Adkins (2013, as cited in Moore, 2016, p. 403) estimated that more than 4 million learners in the USA would take their lessons totally online by 2017. Nevertheless, nobody could have predicted a period of time in which no institution could practice face-to-face education.
When all is said and done, emergency online education, during which “the surreal has become normal, mundane” (Yandell, 2020, p. 262) has exposed that there are a great number of niches in this field that is supposed to be filled in. As aforementioned before, in spite of all the drawbacks and challenges, this issue also offered many opportunities for researchers and some have been grasping these chances. Among these researchers, Crawford, Butler-Henderson, Rudolph, Malkawi, Glovatz, Burton, Magni and Lam (2020) examined intra-period responses of
universities in 20 countries including countries having developed economies which are Australia, Germany, Italy, Republic of Ireland, the UK, the USA, and countries with developing economies which are Brazil, China, Chile, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Nigeria, South Korea, Singapore, South Africa and United Arab Emirates. During the first phase of the pandemic, it was seen that all the developed countries except for the USA switched into online education directly while this situation is different in developing countries in some of which extension of the semester break or closure of the schools was experienced. Crawford et al. (2020) put forward that switching to a fully distance education would not be carried out instantaneously since it involves some factors such as the sufficient internet infrastructure in living areas of both students and teachers and skills required in the process of designing and transferring online education.
Gonzalez, De La Rubia, Hincz, Comas-Lopez, Subirats, Fort and Sacha (2020) examined the distinctness in the assessments of 2017-2018 & 2018-2019 academic years students and 2019-2020 academic year students in a university in Spain. The researchers found a significant positive effect of the lockdown on the achievements of the students. They also revealed that students studied more regularly after the confinement. Accordingly, the researchers inferred that the confinement contributed to development of learning strategies of the students and students got higher grades. In another study which showed positive outcomes, Nashruddin, Alam and Tanasy (2020) examined the views of ELT instructors and students on the usage of e-mail as a
means of learning. The instructors evaluated e-mails as an efficient tool for document delivery and a contributor in attaining objectives and smooth learning. Some students, on the other hand, faced with some problems in the usage of e-mails while most of them found them practical and helpful in accessing materials and assignments.
Öztürk Karataş and Tuncer (2020) studied on the effects of emergency distance
education on skills development in an ELT department. The results of their study indicated that development of writing skill was proven to be the most advantageous because of overwriting for nearly all assignments while speaking skill development was the most disadvantageous during this process. Moreover, their thematic analysis demonstrated that implementation of subject matter, having no restrictions in terms of location and time, accessing online sources and financial advantages were among the benefits. On the other hand, not having a traditional classroom environment, having less instructor supervision, technological drawbacks and autonomy problems were among the disadvantages of online education.
In their study, Gao and Zhang (2020) investigated cognitions of EFL instructors about distance teaching after the pandemic and aimed to unearth how they picked up their information and communications technology (ICT) skills in the beginning of COVID-19. They utilized the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) model, which was proposed by Koehler and Mishra (2005) to show the link between teachers’ knowledge of technology, education and content, in their study so as to figure out how instructors contemplate and negotiate. They detected discrepancies among the instructors they interviewed in terms of attitudes towards online education; while some gave optimistic statements, some took a more pessimistic stance.
Among the challenges that they faced, the tension during the preparation for the lessons, illiteracy in some parts of technology, lack of adequate opportunities for both students and instructors and class management problems were identified. The researchers also revealed that instructors developed their ICT skills by examining the needs of their students, practicing, and adapting typical teaching methods that they used in face-to-face lessons to distance teaching.
Serçemeli and Kurnaz (2020) intended to learn the perspectives and self-efficacy of accounting students in a public university about the emergency distance education. They
affirmed that students did not confront with any problems regarding self-efficacy in the usage of the LMS of the university. On the other hand, while it worked well during that time, participants
had mostly a negative attitude towards online education because of the accessing problems and feeling isolated; therefore, it was suggested to blend the traditional and online teaching by means of flipped teaching. Similarly, according to the results of the study by Tartavulea, Albu, Albu, Dieaconescu and Petre (2020) with 362 instructors from 13 European countries, both higher education institutions and students adjusted to alterations as well as synchronized and
asynchronized teaching rapidly while the interaction and general efficiency were found to be lower than face-to-face classes. In addition, Tartavulea et al. (2020) also revealed that institutional support, faith in the system that was being used and anticipated efficacy of formative assessment were among the elements affecting the efficiency of online education.
In their multinational research study involving the universities in Portugal, the UAE and Ukraine; Fidalgo et al. (2020) found that primary concerns of the undergraduate students were time management, skills development and motivation. Accordingly, Fidalgo et al. (2020) put forward six suggestions for the institutions by also relying on the literature (Elbaum, McIntyre &
Smith, 2002; Hashim & Tasir, 2014; Hux, Nichols, Nichols, Henley, McBride, Bradley & Hux 2018, as cited in Fidalgo et al., 2020):
- Evaluating distance education readiness of the students using a survey and prompt them to see counselors
- Offering training to students before online courses for the development of skills and behavior
- Training teachers for the designation and the delivery of online classes to support them in cases of motivation and time management hindrances
- Making use of blended teaching to make students acquainted with online environment with the support of a transitional model
- Advertising distance education to catch the attention of potential students
- Encouraging government organizations for the accreditation of distance education lessons and programs
Muthuprasad, Aiswarya, Aditya and Jha (2021) aimed to explore the views and
preferences of Agricultural graduates from various universities regarding online education. The findings indicated that most of the students preferred using their mobile phones during the lessons and approximately half of the students agreed on the idea that distance learning
contributed to their technical abilities while nearly 60% of the respondents thought that face-to-face classes were more efficient in terms of interaction with the teacher. The researchers pointed out that there was not a strong consensus among the participants about the efficacy of distance learning and it might be due to inequality in the internet access opportunities, insufficient teaching skills and unsatisfactory learning environment. It was also highlighted that while the main constraints were connection problems and restrictions in the internet infrastructure,
flexibility in scheduling and convenience were indicated among the principal benefits of distance education.
Hapsari (2021) conducted research on the anxiety experienced by Literature and English Language Education students during the COVID-19 process and aimed to reveal its causes. The results gathered from questionnaires and interviews demonstrated that students were more anxious in the beginning of online education and their anxiety level decreased after one-year distance education. However, some technological malfunctions still gave rise to a great deal of anxiety among the participants because of the fact that these situations prevented them from getting some valuable information, active engagement and skills development. In a similar study, Türkleş, Boğahan, Altundal, Yaman and Yılmaz (2021) attempted to explore the feelings and experiences of Nursing students during the COVID-19 crisis and found that participants experienced anxiety, hopelessness, tension, depression, flatness and weariness because of the extension of distance education period and they had serious problems in time management.
Another research study conducted by Taşçı (2021) aimed to investigate ELT students’
perspectives on online education and revealed that the major drawbacks which were mentioned by the participants were technological problems, psychological hardships, absence of interaction, problems with material usage and inexperience. While locational and time-related flexibility, economic and time-related efficacy, having a chance for digital-literacy development were among the benefits; absence or inadequacy in autonomy, motivation, feedback and interaction between students as well as between the teacher and students, problems in well-being and technical breakdowns were among the disadvantages. It was also highlighted by the participant ELT students that online teaching can be made use of by the teachers to support education process; however, the researcher argued that it cannot compensate face-to-face education format.
CHAPTER 3