scholarly journals TEACHING PSYCHOLOGY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. CHALLENGES FOR ONLINE COURSES

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-285
Author(s):  
Marius Drugas

The forced transition to online teaching and learning, caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, was sudden and difficult for many teachers and students who had to adapt to new ways of interacting. Our purpose is to describe some specific challenges and recommendations for online teaching and learning in the field of Psychology, especially for those who never had this kind of experience before. The quality of learning was not an issue identified by current students, but the content quality and the opportunities for social interactions during online courses were revealed as real problems by scientific research. Teachers are expected to act as facilitators, content experts, organizers, or technical helpers, and all these may become sources of frustration. The convenience of online courses for students could diminish the worries connected to learning outcomes, but we have to admit that not all teachers are prepared, willing or able to adapt to online classes.

Author(s):  
Nadia Rehman ◽  
Wenlan Zhang ◽  
Mussarat Iqbal

The lockdown after COVID-19 outbreak not only harmed the economy but also shut down all educational activity, resulting in a significant gap in learning and understanding among students worldwide. This mixed method study was conducted to know the media used by the teachers to teach online classes and challenges faced by the teachers' during online teaching in pandemic, which has hampered continued/online education due to interviews from the ten government teachers. Data was transcribed, coding was done, and five themes were analysed. The study showed that teachers mostly use WhatsApp and zoom meeting for online classes. Skype, Voov meeting and smart school is also use as a media for online teaching and learning purpose. Qualitative data revealed that teachers faced numerous problems during online classes, the biggest obstacle was the lack of electric power and low internet speed, along with that the parents and students’ non-serious behaviour also affects the online education system. along with that lack of proper online forum, adversely affect the students’ concepts, knowledge, and communication with their teachers while using the internet as a learning tool. Teachers are overburdened due to the large number of online classes being offered, affecting the quality of education.


Author(s):  
Daniel A. Nkemleke

COVID-19 caught everyone by surprise, and even the most advanced higher education institutions around the world probably had challenges moving from Face-to-Face (F2F) to online teaching and learning. For Cameroon, where internet connectivity is still very low, both teachers and students have had a hard time switching to virtual classrooms. This chapter discusses the challenges they have faced in navigating this trajectory in the department of English at the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) of the University of Yaoundé 1 (UYI) during the period of lockdown. Based on the experience of 14 teachers who grappled with 14 online courses and F2F mode, the study concludes that due to students’ inability to access the internet with ease, any online teaching/learning at ENS has to be largely complemented with F2F activities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Gilbert S. Arrieta ◽  
I Ketut Sudarsana

<p>Education is a physical and interactive human activity. Primarily, teachers and students meet and take part in various learning activities in school. Other educational activities are held outside the school to augment what is learned inside the school campus. When technology developed and made online education possible, it was not fully embraced because education is also a social activity. However, the Covid-19 pandemic forced everyone to do things online including education. Unprepared and untrained for this new learning modality, educators had to prepare for a short period of time. Teachers underwent training through online webinars and conferences, and learning continuity plan was developed. Online classes for academic year 2020-2021 started six months ago which revealed the strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and issues in online teaching and learning. This study aims to find out the challenges encountered by the school leaders, teachers, and academic in the implementation of the learning continuity plan for online education including the resolutions made to address the challenges. Based on the study, it was found out that formulation and implementation of new policies, technological resources and capability of teachers and students, mental health and concerns of teachers and students, communication with parents and students, and school requirements. Different resolutions were made that addressed the concerns. It also revealed that the learning continuity plan is responsive to online teaching and learning but there are components that need to be enhanced.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-125
Author(s):  
Aleksandar Novaković

This paper looks at the functionality of three interactive digital platforms for creating a virtual environment in online teaching and learning - Hangouts Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams. These platforms have started being widely used during the 2019-nCoV pandemic. On the basis of a review and comparison of their integrated functions and features, as well as of observations made in the course of their parallel use during the spring semester of 2019/20 at the Department of the Serbian language of the Faculty of Philosophy in Niš, the author has established that these platforms have the same general characteristics, while differences exist in the area of integrated functions that can be used by teachers and students. Taking into consideration this segment of the analysis, the author concludes that the interactive digital platforms Zoom and Microsoft Teams are better adapted to the implementation of online instruction than Google's Hangouts Meet, as they enable screen sharing and the following of textual communication, direct sharing of sound by means of a sound card, using a chosen photograph to create an appropriate learning environment, textual communication with one or more participants of the teaching/learning process, special formatting of text in messages, the exchange of teaching/learning materials in real time and for the duration of the call, conducting short surveys within the program, and the recording of each individual lesson. However, the paper also suggests ways of increasing the functionality of all analyzed platforms by using simple add-ons and online tools. By providing a detailed overview of all integrated functions, the paper discusses the methodological implications for their more effective use in online instruction.


Author(s):  
Nikleia Eteokleous ◽  
Rita Panaoura

In this chapter, the two authors co-construct meaning of their individual lived experiences as education faculty engaging in online teaching and learning. It highlights each faculty unique experiences facilitating graduate student learning in an online environment. Co-construction of meaning centers on pedagogical approaches, program design and focus, reflection of faculty-self experiences, employment of digital learning tools, and utilization of best practices of each faculty experience with teaching and learning in an online environment. This narrative is co-constructed following a collaborative autoethnographic approach by two faculty, whereby the central descriptions of each faculty member is situated in one's lived experiences and rich story of facilitating and instructing courses in an online learning environment. The faculty experiences are mainly derived from teaching graduate courses offered by a department of education. The research method in presenting two self-reflective narratives in online teaching and learning extends to doing “collaborative autoethnography.”


Author(s):  
Geraint Lang

Twenty First Century Education is undergoing change not only to keep in step with the emerging technological innovations, but also to address the needs and meet the high expectations of a technically sophisticated student body. Physical manifestations of these changes may be seen in new institutional building work. Technologically, the Facebook Generation of students in our universities expect online access across the campus, not only to all manner of information and social networks, but to their course work. A growing body of the student population now remain in full time employment, enrolled via online courses. Their virtual access to teaching and learning requires a different form of tuition to that generally experienced in face to face lectures. Online teaching and learning is a facilitated process, which this chapter seeks to explain. The role of the facilitator is explained, along with the process of online learning, with reference to an established online degree course, Ultraversity.


2021 ◽  
Vol LXIX (1) ◽  
pp. 73-91
Author(s):  
Iulia Gonţa ◽  
Cristina Tripon

The challenges of online learning, created by the COVID-19 pandemic, have prompted a significant demand in researching this particular field of education. The adaptation to online learning, unfortunately, was applied in a context of unprepared teachers and students. This situation was caused by the new format of education, which differs significantly from massive open online courses, traditional learning or distance learning. The new hybrid model of education, prompted by the pandemic, has certainly become a trend that could incite future transformations in terms of teaching and learning. To better understand the specifics of this type of online learning, we asked the students (N = 705) from the University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest to express their opinion on their learning experience during the pandemic. The survey included the problems and expectations of the interviewees, and the research results were analyzed in the article. Our goal was to improve educational practices in the virtual educational environment. In this regard, we analyzed the important components of online learning, focusing on the following ones: the quality of the educational resources used to support the content, the improvement of the quality of the teacher- student relationships, time management, online assessment. The article also provides solutions for effective online learning, from the students’ perspective.


SEEU Review ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-103
Author(s):  
Brikena Xhaferi ◽  
Gëzim Xhaferi

Abstract Online learning is becoming a commonplace in different settings starting from elementary, secondary and higher levels of education. Different educational institutions use different communication tools to promote learning because the expansive nature of the Internet and the accessibility of technology have generated a surge in the demand for web-based teaching and learning across the nations (Chaney, 2010). The online teaching and learning have become a necessity for education around the globe during COVID 19-pandemic. There are several challenges which are faced during online classes because the students must have strong self-motivation skills and be very disciplined to achieve the desired learning results. This paper presents and analyzes the data on the benefits and challenges of online teaching at South East European University (SEEU) during COVID 19 pandemic. The participants of the study are students of the BA level majoring in English Language and Literature and German Language and Literature at SEEU in Tetovo, North Macedonia. To answer the research questions, we have used a student questionnaire, interviews, and student reflection papers written during the online courses. Overall, the research indicates that benefits of online coursework outweigh the challenges that students face during the online classes. From a safety perspective, this study emphasizes the need to consider the impact of online teaching on student motivation and the paper raises important questions about how to best support students enrolled in online courses. Further research is needed in order to better evaluate the benefits, challenges, and useful strategies of successful students enrolled in online courses.


Author(s):  
Rod Byrnes ◽  
Allan Ellis

<span>Assessment is one of the key elements of the teaching and learning process. It provides teachers with a means of evaluating the quality of their instruction. Students also use it to drive and direct their learning. Online teaching and learning will continue to become more important to Australian universities in order for them to remain competitive and economically viable. In the online environment, assessment is no less critical than in traditional face to face environments. However, assessment risks being overlooked or at least marginalised in the rush to place course content online. This paper provides a snapshot of the prevalence and characteristics of online assessment in Australian universities during 2004. It highlights useful information regarding the use of online assessment in the university sector and illustrates that overall this crucial area is not being given the attention or resources it requires.</span>


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. p30
Author(s):  
Liu Zhixuan

The outbreak of the COVID-19 caused many Chinese universities to initiate online teaching. This paper aimed to develop Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) practices in online courses to enable teachers and students in China to employ TBLT appropriately and effectively. This research made a case study which was conducted as an online English class with a total of 28 undergraduate students at a university in Guangdong, China. The findings show that the transition from the traditional classroom to online education was successful. This innovative teaching mode promotes students to become the initiator of learning. Besides, the switched roles between students and teachers, advantages as well as problems of this approach have been pointed out. This case study could provide pedagogical implicatures for online English teaching and learning practically and theoretically, which helps to develop new forms that could assist teachers and students to adopt TBLT in class.


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