scholarly journals How COVID-19 have Enforced Social Inequalities – Experience of Estonian Teachers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karmen Trasberg ◽  

Students across the world have missed face-to-face instruction due to COVID-19 for many months. While schools have made valiant efforts to continue the provision of learning for students, the success of those efforts has varied, and has often been hindered by limited access to technologies and high-speed broadband available in the homes of teachers and students. The changes have enforced existing social inequalities because of insufficient skills, resources, time or health to assist children with remote learning. Closing schools disrupted the education of all children, but some will have coped better than others. Children are differentially advantaged, reflecting their background and circumstances. The aim of this article is to explore how Estonian teachers have experienced the teaching and learning remotely during the first lockdown period in 2020 and what are the possible consequences for vulnerable studentʹ groups. The paper draws on a qualitative method study based on recent interviews with teachers (n = 20) in ten schools. It turned out from the study that there are positive attitudes towards using digital tools in the learning process, but it has not clear impact on the development of digital skills. The results indicated that there is a fragmentation and wide variety of approaches practiced in Estonian general education schools and not all students benefited from the best practices of distance learning. One of the main threats to students with special educational needs (SEN) was the interruption of their study routine, including support services and creating a new daily structure for activities. The involvement of parents and the opportunity to contribute to supporting their children’s home learning played a major role.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Litfulla Ebror Murkhuja ◽  
Tureacv Kholiqov

Using instructional apps is one of the responses educators and schools have made in response to the Covid-19 pandemic's circumstances, with the aim of continuing the learning phase even though there is no face-to-face instruction at school. As instructional apps such as google classes, zoom meetings, and others are used, they have a huge effect on students' abilities and skills growth, such as slowing the rate of progress in students' comprehension of information. This is motivated by the fact that teachers and students engage infrequently throughout the teaching and learning period. Numerous student topics need face-to-face time in classes such as athletic activity, lab, and art practice. Certain aspects of these activities are hindered by the absence of direct practice in schools as a result of pandemic conditions that force teachers and students to remain at home and ensure a safe distance. Apart from that, utilizing learning apps enables students to begin accepting topics from their inner instructor, requiring both students and instructors to be more innovative with their teaching and learning processes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-365
Author(s):  
Khulud Ali Tubayqi ◽  
Mazeegha Ahmed Al Tale’

Using the mother tongue (MT) in English as a foreign or second language (EFL/ESL) classrooms is indispensable, especially in beginner classes. This paper aims to add to the present literature on this issue by highlighting the attitudes of both students and teachers towards MT use in English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom, the justifications for its use, and some of the actual interaction practices in grammar classes. It investigates the attitudes of 110 Saudi EFL female beginners and their two teachers toward using the Arabic language in EFL grammar classes at Jazan University. It also investigates the students’ reasons for using or avoiding their MT. Moreover, it presents some of the functions that MT serves in EFL grammar classes. To collect the data, the researchers used two questionnaires and classroom observations. For data analysis, they used Microsoft Excel and thematic content analysis. The results indicated that, although both students and teachers generally have positive attitudes toward using the MT in EFL classes, they are also aware of the adverse effects of its overuse. The results also revealed that the teachers and students use MT in EFL classes to serve different classroom functions that ease the teaching and learning processes. Based on these findings, the study provided recommendations for teachers, curriculum designers, and future researchers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 13-19
Author(s):  
Rguig Sara ◽  
◽  
Tribak Oifaa ◽  

Due to the current massive pandemic situation, global educational systems have, by necessity, shifted from in-person to virtual learning. As a result, this newfangled educational paradigm has changed the conception of teaching and learning from a rigid process to a novel environment where new rules and objectives are set. In the present context, this research paper is intended to discuss the contemporary educational prototype as an alternative to traditional face-to-face instruction in order to accomplish quality learning and rescue the academic year from a doomed failure. In this regard, this study relies on a quantitative and qualitative research analysis, based on questionnaires designated to teachers and students of the National School of Applied Sciences of Tétouan (ENSATE) at Abdelmalek Essaâdi University to reflect upon their experiences, insights, and perceptions of distance education with respect to teaching materials, content, and syllabus delivery. The aim, therefore, is to disclose the variant challenges that are being encountered by the aforementioned students and teachers, including their attitudes toward e-learning course content and pedagogy. It is equally important to pinpoint the different possible strategies and policies that ought to be adopted by education policy makers to perfectly meet the novice learning/teaching needs and aspirations.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Peat

In our changing world where university students are demanding a greater say in their tertiary education, and in particular are demanding a greater flexibility in the way they receive their instruction, it is imperative that we investigate and experiment with course delivery strategies that fulfil these expectations. Online delivery of learning materials is not new, nor is it the panacea for all problems, but it does offer certain advantages for both teachers and students. The flexibility of using the Web may suit certain teaching activities, but more importantly may suit the learning styles and commitments of the students. In the current economic climate students may have to juggle university activities with employment, potentially missing some of the structured teaching and learning sessions. In addition they may not have time to use campus-based course materials or seek face-to-face assistance from staff. An Australian benchmark survey of the first-year experience (Mclnnis, James and McNaught, 1995), found the pressures of part-time work made it extremely difficult for some students to fulfil course expectations. A 1998 survey of firstyear science students at the University of Sydney revealed that 54 per cent of full-time students are undertaking some form of employment, with 31 per cent working ten hours or more per week during semester, and 14 per cent working over fifteen hours per week (Peat and Franklin, 1998). A small shift away from courses comprising all face-to-face activities to courses with a mix of face-to-face and online activities has the potential to help those very students who may otherwise give up when the pressure of time and other commitments seems too difficult to cope withDOI:10.1080/0968776000080206 


Author(s):  
Ishmael I. Munene ◽  
Flower Darby ◽  
John J. Doherty

Facetiously described as the “third generation” of distance learning, blended learning is now the new kid on the block in the deployment of technology to support teaching and learning. Its versatility as a pedagogical strategy for creating learner-centered instruction lies in the capacity to exploit the potentials of both the traditional face-to-face instruction and online learning modality in order to provide students with multiple pathways of learning. Yet, developing a blended course to take advantage of these duo capabilities is a monumental challenge for faculty. This chapter presents an analysis of approaches and models employed by faculty at Northern Arizona University to develop and deliver two blended courses as part of the institution's strategy of using technology to enhance undergraduate student engagement and retention. The analysis shows that a multimodal approach that infuses technologies and media and a proactive institutional policy in favor of blended learning, coupled with strategic faculty development, provides the best pathway to developing robust blended courses that are truly learner-centered.


Author(s):  
Jillian R. Powers ◽  
Ann T. Musgrove ◽  
Jessica A. Lowe

This chapter examines how technology has shaped the teaching and learning process for individuals residing in rural areas. Research on the history and unique needs of rural communities and the impact of technology in these areas is discussed. Educational experiences of students across all grade levels, from early childhood though post-secondary education, is examined. Examples of innovative and creative uses educational technologies in distance and face-to-face settings are described from the perspective of rural teachers and students.


Author(s):  
A. Juan ◽  
J. Faulin ◽  
P. Fonseca ◽  
C. Steegmann ◽  
L. Pla ◽  
...  

This chapter presents a case study of online teaching in Statistics and Operations Research (OR) at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). UOC is a purely online university with headquarters in Barcelona, Spain, with students from many countries. As common to most math-related knowledge areas, teaching and learning Statistics and OR present difficult challenges in traditional higher education. These issues are exacerbated in online environments where face-to-face interactions between students and instructors as well as among students themselves are limited or non-existent. Despite these difficulties, as evidenced in the global growth of online course offerings, Web-based instruction offers comparative benefits to traditional face-to-face instruction. While there exists a plethora of literature covering experiences and best practices in traditional face-to-face instruction in mathematics, there is a lack of research describing long-term successful experiences in Statistics and OR online courses. Based on the authors’ experiences during the last decade, this chapter aims to share some insights on how to design and develop successful online courses in these knowledge areas.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 57-63
Author(s):  
Saranda Shatri

Abstract Teachers play a cardinal role in the implementation of quality education, and consequently the positive attitudes of teachers are crucial to the successful implementation of inclusion in education. The justification for carrying out this study lies in the fact that many children with special needs in different parts of the world but also in Kosovo are still deprived of the fundamental rights to receive education alongside their peers. Among the many obstacles and challenges, one of the main documented challenges results to be the attitudes that today's societies have to those who qualify with different abilities. Kosovo is gradually trying and taking steps to move towards a more inclusive society. In Kosovo, many governmental and non-governmental organizations have offered various programs in the vocational training of Kosovo society, among others, training of teachers with new teaching and learning methodologies. Based on this, this research focused on the impact of the trainings in the teaching at school, how the training of teachers has effected the teaching process and quality of teaching, by using as a sample the large number of trained teachers. To find out the impacts of these trainings in the teaching process, research has been conducted and the results that are presented in this paper have been extracted. The paper investigates the impact of independent variables such as: working experience as a teacher, training of teachers, and also making comparisons between regular schools and comprehensive schools in Kosovo.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Afif Wijang Wahid Ramadhan ◽  
Dhoifullah Dhoifullah ◽  
Husen Husen ◽  
Candra Candra ◽  
Sri Mulyati

In this pandemic era, face-to-face learning cannot be done because the transmission of the virus is very dangerous and after all learning activities must continue, to improve the quality of education in Indonesia, therefore in this sophisticated era we must make the best use of technology for the wrong teaching and learning activities. the only way is by holding it online, but not all schools carry out learning activities with technology, there are still many who do conventional learning such as learning activities in school. The benefit of implementing online learning methods is to make it easier for teachers and students in terms of learning activities. The analysis method used is literature study. design methods that do use the concept of software engineering.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-35
Author(s):  
Said Ibrahim ◽  
Fauziah Ismail

Blended learning has been adopted in many universities worldwide since it combines the advantages of both online learning and face to face instruction. In this paper, the researcher reports on the quantitative segment of a mixed-methods case study that was conducted in a public university in Malaysia with the aim of investigating the ESL instructors’ reflections on the implementation of blended learning in their English language classrooms. More specifically, the researcher was interested in identifying the factors that enhance the implementation of blended learning and the challenges that seem to hinder an effective blended learning environment.   The quantitative data of the study were collected by a survey questionnaire, which was distributed to at least 30 English language instructors. Nineteen instructors responded to the questionnaire, and the data were analyzed by descriptive statistics via the statistical package for social science (SPSS). Findings show that while experience with technology and positive attitudes towards technology were identified as main factors enhancing the implementation of blended learning; workload and technological infrastructure were found to be the major challenges. The study signifies the need to address technology and workload related issues in order to effectively implement blended learning to promote ELT at tertiary level.  


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document