E-education in Law Schools under the COVID-19 Pandemic In Sultanate of Oman and Jordanian Universities

By the use of current communication technologies, educational institutions are able to transmit classroom lectures and pedagogical guidelines to students at a distance. Students in Oman and Jordan have ceased attending colleges and schools as a precautionary step to achieve social separation in view of the present conditions surrounding the spread of the Coronavirus, which has swept the whole world. According to defence orders issued by the Jordanian cabinet, law majors are taught in Jordanian public and private universities, 20 universities in which studies have shifted from face education to e-learning during the second semester of the 2019-2020 academic year. The theories of pandemics have existed in Islamic jurisprudence since ancient times, and Maliki jurists have devoted specialized books to it to discuss this issue. However, the Coronavirus pandemic is not the first or the last till the end of the world. The usage of e-learning, a modern method of education, is quickly expanding across a range of contexts. The electronic delivery of integrated programmes is now commonplace in universities and colleges, and even at some research universities and institutes. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous quarantine measures have been implemented, and regular schooling has been put on hold. This has shifted the emphasis heavily towards online education. The study's objectives are to provide an assessment of students' perceptions of their e-learning experiences in law programmes at universities in Jordan and Oman, as well as pros and cons of e-learning from students' perspectives and suggestions for improving e-learning at universities and academic institutions. © 2023 Otjivanda Presse.Essen. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Distance and Face-to-Face Anatomy Education From the Perspective of Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic Period

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a questionnaire was administered to the students who took anatomy courses through distance education in the Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry. Through the questionnaire, the aim was to figure out whether the infrastructure of Firat University was ready and adequate for distance education, how efficient the distance theoretical and practical anatomy classes were, and in what proportions the students would prefer to take face-to-face and distance anatomy classes when the pandemic is over. A questionnaire of 35 questions was applied to 555 students studying at the Medicine and Dentistry Faculties of Firat University. The students widely accepted the opinion that Firat University successfully implemented the distance education system, and distance education offered the opportunity to receive the lessons repeatedly regardless of time and place. In addition, it has been determined as a common opinion that anatomy classes given via distance education were equally beneficial as face-to-face education in terms of duration, content, and efficiency. Despite these advantages, the lack of face-to-face interaction and weak information permanence were reported as the negative aspects of distance education. The students emphasized that applied anatomy classes and especially cadaver studies should be conducted face to face. Anatomy education is quite substantial in the acquisition and development of professional skills. It is considered that distance anatomy education will be inadequate to provide this gain. The high demand for face-to-face practical classes by students also backs this up.Copyright © 2023, Universidad de la Frontera. All rights reserved.

A Lost Year? Perspectives of foreign language students before and after the COVID-19

This study aimed to explore the similarities and differences between face-to-face and online education based on the opinions of two groups of students using the qualitative method and a comparative case study design. Of the 38 tertiary-level participants, 19 had finished the program before COVID-19, while the other 19 completed it online during quarantine. A structured interview form was used for collecting the participants' opinions online, and content analysis was utilized for data analysis. The analysis resulted in three main themes were expectations, learning processes and outcomes. The first theme, expectations, yielded two shared categories for both groups: four language skills and appeared for the face-to-face group: daily use of language. The second theme, the learning process, produced a shared category that was related to educational opportunities. The different categories were classroom atmosphere for the online group and physical opportunities/facilities for the face-to-face group. The last theme, which was about the outcomes of the program, provided two shared categories: faculty use and faculty-level challenges. The findings showed that participants' opinions about online and face-to-face language programs were mostly similar. More comparative studies should be conducted to further explore the differences between online and face-to-face education in the long term.

Comparison of Predictive Machine Learning Models to Predict the Level of Adaptability of Students in Online Education

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, online education has become one of the most important options available to students around the world. Although online education has been widely accepted in recent years, the sudden shift from face-to-face education has resulted in several obstacles for students. This paper, aims to predict the level of adaptability that students have towards online education by using predictive machine learning (ML) models such as Random Forest (RF), K-Nearest-Neighbor (KNN), Support vector machine (SVM), Logistic Regression (LR) and XGBClassifier (XGB).The dataset used in this paper was obtained from Kaggle, which is composed of a population of 1205 high school to college students. Various stages in data analysis have been performed, including data understanding and cleaning, exploratory analysis, training, testing, and validation. Multiple parameters, such as accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, F1 count and precision, have been used to evaluate the performance of each model. The results have shown that all five models can provide optimal results in terms of prediction. For example, the RF and XGB models presented the best performance with an accuracy rate of 92%, outperforming the other models. In consequence, it is suggested to use these two models RF and XGB for prediction of students' adaptability level in online education due to their higher prediction efficiency. Also, KNN, SVM and LR models, achieved a performance of 85%, 76%, 67%, respectively. In conclusion, the results show that the RF and XGB models have a clear advantage in achieving higher prediction accuracy. These results are in line with other similar works that used ML techniques to predict adaptability levels. © 2023, International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications. All Rights Reserved.

Evaluating Distance Learning Experience During Corona Pandemic as Perceived by Media Students in Arab Universities

The main purpose of this study is to investigate and understand the experience of Communication and Media students in Arab countries toward Distance Learning. An online survey questionnaire was used to collect data and investigate students' perceptions of distance learning. A total of 494 students (293 females and 201 males) affiliated with 54 universities from 12 Arab countries participated in the survey. The findings of the study show that 25 out of 54 participating universities used at least two platforms for distance learning during the Corona pandemic. The top three platforms used by the participants were Zoom, WhatsApp, and Microsoft Teams. The majority of participants indicated that they attended both theoretical and practical courses online during the pandemic. © 2023, North American Business Press. All rights reserved.

Perception of Fourth year MBBS students regarding online learning during Covid-19 pandemic

Aim: To assess the perception of fourth year MBBS students regarding online learning during Covid 19 pandemic. Study Design: Cross sectional survey. Setting(s): Department of Community Medicine, Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore. Duration of study: Four months, from April to July, 2022. Study population: All students registered in fourth year MBBS. Methodology: A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 154 study participants. It consisting of two sections. The first part consisted of background information of study participants. The second portion assessed the perception of students regarding online education during Covid 19.The data was recorded and analyzed using SPSS version 21. Data were described in the form of frequencies and percentages and presented as tables. Result(s): Study participants included 51% females, 57%-day scholars and 83% who had done FSc. Around 62% did not find online learning effective, 73% had communication difficulties, 75% liked self-directed approach of online learning but 74% thought that it was difficult to collaborate with each other, 71% found time management easy, though it was difficult to ask questions and receiving answers (59%). Around 78% of students perceived lack of satisfaction compared with class room learning, 66% preferred face to face learning and 73% found online education less comprehensible than class room activities. Among students, 53% recognised online learning as enjoyable and 34% wanted it to be done regularly, as 32%students never experienced any difficulty during online sessions. The main issues faced in online activities were absence of internet connection (85%), poor computer skills (73%), electricity breakdown (85%) and lack of concentration (80%). Practical implication: The present study highlighted that majority of fourth year MBBS students preferred classroom learning in comparison with online sessions. In light of pandemic, online education has proven valuable in managing sudden crisis, which is why it was important to understand the student perception regarding online education during covid-19 at Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore. Conclusion(s): Compared with males, higher number of females complained of lack of internet access and having poor computer skills. Seminars and regular training must be undertaken by medical colleges for their staff and students to inculcate interest and highlight the importance of online education as one of the tools for learning. Online education must be made more interactive and student cantered to create interest and improve student concentration.Copyright © 2023 Lahore Medical And Dental College. All rights reserved.

University students' perceptions of teaching during lockdown period in Spain: a qualitative study

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.

Educational transformations in pandemic contexts. Virtual and face-to-face education in conflict

At a time of epochal transit and health crisis, the challenge of two ways of understanding and implementing education is presented. In this context, the objective of this work is aimed at explaining the transformations produced in face-to-face-virtual education in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The methodological approach used was of a theoretical-explanatory type. The examination of the literature revealed transformations that have to do with: a) the teaching practice that moved from teaching to facilitation;b) the humanization of the socialization processes that are carried out in the school found other scenarios of meaning;c) the learning contents were mobilized between the lushness typical of the era of knowledge and the reductionism of instantaneity;d) didactic resources faced tradition and technological innovation;e) educational management mobilized its processes focused on teaching action towards the provision of digital technological infrastructure. It is concluded that there is a civilizing conflict that disrupts education, taking expression in virtual education, an issue that was revealed in the pandemic scenario. © 2023, Universidad del Zulia. All rights reserved.

Think Twice: First for Tech, Then for Ed.

The embodiment of technology in education can make learning easier, more enjoyable, and more accessible. From Learning Machines to artificial intelligence (AI), educational technology has repeatedly tested its strength as an aider or a substitute to in-person teaching. During the COVID-19 pandemic international organisations promoted the idea of the transformation of education using technology. Comparison of their texts published in 2020 with texts published in 2021 indicates that much of the early enthusiasm concerning the transition from in-person to remote learning gave its position to more thoughtful accounts after considering the learning losses and students' disappointment from the disruption of in-person relationships. This publication highlights aspects of education technology usually overlooked in futuristic accounts of education. Adopting a non-deterministic view of technology attempts to contribute to the more human-centred incorporation of technologies in education.

The Educational Impact of Distance Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic on Students' Interaction in the Educational Process

Due to the widespread impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, teachers and students were driven to relocate their teaching learning practices to the safety of their own homes. The goal of this research was to learn how Saudi students felt about distance learning online during the lockout of the College of Science and Humanities at Sulail, Prince Sattam Bin Abdullah University. Multiple methods were used to complete the study. Researchers collected data from 152 degree students of Management,Computer Science, English, Islamic Studies, Arabic department to rate their satisfaction with online learning settings using a Likert scale ranging from one to five points. A mixed research strategy was chosen for the study's purposes, with descriptive analysis used for the quantitative data analysis and content analysis used for the qualitative data analysis. Although some respondents expressed enthusiasm for online distance learning, the vast majority reported difficulties with the format and stated a preference for traditional in-person classes. Some students have expressed enthusiasm for this form of distance education. The study concluded that the findings can help policymakers and professors construct effective or efficient teaching ways to overcome difficult situations or pandemics, which is a summary of the study's main points. Copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal.

Face-to-face, online or hybrid?: Perceptions and preferences by higher education teachers and students

Online and hybrid education have expanded in recent years due, on the one hand, to technical advances and a growing demand from society, and, on the other hand, to the COVID-19 pandemic in which universities had to transform their face-to-face models out of necessity. The objective of our research is to evaluate the perceptions and preferences towards the various types of current education (face-to-face, online and hybrid). For this, a validated quantitative study is provided based on an online survey distributed among teachers and students at the University of Porto, obtaining a total of 684 responses. The instrument collects data on the preference for the various educational typologies and on the following dimensions: technological competence, enhancers and feelings. The results show their perceptions towards certain aspects within the formative process that originate tendencies of preference towards the different types of education. The topics of analysis are discussed with the most recent literature on the implementation in education of the various methodological typologies. The conclusions of the study show a good relative perception of the online education that both groups currently teach or receive, the preference for face-to-face education (teachers) and for face-to-face and hybrid education (students), some factors that significantly affect their inclinations towards the various types of education and three variables that generate significant differences in terms of groups within the student body: gender (women prefer online education), age (the youngest choose face-to-face training) and compatibility with a job (those who study and work choose online education). A close relationship is evidenced between the dimensions of the study and the preference for the different types of education. © 2023, Universidad Compultense Madrid. All rights reserved.

Perceptions of University Students Toward Blended Learning During COVID-19

This study investigates Jordanian students' perceptions of Blended Learning during COVID-19 era. An online survey was distributed to 300 students via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and emails to students experiencing both pre-and post-era COVID-19. The study revealed that Jordanian students showed a high level of agreement toward blended learning as a medium to cope with abrupt crises, such as COVID-19. The study also showed that blended learning help enhance academic performance, class flexibility, and time, improves critical thinking and problem-solving skills, motivates students, and increases engagement. On the other hand, the study indicated that the limitations of blended learning are the incompatibility with all subjects, lack of interaction between students and their teachers, inability to receive feedback, the inefficiency of technological means, the lack of training, and negative attitude of society toward blended learning. The findings may help with organizational and governmental decision-making and developing educational materials during social restraint. The design and implementation of face-to-face and online components for more applied, science-based courses may benefit more from these findings. © 2022, North American Business Press. All rights reserved.

Emotional State of Teachers and University Administrative Staff in the Return to Face-to-Face Mode.

Social distancing and security measures have contained the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, the return to face-to-face activities is necessary for specific companies, and some higher education institutions have already done so. The various disorders that this new reality could generate have motivated the present study, which aims to analyze the emotional state of teachers and administrative staff. The instrument used was the abbreviated depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS-21), with an internal consistency index of 0.87. The methodology was based on applying a survey to 202 participants from Quito, Ecuador. The sample consisted of 97 men and 105 women aged between 23 and 59 years. A quantitative and cross-sectional design was used in this research. The results show that 40.1% of the respondents presented anxiety, 36.63% depression, and 38.61% stress between mild and highly severe categories. Additionally, when analyzing the depression, anxiety, and stress levels compared to productivity variables, we found that five disorders, i.e., fear, anxiety, over reactivity, skeletal muscle effects, and dysphoria, directly affect productivity variables, such as performing simple tasks, performing difficult tasks, the number of products made, and the number of products rejected. Thus, returning to face-to-face mode has affected the emotional state of many people, showing differences according to the job position, with anxiety being the highest self-identified incidence rate.

Post-COVID-19 Transition in University Physics Courses: A Case of Study in a Mexican University

The extended confinement imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns resulted in the imposition of online education for two years. Many students experienced their transitions to higher educative levels during this time, surely losing some academic learning as a consequence. On the other hand, this context could have promoted different types of competencies, until recently not explored, as a function of students’ personalities or academic profiles. Physics teaching is among those areas which have changed from its traditional methods during this period. The return to school during the ‘New Normal’ has resulted in certain concerns about students’ adaptability due to their possible lack of learning over this time. We analyse, in the current research, the transitions of three generations crossing several pandemic stages during their time participating in university physics courses during the first year, a common entry point for engineering programs. In addition, we analyse several academic traits as causal factors of academic success in order to understand how performance could be affected during online education and during the ‘New Normal’. The results highlight a general high level of adaptation for the most of the students, but still, some of them were affected in terms of the functioning of their learning styles or regarding their personality profiles. Notably, no meaningful losses were detected among the last transition;instead, several interesting aspects were found relating to academic profile appearing to have an effect on the students’ performance during the first transition to online education, and then during the second transition back to face-to-face education in the ‘New Normal’. © 2022 by the author.

Towards Effective Blended Learning Through the Eyes of Students: A Survey Study in Transition into Face-to-Face Education

Many researchers consider that blended or hybrid learning implies a meaningful combination of online and face-to-face activities. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, studies had shown promising results of blended learning to improve student performance. However, the design and implementation of effective combinations is far from trivial, considering students’ differences regarding their demographics and self-regulatory capacities. This paper presents a survey study developed in an Engineering school of a Latin American university that transitioned from online learning to a hybrid format in mid-2021. Quantitative data was collected throughout an online questionnaire applied to a convenience sample of 1,124 students. Subgroup differences were identified by means of exploratory factor analysis and clustering. Two different subgroups emerged from the data: those who prefer online learning and those who prefer face-to-face activities. This difference is particularly observed in students from different cohorts and regions of origin: students who are closer to graduation preferred online activities, as well as students who come from regions outside the campus location. Students’ preferences varied regarding feedback delivery and collaboration with peers, which are usually synchronous activities. Further implications are discussed to inform instructional design of blended and hybrid approaches beyond COVID-19. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

From Online to In-person Electrical Circuits Laboratories sessions: Benefits, limitations, and challenges

Before the shutdown due to COVID-19, all courses and laboratories from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department (ECE) at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) were conducted in person at the university facilities. Many of the laboratories required students to work in groups due to the limited equipment availability. Most universities were forced to adopt distance learning as a primary teaching modality when the pandemic started. Previously, the Learning Management Systems (LMS) were used mainly for support course functions, where students could review the content and grades in their own time, submit assignments, or download materials. During the pandemic time, students attended virtual sessions via video conference, reviewed materials independently, or had restricted interactions. This modality limited the ability to conduct lab experiments. The adopted lab methodologies were to offer online circuits laboratories implemented via portable equipment, designed for work at home, and acquired for the students;or by providing remote access to some university equipment. The ECE department had additional challenges because most of our students live in the border region between USA and México, and many had limited technological resources to access virtual or remote laboratories. UTEP started resuming face-to-face courses and events on campus after the pandemic acute phase period. For the fall 2021 semester, the school initiated activities under enhanced safety precautions for in-person classes. Currently, the circuits laboratory returned to face-to-face delivery mode using bench industrial-grade equipment with higher resolution and accuracy than personal devices, offering students a more comprehensive range of experiments to improve their abilities and knowledge in the technical field. However, some characteristics of the virtual model were kept, such as working at home in the preliminary laboratory phase using portable equipment and then allowing students to work individually at the university workstation, using time more efficiently, and keeping the improved LMS content. This paper compares online and in-person circuits laboratory sessions, exploring the differences, limitations, benefits, and challenges for the students and the response due to geographic restrictions. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022

Teaching AutoCAD in E-learning and Face-to-Face Styles for Undergraduate Engineering Technology Students During and after COVID-19 Pandemic

Online teaching has been used in most schools in the world during the Covid-19 pandemic. The world has started going back to normal in teaching face-to-face (F2F) in the classroom since Fall 2021. The switch from F2F teaching to online teaching has changed the way of interaction between the instructors and students. This research is aimed mainly to compare the learning styles in the traditional F2F to e-learning formats in teaching software-based Engineering Graphics course after going back to F2F mode of teaching. This study addresses the main features of each learning mode and its impact on the academic performance of the Engineering Technology students in a public school in Texas. This paper involves samples of Engineering graphics grades during the pandemic (fall 2020 and spring 2021) and after the end of the pandemic (fall 2021). Two instructors have taught this course during and after the pandemic, while one instructor has only taught the course after the pandemic. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is used in the data analysis. It is noticed that the performance of the students in classes delivered in the F2F mode is better than that in online mode, even with the change in the instructors and the change of the grade distribution in a specific semester. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.

Students' Perceptions of Online Foreign Language Learning during the Corona Virus

University closure was one of the repercussions of the COVID-19 epidemic. As a consequence, a shift to online education was mandated to concurrently sustain the learning process in the country and maintain public safety. This study aims at examining university students’ perceptions of online FLL by pointing out the factors that would succeed or hinder the online FLL process, and also by assessing the influence of teacher mediation on online FLL. The study followed a mixed-method technique to design and answer the research questions: (a) What are the factors that enable online FLL to succeed at the university level? (b) What are the factors that hinder online FLL at the university level? To what extent does teacher mediation influence the success or failure of online FLL at the university level? Data was collected via two sources (surveys and focus group interviews) in which two hundred twenty-six students from both the department of English Language and Literature and the department of English Language and Translation at two private universities participated in this study. First, the findings revealed three factors that would influence the success or failure of online FLL: student motivation, engagement, and rapport building. Second, the findings also highlighted the influence of teachers’ mediation in online FLL. Finally, the findings of this study offered several implications for the theory "Learning Communities, " faculty members, curricula designers, and policymakers. © 2022 by the Author(s).

The Effect of Online Education on Children’s Social Skills During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aimed to determine whether there is any conspicuous difference in the social adaptation skills of five-year-old preschool children who did not attend any social skills intervention program besides the ongoing curriculum but continued their education process in different environments (face-to-face/online) because of the pandemic. Included in the study were 296 children enrolled in independent kindergartens, who were within the five-year-old age group and were from similar socioeconomic families. Among them, 159 attended face-to-face and 137 attended online classes. At the beginning of their formal education, the Social Adaptation Skills Scale (SASS) was administered to the children in both groups as a pre-test. At the end of the trimester, the SASS was repeated as a post-test. A significant difference was found between the face-to-face education group and the online education group, in favor of the former, in terms of the social adaptation sub-factor of the SASS. Furthermore, the social incompatibility sub-factor scores of the face-to-face education group were significantly lower than those of the children in the online education group. © 2022 Published by KURA Education & Publishing.

Impacts of COVID-19 and Social Measure on Behavioral Intention in the context of Online Learning Software

Since the COVID-19 outbreaks, countries around the world have implemented social measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. To inhibit infection, governments are conducting social distancing, wearing a mask, and vaccination. In the field of education, non-face-to-face lectures are being carried out. With these backgrounds, the importance of online lectures has increased. The purpose of this study is to understand the behavioral intention of university students in the context of online learning software. Data were collected from 318 Vietnamese university students taking classes through online education software. We analyzed the sample by using the partial least squares (PLS) technique. The results indicated that attitude has a significant effect on behavioral intention. The findings showed that subjective norms do not affect attitude. The research results revealed that perceived behavioral control, regulatory environment, and affective risk perception are significantly related to attitude. The results of this study will provide meaningful guidelines for implementing effective education within COVID-19 in the future. © 2021 IEEE.