research title about education in the midst of pandemic

Science Education in the Era of a Pandemic

How Can History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science Contribute to Education for Understanding and Solving the Covid-19 Crisis?

• Published: 30 March 2020
• Volume 29 , pages 233–235, ( 2020 )

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• Sibel Erduran 1  

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In late February 2019, when the Covid-19 crisis began to spread across South Korea, my doctoral student Wonyong Park was there for his data collection in secondary schools. Unphased by the growing national epidemic at the time, he remarked: “As a Cambridge student, Newton once had to return home due to the plague outbreak in England, during which he made his greatest discoveries! However, as the situation develops, I promise I’ll keep healthy and make this time most useful for me.” Now, about a month later, the entire planet finds itself in the midst of a pandemic.

Among the countries worst hit by the pandemic is Italy where one of our Associate Editors, Olivia Levrini, is based. During a recent exchange, she raised the question of how history, philosophy and sociology of science (HPS) might contribute to science education in the era of a pandemic. Given the novelty of the issues generated by a major health emergency, Science & Education invites colleagues to submit papers broadly addressing the following theme: “Science Education in the Era of a Pandemic: How can History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science Contribute to Education for Understanding and Solving the Covid-19 Crisis?”

Past pandemics can point to not only the development of scientific explanations in time but also the societal contexts that harboured them. Consider the stigma associated with syphilis characterised as a French or an Italian disease depending on where the disease was observed in the fifteenth century; the framing of cholera in the colonial discourse in Asia and the impact of the disease on global trade in the nineteenth century; or the mistaken causality drawn between a country and an outbreak in the case of the Spanish flu in the early twentieth century. History is replete with countless lessons about pandemics in terms of their societal, ethical as well as their scientific and medical dimensions.

The current pandemic is set against a backdrop of growing mistrust in science sometimes deliberately promoted for political ends, for instance, as is the case of climate change denial. There is an unprecedented need to educate the future scientists as well as the general public in engaging not only in evidence-based reasoning and critical thinking but also in action-oriented and socially responsible citizenship. Education systems from around the world urgently need to embrace curriculum, instruction and assessment approaches that will empower students by adopting scientific habits of mind. The current health emergency is putting heavy demands on the quality of online learning environments. High stakes assessment systems face significant accountability challenges in obtaining reliable measures of learning outcomes when students cannot attend examinations in person. The informal or non-formal learning environments including families, museums and other institutions of social networking are having to adopt to different ways of interacting, and they are pivotal in ensuring that a systemic approach to scientific literacy can be established across society.

The Covid-19 pandemic can potentially last for an extended period and its impact on contemporary science and society is likely to be felt for a long time. Thus, the papers focusing on the theme will not be restricted to a special issue. Rather, Science & Education wishes to encourage colleagues to engage in this topic now and over a length of time with the possibility of manuscripts appearing in the upcoming issues and volumes. The papers may include, but are not limited to:

Position papers about how HPS can contribute to science education in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic, for instance how science education can equip citizens with scientific skills to understand and to cope with the pandemic;

Historical case studies of pandemics and lessons learned for inclusion in science education;

Analysis of narratives and discourse about pandemics in contemporary mainstream news and social media with implications for public understanding of science;

Philosophical reflections on what counts as science and science education in the midst of a pandemic;

Accounts of science education as a research community at the time of a pandemic including the current demands and limitations of conducting and communicating research as well as academic community building;

The implications of social distancing and self-isolation measures for how scientific cultures and science learning communities (e.g. in schools, higher education institutions, research centres) organise themselves in adapting to a pandemic;

Critical reflection on science and more broadly on STEM curricula in terms of preparing the future generations for acquiring knowledge and skills to deal with global concerns such as pandemics and the climate emergency;

Investigations into various approaches to integrating HPS into teaching and learning of science through online resources and long-distance learning communities among teachers, students, parents, care-givers and other educational stakeholders.

In addressing such themes in their work, the community of educators, philosophers, historians, sociologists and other professionals are increasingly retreating into self-isolation and social distancing. Members of our community are facing new ways of working and some have no work or reduced work due to illness and/or care responsibilities. Science & Education considers it important to engage our community in constructive debates about how science education can contribute to understanding and solving the Covid-19 crisis. Inspired by Newton’s accomplishments including the work on his theory of gravity during the plague, we aim to make these uncertain and distressful times purposeful and productive for the research and learning communities engaged in the improvement of science education through history, philosophy and sociology of science.

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Erduran, S. Science Education in the Era of a Pandemic. Sci & Educ 29 , 233–235 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-020-00122-w

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Published : 30 March 2020

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This is part of our Coronavirus Update series in which Harvard specialists in epidemiology, infectious disease, economics, politics, and other disciplines offer insights into what the latest developments in the COVID-19 outbreak may bring.

As former secretary of education for Massachusetts, Paul Reville is keenly aware of the financial and resource disparities between districts, schools, and individual students. The school closings due to coronavirus concerns have turned a spotlight on those problems and how they contribute to educational and income inequality in the nation. The Gazette talked to Reville, the Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration at Harvard Graduate School of Education , about the effects of the pandemic on schools and how the experience may inspire an overhaul of the American education system.

Paul Reville

GAZETTE: Schools around the country have closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Do these massive school closures have any precedent in the history of the United States?

REVILLE: We’ve certainly had school closures in particular jurisdictions after a natural disaster, like in New Orleans after the hurricane. But on this scale? No, certainly not in my lifetime. There were substantial closings in many places during the 1918 Spanish Flu, some as long as four months, but not as widespread as those we’re seeing today. We’re in uncharted territory.

GAZETTE: What lessons did school districts around the country learn from school closures in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and other similar school closings?

REVILLE:   I think the lessons we’ve learned are that it’s good [for school districts] to have a backup system, if they can afford it. I was talking recently with folks in a district in New Hampshire where, because of all the snow days they have in the wintertime, they had already developed a backup online learning system. That made the transition, in this period of school closure, a relatively easy one for them to undertake. They moved seamlessly to online instruction.

Most of our big systems don’t have this sort of backup. Now, however, we’re not only going to have to construct a backup to get through this crisis, but we’re going to have to develop new, permanent systems, redesigned to meet the needs which have been so glaringly exposed in this crisis. For example, we have always had large gaps in students’ learning opportunities after school, weekends, and in the summer. Disadvantaged students suffer the consequences of those gaps more than affluent children, who typically have lots of opportunities to fill in those gaps. I’m hoping that we can learn some things through this crisis about online delivery of not only instruction, but an array of opportunities for learning and support. In this way, we can make the most of the crisis to help redesign better systems of education and child development.

GAZETTE: Is that one of the silver linings of this public health crisis?

REVILLE: In politics we say, “Never lose the opportunity of a crisis.” And in this situation, we don’t simply want to frantically struggle to restore the status quo because the status quo wasn’t operating at an effective level and certainly wasn’t serving all of our children fairly. There are things we can learn in the messiness of adapting through this crisis, which has revealed profound disparities in children’s access to support and opportunities. We should be asking: How do we make our school, education, and child-development systems more individually responsive to the needs of our students? Why not construct a system that meets children where they are and gives them what they need inside and outside of school in order to be successful? Let’s take this opportunity to end the “one size fits all” factory model of education.

GAZETTE: How seriously are students going to be set back by not having formal instruction for at least two months, if not more?

“The best that can come of this is a new paradigm shift in terms of the way in which we look at education, because children’s well-being and success depend on more than just schooling,” Paul Reville said of the current situation. “We need to look holistically, at the entirety of children’s lives.”

Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard file photo

REVILLE: The first thing to consider is that it’s going to be a variable effect. We tend to regard our school systems uniformly, but actually schools are widely different in their operations and impact on children, just as our students themselves are very different from one another. Children come from very different backgrounds and have very different resources, opportunities, and support outside of school. Now that their entire learning lives, as well as their actual physical lives, are outside of school, those differences and disparities come into vivid view. Some students will be fine during this crisis because they’ll have high-quality learning opportunities, whether it’s formal schooling or informal homeschooling of some kind coupled with various enrichment opportunities. Conversely, other students won’t have access to anything of quality, and as a result will be at an enormous disadvantage. Generally speaking, the most economically challenged in our society will be the most vulnerable in this crisis, and the most advantaged are most likely to survive it without losing too much ground.

GAZETTE: Schools in Massachusetts are closed until May 4. Some people are saying they should remain closed through the end of the school year. What’s your take on this?

REVILLE: That should be a medically based judgment call that will be best made several weeks from now. If there’s evidence to suggest that students and teachers can safely return to school, then I’d say by all means. However, that seems unlikely.

GAZETTE: The digital divide between students has become apparent as schools have increasingly turned to online instruction. What can school systems do to address that gap?

REVILLE: Arguably, this is something that schools should have been doing a long time ago, opening up the whole frontier of out-of-school learning by virtue of making sure that all students have access to the technology and the internet they need in order to be connected in out-of-school hours. Students in certain school districts don’t have those affordances right now because often the school districts don’t have the budget to do this, but federal, state, and local taxpayers are starting to see the imperative for coming together to meet this need.

Twenty-first century learning absolutely requires technology and internet. We can’t leave this to chance or the accident of birth. All of our children should have the technology they need to learn outside of school. Some communities can take it for granted that their children will have such tools. Others who have been unable to afford to level the playing field are now finding ways to step up. Boston, for example, has bought 20,000 Chromebooks and is creating hotspots around the city where children and families can go to get internet access. That’s a great start but, in the long run, I think we can do better than that. At the same time, many communities still need help just to do what Boston has done for its students.

Communities and school districts are going to have to adapt to get students on a level playing field. Otherwise, many students will continue to be at a huge disadvantage. We can see this playing out now as our lower-income and more heterogeneous school districts struggle over whether to proceed with online instruction when not everyone can access it. Shutting down should not be an option. We have to find some middle ground, and that means the state and local school districts are going to have to act urgently and nimbly to fill in the gaps in technology and internet access.

GAZETTE : What can parents can do to help with the homeschooling of their children in the current crisis?

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REVILLE: School districts can be helpful by giving parents guidance about how to constructively use this time. The default in our education system is now homeschooling. Virtually all parents are doing some form of homeschooling, whether they want to or not. And the question is: What resources, support, or capacity do they have to do homeschooling effectively? A lot of parents are struggling with that.

And again, we have widely variable capacity in our families and school systems. Some families have parents home all day, while other parents have to go to work. Some school systems are doing online classes all day long, and the students are fully engaged and have lots of homework, and the parents don’t need to do much. In other cases, there is virtually nothing going on at the school level, and everything falls to the parents. In the meantime, lots of organizations are springing up, offering different kinds of resources such as handbooks and curriculum outlines, while many school systems are coming up with guidance documents to help parents create a positive learning environment in their homes by engaging children in challenging activities so they keep learning.

There are lots of creative things that can be done at home. But the challenge, of course, for parents is that they are contending with working from home, and in other cases, having to leave home to do their jobs. We have to be aware that families are facing myriad challenges right now. If we’re not careful, we risk overloading families. We have to strike a balance between what children need and what families can do, and how you maintain some kind of work-life balance in the home environment. Finally, we must recognize the equity issues in the forced overreliance on homeschooling so that we avoid further disadvantaging the already disadvantaged.

GAZETTE: What has been the biggest surprise for you thus far?

REVILLE: One that’s most striking to me is that because schools are closed, parents and the general public have become more aware than at any time in my memory of the inequities in children’s lives outside of school. Suddenly we see front-page coverage about food deficits, inadequate access to health and mental health, problems with housing stability, and access to educational technology and internet. Those of us in education know these problems have existed forever. What has happened is like a giant tidal wave that came and sucked the water off the ocean floor, revealing all these uncomfortable realities that had been beneath the water from time immemorial. This newfound public awareness of pervasive inequities, I hope, will create a sense of urgency in the public domain. We need to correct for these inequities in order for education to realize its ambitious goals. We need to redesign our systems of child development and education. The most obvious place to start for schools is working on equitable access to educational technology as a way to close the digital-learning gap.

GAZETTE: You’ve talked about some concrete changes that should be considered to level the playing field. But should we be thinking broadly about education in some new way?

REVILLE: The best that can come of this is a new paradigm shift in terms of the way in which we look at education, because children’s well-being and success depend on more than just schooling. We need to look holistically, at the entirety of children’s lives. In order for children to come to school ready to learn, they need a wide array of essential supports and opportunities outside of school. And we haven’t done a very good job of providing these. These education prerequisites go far beyond the purview of school systems, but rather are the responsibility of communities and society at large. In order to learn, children need equal access to health care, food, clean water, stable housing, and out-of-school enrichment opportunities, to name just a few preconditions. We have to reconceptualize the whole job of child development and education, and construct systems that meet children where they are and give them what they need, both inside and outside of school, in order for all of them to have a genuine opportunity to be successful.

Within this coronavirus crisis there is an opportunity to reshape American education. The only precedent in our field was when the Sputnik went up in 1957, and suddenly, Americans became very worried that their educational system wasn’t competitive with that of the Soviet Union. We felt vulnerable, like our defenses were down, like a nation at risk. And we decided to dramatically boost the involvement of the federal government in schooling and to increase and improve our scientific curriculum. We decided to look at education as an important factor in human capital development in this country. Again, in 1983, the report “Nation at Risk” warned of a similar risk: Our education system wasn’t up to the demands of a high-skills/high-knowledge economy.

We tried with our education reforms to build a 21st-century education system, but the results of that movement have been modest. We are still a nation at risk. We need another paradigm shift, where we look at our goals and aspirations for education, which are summed up in phrases like “No Child Left Behind,” “Every Student Succeeds,” and “All Means All,” and figure out how to build a system that has the capacity to deliver on that promise of equity and excellence in education for all of our students, and all means all. We’ve got that opportunity now. I hope we don’t fail to take advantage of it in a misguided rush to restore the status quo.

This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.

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Education in the Midst of a Pandemic: Four Key Takeaways

Let’s apply the lessons we are learning and find new ways to make progress together.

We are living in unprecedented times. To reduce the spread of COVID-19, more than 130 countries have closed schools entirely , impacting 80 percent of the world’s student population. Here in the United States, at least 46 states have shut down their schools , sending more than 50 million children home. Parents don’t know how long they will need to care for and educate their children while simultaneously attending to employment obligations—if they are lucky enough to still have jobs. School closures pose especially serious challenges for students with disabilities, children who rely on schools to provide breakfast or lunch daily, and families who lack reliable Internet access or computers. Meanwhile, educators across the country are trying to figure out how to serve students from a distance, effectively and equitably.

I’m grateful to work for an organization that maintains a pulse on the impact of real-time issues affecting students and education in the midst of a pandemic. Mathematica works with our partners to use data to measure how access to resources affects student outcomes. As a member of my town’s local school board for the past four years, I’ve also had the honor of supporting school administrators facing difficult decisions.

Based on my experiences as an education researcher, a parent, and a school board member, I suggest four key takeaways we should be considering right now.

1. Effective digital learning requires resources and coordination. Many schools will close for more than a few weeks and perhaps through the end of the school year. Schools must seek alternatives to classroom-based instruction. A smooth transition to digital learning requires that (1) all students have access to technology and the Internet; (2) teachers have the training, support, and expertise to use remote technology to drive instruction aligned with their planned curriculum; and (3) parents and caregivers are equipped to support and oversee students’ participation in digital learning activities. Achieving these requirements takes time and coordination.

Some schools with ample resources have been able to jump right in and provide digital lessons and activities, but many public schools have far less experience and assets. These schools are scrambling to determine which families need laptops or tablets and Wi-Fi access. They are reaching out through a variety of means, contacting families eligible for the free and reduced-price lunch program, and broadly distributing mailings and phone calls. School leaders are working with teachers to provide guidance on next steps as they await guidance from state and federal leaders about what they legally can and cannot provide and what accountability requirements remain . Teachers are considering class instruction through platforms such as Zoom, student self-paced digital learning activities, or distribution of paper learning packets. And many teachers have their own families that need their support.

These unparalleled times underscore key issues that extend beyond our current crisis. As our education system moves toward remote learning, schools need to collect information on families’ technology needs. Teachers need training and supports to use technology in and outside the classroom. And school leaders and teaching staff need a strong understanding of how to integrate technology to support learning while ensuring data privacy . Fortunately, there are free resources available for school leaders to access now.

School leaders who are trying different strategies to educate students while their schools are closed can collect outcome data and then use our free Evidence to Insights Coach (e2i) Coach to inform decisions about what technology strategies and tools are most effective for their students.

2. Serving all students equitably requires intentional effort. Educators are being flooded with links to online learning resources and must comb through them to determine whether they align with their curriculum and are accessible to all youth as required by law. Federal statutes require this accessibility to everyone, including those with disabilities or language barriers, unless provisions are made to provide alternate access. Such provisions would include, for example, speech recognition software for those who are visually impaired, or closed-captioning or translation services for those with hearing or language barriers.

School districts initially received guidance from the federal government that they could not mandate learning activities that did not serve all students equitably. Many districts then launched “enrichment” activities rather than requirements. More recent guidance encourages schools to provide distance education and think creatively about ways to support those with special needs (for example, individualized phone conversations and teletherapy). Special education leaders are brainstorming how to deal with a variety of issues, such as whether and how to develop individualized education plans and what kinds of compensatory services will make up for lost time once this crisis has ended. Organizations such as the Public Broadcasting System are stepping up to partner with state education agencies to support educational programming and resources. Despite best intentions, students with greater needs might fall behind at a faster pace than their classmates.

We already know that students living in economically under-resourced settings and those with special needs lag in academic growth. Mathematica partners with educators in understanding how to close this gap. For example, we constructed a school-level growth measure for kindergarten to grade 3 to make student growth in early elementary grades more visible to inform educational investments. We also study promising learning approaches, provide technical support for data-driven decision making, and examine best practices for educators’ professional development, including online learning communities so that teachers in different locations can meet without having to travel. Moving forward, our research community will continue to work with federal, state, and local partners, as well as philanthropy partners, to learn about promising approaches to reducing the achievement gap.

3. Some families rely on schools for their children’s nutritional needs. School closures have made one fact highly visible: many children rely on schools for healthy breakfasts and lunches. Given business closures, more families than ever might be struggling to put food on the table. Communities across the country have rallied to support these families—for example, public and private organizations in my town have partnered to identify families in need and prepare and distribute daily meals.

Mathematica’s research on supports to reduce hunger provides some useful guidance. In her recent blog post on food insecurity, my colleague Ronette Briefel discussed the need to increase awareness of this issue and consider strategies to ensure that families have access to healthy meals year round. In particular, programs to promote food security when school is out during the summer provide useful prototypes for providing nutrition assistance during the summer months to reduce food insecurity when schools are closed.

4. Supporting the physical and social emotional well-being of youth is as important as supporting their learning. Emotional health was a rising priority for educators even before the coronavirus epidemic. Now it has become critical. Shielding children from the news is nearly impossible. They have been asked to shelter at home and avoid physical interaction with their friends.

In response, schools are promoting resources on mindfulness and yoga. Museums and not-for-profit organizations are providing enriched online programming. And we’ve all come to understand the power and promise of art and music to lift spirits, with famous writers, artists, and musicians sharing their work online. Although this underscores the critical importance of emotional health, physical activity plays a key role in well-being, as studies of programs like Playworks , which is now offering online recess programming, have shown.

We don’t need to measure stress right now to know that we are all feeling it. We will get through this together, and we will be forever changed. Let’s apply the lessons we are learning in the wake of this challenge and find new ways to make progress together, advancing the well-being of our nation’s children, youth, and families.

About the Author

Lauren Scher

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The COVID-19 pandemic and E-learning: challenges and opportunities from the perspective of students and instructors

Abdelsalam m. maatuk.

1 Faculty of Information Technology, Benghazi University, Benghazi, Libya

Ebitisam K. Elberkawi

Shadi aljawarneh.

2 Faculty of Computer and Information Technology, Irbid, Jordan

Hasan Rashaideh

3 Department of Computer Science, Prince Abdullah Ben Ghazi Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Technology, Al-Balqa Applied University, Salt, 19117 Jordan

Hadeel Alharbi

4 Computer Science, Ha’il University, Ha’il, Saudi Arabia

The spread of COVID-19 poses a threat to humanity, as this pandemic has forced many global activities to close, including educational activities. To reduce the spread of the virus, education institutions have been forced to switch to e-learning using available educational platforms, despite the challenges facing this sudden transformation. In order to further explore the potentials challenges facing learning activities, the focus of this study is on e-learning from students’ and instructor’s perspectives on using and implementing e-learning systems in a public university during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study targets the society that includes students and teaching staff in the Information Technology (IT) faculty at the University of Benghazi. The descriptive-analytical approach was applied and the results were analyzed by statistical methods. Two types of questionnaires were designed and distributed, i.e., the student questionnaire and the instructor questionnaire. Four dimensions have been highlighted to reach the expected results, i.e., the extent of using e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, advantages, disadvantages and obstacles of implementing E-learning in the IT faculty. By analyzing the results, we achieved encouraging results that throw light on some of the issues, challenges and advantages of using e-learning systems instead of traditional education in higher education in general and during emergency periods.

Introduction

The unexpected closure of educational institutions as a result of the emergence of COVID-19 prompted the authorities to suggest adopting alternatives to traditional learning methods in emergencies to ensure that students are not left without studying and to prevent the epidemic from spreading.

The formal learning system with the help of electronic resources is known as e-learning. Whereas teaching can be inside (or outside) the classrooms, the use of computer technology and the Internet is the main component of e-learning (Aboagye et al. ( 2020 ). The traditional educational methods were replaced by e-learning when the COVID-19 virus appeared because social gatherings in educational institutions are considered an opportunity for the virus to spread. E-learning is the best option available to ensure that epidemics do not spread, as it guarantees spatial distancing despite the challenges and studied figures, which indicate that students are less likely to benefit from this type of education (Lizcano et al. ( 2020 ).

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) offer unique educational and training opportunities as they improve teaching and learning, and innovation and creativity for people and organizations. Furthermore, the use of ICT can promote the development of an educational policy that encourages creative and innovative educational institution environments (Abdullah et al. 2019 ; Altawaty et al. 2020 ; Selim, 2007 ). Therefore, attention is given widely to efforts and experiences related to this type of education. This technology is commonly used by most universities in several developing countries. In an educational environment, there are lots of learning-related processes involved, and great amounts of potential rich data are generated in educational institutions continuously in order to extract knowledge from those data for a better understanding of learning-related processes (Aljawarneh, 2020 ; Lara et al. 2020 ; Lizcano et al. 2020 ).

E-learning is playing a vital role in the existing educational setting, as it changes the entire education system and becomes one of the greatest preferred topics for academics (Samir et al. 2014 ). It is defined as the use of diverse kinds of ICT and electronic devices in teaching (Gaebel et al. ( 2014 ). Most students today want to study online and graduate from universities and colleges around the world, but they cannot go anywhere because they reside in isolated places without good communication services.

Because of e-learning, participants can save time and effort for living in distant places from universities where they are registered, so, many scholars support online courses (Ms & Toro, 2013 ).

Many users of e-learning platforms see that online learning helps ensure that e-learning can be easily managed, and the learner can easily access the teachers and teaching materials (Gautam, 2020 ; Mukhtar et al. 2020). It also helped reduce the effort and travel expenses and other expenses that accompany traditional learning. E-learning reduced significantly the administrative effort, preparation and lectures recording, attendance, and leaving classes. Teachers, as well as students, see that online learning methods encouraged pursuing lessons from anywhere and in difficult circumstances that prevent them from reaching universities and schools. The student becomes a self-directed learner and learns simultaneously and asynchronously at any time. However, there are many drawbacks of e-learning, the most important of which is getting knowledge only on a theoretical basis and when it comes to using everything that learners have learned without applied practical skills. The face-to-face learning experience is missing, which may interest many learners and educators. Other problems are related to the online assessments, which may be limited to objective questions. Issues related to the security of online learning programs and user reliability are among the challenges of e-learning in addition to other difficulties that are always related to the misuse of technology (Gautam, 2020 ; Mukhtar et al. 2020).

Web-based education, digital learning, interactive learning, computer-assisted teaching and internet-based learning are known as E-learning (Aljawarneh, 2020 ; Lara et al. 2020 ; Yengin et al. 2011 ). It is mainly a web-based education system that provides learners with information or expertise utilizing technology. The use of web-based technology for educational purposes has increased rapidly due to a drastic reduction in the cost of implementing these technologies. Nowadays, many universities have recognized the importance of E-learning as a core element of their learning system. Therefore, further research has been conducted to understand the difficulties, advantages, and challenges of e-learning in higher education. These issues have the potential to adversely affect instructors' quality in the delivery of educational material (Yengin et al. 2011 ).

Technology-based E-learning requires the use of the internet and other essential tools to generate educational materials, educate learners, and administer courses in an organization. E-learning is flexible when considering time, location, and health issues. It increases the effectiveness of knowledge and skills by enabling access to a massive amount of data, and enhances collaboration, and also strengthens learning-sustaining relationships. Although e-learning can enhance the quality of education, there is an argument about making E-learning materials available, which leads to improving learning outcomes only for specific types of collective evaluation. However, e-learning may result in the heavy use of certain websites. Moreover, it cannot support domains that require practical studies. The main drawback of using e-learning is the absence of crucial personal interactions, not only between students and teachers but also among fellow students (Somayeh et al. 2016 ). Compared to developed countries, it was found that developing countries face many challenges in applying e-learning, including poor internet connection, insufficient knowledge about the use of information and communication technology, and weak content development (Aung & Khaing, 2015 ). The provision of content such as video and advanced applications is still a new thing for many educators, even at the higher education level in developing countries (Aljawarneh, 2020 ; Lara et al. 2020 ; Lizcano et al. 2020 ).

This study aims to identify issues related to the use, advantages, disadvantages, and obstacles of e-learning programs in a public university by extrapolating the perspectives of students and educators who use this mode of learning in long-lasting unusual circumstances. The research population consisted of students and faculty members at the Faculty of IT at the University of Benghazi. Two types of questionnaires have been distributed to students and instructors. To achieve the expected results, four dimensions are defined, i.e., the extent to which E-learning is used and the benefits, drawbacks, and obstacles to the implementation of E-learning by the Faculty of IT. The descriptive-analytical method is used in the statistical analysis of the results. By evaluating the results, we have obtained promising findings that demonstrate some of the higher education sector's problems, obstacles, and advantages of using the E-learning method. Students believe that based on the study’s results, E-learning contributes to their learning. This reduces the instructor workload, however, and raises it for students. The teaching staff agrees that E-learning is beneficial in enhancing the skills of students, although it needs financial resources and the cost of implementing them is high. Despite the advantages of using E-learning, some of the obstacles to its implementation in Libya include the degradation of the Internet infrastructure that supports these education systems in Libya in general. The high cost of buying the electronic equipment needed and maintaining the equipment, which is unemployed.

The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 gives some background and related work about E-learning. Section 3 describes the methodology. Statistical analysis is presented in Sect. 4. Section 5 explains the study outcomes. Finally, Sect. 6 discusses the conclusion of this work and provides some recommendations.

Related work

Several studies have addressed the opportunities and challenges associated with the transition to traditional learning instead of e-learning. One of the main reasons for faltering e-learning initiatives is the lack of well-preparedness for this experience.

A study that aims to examine student challenges about how to deal with e-learning in the outbreak of COVID-19 and to examine whether students are prepared to study online or not is presented in (Aboagye et al. 2020 ). The study concluded that a blended approach that combines traditional and e-teaching must be available for learners. Another study that aims to explore the e-learning process among students who are familiar with web-based technology to advance their self-study skills is described in (Radha et al. 2020 ). The study results show that e-learning has become popular among students in all educational institutions in the period of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A study that aims to investigate the characteristics, benefits, drawbacks and features that impact E-learning has been presented in (Ms & Toro, 2013 ). Some of the demographic features such as behaviors and cultural background impact student education in the E-learning domain. Therefore, for lecturers to design educational activities to make learning more effective, they should understand these features. The study is applied to students in Lebanon and England to assist instructors to understand what scholars expect from the learning management systems.

Analyzing the effectiveness of E-learning for students at the university level has been introduced in (Ali et al. 2018 ). A questionnaire was applied to a sample of 700 students, 94.9% of them are utilizing different e-learning techniques and tools. To measure the reliability and internal consistency of the factors, Cronbach’s alpha test is applied. To take out the variables and to calculate the factors loading in the study, the exploratory feature analysis is applied. The results demonstrate that students support that E-learning is easy to use, saves time, and affordable.

Various predictions of e-learning for educational purposes have been illustrated in (Samir et al. 2014 ). The study aims to show how to keep students motivated in e-learning. The evaluation of student motivations for online learning can be challenging because of the lack of face-to-face contact between learners and teachers. The study shows that one way to increase student’s motivation is by allowing them to complete an online assessment form on motivation. The study suggests five research hypotheses to be inspected to identify which hypothesis should be accepted and which should not.

The strength of the relationship between students’ motivation and e-learning is illustrated in (Harandi, 2015 ). Data was gathered from students at Tehran Alzahra University, and Pearson's correlation coefficient was utilized for data analysis. The outcomes of this study revealed that some points should be considered before using E-learning. However, this study was restricted to one culture, which can limit the generalization of its results.

The study described in (Oludare Jethro et al. 2012 ) showed that e-learning is a new atmosphere for scholars, as it illustrates how to make e-learning more effective in the educational field and the advantages of using e-learning. The outcome of the study showed that the students were willing to learn more with less social communication with other students or lecturers.

A study that aims to highlight and measure the four Critical Success Factors from student insights is described in (Selim, 2007 ). These factors are instructor and student characteristics, technology structure, and university support. The outcomes of the study showed that the instructor characteristics factor is the most critical one followed by IT infrastructure and university support in e-learning success. The least critical factor to the success of e-learning was student characteristics.

The work described in (GOYAL & S., 2012 ) has tried to emphasize the importance of e-learning in modern teaching and illustrates its advantages and disadvantages. Also, the comparison with Instructor Led Training (ILT) and the probability of applying E-learning instead of old classroom teaching was discussed. In addition, the study showed the major drawbacks of ILT in institutions and how using E-learning can assist in overcoming these problems.

The purpose of the study in (Gaebel et al. 2014 ) is to conduct a survey on the varieties of E-learning organizations, skills, and their anticipations for the forthcoming. Blended and online learning are taken into account. Some of the questions related to intra-institutional management, arrangements and services, and quality assurance. The outcomes of the survey showed that from 38 diverse countries and systems, there are 249 organizations broadly conceived the same causes for the increasing use of e-learning.

The study in (Yengin et al. 2011 ) illustrated that the most vital role in the e-learning design outlook is online lecturers. As a result, considering the issues impacting lecturers’ performance should be taken into the account. One of the features that impact the usability of the system and lecturers’ presentation is satisfaction. The results showed, to produce a simple model called the “E-learning Success Model for Instructors’ Satisfactions” that is related to public, logical and technical communications of instructors in the entire e-learning system, the features associated with teachers’ satisfaction in e-learning systems have been examined.

The comparison between different E-learning tools in terms of their goals, benefits and drawbacks are presented in (Aljawarneh et al. 2010 ). The comparison assists in providing when to use each tool. The outcomes show that instructors and students prefer to use MOODLE over Blackboard in the e-learning environment. One of the major challenges that face the E-learning environment is security issues since security is not combined into the active learning development process.

The effect of e-learning at the Payame Noor University of Hamedan, Iran on the innovation and material awareness of chemistry students was examined in (Zare et al. 2016 ). The research used a control group's pre-test/post-test experimental design. Data analysis findings using the independent t-test showed significantly better scores on calculated variables, information and innovation for the experimental group. Consequently, E-learning is beneficial for the acquisition of knowledge and innovation among chemistry students, and that a larger chance for E-learning should be given for broader audiences.

A study in (Arkorful & Abaidoo, 2015 ) aimed to explore the literature and provide the study with a theoretical context by reviewing some publications made by different academics and universities on the definition of E-learning, its use in education and learning in institutions of higher education. The general literature described the pros and cons of E-learning, which showed that it needs to be enforced in higher education for teachers, supervisors and students to experience the full advantages of acceptance and implementation.

Assessing the learning effectiveness of e-learning was studied in (Somayeh et al. 2016 ). This analysis study was conducted using the databases of Medline and CINAHL and the search engine of Google. The research used covered review articles and English language meta-analysis. 38 papers including journals, books, and websites are investigated and categorized from the results obtained. The general advantages of E-learning such as the promotion of learning and speed and process of learning due to individual needs were discussed. The study results indicated positive effects of E-learning on learning, so it is proposed that more use should be made of this education method, which needs the requisite grounds to be established.

It is important to focus on analyzing the learner and student characteristics and motivating students to ensure their involvement in e-learning. Also, it is necessary to focus on the impact and extent of teacher acceptance of e-learning. The age difference between the teachers and the students indicates that the teachers received most of their studies and teaching skills through traditional teaching and learning methods, which may make their acceptance of e-learning different from the student’s acceptance of modern methods of e-learning and education in general.

The methodology

The descriptive-analytical method was used for this study and the five-point Likert-scale range was calculated based on (1) Strongly disagreed, (2) Disagree, (3) Neutral, (4) Agree, and (5) Strongly agree, with the analysis of results using a statistical application called the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).

Study population

The study targets the sample society that includes teaching staff and undergraduate students of all departments in the IT Faculty at the University of Benghazi.

Study boundaries

• Scientific restrictions: Assessment of the extent of application of E-learning in higher education.
• Administrative Field: Faculty of IT, University of Benghazi, Libya.
• Period: The Year of 2020.
• Human Resources: Teaching staff and students in the faculty.

Study sample

The study involves two types of questionnaires to be prepared and developed: one questionnaire for students and another for instructors. The following details were obtained after the questionnaires were randomly distributed and collected individually. The study sample was selected based on the awareness of the size of the population:

• Student Questionnaire: The total number of distributed questionnaires was 140 copies, without invalid copies, and 5 copies were missing. Therefore, the copies being analyzed are 135.
• Teaching Staff Questionnaire: The total number of distributed questionnaires was 20 copies, while 20 legitimate copies were returned without invalid or missing copies.

Some of the demographic characteristics are shown in Table ​ Table1 1 .

Distribution of student study sample

Study dimensions

The study has emphasized four dimensions to achieve the expected results as follows:

• The extent of using E-learning in the Faculty of IT.
• Advantages of E-learning.
• Disadvantages of E-learning.
• Obstacles to implementing E-learning.

Statistical analysis

Data analysis.

The Means and Materiality statistical relations are used to analyze the results. By evaluating the findings, we gain crucial information based on these statistical relations according to the rank of inquiries as shown in Tables ​ Tables2 2 – 3 .

Descriptive statistics of students' perspective

Descriptive statistics of teaching staff perspective

The students' perspective

The analysis of data as a statistical relationship regarding the perspective of the students is shown in Table ​ Table2 2 .

Dimension 1: the extent of using E-learning in IT faculty.

Inquiries (6), (7) and (10) are of similar materiality and inquiry (6) is chosen because it has the lower standard deviation, which states that "E-learning technologies are used for scientific research purposes" with the materiality of 82.6% and a mean 4.13, while inquiry number (7), which states "Search engines are used to obtain curriculum needs". However, inquiry (2), which states that "the Internet is available to students at the faculty” has the lowest materiality of 40% and a mean 2.

Dimension 2: advantages of E-learning

Inquiry number (1) states that "E-learning contributes to raising your educational level" has the highest materiality of 88.2% and a mean of 4.41. However, inquiry number (7), which states that "E-learning reduces the burden because learning becomes a conversation between teaching staff and students instead of traditional learning", has the lowest materiality of 75.8% and a mean of 3.79.

Dimension 3: disadvantages of E-learning

Inquiries (5) and (6) are of similar materiality and inquiry number (5) is chosen because it has the lower standard deviation, which states that "E-learning reduces the burden of teaching staff and increases the burden of students” with the materiality of 75.4% and a mean of 3.77. Nevertheless, inquiry number (1), which states that "E-learning isolates you from the community by connecting you to your computer for long periods ", was the lowest materiality of 72.6% and a mean of 3.63.

Dimension 4: obstacles to E-learning

Inquiry number (3) states that "the lack of the Internet in the faculty to apply E-learning" has the highest materiality of 79% and a mean of 3.95. Yet, inquiries (4) and (5) are of similar materiality and inquiry number (5) has been chosen as it has the lower standard deviation, which notes that "Lack of experience of students with E-learning techniques” with the materiality of 71.8% and a mean of 3.59.

Teaching staff perspective

The analysis of data as a statistical relationship regarding the perspective of the teaching staff and the important analyzes of mean and materiality is given in Table ​ Table3 3

Dimension 1: the extent of using E-learning in IT faculty

Inquiry number (10), which was about that “Use email to communicate with colleagues”, has the highest materiality of 91% and a mean of 4.55. However, inquiry number (2), which states that "internet accessible always available to teaching staff in the faculty", has the least materiality as 41.8% and the mean is 2.09.

Dimension 2. advantages of E-learning

Inquiry number (4) which states that "E-learning contributes to increasing students' skills in using computers” has the highest materiality of 84.6% and a mean of 4.23. However, inquiry number (7), which states that "E-learning reduces the burden because learning becomes a conversation between teaching staff and students instead of traditional learning” with the lowest materiality of 68.2% and a mean of 3.41.

Inquiry number (6) which states that "E-learning needs financial capability compared to traditional education" has the maximum materiality of 79% and a mean of 3.95. Nevertheless, inquiry number (3), which reports that "students face a greater burden during the educational process while reducing the burden of teaching staff", has the lowest materiality of 58.2% and a mean of 2.91.

Inquiries (4) and (7) are of similar materiality and inquiry number (4) is chosen because it has the lower standard deviation, which states that "The lack of internet in the faculty to apply e-learning" with the materiality of 82.8% and a mean 4.14. Yet, inquiries (3) and (6) are of similar materiality and inquiry (6) is chosen, which states that "E-learning needs high costs" has the lowest materiality of 71.8% and a mean of 3.59.

Results and discussion

Students' perspective.

As shown in Table ​ Table4, 4 , we found the T-Test value = 8.733 and the P -Value = 0.00 to the extent of using E-learning during the pandemic. T-Test value = 22.86 and P -Value = 0.00 for the advantages of E-learning. The T-Test value = 12.786 and P -Value = 0.00 for the drawbacks of E-learning. The obstacles to E-learning in the last dimension are the T-Test value = 11.961 and the P -Value = 0.00. Accordingly, all T-Test values are greater than the T table value = 1.96. On the other side, all P -Values are smaller than the level of significance = 0.05. Thus, in each dimension of the four dimensions of the sample, there were statistically significant differences from the student's perspectives.

Statistical tests (students' perspective)

As shown in Table ​ Table5, 5 , the extent, to which E-learning is used are T-Test = 6.021 and P -Value = 0.00, the advantages of E-learning are T-Test = 9.015 and P -Value = 0.00, the disadvantages of E-learning are T-Test = 3.813 and P -Value = 0.001, and the obstacles to E-learning are T-Test = 6.505 and P -Value = 0.00 respectively. Depending on the T-Test values are higher than the T table value = 1.96, P -Values are less than the level of significance = 0.05. There were statistically significant differences from the teaching staff perspective in each dimension of the study's four dimensions.

Statistical tests (Teaching staff perspective)

The data analysis of the four dimensions is summarized as follows:

• The extent of the use of e-learning: the findings indicate that the student's approval of the use of e-learning and the teaching staff’s viewpoint is (Agreement), where the mean are (3.44) and (3.59) respectively.
• The advantages of e-learning: the results consider this dimension indicates the approval of the advantages of e-learning from the perspective of students and teaching staff was (Agreement), where the mean of the perspective of students was (4.13) and the mean of the perspective of the teaching staff was (3.99).
• The dimension that constituted the disadvantages of e-learning: This indicates that the student's acceptance drawbacks of e-learning are (Agreement) of the mean (3.78) and the teaching staff's opinion was (Undecided) of the mean (3.35).
• The factor defining obstacles to e-learning indicates that there were acceptance obstacles for e-learning from the perspective of both students and teaching staff (i.e., Agreement), where the mean was (3.75) and (3.82).

A comparison between the two perspectives

As shown in Fig.  1 , it is noticeable that the viewpoint of both the teaching staff and the students in all four dimensions of the study is identical. This demonstrates that they are almost standardized, with little variation in the third dimension of the data considered for the disadvantages of e-learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. This factor achieves the agreement from the teaching staff's perspective and is undecided from the students' perspective to achieve the agreement as to the outcomes.

A comparison of students' and teaching staff' perspectives

The study outcomes

The study outcomes could be summaries as follows:

Findings based on students' perspective

• The students believe that e-learning is used and that one of the most significant uses is a replica of the scientific method learned on electronic/multimedia forms.
• The students agree that e-learning is useful and that it helps them to be safe and improved their academic standards.
• The students claim that the introduction of e-learning is difficult and that the low-quality of internet services is the biggest obstacle to its application.
• The students demonstrate that there are limitations to e-learning and that the biggest downside is that it decreases the workload for teaching staff and raises the pressure on students.

Findings based on teaching staff perspective

• The teaching staff believes that e-learning is beneficial and that helping to develop students' technological skills is one of the most critical positive elements.
• The teaching staff agrees that the use of e-learning is common and that the possession of faculty members via e-mail and other e-services is the most significant use.
• The teaching staff agrees that there are barriers to the introduction of e-learning and that the high cost of its implementation is one of the main difficulties.
• The teaching staff accepts that e-learning has disadvantages and that the biggest downside is that, relative to traditional learning, it requires financial support.

Pedagogical aspects

Any e-learning strategy follows one of the commonly known learning theories, i.e., behaviorism, cognitivism, or constructivism (Mödritscher, 2006 ). Furthermore, each didactic strategy has a more or less strong impact on the factors that influence the learning process and the self-assessment of the characteristics of the learner. Therefore, based on what has been achieved through the opinions of teaching staff and students, we found that the certain characteristics of the learner, in particular, the motivation need to be analyzed. It is also necessary, as an appropriate pedagogical step, to choose an e-learning strategy that suits the characteristics of students and the electronic environment they are living in nowadays.

Conclusion and recommendations

This study aims to identify the major issues and challenges by extrapolating the opinions of students and faculty instructors on the use of e-learning systems in a public university during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study society sample consists of students and faculty members at the Faculty of IT, University of Benghazi. The descriptive-analytical approach has been applied with statistical analysis of the results. Two types of questionnaires have been distributed for students and instructors. Four dimensions have been determined to reach the expected results, i.e., the extent to which e-learning is used and the advantages, disadvantages and obstacles to the implementation of E-learning in the Faculty of IT. Learning and teaching in an electronic environment still provide many advantages, including, reducing expenses and affords. It was also a successful alternative for many students to return to study in educational institutions during the spread of the Covid-19 virus, despite facing many issues and challenges. By analyzing the results, we have achieved encouraging results to highlight some of the issues, challenges and benefits of using the e-learning system in the higher education sector.

Issues such as technical and financial support, training, improved working conditions, technological background, skills, copyright protections and professional development are always important in the implementation of e-learning in public universities. Based on the study results, students believe that e-learning contributes to their learning. However, it reduces the workload on faculty and increases it on students. The main obstacle to e-learning is the low-quality of Internet services in Libya during the pandemic period. Faculty members agree that e-learning is useful in increasing students' computer skills, although it requires significant financial resources. We can claim that it is important to highlight many of the recommendations, which could have a positive impact on the possibility of implementing e-learning. The university has to provide internet service to students and teaching staff members with enough computer devices to apply e-learning. A modern electronic library and dedicated classrooms with all types of equipment and tools needed are also necessary to apply e-learning instead of coming to the main campus. Conducting online training and seminars regularly is important, for teaching staff, in particular, to support the application of e-learning, in addition to constant attention to IT infrastructure and periodic maintenance of computers and supporting equipment. In addition to all of this, the role and importance of focusing on many things related to the characteristics of the learner, such as the characteristics of the student's background knowledge and how to motivate the students as one of the pedagogical impacts.

Biographies

is a professor, Software Engineering, at Benghazi University, Libya. He received his B.Sc. degree in Computer Science from Benghazi University, Libya, in 1995, and received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in 2004 and 2009, respectively from Northumbria University, UK. Dr. Maatuk returned to Omar Al Mukhtar University in Nov. 2009 as a lecturer. Dr. Maatuk joined Benghazi University in Aug. 2014, as an assistant professor in the Faculty of IT. He was appointed as Vice Dean of IT Faculty, Benghazi University in July 2015 to April 2019. Since May 2019, he is the Dean of IT Faculty, Benghazi University. Dr. Maatuk has published several articles in journals and conferences in the field of database systems and software engineering. His primary work and research interest spread over several research fields, e.g., object-based databases, database reengineering and software engineering.

is currently a lecturer in the Faculty of IT, University of Benghazi where she has been a faculty member since 2013. She received BSc in software engineering from Benghazi University and an MSc from the Academy of high studies, Libya in June 2010. From 2015-2018 she was the head of the information systems department at the IT Faculty, University of Benghazi. She has many publications and is presently workings on many more papers.

is a professor, Software Engineering, at the Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan. He holds a BSc degree in Computer Science from Jordan Yarmouk University, an MSc degree in Information Technology from Western Sydney University, and a Ph.D. in Software Engineering from Northumbria University-England. His research is centered on software engineering, web and network security, elearning, machine learning, cloud computing and ICT fields. Aljawarneh has presented at and been on the organizing committees for a number of international conferences and is a board member of the International Community for ACM, Jordan ACM Chapter, ACS, and IEEE. Multiple papers have been selected as “Best Papers” in conferences and journals. He is also the Associate Editor for IEEE ACCESS and Electrical and Computer Engineering.

is an associate professor, Computer Science, at Al-Balqa Applied University, Jordan. He received his BSc and MSc degrees in computer science and information technology from Yarmouk University in 1999 and 2002 respectively. In 2008 he obtained his Ph.D. degree in computer science from Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical State University-Russian Federation. Then, he joined the department of computer science at Prince Abdullah Bin Ghazi Faculty of ICT / Al-Balqa Applied University-Jordan as an assistant professor. He was appointed as Head of the department from July 2015 to July 2018. His research interests include machine learning, image processing, and computer vision, information retrieval, and optimization.

is an assistant professor, Computer Science at Hail University. She is head department for computer science and software engineering in the female branch, Hail University, Saudi Arabia. Her research interests include e-learning, recommendation systems, and information retrieval.

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Contributor Information

Abdelsalam M. Maatuk, Email: [email protected] .

Ebitisam K. Elberkawi, Email: [email protected] .

Shadi Aljawarneh, Email: oj.ude.tsuj@henrawajlaas .

Hasan Rashaideh, Email: oj.ude.uab@hediahsar .

Hadeel Alharbi, Email: [email protected] .

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Locion, Jayben, P, et al. "The Academic Experiences of Senior High School Students in the Midst of Pandemic." East Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research , vol. 1, no. 6, 27 Jul. 2022, pp. 1017-1032, doi: 10.55927/eajmr.v1i6.684 .

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As the world evolves, new problems arise and this leads to a bigger barrier for students especially with education. This paper uncovers the struggles of students with regards to the new learning modality as a result of the pandemic; COVID-19. It presents and discuss findings and methods in which the researchers examined information acquired from personal interviews – phenomenological study through “thematic analysis” (Sutton & Austin, 2015). Specifically, STEM Students from Samar National School were asked various questions about their experiences with education in the midst of the pandemic. 5 informants were purposively selected through selection criteria and data was collected through a semi-structured interview. As a result, the responses demonstrate how STEM students deal with the pandemic and the challenges it brings. Some students experience barriers especially doing online classes in their own homes; such as noise, doing chores, and lack of motivation. Some are not used to the new learning set-up and they only try their best to adapt with this as soon as possible. Not only with education prior but some also faced mental health struggles as an effect of the change of learning practices. Furthermore, most of the informants have comparable replies to the many issues they have experienced. In sum, the results uncovered the different challenges and struggles that these students faced with the new learning modality and how these affected their performance. This study is also about conveying a message to all students that in this fight, they are not alone.

Table of contents

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Teaching and learning continuity amid and beyond the pandemic.

• Office of the University President, Palompon - Office of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs, Garcia-Center for Research and Development, Olvido - Office of the Board and University Secretary, Cebu, Philippines

The study explored the challenges and issues in teaching and learning continuity of public higher education in the Philippines as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study employed the exploratory mixed-method triangulation design and analyzed the data gathered from 3, 989 respondents composed of students and faculty members. It was found out that during school lockdowns, the teachers made adjustments in teaching and learning designs guided by the policies implemented by the institution. Most of the students had difficulty complying with the learning activities and requirements due to limited or no internet connectivity. Emerging themes were identified from the qualitative responses to include the trajectory for flexible learning delivery, the role of technology, the teaching and learning environment, and the prioritization of safety and security. Scenario analysis provided the contextual basis for strategic actions amid and beyond the pandemic. To ensure teaching and learning continuity, it is concluded that higher education institutions have to migrate to flexible teaching and learning modality recalibrate the curriculum, capacitate the faculty, upgrade the infrastructure, implement a strategic plan and assess all aspects of the plan.

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges economically, socially, and politically across the globe. More than just a health crisis, it has resulted in an educational crisis. During lockdowns and quarantines, 87% of the world’s student population was affected and 1.52 billion learners were out of school and related educational institutions ( UNESCO Learning Portal, 2020 ). The suddenness, uncertainty, and volatility of COVID-19 left the education system in a rush of addressing the changing learning landscape.

The disruption of COVID-19 in the educational system is of great magnitude that universities have to cope with at the soonest possible time. The call is for higher education institutions to develop a resilient learning system using evidence-based and needs-based information so that responsive and proactive measures can be instituted. Coping with the effects of COVID-19 in higher education institutions demands a variety of perspectives among stakeholders. Consultation needs to include the administration who supports the teaching-learning processes, the students who are the core of the system, the faculty members or teachers who perform various academic roles, parents, and guardians who share the responsibility of learning continuity, the community, and the external partners who contribute to the completion of the educational requirements of the students. These complicated identities show that an institution of higher learning has a large number of stakeholders ( Illanes et al., 2020 ; Smalley, 2020 ). In the context of the pandemic, universities have to start understanding and identifying medium-term and long-term implications of this phenomenon on teaching, learning, student experience, infrastructure, operation, and staff. Scenario analysis and understanding of the context of each university are necessary to the current challenges they are confronted with (Frankki et al., 2020). Universities have to be resilient in times of crisis. Resiliency in the educational system is the ability to overcome challenges of all kinds–trauma, tragedy, crises, and bounce back stronger, wiser, and more personally powerful ( Henderson, 2012 ). The educational system must prepare to develop plans to move forward and address the new normal after the crisis. To be resilient, higher education needs to address teaching and learning continuity amid and beyond the pandemic.

Teaching and Learning in Times of Crisis

The teaching and learning process assumes a different shape in times of crisis. When disasters and crises (man-made and natural) occur, schools and colleges need to be resilient and find new ways to continue the teaching–learning activities ( Chang-Richards et al., 2013 ). One emerging reality as a result of the world health crisis is the migration to online learning modalities to mitigate the risk of face-to-face interaction. Universities are forced to migrate from face-to-face delivery to online modality as a result of the pandemic. In the Philippines, most universities including Cebu Normal University have resorted to online learning during school lockdowns. However, this sudden shift has resulted in problems especially for learners without access to technology. When online learning modality is used as a result of the pandemic, the gap between those who have connectivity and those without widened. The continuing academic engagement has been a challenge for teachers and students due to access and internet connectivity.

Considering the limitation on connectivity, the concept of flexible learning emerged as an option for online learning especially in higher institutions in the Philippines. Flexible learning focuses on giving students choice in the pace, place, and mode of students’ learning which can be promoted through appropriate pedagogical practice ( Gordon, 2014 ). The learners are provided with the option on how he/she will continue with his/her studies, where and when he/she can proceed, and in what ways can the learners comply with the requirements and show evidences of learning outcomes. Flexible learning and teaching span a multitude of approaches that can meet the varied needs of diverse learners. These include “independence in terms of time and location of learning, and the availability of some degree of choice in the curriculum (including content, learning strategies, and assessment) and the use of contemporary information and communication technologies to support a range of learning strategies” ( Alexander, 2010 ).

One key component in migrating to flexible modality is to consider how flexibility is integrated into the key dimensions of teaching and learning. One major consideration is leveraging flexibility in the curriculum. The curriculum encompasses the recommended, written, taught or implemented, assessed, and learned curriculum ( Glatthorn, 2000 ). Curriculum pertains to the curricular programs, the teaching, and learning design, learning resources as assessment, and teaching and learning environment. Adjustment on the types of assessment measures is a major factor amid the pandemic. There is a need to limit requirements and focus on the major essential projects that measure the enduring learning outcomes like case scenarios, problem-based activities, and capstone projects. Authentic assessments have to be intensified to ensure that competencies are acquired by the learners. In the process of modifying the curriculum amid the pandemic, it must be remembered that initiatives and evaluation tasks must be anchored on what the learners need including their safety and well-being.

Curriculum recalibration is not just about the content of what is to be learned and taught but how it is to be learned, taught, and assessed in the context of the challenges brought about by the pandemic. A flexible curriculum design should be learner-centered; take into account the demographic profile and circumstances of learners–such as access to technology, technological literacies, different learning styles and capabilities, different knowledge backgrounds and experiences - and ensure varied and flexible forms of assessment ( Ryan and Tilbury, 2013 ; Gachago et al., 2018 ). The challenge during the pandemic is how to create a balance between relevant basic competencies for the students to acquire and the teachers’ desire to achieve the intended outcomes of the curriculum.

The learners’ engagement in the teaching-learning process needs to be taken into consideration in the context of flexibility. This is about the design and development of productive learning experiences so that each learner is exposed to most of the learning opportunities. Considering that face-to-face modality is not feasible during the pandemic, teachers may consider flexible distant learning options like correspondence teaching, module-based learning, project-based, and television broadcast. For learners with internet connectivity, computer-assisted instruction, synchronous online learning, asynchronous online learning, collaborative e-learning may be considered.

The Role of Technology in Learning Continuity

Technology provides innovative and resilient solutions in times of crisis to combat disruption and helps people to communicate and even work virtually without the need for face-to-face interaction. This leads to many system changes in organizations as they adopt new technology for interacting and working ( Mark and Semaan, 2008 ). However, technological challenges like internet connectivity especially for places without signals can be the greatest obstacle in teaching and learning continuity especially for academic institutions who have opted for online learning as a teaching modality. Thus, the alternative models of learning during the pandemic should be supported by a well-designed technical and logistical implementation plan ( Edizon, 2020 ).

The nationwide closure of educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus has impacted 90% of the world’s student population ( UNESCO, 2020 ). It is the intent of this study to look into the challenges in teaching and learning continuity amidst the pandemic. The need to mitigate the immediate impact of school closures on the continuity of learning among learners from their perspectives is an important consideration ( Edizon, 2020 ; Hijazi, 2020 ; UNESCO, 2020 ). Moreover, the teachers' perspectives are equally as important as the learners since they are the ones providing and sustaining the learning process. Teachers should effectively approach these current challenges to facilitate learning among learners, learner differentiation, and learner-centeredness and be ready to assume the role of facilitators on the remote learning platforms ( Chi-Kin Lee, 2020 ; Edizon, 2020 ; Hijazi, 2020 ).

Statement of Objective

This study explores the issues and challenges in teaching and learning amid the pandemic from the lenses of the faculty members and students of a public university in the Philippines as the basis for the development of strategic actions for teaching and learning continuity. Specifically, this study aimed to:

Objective 1: determine the profile of the learners/students in terms of:

a.1. Preferred flexible learning activities.

a.2. Problems completing Requirements due to ICT Limitation

a.3. Provision of alternative/additional requirement.

a.4. Receipt of learning feedback.

a.5. Learning environment.

Objective 2: determine the profile of faculty and students in terms of online capacity as categorized into:

b.1. Access to Information Technology.

b.2. Access to Internet/Wi-fi.

b.3. Stability of internet connection.

Objective 3: develop emerging themes from the experiences and challenges of teaching and learning amidst the pandemic.

Methodology

The design used in the study is an exploratory mixed-method triangulation design. It was utilized to obtain different information but complementary data on a common topic or intent of the study, bringing together the differing strengths non-overlapping weaknesses of quantitative methods with those of qualitative methods ( Creswell, 2006 ). The use of the mixed method provided the data used as a basis for the analysis and planning perspective of the study.

This study was conducted in the context of a state university funded by the Philippine government whose location was once identified as having one of the highest COVID19 cases in the country. With this incidence, the sudden suspension of classes and the immediate need to shift the learning platform responsive to the needs of the learners lend a significant consideration in this study. This explored the perspectives of the learners in terms of their current capacity and its implications in the learning continuity using online learning. These were explored based on the availability of gadgets, internet connectivity, and their learning experiences with their teachers. These perspectives were also explored on the part of the teachers as they were the ones who provided learning inputs to the students. These are necessary information to identify strategic actions for the teaching and learning continuity plan of the university.

After getting the quantitative and qualitative findings, these data were reviewed to provide a clear understanding of teachers’ and learners’ context and their experiences. From this information, a scenario analysis through scenario building was conducted which led to the development of the strategic actions for teaching and learning continuity. Scenario analysis is a method used in predicting the possible occurrences of consequences of a situation assuming the phenomenon will be continued in the future ( Kishita et al., 2016 ). This approach is considered a useful way for exploring plausible events that may or may not happen in the future ( Bekessy and Selinske, 2017 ). This approach was used to analyze the behavior of both teachers and students as part of the whole system in response to an unexpected event such as the pandemic which creates a theoretical scenario of best -case (optimistic) or worse case (pessimistic) scenario to enable the university to develop a holistic strategic plan for the teaching and learning continuity ( Balaman, 2019 ).

Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used simultaneously. In this study, objectives 1 and 2 require data on the profile of the teachers and learners which can best be acquired using a descriptive quantitative design. This was done through an online structured survey was conducted to identify the challenges in teaching and learning using google forms. Choices were provided in the Google form which the respondents can choose from. The surveys were done by the Cebu Normal University - Center for Research and Development and Federation of Supreme Student Council.

The qualitative approach was utilized to answer objective number 3 which looked into the experiences and challenges of the teachers and the learners. The narratives which the respondents submitted were done through online open-ended questions to allow them to share their experiences and challenges. These were analyzed using a thematic approach to best provide a clear description of the experiences and challenges.

After the analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data, the team of researchers developed the possible scenarios that will take place as the basis for the flexible strategic actions that the university will adapt depending on the classification of community quarantine and the health situation of the locale where the university is located. In the analysis of the current status of Cebu Normal University, parameters are reviewed and outcomes are utilized through scenario building. Scenario building provides the contextual basis for the development of the new normal in the university. Scenario building as explained by Wilkinson (1995) is a good strategy to use on how current observations play their role in future situations. Each scenario is constructed about the future, modeling a distinct, plausible world. Scenarios are plausible alternative futures of what might happen under particular assumptions by focusing on key drivers, complex interactions, and irreducible uncertainties ( Polcyznski, 2009 ).

The prospective scenarios created are the best, probable scenarios, and worse scenarios. Current or existing situations/conditions of CNU served as the probable scenario, while the ideal case situation served as the best scenario. From the scenario built, key problems and challenges are developed as a basis for the model developed ( Imperial, 2020 ). This provided the strategic long-term and short-term strategies for CNU’s academic operations. The best scenario is based on the perspective that the university allows limited face-to-face classes in the remaining months of the semester. The probable scenario is with the current enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) status of the city or province where the university is located, at least six (6) months, after, face-to-face interactions will be allowed with the opening of the new school year will. Worse Scenario happens when the locale is placed under sustained community quarantine and face-to-face classes will never be allowed at the start of the new school year. The strategic actions of the university are inclusive of the three (3) scenarios to allow flexibility of the responses of the university in this pandemic.

There were 3,646 student respondents (85% of the student population) and 252 (97% of the teaching personnel) teaching personnel who responded to the survey. To determine accessibility and reach of communication transmission related to the teaching-learning process, the location of the respondents was also identified. The majority of the student respondents (67%) are located in Cebu province; 17% in Cebu City, and 12% in other provinces. The 63% or 157 faculty members are residing in Cebu province while 32% or 81 of them reside in Cebu City; other provinces 5%. Qualitative feedback was also gathered to explore further the challenges experienced and clarify information about open-ended online messaging. Data was gathered from March-April 2020 in a state-funded university in the Philippines with the campus located in the center of the city. To comply with the ethical guidelines, strict adherence to data privacy protocols and data use restrictions were followed. The data were analyzed and were considered in identifying emerging themes scenarios in teaching and learning.

The data gathered were reviewed and analyzed by looking into the challenges that need to be addressed and the ideal perspectives that should have been implemented to generate different scenarios. Scenario building provides the contextual basis for the development of the new normal in the university. Scenario building as explained by Wilkinson (1995) is a good strategy to use on how current observations play their role in future situations. Each scenario is constructed about the future modeling a distinct, plausible world. Scenarios are plausible alternative futures of what might happen under particular assumptions by focusing on key drivers, complex interactions, and irreducible uncertainties ( Polcyznski, 2009 ). The prospective scenarios created are the best and probable scenarios. Current or existing situations/conditions of the university served as the probable scenario, while the ideal case situation served as the best scenario. From the scenario built, key problems and challenges are developed as a basis for the model developed ( Imperial, 2020 ). The model will provide the strategic long-term and short-term strategies for the university’s academic operations Figure 1 .

FIGURE 1 . Schematic diagram of the conceptual analysis.

Results and Discussion

Challenges on teaching and learning amid the pandemic.

In the quantitative data gathered through an online survey, the students reported their concerns related to their learning experiences during the suspension of physical classes. Most of the student respondents reported that adjustments were made by the teachers in terms of course outcomes and syllabi. However, most of them claimed that the learning activities were not flexible enough to be done either offline or online as they could not as shown in Table 1 comply with the requirements within the expected schedule.

TABLE 1 . The profile of flexibility of the learning activities for offline or online learning among students (n = 1,689).

Moreover, as shown in Table 2 , students reported that the majority of them were unable to accomplish the tasks assigned by the teachers due to their inability to access the internet or use suitable gadgets to finish the tasks.

TABLE 2 . Number of students who reported if they have problems. Completing requirements due to ICT limitation (n = 1952).

Part of the survey for students focused on how students reacted to home-based tasks assigned to them to complete the learning competencies of the course. Teachers provided alternative tasks online through electronic mails and an online portal Table 3 .

TABLE 3 . Provision of alternative/additional requirement (n=1952).

Students confirmed that some online classes and additional requirements were still provided to them by the faculty ( Table 4 ) The majority of the students responded that the alternative tasks were adequate. The nature and content of the alternative tasks provided were suited to the remaining concepts to be addressed in their coursework ( Table 4 ). Despite that, several students still reported that these alternative tasks are not sufficient to enable them to acquire the remaining competencies required of them at the end of the semester.

TABLE 4 . Adequacy of alternative tasks for learning attainment (n=74).

Students in one college were surveyed on the receipt of feedback from their respective teachers. A comparable response from students claimed they received and didn’t receive immediate feedback as to whether what they submitted to the professors is okay or what aspect they still need to improve more. As teaching continuity was made possible through online modality and other home-based tasks, they still had difficulty complying with the requirements of the course. The survey included the type of home environment the students have to assess factors that influence their difficulty. Students were asked whether their home learning environment is conducive to learning or not.

Data in Table 5 show that learners believed that their home environment is not conducive for learning when schools were closed and physical contact was discontinued as there were many disruptions including internet connectivity. On the part of the faculty, there were challenges met as evidenced by the feedbacks of the students. The teaching-learning process requires an active engagement of the faculty. They are the drivers of the learning process and the success of the learning outcomes would partially depend on their extent of active participation as facilitators, mentors, or coaches to the learners.

TABLE 5 . Students learning environment.

In the teaching-learning process, students need feedback on the progress of their outputs and whether they did well in their tasks. As shown in Table 6 , the majority of the students reported receiving no feedback from their teachers on the online module while a majority hope to get immediate feedback. Further exploration is required to determine why teachers are unable to provide immediate feedback for students.

TABLE 6 . Feedback from teachers (n = 154).

Faculty and Students’ Access to Technology

One of the modalities in teaching and learning that gained popularity amid COVID-19 was online learning. When classes were suspended, universities migrated from the face to face interaction to the online modality. Hence, this survey was conducted to determine the capability of the students and teachers in terms of available information technology gadgets and connections.

The profile of both the faculty and students’ access to internet-based information showed that the majority can access this information ( Table 7 ). Moreover, the majority of the students (82.61%) and faculty (94.4%) have internet access Table 8 . However, most of them reported unstable internet connections which makes their home environment less conducive to sustain learning facilitated by the online readings and activities given Table 9 . The majority of the students used mobile phones for online learning which is not capable of addressing online tasks and submission of requirements. On top of this, concerns for limited internet access of students and faculty emanate from external service providers most especially when using cellular data in areas where satellite signals are limited.

TABLE 7 . Faculty and students’ access to information technology (n = 4,072).

TABLE 8 . Faculty, staff and students’ access to internet/Wi-fi.

TABLE 9 . Stability of internet connection (n = 1952).

Emerging Themes in Teaching and Learning

A qualitative survey was also conducted to substantiate the quantitative data gathered. The narrative comments of the respondents in the survey were analyzed and were grouped into emerging themes and scenarios of teaching and learning.

The Trajectory Towards Flexibility in Teaching Design, Delivery, and Assessment

The sudden cancellation of classes in the middle of the semester placed both faculty and students unprepared. Questions on how to continue their classes, the learning modality, the appropriate assessment, and access to learning materials were foremost in the mind of both teachers and students. The narratives of the respondents became the basis for identifying the emerging scenarios in teaching and learning amid and beyond the pandemic.

For many years, students have been exposed to traditional, face-to-face classroom-based teaching. Outcomes-based education has been integrated into the curriculum and its implementation, but the learning delivery is still under the actual supervision of teachers. Due to ECQ students have to shift to independent learning through the home-based tasks assigned to them by their teachers. Ordinarily, many students have trouble making the transition to the more independent learning required at university compared with their secondary years .

“It’s very difficult for me to learn on my own in the confines of my home, but I don’t have a choice ,” narrated one student.

This shows that this pandemic has created a new platform in teaching and learning delivery that students are compelled to accept. In this situation, students have to take responsibility for their learning, be more self-directed, make decisions about what they will focus on how much time they will spend on learning outside the classroom ( The Higher Education Academy, 2014 ; Camacho and Legare, 2016 ). In the new setting, students are expected to read, understand and comply with the tasks without the guidance of the teachers. They are forced to assume self-directed independent learning.

The teachers on the other hand affirmed that the use of face-to-face delivery would not work anymore in the new learning environment.

“ One thing that I have learned is to adjust my materials to ensure that learners can still acquire the competencies without the face-to-face interaction with my students ” narrated one teacher.

With the concerns on access to online services, faculty members considered the use of a non-online approach and explored the necessary modifications that can be applied in the future. Hence, in the narrative, several faculty members said they have prepared modules as an option for pure online learning delivery.

Assessment of student learning outcomes is very important. A concern on how to assess learning outcomes and how to answer assessment tasks emerged as a major concern as reflected in the narratives of the teacher and student respondents. The assessment measures are essential as an assurance that learners have attained various knowledge and skills and that they are ready for employment or further study ( Coates, 2015 ). There is a need to address the teachers’ concern on how to conduct off-classroom performance evaluation and the bulk of submissions that they have to evaluate which are submitted online or offline. The design and planning are important factors to consider not only in the assessment per se but also in the parameters on how students will be graded ( Osborn, 2015 ). For the teachers, the following concerns emerged,

“Difficulty assessing performance-based tasks (RLE) , ” “Difficulty tracking, checking of students’ outputs” and “Concerns on failing due to non-submission of requirements online and low midterm Performance”

In the assessment of learning, the teacher respondents agreed that they have to think of innovative ways of assessing students in the context of their situation and home environment so the outcomes expected of the course will be manifested by the students.

One of the challenges of online or distance learning is the difficulty in participating in groupwork activities. The challenge is how the schedule or availability of group members be accommodated within the group ( Gillett-Swan, 2017 ; Kebritchi, Lipschuetz, and Santiague, 2017 ). More particularly when online assessments are done with certain deadlines or time limits.

“Difficulty complying group activities”

“Time-based online exams”

The challenges seen in this phase are to determine the flexible learning system most applicable for CNU learners, the readiness of the students and faculty to handle the tasks to assign and to be complied by the students, the appropriateness of the learning delivery vis-à-vis learning outcome, and the preparation of the learning materials fit for self-directed independent learning.

In times of disaster, the educational system takes on a different route for effective learning continuity. The learning curriculum requires it to be more responsive to the current needs of the learners and the teachers.

“ Concerns in completing OJT”

“Dissertation/Thesis defense scheduled”

“Concerns on when the academic year ends”

The flexibility that the curriculum has to adopt requires the offering of choices on the current reality of the educational environment and customizing a given course to meet the needs of the learners. It is therefore crucial in considering the provision of the possibility of making learning choices to learners. These learning choices can cover class times, course content, instructional ( Huang et al., n.d. ).

It is a challenge for the university to consider the restructuring of the curriculum to address the gaps in the learning outcomes left when classes were suspended and the re-scheduling of the mid-semester On-the-Job Training of some programs. Amidst this crisis, flexibility in the next academic calendar has to be considered while it is uncertain when the COVID-19 crisis will be contained.

The Role of Technology

In the overall narratives concerning teaching-learning delivery and assessment, the role of information technology particularly on internet connection has been repetitively mentioned by both teachers and students. In the crisis scenario, faculty and students could eventually bounce forward to the usual teaching-learning activities outside the classrooms had this concern been made available to all. Per survey results, most of the students and some faculty members are residing outside the city and are experiencing unstable if no internet connection at all.

“ No internet connectivity/unstable connectivity”

“Occasional power interruptions”

In designing for online or distance learning, there is a need to understand the role of technology to attain the success of the engagement ( Kerka, 2020 ). Internet is not the only factor to consider but also the equipment that is needed for the teachers and the learners to engage effectively. If these are not available, there is a need to evaluate the approach used in the teacher-learner interaction.

“Limited gadgets (one laptop shared with other siblings/no laptop or PC only phone)”

“No printer for completion of a requirement to be submitted”

With the current health crisis with the shifting of learning delivery, the challenge would be on how to provide an inclusive IT infrastructure to provide quality education for all learners ( Internet access and education: Key considerations for policy makers, 2017 ).

The Learner’s and the Teacher’s Learning Environment

In an attempt to address the disruption of classes and promote continuity of learning, teachers immediately resort to online learning as the most workable way of delivery of the lessons. In this new learning setup, students are forced to stay at home and transfer their classrooms to the same location. In most cases, it is often overlooked that learners come from different home settings and have different home arrangements.

“Not appropriate learning environment (congested home setting)”

“Lack of support from parents (assigning home tasks when a student is supposed to be work on learning tasks)”

“Overlapping of home activities and academic activities”

In most cases, families frequently engaged their children in learning activities, however, different patterns were observed across different social groups. Families in low socio-economic position households, and those living in disadvantaged neighborhoods provided fewer learning experiences. This may in part be due to the challenges that families living in socially and economically disadvantaged circumstances face in accessing the financial and social resources needed to provide a rich early home learning environment for learning. The findings reveal that education is still pursued in economically challenging settings but with more challenges. A home learning environment has a positive “direct association” with a child’s academic performance ( Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2015 ). The findings require a three-helix platform in education that is the partnership between academe, industry, and the stakeholders.

Maslow Before Bloom Orientation: Safety and Security

Prevailing sentiments among employees and students are their concern for their safety and security. The basic needs of humans according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs are foremost in the minds of the university’s clients and workers. As reported by the students and employees, their foremost concern is safety and the psychological manifestations of the anxiety of being infected.

“Foremost concern is safety and security even after ECQ is lifted”

“Fear of being infected with COVID”

“With PUI/PUM family members or the students themselves”

“Psychological and emotional reactions (anxiety, panic, fear, loneliness, a feeling of helplessness, mood swings, anger)”

The second category of concerns is on security and the possibility of sustaining their education due to loss of jobs, loss of family members, and the uncertainty of traveling to the university.

“Family financial crisis–no budget to buy loads, sustain needs”

“Unable to go home”

“Transportation concerns”

The concerns raised by the participants of the study require the university to provide access to considerable support to deal with the struggles, challenges, and even trauma because of the pandemic. There is a need to help manage mental health, self-esteem, and relationships after the quarantine which left some of the students isolated for quite a time ( Sweeney, 2020 ). Mental health programs have to be in place in formal learning settings. Because of the unprecedented challenges that students and teachers experienced in the pandemic, the ability to successfully hurdle through formal learning may be limited if the overall well-being is compromised.

Strategic Scenario Analysis

This section presents the analysis of the possible scenarios that might take place in the university based on the following components: the planned curriculum, instruction (teaching-learning process), assessment, student engagement, and technology and infrastructure. The probable scenario is the current enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) status of the City or province where the university is located. During ECQ, no face-to-face interaction is allowed and province-wide lockdowns are implemented. The best scenario allows the limited face-to-face class and the worse scenario happens when the locale is under ECQ and placed on a lockdown due to the increasing COVID-19 cases.

In the area of curriculum and instruction, the action points revolved around the identification of courses that can be flexibly offered, rescheduling offerings when health measures permit it and providing interventions for competencies that were not met. The additional action points would refer to the creation of materials that would meet the needs of the students in the different scenarios and the provision of access to all resources that aid learning. Lastly, plans for assessment delivery are laid out to ensure the validity of means and with consideration to quarantine measures. Laying down the scenarios provide options for the educational institution to be able to meet the demands of the changes enforced by the pandemic to the delivery of learning to students. Reviewing these options reveal that the differences in the plan of action for this area of concern are a matter of granting access to students for resources needed for learning continuity.

The next area of concern is student engagement which reveals the different levels of engagement of parents and guardians, the means of communication with students, and an investment in the capability-building of faculty members to facilitate the teaching-learning process amid the pandemic. The focus on the trainings for the faculty members in the area implies that flexible learning in this health crisis requires a particular skill set to heighten student engagement without diminishing the role of support systems in the students’ homes and the need for appropriate technology to facilitate the needed interactions. This leads to the last area of concern on technology and infrastructure. The University has to take into account and facilitate the provision of needed equipment, materials, systems, software, and physical structures to support flexible learning. The complete scenario matrix is reflected in Table 10 .

TABLE 10 . Scenario matrix.

Migrating to Flexible Teaching and Learning: The University’s Strategic Response for Academic Continuity

After exploring the perspectives of the respondents and the analysis of the emerging scenarios in teaching and learning, the University implemented the proactive response to ensure academic continuity in times of crisis. It is evident that for universities to thrive and lead, the flexible teaching-learning modality needs to be adopted taking into consideration the best and worst-case scenarios. Migrating to flexi learning means recalibrating the written curriculum, capacitating the faculty, and upgrading technological infrastructure to respond to the changing scenarios amid and beyond the pandemic. Outlined in the paragraphs that follow were the ways forward pursued by the university as a response for academic continuity.

Recalibrate the Curriculum

To address the competencies which were left at the time of the class suspension, discipline-based course mapping was conducted. A series of cluster meetings by faculty members teaching similar courses teaching load were done for the revision of the unified syllabus, integration of the outcomes-based teaching and learning strategies using flexible learning platforms such as distance and online learning options, and the learning assessment strategies suitable for individual student needs. A syllabi repurposing is conducted and the revisiting of the syllabi focusing on the essential course outcomes. This strategy enables the faculty to revise the activities/course work/tasks/experiences that can be delivered through blended learning. This also enabled them in designing the instructional strategies, activities, and assessments that will achieve the learning objectives. The modification of the syllabi incorporated the development of modules, assessment tasks that can be delivered using differentiated instruction/in class or off class.

A program-based curriculum review was also conducted to identify courses that would need to be re-scheduled in its offering due to its nature and requirement such as swimming courses. Moreover, On-the- Job (OJT) which was supposedly offered during summer or mid-year was transferred to a later semester as industry partners are limiting its personnel at the height of the pandemic.

Reconfiguring the OJT, practice teaching and Related Learning Experience based on simulation set-up with scenario-based activities with assigned equivalency hours was also developed. The Practice teaching using blended learning or online approach, Nursing used alternative Related learning simulation.

The strategic actions included short-term plans of possible limited physical classes and long-term plans of pure online classes. Embedded in the plans are the in-class and off-class mode, re-structuring and retrofitting requirement for limited face-to-face classes, and the upgrading of internet-based facilities for pure online classes. On top of this, they need to cater to learners who have no access to the internet includes the translation of online learning modules to printed modules.

Capacitate the Faculty

Flexible learning capacitation of faculty was also addressed as online learning was new to the university. The university conducted an upskilling and rewiring through series of online trainings on module development for flexible learning distance education and the use of an online learning management system for faculty members. Reskilling and reconfiguring of faculty through webinar series on laboratory teaching using simulation learning for teachers handling laboratory, RLE, OJT. And a cross-skilling and reimagining using series of online webinars on developing counseling skills of faculty members concerning the COVID crisis. The university initiated the Higher Education Connect webinar series by discipline which served as an avenue of sharing and exchanging best practices during the pandemic-induced suspension of physical classes. The series of online for and webinars provided the teachers’ professional development including information sharing platform, Online learning platform, Hands-on training platform, Repository of web tools, and Laboratory for data analytics.

Safe learning infrastructure for Reframing Teaching and Learning was addressed through Telecounseling Services with mobile hotline numbers to cater to the needs of the clients and Student Communication Center with hotline numbers accessible by phone or online to cater to the academic concerns of the students. The university also initiated the Adopt-a-Student program for stranded students during the Enhanced Community Quarantine and assisted in the process of going back to their provinces.

Upgrade the Infrastructure

The university’s priority is to ensure that technology is sustainable and feasible. The ICT focal persons of the university were mobilized to Determine basic computer configuration and minimum Operating System requirements and provide alternative solutions to learners with technological/location-related challenges. For example, provide small learning activity packages for learners with slow internet connections. Ensure changes to the learning activity that can be made with internal resources. Determine the characteristics, possibilities, and limitations of the learning management system (LMS) to be used and ensure consistency of access across platforms (if applicable).

An Organizational Structures as a support system was also created which was the Center for Innovative Flexible Learning to provide assistance and monitoring so that the existing Information Technology Office of the university will not be overwhelmed.

It is also strategic to develop collaboration with stakeholders (Local Government Units (LGU), Alumni, Partner agencies). The forging of partnerships with LGU provides avenues where students during off-class students will go to the learning hub in the LGU complete with internet connectivity for students to work on their tasks in case they don’t have connectivity at home, so students will not go to the internet café and pay. This will also provide opportunities for resource sharing for the benefit of the students.

ICT Infrastructure in teaching and learning and student services was also addressed through Online enrollment, full utilization of Google Classroom as the learning management system, and the fully online delivery of classes. The university also changed its internet subscription to higher bandwidth and subscription to zoom for online meetings and conferences. Internet Connectivity of faculty members has assisted a monthly internet allowance. Gadget on loan for students in coordination with Student Supreme Council. Library online services through Document Delivery Services (DDS) and Modern Information Assistant in the New Normal Innovative Education.

Implementation and On-Going Assessment of the Strategic Response

The implementation of the strategic response entails the collaborative engagement of all stakeholders in the university. The process requires the involvement of the administration, faculty, staff, students, parents, and other stakeholders that enables the institution to move forward, managing and mitigating risks successfully. Hence, the university is implementing the continuous process of consultation, feedbacking, and intensive monitoring as important ingredients for the plans to be successfully implemented. The regular conduct of dialogues and discussions among stakeholders, capacity building of students and faculty, open communication through hotline centers, and continuous quality assurance monitoring mechanisms enable the university to enhance and implement successfully the strategic programs and activities amid the pandemic.

Anchored on the initial success of the evidenced-based strategic plans, the university at present has institutionalized the flexible learning system with the establishment of the Center for Flexible Learning that manages, capacitates, and assists the students and the faculty members in the continuing implementation of the flexible learning modality. Technology support has been provided by increasing the internet bandwidth to ensure uninterrupted connectivity in the campus and providing internet allowance to the faculty. Students with limited or no connectivity are given printed modules as instructional resources. In anticipation of the limited face-to-face classes as safety and health protocols may allow, the curricular offerings, teaching-learning processes, and assessment tools have been enhanced by applying best practices that maximize quality teaching and learning. On-going trainings and webinars for the faculty, students, and stakeholders to thrive in the new educational landscape have been conducted. The university has also established professional learning communities which become avenues for the sharing of resources and practices that continuously support and enhance teaching and learning continuity amid and beyond the pandemic.

Teaching and learning continuity amid the pandemic requires an analysis of the parameters by which the university operates from the perspective of the stakeholders to include the students, faculty, curriculum, and external stakeholders. Grounded on data, higher education institutions have to conduct strategic scenario analysis for best, possible and worse scenarios in the areas of curriculum and instruction, student engagement, and technology and infrastructure. To ensure teaching and learning continuity amid and beyond the pandemic, higher education institutions need to migrate to flexible teaching and learning modality by recalibrating the curriculum, capacitating the faculty, and upgrading the infrastructure. These strategic actions have to be continuously assessed, modified, and enhanced to respond to the volatile, uncertain, and changing scenarios in times of crisis.

Data Availability Statement

The raw data supporting the conclusion of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics Statement

Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

FD, DP, LG, and MO contributed to the conception and design of the study. DP and LG organized the data and facilitated the initial analysis. FD and DP wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors wrote sections of the manuscript and contributed to the manuscript revision. MO ran the final plagiarism test and grammar check prior to submission.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: teaching and learning continuity, flexible learning, pandemic, higher education, scenario–analysis

Citation: Dayagbil FT, Palompon DR, Garcia LL and Olvido MMJ (2021) Teaching and Learning Continuity Amid and Beyond the Pandemic. Front. Educ. 6:678692. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2021.678692

Received: 10 March 2021; Accepted: 06 July 2021; Published: 23 July 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Dayagbil, Palompon, Garcia and Olvido. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Michelle Mae J. Olvido, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

U.S. Department of Defense Awards RTI $190 Million Cooperative Agreement for Defense STEM Education Consortium

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Aug 30, 2024, 08:38 ET

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The consortium provides K-16 students and educators with access to innovative STEM learning experiences

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. , Aug. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded a significant cooperative agreement to nonprofit research institute RTI International to continue to lead the Defense Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Consortium (DSEC). The initiative, valued at up to $190 million over 10 years, aims to enhance STEM education across the nation.

RTI, which has led DSEC since 2019, will continue collaborating with 28 organizations on behalf of DoD STEM and under the direction of Dr. Rebecca Stanley , DSEC consortium chair and education consultant at RTI. The multi-year initiative is focused on enriching STEM programs for students and educators, engaging the STEM workforce, conducting program evaluations and increasing public outreach.

"To build the STEM workforce of tomorrow, we need to offer students meaningful experiences that connect them with real-world careers and help them see STEM careers as achievable and exciting," said Stanley. "We are eager to continue collaborating with our partners to boost interest in STEM and strengthen career pathways for students."

The consortium provides K-16 students and educators with access to innovative STEM learning experiences. These programs aim to bridge gaps in underserved communities, offering opportunities that may not be available due to geographic, socioeconomic or demographic barriers.

As the lead organization of DSEC, RTI oversees consortium management, operations, communications and engagement with the alumni network. The DSEC is guided by the DoD STEM strategic plan and focuses on five core areas:

• Consortium management
• Research and evaluation
• Strategic communications, outreach and alumni management
• Regional hubs and ecosystems
• Strategic STEM initiatives

The DSEC network includes a broad range of organizations dedicated to advancing STEM education and workforce development, including the American Institutes of Research, Left Bank Consulting and Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM.

Learn more about DoD STEM and DSEC

Related impact story: Developing the future STEM Workforce with DoD

Learn more about RTI's education and workforce development expertise

Media Contact: RTI Media Relations [email protected] 919-541-7300

SOURCE RTI International

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