Distance Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic in UAE Public Schools: Student Satisfaction, Attitudes and Challenges

Muhammad S Bawa’aneh

doi:10.30935/cedtech/10872

Muhammad S Bawa’aneh ¹ ² ^*

More Detail

CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 13, Issue 3, Article No: ep304

https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/10872

Submitted: 21 November 2020, Published Online: 01 May 2021

OPEN ACCESS 3168 Views 2263 Downloads

Download Full Text (PDF)

Abstract

In the current circumstances, the second wave of COVID-19 Pandemic is spreading and we seem to have to live longer with most of the urgent measures taken in early 2020 to fight the spread out of the pandemic; of which is school closure. The present study aims at investigating students’ satisfaction, attitudes and challenges in UAE public schools during the distance learning time of the third trimester of the academic year 2019-2020. The study also aims to measure differences of satisfaction level, attitudes, and challenges across gender and geographic places of residence within the UAE. Data collection started eight weeks after the commencement of the distance learning process and continued for two weeks. The first eight weeks that preceded data collection witnessed a continuous update of the, previously rich and well established, educational plans in line with continuous development plan for students and instructors that included intensive training for students and instructors on the use of up-to-date educational technologies. That has reflected on the results of the study, where the student satisfaction level, attitudes and challenges were found to lie within the “strong” category indicating high satisfaction level, positive attitude, and minimum faced challenges, with statistically significant differences in the mean across gender and residency for some cases. Such positive result is directly related to the fact that students of the UAE public schools were partially exposed to electronic learning even before the pandemic, the tremendous efforts of the ministry of education to guarantee smooth transfer to full distance learning after the outbreak of the pandemic, and the well established infrastructure of the country.

Keywords: student satisfaction, student attitudes, student challenges, distance learning, e-learning, virtual classes, COVID-19

References

Adnan, M., & Anwar, K. (2020). Online learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic: Students’ perspectives. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 2(1), 45-51. https://doi.org/10.33902/JPSP.2020261309
Ahmed, A., & Osman, M. (2020). The Effectiveness of Using Wiziq Interaction Platform on Students’ Achievement, Motivation, and Attitudes. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE, 21(1), 19-30. https://doi.org/10.17718/tojde.690112
Al Salman, S., Alkathiri, M., & Bawaneh, A. (2021). School off, learning on: identification of preference and challenges among school students towards distance learning during COVID19 outbreak. International Journal of Lifelong Education, Published online: 3 February 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370.2021.1874554
Arturo, G., & Espinosa-Ramos, E. (2021), Addiction to the Smartphone in High School Students: How It’s in Daily Life?. Contemporary Educational Technology, 13(2), ep296. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/9609
Azorin, C. (2020). Beyond COVID-19 supernova. Is another education coming?. Journal of Professional Capital and Community, 5(3l4), 381-390. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPCC-05-2020-0019
Bachem, R., Tsur, N., Levin, Y., Abu-Raiya, H., & Maercker, A. (2020). Negative Affect, Fatalism, and Perceived Institutional Betrayal in Times of the Coronavirus Pandemic: A Cross-Cultural Investigation of Control Beliefs. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 589914, 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.589914. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.589914
Bawaneh, A. (2021). The Satisfaction Level of Undergraduate Science Students Towards Using E-Learning and Virtual Classes in Exceptional Condition Covid-19 Crisis. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE, 22(1), 52-65. https://doi.org/10.17718/tojde.849882
Bawaneh, A. K., Moumene, A. B. H., & Aldalalah, O. (2020). Gauging the Level of Reflective Teaching Practices among Science Teachers. International Journal of Instruction, 13(1), 695-712. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2020.13145a.
Gay, L. R., & Airasian, P. W. (2003). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and application (7th Ed), Prentice-Hall.
Iyer, P., Aziz, K., & Ojcius, D. M. (2020). Impact of COVID‐19 on dental education in the United States. Journal of Dental Education, 84, 718-722. https://doi.org/10.1002/jdd.12163
Mailizar, Almanthari, A., Maulina, S., & Bruce, S. (2020). Secondary School Mathematics Teachers’ Views on E-learning Implementation Barriers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Indonesia. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16(7), em1860. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/8240
Malkawi, E., Bawaneh, A., & Bawa’aneh, M. S. (2021). Campus off, Education on: UAEU Students’ Satisfaction and Attitudes Towards E-Learning and Virtual Classes During COVID 19 Pandemic. Contemporary Educational Technology, 13(1), ep283. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/8708
Markus, D. (2020). Is the online learning good in the midst of Covid-19 Pandemic? The case of EFL learners. Journal Sinestesia, 10(1), 1-10.
Pokhrel, S., & Chhetri, R. (2021). A Literature Review on Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Teaching and Learning. Higher Education for the Future, 8(1) 133-141. https://doi.org/10.1177/2347631120983481
Rose, S. (2020). Medical Student Education in the Time of COVID-19. Journal of American Medical Association, 323(21), 2131-2132. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.5227
Rouadi, N., & Anouti, M. F. (2020). The Online Learning Experiment in the Intermediate and Secondary Schools in Lebanon During the Coronavirus Crisis. International Journal of Advanced Research in Science, Engineering and Technology, 7(7), 14466-14485.
Tseng, C., & Chen, T. (2020). Impact of Web-Based Teaching on the Learning Performance of Education and Training in the Service Industry during COVID-19. Contemporary Educational Technology, 12(2), ep277. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/8581

Citation

Bawa’aneh, M. S. (2021). Distance Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic in UAE Public Schools: Student Satisfaction, Attitudes and Challenges. Contemporary Educational Technology, 13(3), ep304. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/10872

Bawa’aneh, M. S. (2021). Distance Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic in UAE Public Schools: Student Satisfaction, Attitudes and Challenges. Contemporary Educational Technology, 13(3), ep304. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/10872

Bawa’aneh MS. Distance Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic in UAE Public Schools: Student Satisfaction, Attitudes and Challenges. CONT ED TECHNOLOGY. 2021;13(3), ep304. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/10872

Bawa’aneh, Muhammad S. "Distance Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic in UAE Public Schools: Student Satisfaction, Attitudes and Challenges". Contemporary Educational Technology 2021 13 no. 3 (2021): ep304. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/10872

Bawa’aneh, Muhammad S "Distance Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic in UAE Public Schools: Student Satisfaction, Attitudes and Challenges". Contemporary Educational Technology, vol. 13, no. 3, 2021, ep304. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/10872

Bawa’aneh MS. Distance Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic in UAE Public Schools: Student Satisfaction, Attitudes and Challenges. CONT ED TECHNOLOGY. 2021;13(3):ep304. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/10872