Conventional to online education during COVID-19 pandemic: Do develop and underdeveloped nations cope alike

Factors Influencing the Satisfaction of Second Language Learners of Chinese in Online Courses

The study aims to investigate the relationship among the key factors affecting second language learners' satisfaction with online Chinese courses and their willingness to continue utilizing them by constructing a Model of Chinese Learners' Satisfaction in Online Courses. Additionally, the influence of participants' individual differences was also explored. A total of 203 second language learners of Chinese participated in the questionnaire survey, with 5 learners further participating in interviews. Learner expectations, learner perceived quality, and learner perceived value were identified as important factors influencing learner satisfaction and willingness to continue using the online course. The results of the questionnaire survey showed that (1) learner individual differences, such as age, Chinese proficiency, weekly study duration, and offline Chinese course experience, significantly influence learner satisfaction. (2) Learner expectations have a significant positive impact on perceived quality, while perceived quality positively affects perceived value. (3) Learner satisfaction significantly influences the willingness to continue using online courses. (4) The results of the interview revealed that most learners still prefer traditional offline courses, indicating that online teaching has several shortcomings and deficiencies. Overall, this study provides some scientific and reasonable decision-making references for improving online teaching methods, aiming to enhance learner satisfaction and promote the development of online education.

Twelve tips for creating online learning units for the health professions in low-and middle-income countries

Health professions educators in low-and middle-income countries are often sceptical about developing online learning units. This scepticism stems from the belief that online programmes are limited in developing clinical competence, and there are concerns about digital proficiency and resource availability. A social constructivist approach in designing online work-based learning units may overcome such scepticism. In this article, we use our experience in developing an online learning unit for healthcare education to suggest 12 tips for developing online learning units in a low-and middle-income context. The tips are nested in a 'promoting theory-practice integration framework' and include context, establishing communities of learning and practice, establishing foundational knowledge, practise in a work-based environment, and showcasing attainment of learning outcomes. By integrating the guidelines and framework, healthcare educators will be better equipped to develop online learning units and contribute to learning.

The effect of metacognition and self-directed learning readiness on learning performance of nursing students in online practice classes during the COVID-19 pandemic period

AIM

This study was a descriptive correlation investigation to determine the effects of metacognition and self-directed learning readiness on learning performance of nursing students in online practice classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

DESIGN AND METHODS

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 135 subjects were randomly selected from junior students of one university in South Korea.

RESULTS

In this study, metacognitive knowledge in nursing students showed a positive relationship with subjective learning performance (r = 0.34, p = 0.002) and objective learning performance (r = 0.38, p = 0.016). Metacognitive control in nursing students also showed a positive relationship with subjective learning performance (r = 0.37, p = 0.001) and objective learning performance (r = 0.41, p < 0.001). Self-directed learning readiness in nursing students showed a positive relationship with subjective learning performance (r = 0.38, p = 0.011) and objective learning performance (r = 0.40, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

For effective online practical education, nursing students' internal characteristics of metacognition and self-directed learning should be identified in advance, and schools should strive to help nursing students' learning performance by developing and applying education systems or contents.

Leading higher education into the fourth industrial revolution: an empirical investigation

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) rapidly advanced at the beginning of the 21st century. Leaders within organisations need to adjust their visions, plans, organisational structures, and management with regard to the demands, challenges and opportunities of this development. This is in particular the case in higher educational institutions (HEIs), which have to adjust to the rapid changes and new demands of skills of university graduates. Leaders in HEIs must therefore be aware of the related challenges and opportunities and might have to adjust the learning and teaching environment, the skills development of students, graduates, and faculty, as well as the technological requirements to create advanced skill sets. This article is based on a qualitative research study which was conducted at a university in South Africa. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were used to explore the views of higher-education leaders at the selected university. Data were analysed through thematic analysis. It was found that leaders in HEIs need to be aware of their leadership and preferences in times of transition toward a more technologised learning environment, as well as the needs, demands, challenges and opportunities of the new workplaces, and new skill sets needed in the 4IR. The researchers made some recommendations. "Education is the key that unlocks the golden door to freedom." George Washington Carver.

A tale of online learning during COVID-19: A reflection from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the higher education industry around the world. The battle that was fought by institutions and their faculty members to move classes and programs from a face-to-face environment to an online one has resulted in a new set of challenges for them to overcome. In the context of online education, academics working in less developed countries are confronted with quite different realities than their peers working in more developed economies. This article investigates the effect that COVID-19 had on the higher education systems of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, three of the most important SAARC nations at a time when these countries were struggling with limited resources, unreliable infrastructure, and a pronounced "digital divide" in higher education. The literature review and in-depth interviews conducted for the purpose of this study uncovered six primary challenges. These challenges were identified as facilitating conditions, technology readiness, learning experience, mental health, concerns regarding performance improvement and sustainability. The findings presented here highlight the necessity for more government intervention and investment in order to: firstly, improve the quality of teaching and learning; and secondly, close the digital divide. Several recommendations are stated in this paper for future research to consider.

Concern about the Spread of COVID-19 in Regular Basic Education Teachers When Returning to Face-to-Face Classes

During the health emergency caused by COVID-19, a series of sensations such as fear, stress, and concern about contracting the virus were developed. Despite the fact that in recent months infection rates have been significantly reduced due to vaccination campaigns, the return of teachers to face-to-face classes established in Peru from April 2022 has increased once again the fear that contagion levels could grow. Therefore, the objective was to analyze the concern of regular basic education teachers about the spread of COVID-19 when returning to face-to-face classes. A quantitative investigation was carried out; the research design was observational and the type of study was descriptive cross-sectional. The sample was made up of 648 teachers who responded to the Scale of Concern for the Contagion of COVID-19, an instrument with adequate psychometric properties. The results show that 43.8% of teachers had moderate levels of concern about the spread of COVID-19, 38.7% had low levels, and 17.5% had high levels. Teachers reported most recurrent concerns about some risks in educational institutions and the fear of spreading COVID-19 to their relatives or people with whom they lived. On the other hand, it was found that some sociodemographic, occupational, and medical variables were significantly associated with this concern (p < 0.05). Then, it was concluded that teachers had moderate levels of concern about the spread of COVID-19 when returning to face-to-face classes.

Predictors of satisfaction with emergency remote teaching (ERT) during Covid 19 among undergraduate students of Nigeria's premier university

University of Ibadan, Nigeria's premier university commenced emergency remote teaching (ERT) in February 2021 in other to control the spread of Covid-19. After a full session of learning through this mode, this paper investigated determinants of undergraduate students' satisfaction with the institution's ERT. Proportional-to-size sampling was used in obtaining the sample size of 366, while respondents were selected using convenience sampling. Data collection was through a structured questionnaire and data were collected on the factors-attitude, affect, motivation; perceived behavioural control (accessibility, self-efficacy, ease of use); and cognitive engagement. Findings showed that all the variables except accessibility had significant relationships with students' satisfaction. However, only motivation to learn (β = 0.140, p = 0.019) and cognitive engagement (β = 0.154, p = 0.005) were significant predictors of students' satisfaction with the ERT. The study emphasized the need for the institution to take steps towards ensuring that online learning is interesting and motivating for students, such that when faced with such abrupt change in learning mode in the future, students are motivated to learn and are willing to invest their mental effort into understanding their academic work, which may ultimately improve their satisfaction with the learning process.

SentiTAM: Sentiments centered integrated framework for mobile learning adaptability in higher education

Online communities provide facilities to share public opinions and or sentiments on a wide range of subjects, from routine topics to vital issues of critical interest. Nowadays, many higher education institutions (HEIs) recognize the value of students' sentiments and evaluate users' concerns for the successful adaptation of mobile learning applications (MLAs). While digital learning has been extensively studied previously, little has been known about why MLA is underutilized. Therefore, this study extends the literature by proposing the SentiTAM model underlying technology acceptance model (TAM), and students' sentiments on MLA platforms. A self-administered cross-sectional survey of 350 MLA users' data was analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM) using the AMOS package program. In addition, we have performed sentiment analysis on students' opinions gathered through Google discussion forums and Twitter. The results show that MLA use intention is strongly influenced by sentiments and self-motivation, while perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use directly influence MLA usage. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first attempt in MLA that investigates several vital factors, including sentiments as a multi-perspective tool and motivational factors with core constructs of TAM. The findings assist developing countries make smart decisions about how to use MLA with emerging technology.

Online Learning Stress and Chinese College Students' Academic Coping during COVID-19: The Role of Academic Hope and Academic Self-Efficacy

Colleges around the world have adopted emergency online learning to continue with teaching and learning activities during COVID-19. Existing research has indicated that this teaching mode is perceived negatively by many college students. The difficulty students encounter in emergency online learning can adversely affect their mental health and academic performance. To shed further light on how emergency online learning may have impeded college students' academic functioning and adjustment, this study examined the association between online learning stress and academic coping and the mediating roles of academic self-efficacy and academic hope. It was conducted in early 2021, a year after the outbreak of the pandemic. Ninety-nine Chinese college students in Hong Kong were recruited and they completed an online questionnaire for this study. Results showed that online learning stress was negatively associated with approach academic coping and social support seeking, and the associations were mediated by academic hope. On the other hand, online learning stress was positively associated with avoidance academic coping, which was not mediated by academic hope. The mediation effects of academic self-efficacy were all non-significant. In sum, college students used more passive and maladaptive coping to handle academic problems when they experienced more online learning stress, and this was partly explained by lower levels of academic hope.

The influence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on organisational culture: An empirical investigation

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is known to transform and create opportunities for the world of work. However, little is known about how the future workforce, such as university students, are being equipped and exposed to 4IR technologies and ways of thinking in a South African (SA) context. This study's findings contribute to understanding the influence of organisational culture on the uptake of 4IR technology within higher education (HE) in SA during a pandemic. The study uses Edgar Schein's theoretical framework to explore the organisational culture at a university in the Gauteng province. The article responds further to the questions on how 4IR technology and principles are understood and applied within the context, and how to investigate to what extent the 4IR is reflected upon or embedded in the university's culture. A qualitative research design is used, and data are gathered through in-depth, semi-structured interviews from seven purposively selected academic and senior management staff members. Thematic analysis uncovered that the university's ambitious and competitive culture contributed to a positive uptake of 4IR technology and principles, even pre-COVID-19. Furthermore, the specific influence of the university's Vice-Chancellor to build 4IR thinking into the university helped shape more 4IR thinking and technologies, such as artificial intelligence, whilst still considering the existing disparities of SA, as a developing country.

Predicting students’ intention to continue business courses on online platforms during the Covid-19: An extended expectation confirmation theory

The objective of this study was to analyze the intention of a University's business department students to continue their studies on e-learning platforms during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, a questionnaire was developed to collect primary data from students in business fields. The study took into account more than 285 respondents from two different universities and relied on the expectation confirmation model (ECM) theory and the structural equation model. The partial least squares (SEM-PLS) method was used to analyze the data. The results of the study showed that task skills (TS) and task challenges (TC) were significant for the enjoyment (EN) of the students which in turn had a positive effect on the satisfaction levels. Confirmation (CON) had an impact on the post adoption perceived usefulness (PAPU), which was deemed positive for student satisfaction (SAT). The SAT and psychological safety (PS) of online learning platforms were found to positively influence the continuance intention (CI) on e-learning platforms. Finally, both SAT and PS of online learning platforms were observed to positively influence CI on e-learning platforms. Further research in this area could be useful in making decisions about promoting educational programs based on e-learning. The researchers recommend that academicians and policymakers must ensure appropriate arrangements for teaching on e-learning platforms.

Attitude and Performance for Online Learning during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Meta-Analytic Evidence

The COVID-19 pandemic prominently hit almost all the aspects of our life, especially in routine education. For public health security, online learning has to be enforced to replace classroom learning. Thus, it is a priority to clarify how these changes impacted students. We built a random-effect model of a meta-analysis to pool individual effect sizes for published articles concerning the attitudes and performance towards online learning. Databases included Google Scholar, PubMed and (Chinese) CNKI repository. Further, a moderated analysis and meta-regression were further used to clarify potential heterogenous factors impacting this pooled effect. Forty published papers (n = 98,558) were screened that were eligible for formal analysis. Meta-analytic results demonstrated that 13.3% (95% CI: 10.0-17.5) of students possessed negative attitudes towards online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 12.7% (95% CI: 9.6-16.8) students were found to report poor performance in online learning. Moderated analysis revealed poor performance in online learning in the early pandemic (p = 0.006). Results for the meta-regression analysis showed that negative attitudes could predict poor learning performance significantly (p = 0.026). In conclusion, online learning that is caused by COVID-19 pandemic may have brought about negative learning attitudes and poorer learning performance compared to classroom learning, especially in the early pandemic.

To Be or Not to Be: Parents’ Willingness to Send Their Children Back to School After the COVID-19 Outbreak

This study investigated the factors that parents considered when sending their children back to school after the COVID-19 outbreak and analyzed the dilemma that parents were facing. A total of 1067 questionnaires were collected through snowball sampling. After three levels of coding based on Grounded Theory and Field Theory, parents’ key concerns were categorized as four personal factors (i.e., intuitive expectation, health issue, learning effectiveness, perceived epidemic safety) and three environmental factors (i.e., school environment, family environment, social environment). By factor weight analysis using the Kruskal–Wallis H test, a field model of factors that affect parents’ willingness was set up. Results indicated that learning effectiveness is the most critical factor affecting parents’ willingness. By considering both personal and environmental factors, most parents were not satisfied with the effect of home-based online education and expressed their willingness to send their children back to school and resume classes; however, they also worried about students’ epidemic awareness and self-protection abilities. Students’ development highly depends on the social atmosphere, a regular schedule, and environmental support from schools, which can hardly be achieved by home-based online learning. The findings suggest that the joint efforts of society, schools, and families are needed on the issue of students returning to school after the COVID-19 outbreak.

Investigation on the Distribution Characteristics of Chinese Continuing Education Based on the Community Detection Algorithm in Complex Networks

In order to closely fit the characteristics of continuing education, the development of continuing education teaching activities under the network background should not only be combined with the characteristics of professional adult education but also make reasonable use of modern teaching models in the actual teaching process. Based on the community detection algorithm in complex networks, this article makes thorough research and analysis on the complexity of Chinese continuing education by using complex network technology. By establishing the characteristics of vertex degree distribution, average path length, and clustering coefficient of complex networks, it is confirmed that Chinese continuing education has scale-free network characteristics and small-world network characteristics. The three aspects of relationship strength comprehensively analyze the information dissemination speed, scope, interpretation, and application; through the combination of the ant colony algorithm and complex network technology, multiple information dissemination paths are abstracted in Chinese continuing education. The research shows that the application of complex network algorithms can effectively improve the speed and quality of continuing education in China. It is found that the government should increase the number of adult education projects and improve the level of project categories, form key adult education research basis to promote the diversification of research subjects, expand the space for adult education projects to balance regional and provincial differences and attach importance to basic research on adult education, and integrate applied research.

Impacts of COVID-19 on the post-pandemic behaviour: The role of mortality threats and religiosity

This study explores the influence of intra-pandemic perceptions on travellers' post-pandemic hotel booking behaviour among crisis-resistant travellers and crisis-sensitive groups. It also examines the moderating role of mortality threats and religiosity on these behaviours. We collected quantitative data utilising survey method via questionnaires to address various levels of the research. We used PLS-SEM to evaluate our proposed model. We collected data from 1580 who had booked hotels in Egypt. Our study indicated that intra-pandemic perception has a stronger effect on travellers’ post-pandemic hotel booking behaviours if the travellers are less religious and feel deeply threatened by the idea of their own level of mortality. Moreover, it revealed that intra-pandemic perceptions had a stronger association with post-pandemic planned behaviour for travellers who chose to cancel their hotel booking plans. Our study also indicated that emergency public information plays a critical role in influencing post-pandemic planned behaviour. Our study offers effective strategies to aid hospitality and tourism practitioners when risky and threating situations such as COVID-19 arise, specifically in the period of response and recovery.

The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction in the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Life Satisfaction among Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study examines the indirect effect of job satisfaction on the relationship between emotional intelligence and life satisfaction among teachers during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland. A sample of 322 teachers aged 23–71 (M = 45.37, SD = 8.99) participated in a cross-sectional online survey. The online survey (Google form) contained some demographic information and standardized psychological questionnaires: the Multivariate Emotional Intelligence Scale (MEIS) for measuring emotional intelligence, the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ)—a short form for job satisfaction assessment, and the Life Satisfaction Scale (SWLS). Emotional intelligence is a significant positive predictor of job satisfaction and life satisfaction, and job satisfaction is a strong positive predictor of life satisfaction. Job satisfaction partly mediates the relationship between emotional intelligence and life satisfaction. To maintain the well-being of teachers during a pandemic, schools should implement training to improve emotional intelligence and increase job satisfaction by supporting distance e-learning among teachers.

The Impacts of COVID-19 on Distance Education with the Application of Traditional and Digital Appliances: Evidence from 60 Developing Countries

Educational disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic during school closures have become a remarkable social issue, particularly among the developing countries. Ample literature has verified the adverse effects of the long-lasing epidemic on school education. However, rare studies seek to understand the association between the severity of COVID-19 and distance learning, an alternative education pattern, and foster policy designs to promote educational transition, particularly targeting the post-crisis phase of the COVID-19. By combining four data surveys, this article empirically examines the impacts of COVID-19 on children's distance education with the application of various appliances across 60 developing countries. The results suggest that, after controlling socio-economic, geographic, and demographic variables, a higher level of mortality rate of COVID-19 contributes to more households participating in distance education. In particular, this positive term is larger for distance education by using TVs and radios compared with the usage of digital appliances. To explore the potential channel of the above linkage, this article argues that the positive association between mortality rate and the use of traditional appliances is weakened through higher levels of stringency in lockdown measures. Timely policies are, therefore, recommended to guide towards distance learning with economic and technological supports to guarantee a wave of inclusive educational recovery in the ongoing post-COVID-19 era.

Remote learning during Covid-19 lockdown: A study on anatomy and histology education for pharmacy students in Jordan

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed almost all aspects of education. The anatomy and histology courses for pharmacy students focus heavily on the face-to-face communication of theory and practical knowledge, and due to the pandemic, only theory content was delivered in an online format. This brought up many concerns about pharmacy student preparedness. This work explores the effectiveness and student perspective of remote teaching of the theoretical anatomy and histology course in Jordanian universities from the perspective of pharmacy students. The objectives are to determine the strengths, challenges, and the effectiveness of remote delivery on student learning. An online-based validated questionnaire was distributed to students majoring in Pharmacy and enrolled in the course during the second semester of 2019-2020 at 11 universities in Jordan. A total of 442 students participated in the study. Results showed that there were significant differences in perceptions of the social media platforms used in distance learning and remote delivery of the course. Most participants had positive perceptions of the educational process and studying via distance learning. There were many strengths noted including time flexibility and several challenges such as the lack of face-to-face interaction with instructors, inadequate internet connectivity, and technical issues. In conclusion, online-taught anatomy and histology course during the Covid-19 lockdown in Jordan was a success as perceived by students, but the course still possessed challenges need to be overcome in the future.

Students’ Perceptions and Experiences of Online Education in Pakistani Universities and Higher Education Institutes during COVID-19

This study investigates the perceptions and experiences of students regarding the various aspects of online education while studying at the Pakistani Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) and universities that shifted to online modes of instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus of this study was to identify the level of satisfaction of students with the support being provided to them by their institutes and instructors; the use of different modes of communication and assessment methods; and their home study environment. It also explored the positively and negatively influencing factors affecting online education, as perceived by them. An online questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey research design was chosen for conducting this study. Data were collected from 707 respondents belonging to various Pakistani HEIs and universities and analyzed using the SPSS software. The results revealed a considerable dissatisfaction among the study population regarding online education being provided to them during the COVID pandemic. The participants raised concerns over the lack of institutional support and the quality of online instruction. Other issues raised included unsuitable study environments, unavailability of electricity, and connectivity issues. Overall, the majority of the students indicated that they would not like to opt for online classes in the future once the pandemic was over.

A Decision-Level Fusion Method for COVID-19 Patient Health Prediction

With the continuous attempts to develop effective machine learning methods, information fusion approaches play an important role in integrating data from multiple sources and improving these methods' performance. Among the different fusion techniques, decision-level fusion has unique advantages to fuse the decisions of various classifiers and getting an effective outcome. In this paper, we propose a decision-level fusion method that combines three well-calibrated ensemble classifiers, namely, a random forest (RF), gradient boosting (GB), and extreme gradient boosting (XGB) methods. It is used to predict the COVID-19 patient health for early monitoring and efficient treatment. A soft voting technique is used to generate the final decision result from the predictions of these calibrated classifiers. The method uses the COVID-19 patient's health information, travel demographic, and geographical data to predict the possible outcome of the COVID-19 case, recovered, or death. A different set of experiments is conducted on a public novel Corona Virus 2019 dataset using a different ratio of test sets. The experimental results show that the proposed fusion method achieved an accuracy of 97.24% and an F1-score of 0.97, which is higher than the current related work that has an accuracy of 94% and an F1-score 0.86, on 20% test set taken from the dataset.

Do technological knowledge and game-based learning promote students achievement: lesson from Indonesia

Continuous managing the quality of education in the Covid-19 pandemic has been a unique challenge, and the government has acknowledged to shift from conventional to screen adopting technology. This research attempts to examine the relationship between technological understanding, game-based learning, and students' achievements. This work engaged a quantitative approach with SEM-PLS to gain a deeper understanding of the connectivity among variables. The participants were senior high school students from several places in East Java of Indonesia. The findings indicate that technological knowledge, educational competence, computer skills play an essential role in supporting technology-based learning. However, this study notes that game-based learning in distance learning cannot act as a mediator in enhancing the students’ achievement. This study offers policy-makers the use of game-based learning in the learning process during synchronous learning using technology.

Academic Well-Being in Higher Education: A Cross-Country Analysis of the Relationship Between Perceptions of Instruction and Academic Well-Being

The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between university students' perceptions of the overall quality of instruction (PQI) they experienced since COVID-19 and their academic well-being. This relationship was examined in the context of a moderated moderation with students' household income and the cultural value of power distance (PD), which measures the extent to which less powerful members of an organization expect and accept that power is unequally distributed. Two countries with societally moderate levels of PD (South Africa and the United States) were assessed. Moderated moderations between PQI, income, and PD were found for the academic well-being of students from both the United States and South Africa. The patterns of interactions were in some ways similar and other ways different, highlighting the complexity of how students may react to potential stressors in their academic environment. Potential explanations and implications of these results are discussed.

The paradigm shift for educational system continuance in the advent of COVID-19 pandemic: Mental health challenges and reflections

Background

The coronavirus pandemic appeared as the worst global health disaster of the century. Since the advent of the Second world war-2, humankind has experienced the most challenging health emergencies. The novel respiratory disease (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in Wuhan at the end of December 2019.

Aim

The study focuses on providing education through the educational system with a mode of delivery using digital solutions with a new paradigm method.

Method

This research incorporates the statistical data related to the Pakistani Ministry of Health's coronavirus epidemic to draw the results.

Results

WHO reported more than 51.949 million confirmed COVID-19 patients in more than 200 territories and countries. This epidemic caused more than 1.282 million deaths; however, more than 36.49 million people have recovered from the infection of the deadly disease COVID-19, as of November 11, 2020. The COVID-19 has put forward unique challenges in personal and social life spheres. The precautionary measures, including social distancing, called for abrupt closure of educational institutions, leaving the digital solutions as the primary mean of continuity in educational activities.

Conclusion

The current review looks into the dynamics of embracing the change in the educational system, ranging from delivery mode to shifting to a new paradigm moving to digital solutions. This study looks into the challenges, issues, barriers, and success parameters of Pakistan's online learning management system. From the preparedness phase to the actual implementation of the learning system at higher education, the level is noteworthy. The private sector has provided higher, secondary, and primary levels; the private sector came forward to maintain learning continuity. The review suggests a way forward ahead for the educational system's continuity and sustainability in the coronavirus pandemic and educational institutions' crises.

Challenges of unrestricted assignment-based examinations (ABE) and restricted open-book examinations (OBE) during Covid-19 pandemic in India: An experimental comparison

COVID‐19 pandemic has affected every sphere of life specially the education sector observing a paradigm shift in the nature of pedagogy from offline face‐to‐face to online‐virtual mode of learning. The biggest challenge in online‐learning was the conduction of online examination for student's assessment specially in Indian context where digital divide is rampant. Thus, present study examines and compares the challenges faced by the students in two most widely accepted modes of examination by Indian universities and institutes of higher learning, that is, take home/unrestricted/assignment‐based examination (ABE) and highly time restricted/open‐book examination (OBE). Primary data was collected through questionnaires prepared by using Google forms to measure adaptability, satisfaction, and challenges using 5‐point Likert's scale. Cronbach's α test was performed on question items to check the reliability and internal consistency of the items. χ² test has been applied in order to check whether there is a statistically significant relationship between the gender and place of residence in the acceptability of ABE and OBE. The findings suggest that both modes of examination have their own challenges largely governed by the digital and economic divide. The acceptance level of ABE and OBE is not associated with gender. However, we found the level of acceptance association of ABE with the place of residence of the students but not with OBE.

Gender differences in information and communication technology use & skills: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Even though information and communication technology (ICT) is essential for everyday life and has gained considerable attention in education and other sectors, it also carries individual differences in its use and relevant skills. This systematic review aims to examine the gender differences in ICT use and skills for learning through technology. A comprehensive search of eight journal databases and a specific selection criterion was carried out to exclude articles that match our stated exclusion criteria. We included 42 peer-reviewed empirical publications and conference proceedings published between 2006 and 2020. For a subsample of studies, we performed a small-scale meta-analysis to quantify possible gender differences in ICT use and skills. A random-effects model uncovered a small and positive, yet not significant, effect size in favor of boys (g = 0.17, 95% CI [-0.01, 0.36]). However, this finding needs to be further backed by large-scale meta-analyses, including more study samples and a broader set of ICT use and skills measures. We highlight several concerns that should be addressed and more thoroughly in collaboration with one another to better IT skills and inspire new policies to increase the quality of ICT use. The findings from this review further suggest implications and present existing research challenges and point to future research directions.

Academic student satisfaction and perceived performance in the e-learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence across ten countries

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically shaped higher education and seen the distinct rise of e-learning as a compulsory element of the modern educational landscape. Accordingly, this study highlights the factors which have influenced how students perceive their academic performance during this emergency changeover to e-learning. The empirical analysis is performed on a sample of 10,092 higher education students from 10 countries across 4 continents during the pandemic's first wave through an online survey. A structural equation model revealed the quality of e-learning was mainly derived from service quality, the teacher's active role in the process of online education, and the overall system quality, while the students' digital competencies and online interactions with their colleagues and teachers were considered to be slightly less important factors. The impact of e-learning quality on the students' performance was strongly mediated by their satisfaction with e-learning. In general, the model gave quite consistent results across countries, gender, study fields, and levels of study. The findings provide a basis for policy recommendations to support decision-makers incorporate e-learning issues in the current and any new similar circumstances.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on students' learning in higher education in Afghanistan

COVID-19 pandemic has been a global serious issue that adversely impacted humans' life. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students' learning in higher education in Afghanistan. A mixed method research design was employed in conducting the study. The quantitative data were gathered using an online survey questionnaire from 592 randomly selected students and 6 semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the quantitative data and the qualitative data were coded and analysed thematically. The quantitative finding showed that the students did not experience a constant online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic devastatingly affected students' learning in higher education in Afghanistan. In addition, the qualitative finding revealed that the students had problems with Internet and technological facilities in their learning and they suggested that the Ministry of Higher Education should design and introduce a practical online platform which will be free and accessible with a poor Internet connection because some of the students live in areas where the Internet speed is very slow. The finding of the study will help educational managers and higher education leaders to review and adopt policies for teaching and learning in emergency cases. It will also help lecturers to design a proper plan and improve their instruction.

Acquisition and User Behavior in Online Science Laboratories before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the closure of schools at every level, globally, forcing education to move online. Meeting the needs of students online for Science Lab classes, in particular, is a challenge since the physical labs are not available to the teachers or students. OLabs is a virtual Science Lab providing a complete learning environment of theory, experimental procedures, videos, animations, simulations, and assessments that capture real lab experiences with the relevant pedagogy. This study looks at the acquisition and behaviors of users, on the OLabs platform, during pre and COVID-19 times. Using Google Analytics, we observe that, during the pandemic time, users increasingly adopted OLabs as a new learning pedagogy for performing experiments as indicated by parameters like the number of users; the number of unique pages viewed per session; time spent on viewing content; bounce rate; and preference for content types such as theory, simulations, videos, and animations.

Adaption of distance learning to continue the academic year amid COVID-19 lockdown

This work investigates the use of distance learning in saving students' academic year amid COVID-19 lockdown. It assesses the adoption of distance learning using various online application tools that have gained widespread attention during the coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Distance learning thrives as a legitimate alternative to classroom instructions, as major cities around the globe are locked down amid the COVID-19 pandemic. To save the academic year, educational institutions have reacted to the situation impulsively and adopted distance learning platforms using online resources. This study surveyed random undergraduate students to identify the impact of trust in formal and informal information sources, awareness and the readiness to adopt distance learning. In this study, we have hypothesized that adopting distance learning is an outcome of situational awareness and readiness, which is achieved by the trust in the information sources related to distance learning. The findings indicate that trust in information sources such as institute and media information or interpersonal communication related to distance learning programs is correlated with awareness (β = 0.423, t = 12.296, p = 0.000) and contribute to readiness (β = 0.593, t = 28.762, p = 0.001). The structural model path coefficient indicates that readiness strongly influences the adoption of distance learning (β = 0.660, t = 12.798, p = 0.000) amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Our proposed model recorded a predictive relevance (Q²) of 0.377 for awareness, 0.559 for readiness, and 0.309 for the adoption of distance learning, which explains how well the model and its parameter estimates reconstruct the values. This study concludes with implications for further research in this area.