Impact on the Virtual Learning Environment Due to COVID-19

Abstract

As a result of the global pandemic caused by COVID-19, universities have carried out teaching in a digital way, accelerating the inclusion and use of technologies in methodological adaptation. The research aims to ascertain the perception that students at the Faculty of Education Sciences of the University of Granada have regarding the pedagogical model adopted in the virtual learning environment during confinement through the second semester of the 2019–2020 academic year. The information collection method was an online questionnaire, using simple random sampling with proportional affixing 0.5, 95% confidence level and maximum permissible error of 4.7%. The results demonstrate a generalised dissatisfaction of the students, being fundamental to carry out the transition of the educational processes and training of the teaching staff. The implementation of active methodologies increases due to the virtual condition, specifically the flipped classroom methodology, but students manifest generalised dissatisfaction regarding the adequate methodological development and the involvement of professors. There is an outstanding use of e-mail and the virtual learning platform (PRADO), although they consider that they do not have the appropriate knowledge about image editors, video, computer graphics, synchronous response systems and anti-plagiarism tools. The students surveyed express that the tutoring functions, tasks and beliefs of the teaching staff in e-learning are not satisfactory.

The Influence of Social Presence in Online Classes Using Virtual Conferencing: Relationships between Group Cohesion, Group Efficacy, and Academic Performance

“…As the importance of non-face-to-face interaction has grown, the rapid development of VC technology has been hastened by an unprecedented demand for realistic and effective interaction systems [35,36]. The development of these technologies is normalizing group participant interactions in virtual spaces by making VC interface environments more accessible and more convenient and natural to use.…”

The Higher Education Sustainability before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Spanish and Ecuadorian Case

“…The mass production and availability of ICTs have provoked modifications in social structures, from people's social networking to the educational systems [3,6]. The educational field has experienced a significant variation with the inclusion of ICTs, applying a wide range of tools, from drones, for the explanation of theoretical ideas [7,8], to virtual learning environments and virtual realities [9][10][11][12]. These tools and multidisciplinary structures have given more flexibility, adaptability, and dynamics to the education system [4,13,14].…”

“…In mid-2020, the pandemic of COVID-19 forced the higher institutions (HEIs) to include several ICTs and to move to online teaching, trying to guarantee the continuity and quality in their teaching process [27,28]. This shift to an online learning experience, also known as e-learning, caused the inclusion of different technologies, such as Zoom, Cisco, or Blackboard Collaborate, despite the teachers' skills and capacity to use them [10,29,30]. These modifications along the academic course and, of course, between countries or even regions can delimit the students' learning process [31].…”

Factors Affecting Teachers' Resiliency Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Despite the challenges brought by the pandemic and its impact on the education sector, innovations and countermeasures were introduced and implemented to adapt to the demands of the current time. Schools shifted to remote learning modalities, like some countries have resorted to complete online education or virtual learning (Teymori & Fardin, 2020;Torres-Martín et al, 2021) home-based learning (Mansor et al, 2021), and applied alternative academic calendars (UNESCO, 2020b) to continue the teaching and learning process.…”