Teaching faculty perceptions, attitudes, challenges, and satisfaction of online teaching during COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia: A national survey

Perspectives, practices, and challenges of online teaching during COVID-19 pandemic: A multinational survey

The result of the movement restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic was an impromptu and abrupt switch from in-person to online teaching. Most focus has been on the perception and experience of students during the process. The aim of this international survey is to assess staffs' perspectives and challenges of online teaching during the COVID-19 lockdown. Cross-sectional research using a validated online survey was carried out in seven countries (Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Indonesia, India, the United Kingdom, and Egypt) between the months of December 2021 and August 2022, to explore the status of online teaching among faculty members during the COVID-19 pandemic. Variables and response are presented as percentages while logistic regression was used to assess the factors that predict levels of satisfaction and the challenges associated with online instruction. A total of 721 response were received from mainly male (53%) staffs. Most respondents are from Brazil (59%), hold a Doctorate degree (70%) and have over 10 years of working experience (62%). Although, 67% and 79% have relevant tools and received training for online teaching respectively, 44% report that online teaching required more preparation time than face-to-face. Although 41% of respondents were uncertain about the outcome of online teaching, 49% were satisfied with the process. Also, poor internet bandwidth (51%), inability to track students' engagement (18%) and Lack of technical skills (11.5%) were the three main observed limitations. Having little or no prior experience of online teaching before the COVID-19 pandemic [OR, 1.58 (95% CI, 1.35-1.85)], and not supporting the move to online teaching mode [OR, 0.56 (95% CI,0.48-0.64)] were two main factors independently linked with dissatisfaction with online teaching. While staffs who support the move to online teaching were twice likely to report no barriers [OR, 2.15 (95% CI, 1.61-2.86)]. Although, relevant tools and training were provided to support the move to online teaching during COVID-19 lockdown, barriers such as poor internet bandwidth, inability to track students' engagement and lack of technical skills were main limitations observed internationally by teaching staffs. Addressing these barriers should be the focus of higher education institution in preparation for future disruptions to traditional teaching modes.

Satisfaction with online education among students, faculty, and parents before and after the COVID-19 outbreak: Evidence from a meta-analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a unique opportunity for the advancement of online education, as billions of students from 190 countries have been compelled to take classes remotely. The degree of satisfaction is considered one of the major factors in determining the quality of online educational programs. As a result, many empirical studies have been conducted on the level of satisfaction with online education over the last two decades. However, few studies have synthesized previous findings from similar research questions. Therefore, to reinforce statistical power, the study aimed to conduct a meta-analysis to examine satisfaction with online education among students, faculty, and parents before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. A total of 52 studies in English were screened from six academic electronic databases, yielding 57 effect sizes using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software. The results showed that the prevalence of satisfaction with online education among students, faculty, and parents before and after the COVID-19 outbreak was 59.5, 75.3, and 70.7%, respectively, with a significant difference between the satisfaction rates of students and those of their faculty and parents. Besides, we conducted a moderator analysis that found that (1) a significantly higher number of students in the pre-pandemic era in countries with developed digital infrastructure and emergency online learning environments were less satisfied with online education than their counterparts in the post-pandemic era, in countries with developing digital infrastructure, and in non-emergency online learning environments. Additionally, a significantly higher proportion of adult education learners reported being satisfied with online education compared to K-12 and university students. (2) The faculty in the non-emergency situation reported almost double the satisfaction rate of their counterparts in the emergency circumstance. With fewer satisfied remote learning students, efforts could be made by providing well-designed online lessons via faculty and strengthening digital infrastructure via governments to improve student satisfaction.