Analysis between the Conditions Associated to Traditional teaching and those Associated to Online teaching

Throughout history, society has faced different kinds of problems in all ways;from wars, poverty, climate change, natural phenomena up to mortal diseases. These afflictions have managed to get in people's lives in a devastating way causing a great number of deaths due to pandemics such as the COVID-19, which has been, until the present days, an overwhelming enemy for almost all the countries in the world. This pandemic has forced society to adapt to a different lifestyle in order to face the virus and be alert and protected in any environment. In the education system, teachers were forced to move from traditional education to online education which involves the use of technologies at all times. This action has contributed to teachers and students' physical and mental burnout causing mental or physical problems. This article will present a comparative analysis of the physical and psychosocial conditions that appeared during the traditional teaching and the online teaching in a group of teachers at the Universidad tecnológica de Torreón, as well as the repercussions in their lives and possible solution alternatives for their conditions. © 2021 IEEE.

TECHNOLOGY FORESIGHT AND FUTURE OF EDUCATION SECTOR IN 2030

Education is one of the crucial and potentially the most important factor that drive wellbeing and development of societies;it's a strong tool for fighting poverty, gender inequality, unemployment and improving standard of living. It's considered a basic human right, therefor, the fourth sustainable development goal in the united nations blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all, calls for access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities by 2030. However, given the rapid expansion of information and communications technologies (ICTs) applications and the internet, the traditional education view will soon be outdated and replaced by a new world order. The recent COVID pandemic exposed major limitations in the traditional education view and it's rigid dependence on physical presence and facilities, nevertheless, it also shed the light on the potentials of utilizing information and communication technologies and Internet of things (IoT) concepts to revamp the educational sector. The main purpose of this paper is to conduct a technology foresight for education services in next 9 years until the year 2030 and to provide recommendations for investments in specific emerging technologies. In this study environmental scanning, focus groups, brainstorming and scenarios techniques are used as the primary foresight's methods. Four Scenarios for the future of education in 2030 were proposed: Schooling Extended scenario, Education outsourced scenario, Schools as learning hubs Scenario and learn as you go scenario. Copyright © 2021 by Naudé Scribante. Permission granted to IAMOT to publish and use.

Experimenting blended learning in a flipped classroom environment

The synergy of blended learning and flipped classroom educational models have been in great demand in recent years, especially as a result of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that has forced traditional education to implement alternative models that make use of information technologies to continue the academic training of students worldwide at all educational levels. The objective of this research was to validate the relevance of the implementation of blended learning in a flipped classroom environment in a higher education course. The research methodology was quantitative, using the survey as an instrument. The results obtained are concentrated in a great acceptance of the applied models indicating ease in the learning scheme and the improvement in the autonomy of the students through the virtual platform, the need for adequate planning and design of the course is asserted, in addition The guidance, intervention and feedback of the teacher as facilitator of the course was essential. As a consequence of this, its validation allows endless opportunities for the design of educational experiences under these teaching models, since it can be implemented in other areas of knowledge. © 2021 IEEE.

Technology’s Impacts in the Students of Higher Education in the Covid-19 Pandemic Period

In this period of Covid-19 pandemic, in which there were sudden changes in education, with the transition from traditional education to e-learning, it is essential to analyze the impacts related to access and use of technology in the context of e-learning, in the perception of higher education students. In this context, all students were forced to use the technology, so it is relevant to investigate the interrelationships between satisfaction with distance learning and all the components associated with the use and acceptance of technology as a support to their learning. Data were collected through a questionnaire, which includes a set of 26 items that aim to assess students’ perceptions about distance learning using six different subscales: Familiarity, Barriers, Anxiety, Usefulness, Ease of use, and Satisfaction concerning the e-learning. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) analysis was performed using Partial Least Squares (PLS), to test the validity of the constructs and the model hypotheses. The results revealed a statistically significant relationship between Satisfaction concerning the distance learning and the constructs Barriers, Ease of use and Usefulness. Based on the model used, other significant interrelationships were registered, such as familiarity with technology positively affects the ease of use of technological resources and barriers, while anxiety negatively affects the ease of use of these resources and the usefulness for students. A multigroup analysis revealed, among other results, that in the students with a moderate to high autonomy, the familiarity with technology positively affects satisfaction with e-learning comparatively to the students with low autonomy. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.