The Unanticipated Educational Challenges of Developing Countries in Covid-19 Crisis: A Brief Report

Document Type : Brief Report

Authors

An Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine

Abstract

The purpose of the current paper is to explore the challenges associated with the emergency remote teaching (ERT) in developing countries including Palestine, Libya, and Afghanistan, as reported by students, parents, and teachers. A qualitative approach was used for data collection and analysis. Semi-structured interviews and online class observation were used for data collection. The subjects in the interviews included 60 participants from different countries and 60 online classes were observed. Each class lasted around 40 minutes. Thematic analysis was used to categorize the findings into themes. The findings of the study revealed various challenges in the emergency remote teaching in COVID-19 crisis. These challenges included the learning environment, quality of digital content, digital inequity, and the violation/invasion of digital privacy. The participants reported that COVID-19 has broadened the digital gap among students and their families, depriving them of attending online classes. Another emerging challenge in emergency remote teaching was the violation of students’ and parents’ digital privacy. Moreover, the findings confirmed that these challenges were the main factors that negatively influenced students’ attendance and engagement in online classes. Further research with larger samples is required to better understand the challenges of ERT in developing countries.

Keywords

References

Czerniewicz L, Trotter H, Haupt G. Online teaching in response to student protests and campus shutdowns: academics’ perspectives. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education. 2019 Dec 1;16(1):43.
Shraim K, Khlaif Z. An e-learning approach to secondary education in Palestine: opportunities and challenges. Information Technology for Development. 2010 Jul 1;16(3):159-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2010.501782 
Traxler J, Khaif Z, Nevill A, Affouneh S, Salha S, Zuhd A, Trayek F. Living under occupation: Palestinian teachers’ experiences and their digital responses. Research in Learning Technology. 2019 Sep 27;27. https://doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v27.2263
UNESCO. COVID-19 Education Response. Available from: https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse/globalcoalition [Accessed 5th April 2020].  
Affouneh S, Salha S, Khlaif ZN. Designing Quality E-Learning Environments for Emergency Remote Teaching in Coronavirus Crisis. Med Sci. 2020;11(2):1-3. 10.30476/IJVLMS.2020.86120.1033 
Yuen AH, Park J, Chen L, Cheng M. The significance of cultural capital and parental mediation for digital inequity. new media & society. 2018 Feb;20(2):599-617. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816667084
Willems J, Farley H, Campbell C. The increasing significance of digital equity in higher education. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. 2019 Dec 29;35(6):1-8. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.5996 
Resta P, Laferrière T, McLaughlin R, Kouraogo A. Issues and challenges related to digital equity: An overview. Second international handbook of information technology in primary and secondary education. Cham: Springer. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73315-9_44 
Robertson LP, Leatham H, Robertson J, Muirhead B. Digital privacy across borders: Canadian and American perspectives. InEmerging Trends in Cyber Ethics and Education 2019 (pp. 234-258). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-5933-7.ch011
Li X. Understanding eHealth literacy from a privacy perspective: eHealth literacy and digital privacy skills in American disadvantaged communities. American Behavioral Scientist. 2018 Sep;62(10):1431-49. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764218787019
Ahmed A, Booth D. The Digital Privacy Laws and Practices in the Jersey Island. Procedia Computer Science. 2016 Jan 1;98:163-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2016.09.026
Penuel WR, DiGiacomo DK. Organizing Learning Environments for Relational Equity in New Digital Media. 2018; In Second Handbook of Information Technology in Primary and Secondary Education, J. Voogt et al. (eds.), Springer International Handbooks of Education.
Lievens E, Livingstone S, McLaughlin S, O’Neill B, Verdoodt V. Children’s rights and digital technologies. In International human rights of children 2018 (pp. 1-27). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4184-6_16
Hodges C, Moore S, Lockee B, Trust T, Bond A. The difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning. Educause Review. 2020 Mar;27.
Yin RK. Case study research: design and methods (ed.). Thousand Oaks. 2003.
Braun V, Clarke V. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology. 2006 Jan 1;3(2):77-101.
Khlaif Z, Nadiruzzaman H, Kwon K. Types of Interaction in Online Discussion Forums: A Case Study. Journal of Educational Issues. 2017;3(1):155-69.
Interdisciplinary Journal of Virtual Learning in Medical Sciences
Volume 11, Issue 2
June 2020
Pages 130-134

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics