How Higher Education Faculty in Egypt Perceive the Effects of Covid-19 on Teaching Journalism and Mass Communication: Perspectives From the Global South

Abstract

The article critically examines how faculty in journalism and mass communication perceive the Covid-19 impact on higher education in Egypt. Using an online survey ( N = 135) and 14 in-depth interviews in spring–summer 2020, the article contextualizes the faculty’s ambivalent perceptions within the diffusion of innovation theory. The article bridges a gap in the existing literature by localizing this disrupted delivery in relation to the broader challenges and opportunities for diffusion of digital innovations in higher education. The results nuance the debate on digital education beyond a techno-determinist focus on digital skills to encompass societal awareness of regional and culture-specific digital inequalities.

Evaluating Distance Learning Experience During Corona Pandemic as Perceived by Media Students in Arab Universities

“…Since the spread of the Corona pandemic in 2019, researchers from all over the world have conducted much research to evaluate and assess distance learning during the pandemic (David et al, 2020;Badr, 2021;Olsen, 2022;Almalki, 2022). David et al (2020) presented an interesting review of e-learning platforms on a large scale during the Corona pandemic.…”

“…In Egypt, Badr and Elmaghraby (2021) examined how a journalism and mass communication faculty perceive the COVID-19 impact on higher education. The authors contextualized the faculty's ambivalent perceptions within the diffusion of innovation theory.…”

Ontologies of Journalism in the Global South

“…Self-perceptions often guide these as inferior, pre-modern, and living the Arab malaise (Alahmed, 2020;Said, 1979). Such perceptions have influenced Arab journalism training that shows a clear Anglo-Americanization and reproduces Western normativity as a yardstick for media (Badr & Elmaghraby, 2021;Moyo, 2020). Examples include the diffusion of the objectivity paradigm and an overfocus on a narrow set of technocratic pragmatic skills echoing Western buzzwords instead of Arab journalists and scholars developing a critical vision (Richter & Badr, 2017).…”