scholarly journals Students’ Perspective on Remote On-Line Teaching and Learning at the University of Latvia in the First and Second COVID-19 Period

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 11890
Author(s):  
Sanita Baranova ◽  
Dita Nīmante ◽  
Daiga Kalniņa ◽  
Alise Oļesika

In Spring 2020, due to the rapid spread of COVID-19, all educational institutions in Latvia, including the University of Latvia (UL), transitioned from face-to-face on-site learning to remote learning. After a short period of face-to-face on-site learning in autumn, UL returned to remote learning in November for the second time. This paper investigates the UL students’ perspectives on remote teaching and learning at the UL during the first and second COVID-19 periods. The research assesses several remote study organization aspects, including the lecturer’s and student’s digital skills, their access to information and support during the study process, planning and implementation of the study process, and students’ acquisition of the content. The study used an original questionnaire designed in the Spring 2020 semester. Seven questions from the first questionnaire were included in another follow-up questionnaire distributed in the Spring 2021 semester. A total of 2248 UL students from the Spring 2020 semester and 742 students from the Spring 2021 semester participated in the study, representing 13 faculties across all study levels. The survey responses were collected via a QuestionPro survey platform and then downloaded into an IBM SPSS 28 file for a reliability check. Next, descriptive statistical analyses were conducted for each reported survey item using Microsoft Excel 2016. The research presented here implies that, in general, students perceive positive improvements in almost all the investigated aspects of the organization of the remote study process when comparing the first and second COVID-19 periods, which could indicate a certain level of resilience in students and university lecturers when subject to COVID circumstances. However, the results reveal that students have, in one year, developed a more realistic approach in assessing their digital skills. The results lead us to believe that remote on-line learning is not just a short-term solution but could become a valuable element for providing qualitative education in the long term. It could indicate that the students and lecturers at university are ready for new and sustainable higher education study organization solutions in the future.

2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 84-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allys Guerandel ◽  
Kevin Malone ◽  
Patrick Felle

AbstractObjectives: To introduce and evaluate a computer assisted learning programme in undergraduate psychiatry (CAL-PSYCH).Methods: An interactive e-learning environment was created within the University College Dublin portal to assist students in acquiring the necessary skills in undergraduate psychiatry. The pilot phase consisted of providing their lectures on-line on the interactive site. Data were gathered from the last group of students in 2001 (pre-CAL-PSYCH) and the first group of students using CAL-PSYCH in 2002. We included assessment of percentage of students accessing the site, attendance rates at face-to-face lectures and tutorials, and also a feedback questionnaire from students who accessed the site.Results: All responders had used CAL-PSYCH. Students gave higher ratings for quality and interactivity of lectures compared with the pre-CAL-PSYCH curriculum. Students also expressed enthusiasm about CAL-PSYCH and encouraged us to develop it further.Conclusions: Computer-assisted learning environments such as CAL-PSYCH provide the opportunity to bring modern e-learning techniques to medical education, and may provide a new model for life-long learning in medicine.


Author(s):  
Girija S. Singh

COVID-19-related disruption in teaching in the University of Botswana led the school to prepare new strategies for running classes and to design innovative way of instruction.  The most notable change was to replace face-to-face lectures with online teaching at least partially (blended teaching and learning). This posed many challenges, especially in the teaching of science and technology subjects. In a laboratory-based discipline such as chemistry the problems encountered were especially daunting.  Moreover, writing mathematical equations, chemical reactions and reaction mechanisms posed their own difficulties.  The present communication provides a brief overview of how chemistry education at the University, the premier national university of Botswana, has been transformed during the last three semesters.  It is based on experience of the author and as judged by the feed-back received from colleagues and the students. Admittedly, the experience is limited and much discussion is still in progress to meet the unresolved challenges. Theory classes at undergraduate levels are now mostly taught online using packages such as Moodle and MS Teams. The tutorial and laboratory sessions have faced the greatest disruptions and the instructors continue to explore ways to conduct these virtually.  Online examinations were found to be limited in their effectiveness, especially in the assessment of drawing chemical structure and reaction mechanisms as well as the students’ ability in scientific writing.


2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond T. Chodzinski ◽  
Debra Pepler ◽  
Ken Rigby

While reviewing various articles submitted for this issue I thought that there are experts on bullying who are probably not familiar with the Teaching and Learning journal but might be willing to contribute their viewpoint if they were invited to do so. With that premise in mind I contacted Dr. Debra Pepler of the La Marsh Institute, York University and Dr. Ken Rigby of the University of South Australia. Both are highly respected contributors to the international literature about bullying in schools and communities. Both readily agreed to be part of an on-line interview process.


2017 ◽  
pp. 888-918
Author(s):  
Klara Bolander Laksov ◽  
Charlotte Silén ◽  
Lena Engqvist Boman

In this case study, the introductory course in an international masters program in medical education (MMedEd) called “Scholarship of Medical Education” is described. Some of the background to why the MMedEd was started and the underlying ideas and principles of the program are provided. The individual course, which consists of 10 weeks part time study on-line with an introductory face to face meeting, is described in terms of the intentions and pedagogical principles underlying the design, the teaching and learning activities, and how the students were supported to achieve the intended learning activities, as well as the challenges and concerns that arose throughout and after the course. Finally, some solutions to these problems are discussed.


Author(s):  
G. David Garson

Discusses the rise of information technology functions in higher education and the related advent of quality standards for on-line education. The limited nature of existing guidelines is emphasized, particularly in the dimension of establishing authentic relationships, empowerment of faculty and students, and the inculcation of critical thinking. The Borkian vision of the future of education is summarized and contrasted with the limits if not failure of the legacies of past large-scale educational investments in programmed learning and in computer simulation. The drift toward mandated standards in on-line/distance education is discussed as well as the tension of this with empowerment concepts. Further contrast is drawn between the competing models of the university as “community of scholars” and as “marketplace of consumers.” Cost-cutting motives for on-line course delivery are explored in some detail, raising issues about radical proposals to restructure university teaching functions. A hybrid model, involving both computer-mediated and face-to-face methods, is seen as the superior instructional strategy, but the cost of this model raises the danger that a two-tier educational system will emerge – a more expensive upper tier with sound traditional education supplemented with the benefits of electronic media, and a cheaper, inferior tier dispensing programmed training to meet objectives far narrower than the traditional goals of liberal education.


Author(s):  
Karen Manning ◽  
Lily Wong ◽  
Arthur Tatnall

Most universities make use of e-learning facilities to manage and deliver on-line learning. Many universities have adopted an approach to teaching and the delivery of course content that combines traditional face-to-face delivery with online teaching resources: a blended learning approach. Many factors act to determine how online learning is adopted, accepted, and the balance between online and face-to-face delivery is formed. In this paper, the authors suggest that educational technology adoption decisions are made at three levels: strategic decisions are made by the university to implement a particular package, and then individual academics made adoption decisions regarding those aspects of the package they will use in their teaching and how they will use them. They also make a decision on the balance they will have between on-line and face-to-face teaching. This article questions how decisions are made to adopt one e-learning package rather than another. The authors then examine how individual academics relate to this technology once it is adopted and make use of it to deliver some or all of their teaching and determine the appropriate blend.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-182
Author(s):  
María Perramon ◽  
Xus Ugarte

Abstract At a time when the advances in information and communication technologies meant that new approaches to virtual teaching and learning could be proposed, the teaching staff on the degree in Translation and Interpreting at UVic decided to offer part of the degree in distance learning mode. This learning mode was launched in the 2001–2002 academic year, with optional face-to-face teaching sessions some Saturdays and coexisted with the traditional face-to-face courses. During the first years, the fourth-year interpreting specialisation subjects were not taught online for technical and pedagogical reasons. Since the 2014-2015 academic year, we also teach these subjects online. The challenge that we face starting the 2017-2018 academic year is twofold: 1. To adapt the online teaching of interpreting subjects to groups with a high number of students in the new Inter-university Degree in Translation, Interpreting and Applied Languages jointly offered by the University of Vic and the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). 2. To adapt the contents and methodology of interpreting subjects to changes in professional practice: telephone and videoconference interpreting, especially in liaison interpreting. In our paper, we will show some online teaching resources, as well as several online tools which we use in our courses.


Sociology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 1026-1042
Author(s):  
Laura Connelly ◽  
Remi Joseph-Salisbury

Although literature on the role of emotions in teaching and learning is growing, little consideration has been given to the university context, particularly from a sociological perspective. This article draws upon the online survey responses of 24 students who attended sociological classes on the Grenfell Tower fire, to explore the role emotions play in teaching that seeks to politicise learners and agitate for social change. Contributing to understandings of pedagogies of ‘discomfort’ and ‘hope’, we argue that discomforting emotions, when channelled in directions that challenge inequality, have socially transformative potential. Introducing the concept of bounded social change, however, we demonstrate how the neoliberalisation of Higher Education threatens to limit capacity for social change. In so doing, we cast teaching as central to the discipline of sociology and suggest that the creation of positive social change should be the fundamental task of sociological teaching.


2009 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-62
Author(s):  
Corey H. Brouse ◽  
Kelly R. McKnight ◽  
Charles E. Basch ◽  
Michael LeBlanc

In order to gain a better understanding of the ways in which an instructor could enhance an on-line learning experience, we surveyed 96 students enrolled in on-line Health Promotion and Wellness courses. Almost all respondents felt that sending e-mailed reminders and posting announcements on the course was very important or important for enhancing the on-line learning experience. There was a mixed response in the ratings for how important it was for an on-line instructor to host on-line office hours and the weakest ratings were for rating importance of having asynchronous time with an on-line instructor. Not surprisingly, most students used the library for research purposes less often or as often for their on-line courses than for their face-to-face courses. However, the majority of students used the Internet for resources more often or as often. Interestingly, half of the respondents felt that they interacted more with classmates in their on-line course. The amount of time spent preparing assignments in a face-to-face versus an on-line course was split.


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