Response, readiness and challenges of online teaching amid COVID-19 pandemic: the case of higher education in Bangladesh

Objective: Online education is a relatively new phenomenon in Bangladesh. Gathering data online during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study examines the response, readiness and challenges of online education in the Bangladeshi context. Method: Data were collected by applying qualitative approaches such as focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with purposively selected students and teachers involved in online education at two public and three private universities. Results: The findings reveal an immediate response from some universities and late or no action from others in continuing education during the pandemic. Since teachers, students or the university administration were unprepared for such a situation, there was a shortage of or creation of initiatives, although a certain degree of success was noticed. Major challenges include the lack of appropriate technology, knowledge of technology use, teachers' inadequate skills in operating the system and motivating students, poor Internet facilities and high Internet costs, and absence of a calm environment at students' homes. Conclusion: Steps such as workshops for teacher development, improvement of technology and facilities, subsidies in Internet use, revisits to higher education and emergency education laws, and assistance from other professionals and institutions are proposed for consideration. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: A number of higher educational institutions (HEIs) worldwide have introduced online education, and have been continuing teaching–learning activities online from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. HEI teachers in developed countries have prior training and experience in conducting online education;however, several pedagogical, technical and management-related challenges have been identified. HEIs in Bangladesh do not have a specific policy regarding continuing education in an emergency. This is the first time that online education has been launched. What this study adds: This study explores how HEIs, particularly teachers, respond to continuing teaching–learning activities. It illustrates teachers' pedagogical, technical and management-related readiness necessary for online education. This study also identifies several challenges in continuing online teaching–learning activities in Bangladesh HEIs. © 2021 Australian Psychological Society.

A META SYNTHESIS ON ARTICLES OF “EDUCATION IN TURKEY AND IN THE WORLD DURING PANDEMIC PERIOD” IN SPECIAL ISSUE OF NATIONAL EDUCATION JOURNAL

The coronavirus pandemic period, which has been on the agenda since the end of 2019 and has brought rapid change and transformation to all countries, continues to deeply affect every sector. The distance education practices, which were initiated compulsorily during the pandemic period, made it necessary to consider and examine the period from various angles;As a requirement of data-based management, various researches have been made and articles have been written on the subject. Concerning new processes in education in Turkey and in the world during the pandemic period, strategies for education and training after the pandemic, new teacher competencies and skills to be acquired by students, both distance and face-to-face education processes in the context of lifelong learning and issues that may be related to education during the pandemic period, the Journal of National Education published academic articles in a “Special Issue”. The purpose of this study is to make a general evaluation of the articles in the special issue of “Education in Turkey and the World in the Pandemic Period” of the Journal of National Education. 39 Special Issue articles were included in this study. According to the results obtained, MoNE’s institutional flexibility and human resources that can adapt quickly to change, the opportunity of distance education environments for some disadvantaged groups and parent participation were evaluated as advantages during the pandemic period. Lesson participation problems in the process, lack of motivation, measurement-evaluation method uncertainties, and the inability to teach applied lessons with the efficiency they should be are also seen as the disadvantages of the process. Despite the possible disadvantages of an unprepared situation, it has been a point agreed by all education stakeholders that the new educational environment gains will continue to exist in the future. According to the results of the articles, the strengths and weaknesses of the education system, its opportunities and threats were determined with the swot analysis logic. Various recommendations have been presented based on the findings. © 2022, Milli Egitim. All Rights Reserved.

Quality Education in the Educational Law Program of the Autonomous Indigenous University of Mexico in the Face

The Indigenous Autonomous University of Mexico, located in Sinaloa, receives indigenous students from all the states of the republic, it has a student dormitory and a dining room free for them. At UAIM students have access to library services and computer centers, in addition to wireless internet, so they do not have connectivity problems. However, when confinement began and they retired to their homes, the complete lack of connectivity for some was evident, because there is no internet service nearby or poor service.The objective of this article is to identify the main difficulties faced by students according to the teachers to maintain quality education in the virtual classrooms and propose possible strategies to replace content for the return. face-to-face.This essay was done through the biographical narrative methodology with a report on the experiences of 8 professors of the Law degree at the Autonomous Indigenous University of Mexico who for two years worked in the Classroom at Home with their students, their strategies and frustrations to complete course after course. Monthly reports issued by the Coordination of the school were consulted.It is concluded that a great effort was made by all the actors involved for the preparation of the students, however, the distance, the times and the deficiencies, but above all the lack of formal preparation of the teachers in the use of the educational platforms, but above all due to the extreme flexibility during the pandemic, the quality decreased a lot and did not allow more than 80% of the expected learning to be achieved among students and that as teachers they must be aware of it, but above all do it know the students.

MATHEMATICAL METHOD FOR EVALUATION OF E-LEARNING COMPETITIVENESS OF EDUCATIONAL COMPANIES

The purpose of the article is to analyze the parameters of the educational sector on a global scale, to summarize and present the differences in investments, Internet penetration in the educational sphere in different countries, and to show the impact of COVID-19 on global education. The article highlights educational digital transformations and innovations in different countries, the development of e-learning and new tools and means that have been developed during the COVID waves. The article offers the basic concepts and characteristics for e-learning management of Ukrainian educational companies using effective management and mathematical tools and means. Methodology. To analyze relevant quantitative and qualitative data on e-learning management, a literature review, observation and research methodology, and comparison were used. Stratification and decomposition approaches are used to develop a model for assessing the competitiveness of e-learning educational enterprises. Research results show that the educational field requires new technologies, tools and equipment. Various e-learning platforms and massive open online courses have shown significant effectiveness during the pandemic. At the same time, a significant number of challenges remain: Internet penetration in different countries, investment in the development of learning equipment, the quality of e-learning materials, the ability to teach and learn with all the necessary tools and equipment, and access to devices. Educational companies that understood the trends in time and were able to change their products accordingly have gained additional profits. This study contributes to the evaluation of the competitiveness of e-learning educational companies and organizations. The results of the study were used to further develop the proposed model. The proposed model has six functions that describe the main aspects of a typical domestic educational enterprise. Practical implications. In the context of digital transformation and innovation, companies and countries must understand what tasks they need to solve, what problems to avoid, and find the best way to develop their own activities. These ideas have been developed into a model, which in this study is based on mathematical fuzzy logic and the Hopfield neural network. Value/originality. The model can be implemented in the Ukrainian domestic educational market by companies in order to develop and improve their competitive strategy.

Predicting students at risk of academic failure using ensemble model during pandemic in a distance learning system.

Predicting students at risk of academic failure is valuable for higher education institutions to improve student performance. During the pandemic, with the transition to compulsory distance learning in higher education, it has become even more important to identify these students and make instructional interventions to avoid leaving them behind. This goal can be achieved by new data mining techniques and machine learning methods. This study took both the synchronous and asynchronous activity characteristics of students into account to identify students at risk of academic failure during the pandemic. Additionally, this study proposes an optimal ensemble model predicting students at risk using a combination of relevant machine learning algorithms. Performances of over two thousand university students were predicted with an ensemble model in terms of gender, degree, number of downloaded lecture notes and course materials, total time spent in online sessions, number of attendances, and quiz score. Asynchronous learning activities were found more determinant than synchronous ones. The proposed ensemble model made a good prediction with a specificity of 90.34%. Thus, practitioners are suggested to monitor and organize training activities accordingly.