Online only: Future outlooks of post-pandemic education based on student experiences of the virtual university

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a widespread shift to online education around the world and in Hungary, too. Educational institutions from kindergartens to universities were forced to adapt rapidly to this new situation, when the space of education moved from classrooms to online video meetings; the regular methods and tools needed to be changed or modified. Nonetheless, we should keep in mind that online education itself was an already existing concept before the pandemic as part of digitalization as a current societal megatrend, however it was not widely used in educational institutions across different programs. By 2021, there are university students who have mostly or exclusively participated in higher education online. Online classes could be a new normal situation to these students instead of the pre-pandemic personal activities in physical classrooms, leading to altering the norms of participation. In our research, we collected answers to open-ended sentences from such students. As we wish to understand how students perceive the differences between online and offline education, we investigated the perceived advantages and disadvantages of online-only education, how this influenced their social networks, study efficiency and their whole experience in university education.

The role of extra-curricular activities in increasing student engagement

PurposeThe first objective of this study is to review the mechanism of conducting extra-curricular activities (ECAs) in the open and distance learning (ODL) setting. To achieve this objective, the procedure of ECAs at the Virtual University of Pakistan has been studied. The second objective of this study is to find the impact of ECAs on student engagement.Design/methodology/approachThis is a cross-sectional quantitative study. The questionnaire has been used to collect the data. The purposive sampling technique has been used, while this study's sample size is 970. An independent sample t-test has been used to find the difference between the groups.FindingsThis study shows a significant difference between the engagement levels of students who have been part of any ECA at university compared to the students who never participated in any ECA.Research limitations/implicationsThe results have been derived from the data gathered from one university only that might hinder the generalizability of the findings. The same study can be conducted in other ODL institutions to authenticate the findings.Practical implicationsThis study will help in realizing the policymakers of ODL about the importance of ECCAs. This study has also discussed an existing system of conducting ECCAs in an ODL setting that can be generalized and implemented across all the ODL universities to enhance student engagement.Originality/valueThis study has highlighted the importance of ECAs in ODL institutions that have been neglected since forever. This study is novel because it has highlighted the importance of social interaction of students in ODL and its relation with student engagement that has not been highlighted by any study so far.

European Educational Programmes in Health Emergency and Disaster Management: An Integrative Review

There is a need for trained health professionals who can swiftly respond to disasters occurring worldwide. Little is known about whether the currently available programmes in disaster management are in line with the recommendations of expert researchers. Our objective was to qualitatively review the characteristics of European educational programmes in health emergency and disaster management and to provide guidance to help improve their curricula. We carried out an integrative review to extract the main characteristics of the 2020/21 programmes available. We identified 34 programmes, the majority located in Spain, the UK or France. The primary qualification types awarded were master’s degrees, half of them lasting one year, and the most common teaching method was in person. Almost all of the programmes used a virtual university classroom, a third offered multidisciplinary disaster management content and teachers, and half of them employed situational simulations. The quality of European educational programmes in health emergency and disaster management has improved, especially in terms of using more practical and interactive teaching methodologies and in the inclusion of relevant topics such as communication, psychological approaches and evaluation of the interventions. However, generally, the educational programmes in disaster management have not yet incorporated the skills related to the intercultural and interprofessional awareness aspects.

Studying in Virtual University: an approach to students’ technopedagogical profiles

This article presents some findings of ongoing investigation on preferences and activities of university students in an emergency remote education context. A qualitative research was developed through the application of two controlled instruments (questionnaires), and a more productive one (recordings of testimonies). The main contribution of this work is the identification of three student profiles based on the strategies they develop to study with technologies in their personal environments. They are known as Gutenberg, Amphibian, and Maker profiles, and some of the main characteristics of their techno-pedagogical practices are described here. The Gutenberg profile defines a group of students whose study practices and preferences are fundamentally linked to analog technologies; the Amphibian profile is defined by the combination of analogical and digital strategies, however, there is an emphasis on the emulation of analog practices. Finally, Maker profiles prefer digital technologies and they are able to recreate teaching resources into new digital objects. The results indicate that students appropriate technologies in a particular and flexible way, which puts in tension the categories native digital and millennial, since preferences and activities seem to show the presence of analogical practices along with other emerging ones.

Mapas de competencias genéricas del bachillerato

En el marco general del diseño e implementación de un entorno virtual inteligente para dar seguimiento al desarrollo de competencias por los estudiantes, se presentan los resultados del análisis de las competencias genéricas establecidas para el Sistema Nacional de Bachillerato de México y la codificación de los resultados en la forma de mapas de competencias usando un lenguaje susceptible de ser procesado automáticamente por computadoras. Específicamente, se presentan una revisión de literatura sobre la representación computacional de competencias, un mapa de competencias genéricas con relaciones de subsume/es-un e incluye/parte-de y la aplicación del mapa para identificar la presencia de competencias genéricas en el diseño de cursos de bachillerato en el Sistema de Universidad Virtual de la Universidad de Guadalajara. In the general framework of designing and implementing an intelligent virtual environment to monitor the development of competences by students, we present the results of an analysis of the generic competences established for the National High School System of Mexico, and the coding of the results in the form of competence maps using a language that can be automatically processed by computers. Specifically, we present a literature review on the computational representation of competencies, a map of generic competencies with subsume/is-a and includes/part-of relationships, and the application of the competences map to identify the presence of generic competences in the design of high school courses in the Virtual University System of the University of Guadalajara.

Cognitive Flexibility, Procrastination, and Need for Closure Predict Online Self-Directed Learning Among Pakistani Virtual University Students

This study investigated the relationship between students’ self-directed online learning and their everyday psychological factors often associated with learning in general.Total 140 Virtual University students in Pakistan completed measures of online self-directed learning and psychological factors, including cognitive flexibility, procrastination, and need for closure. Regression analyses indicated that the less students procrastinate in general, the more students embraced cognitive flexibility, and the less they impulsively sought quick solutions, the more likely they reported effective online self-directed learning. In contrast, younger students, had a need for quick answers, procrastinate in general, and who embraced cognitive flexibility, were more likely to report ineffective online self-directed learning.The results suggest that students may be given training on how to avoid procrastination. Students need for closure can be eased by quizzes throughout the semester and students may be taught alternatives for encouraging cognitive flexibility.

MOOCS AS A TOOL FOR VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY ORIENTATION

The Covid-19 era, and its enforced transition of all teaching and learning activity to the online space, is potentially leading to reduced university enrolment rates. International student enrolments are predictably down due to travel restrictions and concerns about student safety, but even at home the same trends are being observed. One of the conversations around this issue is the value-for-money question in relation to a perceived reduction in the quality of the overall student experience when the networking opportunities of on-campus life and study are taken away. A further question is the level of digital readiness of staff and school-leaver students, and whether they are able to deal successfully with preparation for final-year school exams, university choice, and for university entrance tests in remote learning. Federica Web Learning, the University Centre for Research Innovation and Dissemination of multimedia and distance learning, has long been making the case for MOOCs as a valid tool for virtual orientation. In the current climate, MOOCs can provide chunks of ready-made quality learning content for use as the asynchronous component in today’s hybrid online courses, meaning that the time teacher and class spend in plenary, in video-conferencing, can be devoted to discussion and more in-depth analysis of the learning objectives. The MOOCs can be specially chosen from the growing range on offer from university providers around the world: some provide remedial content in problem subjects and topics; some offer specific exam preparation content and others offer university orientation, or study skills.