Abstract
The research focuses on identifying the way in which Romanian universities managed to provide knowledge during the Coronavirus pandemic, when, in a very short time, universities had to adapt the educational process for exclusively online teaching and learning. In this regard, we analyzed students’ perception regarding online learning, their capacity to assimilate information, and the use of E-learning platforms. An online survey based on a semi-structured questionnaire was conducted. Data was collected from 762 students from two of the largest Romanian universities. The results of the research revealed that higher education institutions in Romania were not prepared for exclusively online learning. Thus, the advantages of online learning identified in other studies seem to diminish in value, while disadvantages become more prominent. The hierarchy of problems that arise in online learning changes in the context of the crisis caused by the pandemic. Technical issues are the most important, followed by teachers’ lack of technical skills and their teaching style improperly adapted to the online environment. However, the last place was assigned by students to the lack of interaction with teachers or poor communication with them. Based on these findings, research implications for universities and researchers are discussed.
Highlights
The coronavirus pandemic has generated changes in the teaching-learning process in higher education institutions and has influenced the interaction between teachers and students
In the context of the crisis created by the Coronavirus pandemic we assisted in two major changes in the Romanian higher education system: digitalization and the transition to a student centered E-learning process, changes that took place in a relatively short period of time
The quality of the educational process in the online environment depends on multiple factors, among which are: the level of training that teachers have in using technology, their teaching style, interaction with students, strategies used to capture students’ attention, encouraging contact between students and faculty, collaborative learning, quick feedback, active learning, task time−encouraging students to allocate more time for completing tasks, high expectations–the teacher should communicate their expectations in order to encourage and motivate students, diversified learning, and technology application [26,27,48]
Summary
The coronavirus pandemic has generated changes in the teaching-learning process in higher education institutions and has influenced the interaction between teachers and students. As a consequence of the pandemic, universities were constrained to carrying out their activity with students exclusively online [1] In this regard, many governments took measures in order to avoid spreading the virus and to ensure the continuity of the educational process, and universities worldwide adopted online learning [2]. Internet-based learning is considered an option, an alternative to traditional learning [3], during the Coronavirus pandemic it became an essential element for maintaining the activity of schools and universities. This paradigm shift could generate changes in students’ perception of this way of teaching and their perception might be different from the one found in studies previous to the pandemic. Through this paper, we tried to capture the existence of such changes
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