Adaptation and validation of a scale to evaluate the quality of virtual courses developed for medical students in Peru during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical education migrated to digital environments, without clear guidelines for virtual courses or evaluations of how these courses have been developed. Objective: To adapt and validate a scale to evaluate the quality of virtual courses developed for human medicine students in Peru. Methods: Cross-sectional study that adapted a scale to assess the quality of virtual courses to the context of Peruvian medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic, using the Delphi methodology and pilot tests for a rigorous evaluation of the items, resulting in a scale of 30 items that were described with summary statistics. In addition to the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with Oblimin rotation, together with the adequacy and sample fit with Bartlett test and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO), while the internal consistency was estimated with the alpha coefficient. Results: A total of 297 medical students in Peru were surveyed. The descriptive statistics for the items showed a normal distribution, while the Bartlett test showed no inadequacy (X2=6134.34, p<0.01) and with the KMO test an overall value greater than 0.92 was found, therefore an AFE was performed where five factors were identified (General Quality and Didactic Methodology, Design and Navigation of the Virtual Platform, Multimedia Resources, Academic Materials) with 30 items. In the internal consistency, an alpha coefficient greater than 0.85 was estimated for the factors evaluated. Conclusions: The adapted scale of 30 items grouped into five factors or domains, show adequate evidence of validity and reliability to be used in the evaluation of the quality of virtual courses developed for Peruvian human medicine students during the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Keywords: Education, Medical; Education, Distance; Validation; Surveys and Questionnaires; COVID-19.

School Performance among Children and Adolescents during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

As a result of COVID-19 restrictions, conventional ways of schooling were not possible, and in order to continue the educational process new digital resources, such as online learning platforms, were imposed. Although virtual courses provided high-quality educational material, the efficiency in children’s and adolescents’ academic performance in general is yet to be known. The purpose of this systematic review is to examine whether the academic performance of school-aged students was impacted or not through online learning and modified educational methods during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. According to the studies, either students suffered from learning losses comparing to pre-pandemic years or, in some cases, they benefited from online learning, especially in mathematics. Younger students and students with neurodevelopmental disorders or special education needs seemed to suffer more. Parents/caregivers reported that their children’s performance deteriorated, while others thought that online learning was beneficial. Teachers also reported that students presented academic gaps and difficulties in mathematics and reading compared to typical years. Consequently, the new ways of schooling imposed by the restrictions have not been fully tested and the impact cannot be described thoroughly. The investment in technological equipment in schools for the majority of students, along with the training of teachers in digital competence, should be a priority.

The switch to remote instruction in Spanish heritage language courses: Why social presence matters

EN The pandemic amplified the educational disparities that Latinx students face in virtual courses. This research project describes Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) learners’ experiences with remote instruction, and it proposes using the Community of Inquiry Model (Garrison et al., 2000) and modified versions of the Theory of Social Presence (Fayram, 2017; Hauck & Warnecke, 2012; Strong et al., 2012; Whiteside, 2015) as guiding frameworks to obtain information about social presence (SP) aspects in the online classroom. A total of 126 SHL learners took a validated online survey to evaluate the challenges of switching to a remote modality of instruction. This research emphasizes the need to design effective online courses that foster SP as a key element to diminish feelings of isolation and encourage active participation in the classroom. We propose that teaching presence is an important component of social presence in online SHL courses, and we offer pedagogical implications for practitioners. Parole chiave: LATINX STUDENTS, SPANISH HERITAGE LANGUAGE COURSES, ONLINE CLASSES, SOCIAL PRESENCE ES La pandemia amplificó la disparidad educativa que el alumnado latino sufre en los cursos virtuales. Este proyecto describe las experiencias del alumnado latino en las clases virtuales de español como lengua de herencia (SHL) y propone el uso del modelo de la Community of Inquiry (Garrison et al., 2000) y la teoría de la Presencia Social (junto con sus modificaciones: Hauck & Warnecke, 2012; Fayram, 2017; Strong et al., 2012; Whiteside, 2015) como guía para entender la presencia social (PS) y sus factores en las clases virtuales. Un total de 126 participantes respondieron a un cuestionario en línea validado para evaluar los retos que supuso el cambio a una enseñanza a distancia. Los resultados indican la importancia de diseñar cursos virtuales efectivos que promuevan la presencia social como el elemento clave para disminuir el aislamiento y promover la participación activa en las clases. En este estudio proponemos que la presencia docente es un componente importante de la presencia social en la enseñanza virtual del español como lengua de herencia y ofrecemos implicaciones pedagógicas para el profesorado. Palabras claves: ALUMNADO LATINO, CURSOS DE ESPAÑOL COMO LENGUA DE HERENCIA, CURSOS EN LÍNEA, PRESENCIA SOCIAL IT La pandemia ha aumentato le disparità educative che studenti/esse latini/e affrontano nei corsi a distanza. Questo studio descrive le esperienze di apprendenti di Spagnolo come Lingua Ereditaria nella didattica a distanza (DaD), e propone l’uso del modello della Community of Inquiry (Garrison et al., 2000) e della Teoria della Presenza Sociale (con le sue variazioni: Hauck & Warnecke, 2012; Fayram, 2016; Strong et al., 2012; Whiteside, 2015) come modelli per ottenere informazioni su aspetti della presenza sociale (SP) durante le lezioni online. 126 studenti hanno risposto a un questionario validato online per valutare le sfide poste dal passaggio alla DaD. I risultati evidenziano la necessità di corsi online efficaci che promuovano la SP come fattore chiave per diminuire il senso di isolamento e incoraggiare una partecipazione attiva alla lezione. Viene suggerita la presenza dell’insegnante come componente importante della SP nei corsi online di SHL e vengono trattate le implicazioni pedagogiche per i docenti stessi. Parole chiave: STUDENTI LATINI, CORSI DI SPAGNOLO COME LINGUA EREDITARIA, LEZIONI ON-LINE, PRESENZA SOCIALE.

Emergency Remote Online Course Experience From Students Perspective: A Case Study

The Coronavirus has changed the world in many ways, including education. The epidemic outbreak led to the conversion of courses in many schools and universities from traditional face-to-face classrooms to virtual courses. This situation is a major challenge in a country like Kenya, where IT facilities remain basic. Not all students have the advantage of technological conditions or a supportive family environment. This qualitative case study design is aimed to explore how students portrayed their participation in remote online courses. This study focuses on the experiences of six Standard Eight students in one of the elementary schools in Kisii, Kenya, with ages between 13-15 years old, to cope with multilevel challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic. The data were collected through semi-structured telephone interviews with each participant after permissions were acquired from the students’ parents or guardians. The findings of the study show six emergent themes and sub-themes. The themes that emerged from the interviews are 1) Course descriptions; 2) learning experience; 3) Delivery methods; 4) Materials; 5) Interactions; 6) Challenges.

Knowledge in Images and Sounds: Informative, Narrative and Aesthetic Analysis of the Video for MOOC

The virtual courses developed by higher education institutions incorporate the video format as one of the most used resources in the delivery of their online training offer. Within the different types of audiovisual productions found in MOOCs, the introductory or presentation video of the courses has become an illustrative piece of the new edu-communicative context of distance education, when articulating, in the same work, informative, didactic, and advertising content. The objective of this research work is to study the triple communicative nature of this innovative format following a specific methodology of audiovisual textual analysis. For this, 420 videos of this type of promotional video, belonging to 105 universities and educational centres that have developed MOOC courses for the Miríadax platform, are analysed. After checking the results of the formal characteristics, content structures, discursive techniques, and audiovisual language components of the videos, it is concluded that they are mostly pieces linked to the staging style of the classroom, but that, by enriching the visual appearance of a master lesson with audiovisual resources, take advantage of the narrative, aesthetic, and creative potential of audiovisual and advertising communication to capture the attention of the student-spectator, inform about the characteristics of the courses, offer valuable educational content, and generate an image of the brand for the institution responsible for producing the course.

Teachers' Perception of Pedagogical Support Strategies in the Context of the Health Emergency in Educational Institutions of Lima

The present research had as a main objective to determine the teachers’ perception about the predominant dimension on the strategies of distance pedagogical accompaniment in the context of the health emergency in educational institutions of the Ugel 05 SJL. The research´s approach is quantitative and descriptive non-experimental design. The population was comprised of 245 teachers belonging to II.EE of jurisdiction UGEL 05 of the district of San Juan de Lurigancho, both at the primary and secondary levels, from which a sample of 100 teachers was obtained through a non-probabilistic and intentional sampling. The study´s results determined that the teachers' perception of pedagogical support strategies in the context of the health emergency in SJL educational institutions is regular and the predominant dimension is Pedagogical Counseling, which is perceived by teachers as Regular with 78%. Similarly, the predominant indicators of the dimensions Pedagogical Counseling, Inter-learning Groups, Collegiate Group Meeting, and Virtual Courses and Tutorials are Reflection of Pedagogical Practice, Dialogue at the opening, Record of reflections and Teacher training workshops, respectively.

Chinese Universities: Problems, COVID-19 & Efforts

It is necessary to know the state of the Chinese universities. In this paper the general objective was determine the situation of Chinese universities: Problems, COVID-19 & efforts. Methodology, in this research, 31 documents have been selected, carried out in the period 2016 - 2021; including: scientific articles, review articles and information from websites of recognized organizations. The keywords used in the searches were: Chinese universities and COVID-19. Results, China has approximately 2,845 universities, which are gradually improving their infrastructure and academic level. The percentage of women has increased (UIS.UNESCO, 2021). A close collaboration between the university and the industry was presented as they refer (Hou, Hong & Shi, 2021). Employers consider the University of Hong Kong to have the best graduates (SICAS, 2018). Difficulty deciding what to investigate. The situation in Chinese universities is stabilizing, after COVID-19 was presented, continuing with virtual courses and the intensive use of ICTs. In addition, the progressive opening of these institutions, monitoring the health of students and teachers. Conclusions, Chinese universities are ranking better in world rankings such as the QS World University Rankings. They are overcoming the limitations imposed by COVID-19. The number of graduates, researchers and patents is considerable and competes with the great powers of Europe, Asia and North America. In addition, some of its universities are achieving international recognition and have students from various parts of the world.