ONLINE TEACHING AND LEARNING BETWEEN TEMPORARY SOLUTION AND FUTURE NECESSITY

ROXANA MIHELE

doi:10.23741/rrge220213

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic pushed the limits and limitations of all educational systems, teachers and students around the world. The solution adopted – distance, online teaching, learning and assessment – has proven to be of a longer duration than initially anticipated, to the frustration of students, parents, and teachers alike. Nonetheless, following a careful analysis of these processes over the last (two) semesters, surprising findings point out to the fact that the digital experience has brought forth, at least at the higher-education level, substantial positive outcomes that cannot be neglected. It has strengthened the digital skills that both students and teachers will need in a technology dominated future and has made the actors of the educational process aware of the constant need for an innovative look and creative approach toward sharing and assimilating the impressive amount of knowledge existent nowadays. The present article aims at discovering both the strengths and the weaknesses, the motivational factors and the technical difficulties that have characterized the recent online educational process; it also inquires to what extent this type of learning will be an integral part of our daily lives in the academia, once the on-site courses will be resumed.

Highlights

Measuring students’ perception on this whole process perceived as a challenging one, was done on three dimensions: 1) the stu d en ts’ previou s easiness in using their digital skills and their familiarity with the online teaching from their last high-school semester; 2) the students’ current satisfaction level with the way the English for Tourism course was conducted during their 1st year at university, the way they could find a motivation to study without the direct support of their tutor and peers, as well as finding out the drawbacks that prevented them from performing at an optimum level and 3) the students’ opinion regading the best version of the online assessment options
It removed the considerable emotional burden that usually comes with getting in touch for the first time with such a novel way of long-distance interaction. This aspect is important in Romania, where before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the online teaching was mostly unknown
We all realize that the future may potentially place us again in other situations where online learning is a necessity; we are aware that the digital environment is too much embedded in our lives to be ignored

Summary

Introduction

AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Following the strict lockdown measures imposed by authorities in March 2020, as a consequence of the flare-up of Covid-19 cases, the Romanian higher education teachers and students (along with the rest of the educational system actors), faced a new challenge many have never envisaged before: switching entirely to a distance learning mode with the use of web 2.0 connected devices.

Results

Conclusion