The sudden transition to online learning: Teachers’ experiences of teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction The sudden transition from face-to-face teaching to virtual remote education and the need to implement it during COVID-19 initially posed specific challenges to educational institutions. Identifying and understanding teachers’ experiences pave the way for discovering and meeting educational needs. This study explored faculty members’ teaching experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods The qualitative descriptive design via conventional content analysis was used. It was conducted from January 13, 2020, to May 10, 2022. In-depth interviews (online and in-person) of ten faculty members, three managers, and one staff from Lorestan University of Medical Sciences were conducted. They were purposefully selected with maximum variation. Simultaneously with data collection, analysis was performed using the approach Graneheim and Lundman proposed (2004). Lincoln and Goba’s criteria were used to obtain the study’s rigor. Results Six categories emerged from the data: education in the shadow of the crisis, Challenges related to the teaching-learning process, Blurred boundaries between personal and professional lives, Positive consequences of e-learning, Trying to deal with the crisis, And dealing with the crisis. Conclusions Initially, teachers faced several challenges in the teaching-learning process and even in their personal life. However, with time, the actions of the teachers and the managers caused an increase in the quality of education. However, planning and foresight are needed in developing countries, including Iran, to appropriately face and optimally manage similar crises and move towards blended learning.

Students’ experience of interpersonal interactions quality in e-Learning: A qualitative research

“…According to that study, teachers should become familiar with content development technologies. Therefore, the final result of their content production was non-standard [ 16 ].…”

“…They concluded that e-learning could be relished as a successful mode of medical teaching, and that it might be utilized as an alternative educational method [ 15 ]. Among the advantages of e-learning, one can mention the following:teaching regardless of time and place, cost-effectiveness, no need for physical presence, the existence of various choices, time-saving, and the development of cooperative learning types [ 16 ].…”

“…It was determined in the study of Ahmed et al 2023 that the challenges encountered by students were a poor internet connection and a lack of interest and desire [ 12 ]. The need for complex technology, reduction of social interactions, unstable internet connection, inability to understand students’ facial expressions, and the impossibility of performing practical and laboratory courses are among the weaknesses of distance education [ 16 ].…”

“…The minor form of interaction was social intimacy. In their qualitative study, Goudarzi et al (2023) introduced the category called the challenges of the teaching-learning process [16].…”

The Impact of Online Teaching Experience during the COVID-19 Pandemic on Community College Faculty Attitudes toward Online Teaching and Their Teaching Practices

“…During the pandemic, many faculty faced teaching-learning challenges as they moved forward, and it was well-known that effective planning was critical for switching to online teaching (Goudarzi et al, 2023). The study conducted by Perez-Echeverria et al (2022) showed that faculty aimed to select teaching practices that were more content-centered by using available online resources to better suit their teaching practices.…”