Online Learning in Egyptian Universities Post COVID-19 Pandemic: A Student’s Perspective

Abstract

The COVID-19 Pandemic has challenged the educational systems worldwide, and in an attempt to overcome such challenges, educational institutions were forced to adjust their educational content from the traditional methods of learning to online methods of delivery instead. This paper is the first paper to collect data from three different types of universities to examine the students’ attitudes towards online learning in Egypt amid COVID-19. A total of 450 undergraduate students were surveyed to predict online learning achievement. The study examined issues related to technical challenges, electronic communication, online learning motivation, students’ personal attributes and competencies, and their interactions with colleagues and instructors. The findings of the study provide useful insights regarding the students' attitudes towards currently adopted methods of online learning and suggest several implications that could aid educational institutions in the formulation of strategies that would enhance the overall online learning experience. This paper also serves as a foundation for further research and discussion.

Humanizing Online Activities: Lessons Learned from Digitizing Work-the-Walk (WTW) Approach

“…Apart from the various options, some maybe taken aback by the lack of training in using these applications and tools. Together with other challenges such as creating meaningful learning engagements and selecting appropriate materials [14], adapting the right applications and tools for remote content delivery can become a daunting task. A group of researchers in China [15] come out with a quick response to ensure learning continues in effected areas in China due to COVID-19.…”

Validation of an Instrument to Measure Students’ Perceptions of Online Learning

“…al. [12] caution against confusing OL (didactically designed and well planned with adequate technological infrastructure for online teaching-learning processes), with the rapid and temporary adaptations in platforms and information and communication technologies made to continue educational training in the extraordinary context of the COVID-19 pandemic [9,12]. Several authors argue that confusing OL (conceived as such for the university training) with online learning in emergency contexts (hereafter EOL), could have a long-term detrimental effect on the former, as both students and faculty (who prior to the pandemic had little or no previous experience with OL) are likely to assume that OL is a poor substitute for FFL, thereby also crystallising beliefs about the inferior quality of OL compared to FFL.…”

“…Several authors argue that confusing OL (conceived as such for the university training) with online learning in emergency contexts (hereafter EOL), could have a long-term detrimental effect on the former, as both students and faculty (who prior to the pandemic had little or no previous experience with OL) are likely to assume that OL is a poor substitute for FFL, thereby also crystallising beliefs about the inferior quality of OL compared to FFL. [9,12,13,15].…”

“…In this context, as is well known, face-to-face courses were suspended as a preventive health measure, and "emergency e-learning" or "emergency online learning" (EOL) became the optimal alternative to continue the educational process. Every elementary form of EOL uses a mix of information and communication technologies (ICT) [6][7] for the design and implementation of university training programs, which were not originally planned for OL [6,9,10]. However, this resulted in new conditions for educational institutions for which their protagonists (students, teaching staff, faculty and academic authorities, etc.)…”

“…It is clear that many students and lecturers had no previous experience in OL, nor did many universities have the necessary technical equipment to offer EOL quickly and efficiently to all students and faculty [7,8,13,14]. In most cases, the outcome of OL in the emergency context has had its strengths and weaknesses, but it has also demonstrated the commitment of higher institutions (and their faculty members) to students and the quality of their education process [9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”