Research Article
Jamal N. Al-Karaki, Nedal Ababneh, Yasir Hamid, Amjad Gawanmeh
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 13, Issue 3, Article No: ep311
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 Pandemic affected all sectors worldwide including education sector changing the students learning environment at a large scale. In the education sector, governments had to close schools and universities around the world and turn into online mode of delivery. The sudden transformation to online learning demands educators and institutions to develop more innovative teaching methods in supporting students during this growing crisis. It is pertinent that this is the era of large-scale online learning, where education is delivered remotely utilizing various digital platforms. To this end, this move presented many challenges to students, educators, families, administrators, and government regulations. In this paper, we conduct an oriented and well-rounded survey that captures all aspects of distance learning verticals as perceived by educators in order to study online delivery aspects, including teaching models, communication media, and teaching best practices in distance learning. The paper will answer subtle and comprehensive questions related to student satisfaction and success, technical needs and challenges, teaching models, educator mobility, etc. across different universities in the UAE. In particular, the paper tries to identify best model to use given many key issues related to the adoption of e-learning during COVID-19. Overall, the survey results showed almost all participants agreed that online learning during the COVID-19 is a very good alternative solution to Face-to-Face approach. However, teaching models do vary in promoting students’ participation and students’ engagement. All participants agree that absence of the proper infrastructure at home will hinder the operation especially in courses with hands-on components. Finally, the educators questioned the credibility of online assessments despite the enforced exam integrity tools and methods. The paper concluded with many recommendations for continuous development of the distance learning systems during and after COVID -19.
Keywords: COVID-19, distance learning, online education, technology adoption, education models, higher education
Research Article
Omar Alawajee
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 13, Issue 3, Article No: ep308
ABSTRACT
This research aims to uncover higher education students’ experiences regarding sign language learning with online learning platforms and learning experiences during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic in one of the teacher-preparation programs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) as learning the basics of sign language is one of the essential elements in the teacher-preparation program for future teachers to be able to interact with their deaf students. Qualitative research method, structured individual interviews were employed to collect data to understand students’ experiences, knowledge, expectations, and thoughts of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and the sudden and unplanned movement to online teaching tools on their sign language learning and practices. A total of 24 female students enrolled in a special education bachelor program were interviewed in this study. Fifteen participants thought that the COVID-19 crisis influenced their sign language learning and practices, while six of the interviewees reported no impact, and three were not sure. Data revealed some disadvantages, difficulties, and concerns of learning sign language through e-learning tools and some advantages of sign language learning using e-learning tools during the COVID-19 pandemic and are presented alongside examples of the interviewees’ statements. This study presented some practice recommendations like integrating digital game-based learning, web and phone applications to practice sign language to endorse effective and innovative sign language learning and practices techniques.
Keywords: COVID-19, sign language, teacher-preparation program, online learning, higher education
Research Article
Ragad M Tawafak, Ghaliya Alfarsi, Jasiya Jabbar
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 13, Issue 3, Article No: ep306
ABSTRACT
With restrictions on face-to-face clinical consultations within the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges faced by healthcare systems in delivering patient care, alternative information technologies like telemedicine and smartphones play a crucial role. A wide variety of smartphone applications employs high-tech mathematical and programming approaches to enhance computer-assisted communication and learning processes’ pedagogical efficiency. Accordingly, this study’s main objective is to develop a model system that can function as smartphone computer graphics. This paper used the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as an m-learning model, and Bresenham’s line algorithm is a calculation system implemented by applications. The study method applies technology to validate the accuracy of the contents’ acceptance method of use. The results reveal significant positive effects of the proposed model on generating reasonable, fast, and accurate solutions for the presented problems and developing a more interactive platform of m-learning.
Keywords: computer graphics, algorithms, COVID-19, TAM
Research Article
Muhammad S Bawa’aneh
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 13, Issue 3, Article No: ep304
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
Research Article
Vusumuzi Maphosa, Bekithemba Dube
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 13, Issue 3, Article No: ep301
ABSTRACT
The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused unprecedented global socio-economic disruptions. One of the areas negatively impacted is the education system. The country’s over reliance on traditional face-to-face teaching has brought about serious challenges to policymakers who have to decide how learning would proceed in the absence of physical contact between the teacher and the learner. This has been exacerbated by the general lack of access to textbooks and other teaching and learning materials which makes it difficult for parents to assist with home schooling. The potential use of mobile apps to support and enhance early childhood learning has received little attention in developing countries such as Zimbabwe, yet its impact in supporting early childhood education would be enormous during and post the COVID-19 pandemic. The study seeks to develop a numeracy-based app prototype that uses a local language (IsiNdebele) in a classroom or home-based schooling in response to the COVID-19 pandemic or other natural disasters or man-made situations that may make face-to-face interaction impossible. The analysis showed that kindergarten teachers had positive opinion towards the app as they perceived the prototype to be useful, easy to use, simple and that learners would be eager to use it. The results of this study can inform policymakers and educators on optimising technology based early teaching and learning at school and home.
Keywords: COVID-19, kindergarten, mobile apps, home-based learning, technology acceptance model
Research Article
Emeka Joshua Chukwuemeka, Samaila Dominic, Mary Ayanjoke Kareem, Ibrahim Ango Mailafia
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 13, Issue 1, Article No: ep292
ABSTRACT
Education has been one of the worst-hit sectors of the economy since the detection of the first index case of Covid-19 in Nigeria on February 27, 2020. Like many affected countries of the world, the Federal government of Nigeria has taken several necessary precautionary measures to curtail the spread of the disease. This has led to the suspension of all educational activities especially in-class teaching and learning processes. This paper studied the state of education in Nigeria and the effort of government towards continuous education in comparison to the measures put in place by other developing countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper equally reviewed five different available and popular online learning platforms that can be implemented by the government to provide start-up educational programs that would help to keep students on course by learning remotely from home throughout the period of Covid-19 pandemic. These include Distance Learning, Social media, Virtual Classroom, M-Learning, and Flipped classroom. Implementation of these online forms of education will successfully offer alternatives and ensure continuous education presently and in the future. The recommendations of this study would be useful even for other developing countries that are yet to discover any alternative to the disrupted in-class learning activities so that their students will start to learn from home.
Keywords: COVID-19, Coronavirus, open and distance learning, social media, virtual classroom, mobile learning, flipped classroom
Research Article
Umut Akcil, Mert Bastas
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 13, Issue 1, Article No: ep291
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on people’s social interaction and has brought changes on education, environment and economy. COVID-19, which affects every aspect of life, has produced results that require re-evaluating the perspective on education. Distance learning, digital learning, e-learning has reshaped education in many ways. There can be a chance of the pandemic in the digital age to turn into an advantage for the education sector. In this period, it can be said that those who have high interest in technology move more easily in distance education and e-learning processes. In this context, expressing the best skills in the digital age, it was thought that the concept of digital citizenship would have positive effects on e-learning. This study is a relational survey and tested by establishing a relationship between digital citizenship and e-learning. The study was conducted among higher education students. It has been observed that there is a positive relationship between digital citizenship behaviors and e-learning attitudes. In addition, it has been observed that the negative anxiety of students due to the pandemic is reflected in their e-learning processes. However, overall results show that digital citizenship behavior digital learning process could be a positive response to COVID-19 closure period.
Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, e-learning, digital citizenships, digital age, higher education
Research Article
Ehab Malkawi, Ali Khaled Bawaneh, M S Bawa'aneh
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 13, Issue 1, Article No: ep283
ABSTRACT
The study aims at investigating the satisfaction level and attitudes of undergraduate students at United Arab Emirates University towards eLearning and virtual classes in exceptional circumstances of COVID-19 Crisis, in view of five demographic independent variables: students’ gender, educational level, residential location, college, and GPA. The researchers adopted and implemented a questionnaire where its validity and reliability for collecting data have been verified. Mean, standard deviations, and one-way ANOVA tests were conducted. The results indicate that the students’ satisfaction level and attitudes towards eLearning and virtual classes are strong in general with varying degrees between items. The results did not show a significant difference at the level (α = 0.05) for the independent variables: students’ gender, residential location, college, and GPA. However, the results imply that there is a statistically significant difference in students’ satisfaction level and attitudes towards eLearning and virtual classes for the independent variable of educational level. The study concluded with few recommendations; supporting the current efforts of the university to provide all the requirements of education via eLearning and virtual classes such as suitable infrastructure and technical support. Besides, there is a need for a continuous update of the teaching and learning platforms in line with continuous development and training for instructors and students.
Keywords: undergraduate students’ satisfaction, students’ attitudes, eLearning and virtual classes, UAEU, COVID-19
Research Article
Eddie M. Mulenga, José M. Marbán
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 12, Issue 2, Article No: ep269
ABSTRACT
Digital learning has reshaped education in many ways. The purpose of this study is to respond to the question of whether COVID-19 is the gateway for digital-learning in mathematics education. To this end, this study explores some uptakes of social media platforms by prospective secondary school teachers. Data was collected from 102 prospective mathematics teachers from the Copperbelt University (CBU). Cluster analysis approach was used. Results revealed that participants’ scores for digital learning in mathematics in cluster 2 were higher than those in both cluster 1 and 3. This is a clear indication that prospective teachers in clusters with low scores are more likely to exhibit low skill levels in the use of mobile technology and the adoption of social media in relation to mathematics pedagogy during the COVID-19 crisis. Results show different patterns. However, overall results show that digital learning could be a positive response to COVID-19 closure period.
Keywords: COVID-19, digital learning, social media, students, mathematics education, Zambia