No abstract

No abstract

Distance Learning (D-learning), as an alternative educational solution for students who cannot attend in-person classes, has been deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic to deliver the promises promoted long ago by technology and education experts. For many professors and students, the shift was a first as they had to resume their classes fully online despite not being academically competent to do so. This research paper examines the D-learning scenario introduced by Moulay Ismail University (MIU). It is based on the intelligent Association Rules method to identify relations between different variables. The significance of the method lies in its ability to assist in drawing relevant and accurate conclusions for decision-makers on how to rectify and adjust the adopted D-learning model in Morocco and elsewhere. The method also tracks the most probable future rules that govern the behavior of the population under study vis-à-vis D-learning; once these rules are outlined, the training quality can be dramatically improved by adopting better-informed strategies. The study concludes that most recurrent D-learning issues reported by students systematically interrelate with ownership of gadgets and that once specific procedures are implemented, reports concerning the D-learning experience at MIU are likely to be more comforting.

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed schools around the world under unprecedented challenges where saving students’ lives is placed ahead of education as a priority. Within these conditions of distress and uncertainty, education authorities had no choice but to move traditional classes into online ones to ensure the sustainability of studies. The abrupt inevitable decision has been a first for most if not all teachers and students who are invited to cope with a totally new teaching/learning model without necessarily having prior experience in Distance Learning in terms of apparatus or techniques. This study comes as an in-progress appraisal of the D-learning scenarios proposed by Moulay Ismail University (MIU) in Meknes, Morocco, based on a two-level evaluation model (Reaction and Learning) proposed by Daniel Kirkpatrick. It is a real-time evaluation of a learning strategy that has long been considered optional for some students, to become, rather, a plan A constituent for many education departments around the world. The study investigates areas of success and failure from the students’ perspective via 4 sub-indicators: accessibility, autonomy, retention and psychological impact. The study concludes that the figures can be more reassuring about the D-learning experience in MIU once issues related to connectivity and communication are redressed. Keywords: d-learning, e-learning, pandemic, COVID-19, Kirkpatrick’s model, information and communication technology

In addition to identifying the pedagogical approaches favoured by teachers in environmental education, the study aims to reveal the impact of the teaching methods and tools used as well as the teaching difficulties encountered on the effectiveness of teachers’ pedagogical action, particularly in the “Scientific Awakening” course.The study concerns a sample of 636 primary school teachers from the urban and rural areas of the Fez-Meknes Regional Academy of Education in Morocco. The data was collected using a 37-item questionnaire covering the following variables: the teaching methods adopted, the preferred pedagogical approaches, the teaching material used, and the teaching difficulties encountered. The study fits under a descriptive correlational design. The most used teaching methods were the teacher-centred oral methods (dialogue and demonstration method) lacking learner-centred activities (working in small groups, discovery method). The least used ones were laboratory experiments and ICT-based demonstrations. The study shows that teachers who use active methods are the most aware of difficulties in teaching environmental issues and were the most capable of effectively solving learning problems and achieving pedagogical objectives. The study shows that Moroccan primary school teachers need in-service training for the adoption of a systemic and interdisciplinary pedagogical approach. In addition, to address the issue of the alarming failure to complete the “Scientific Awakening” program, we recommend continuous training for the benefit of teachers. This training should cover the appropriate active methods to effectively complete this program. Finally, the study underlined the need to solve the problem of the enormous lack of teaching tools. Certainly, this shortage significantly influences the pedagogical action of teachers regardless of the pedagogical methods adopted.