Online education in lockdown.pptx

U.S.-Jordanian University Cooperation Network (UCN) Webinar Series
The Role of Educational Technology and E-Learning
during COVID -19 Pandemic and Its Impact on the
Higher Education Sector in Jordan
By Prof. Muhannad Al-Shboul
Vice Dean for Quality Affairs and Development
School of Educational Sciences
The University of Jordan
Novermber17, 2020
Online Webinar via Zoom

Overview
 Introduction
 The Impact of Using E-Learning during the COVID-19 on Jordanian
Higher Education Institutions
 Statistics about E-Learning in Jordan in the Light of the Coronavirus
Pandemic
 The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Higher Education Sector
in Jordan
 Conclusions

Introduction
The Role of Educational Technology and E-Learning during COVID -19 Pandemic and Its Impact on
the Higher Education Sector in Jordan
Linking Tertiary Education to the Labor Market
 The COVID-19 pandemic poses unprecedented challenges to education; thus, joining this
Webinar will allow the participants to learn more about how universities have transitioned from
in-person to virtual instruction and how they have managed this period of adaption,
challenges, and opportunities.
 As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has spread across the globe, nearly every country
had to react. So, today, the world finds 99% of all formally enrolled students in post-
secondary education affected. These students are serving as part of a global experiment, with
a wide variety of modalities being tried for the continued provision of their post-secondary
education.

 This Webinar will look at main equity implications, such as the digital divide exposing
socioeconomic inequity of distance learning.
 Recognizing these equity challenges as early as possible should allow higher education
institutions and governments to fashion interventions that mitigate the impacts and devise
interventions that improve students’ persistence and retention. This is a task for governments,
higher education institutions, development partners, and individuals alike.
 While tertiary education institutions are first responders when it comes to at-risk students,
governments need to support and complement their efforts through equity-oriented policies,
frameworks, and targeted funding.

The Impact of Using E-Learning during the COVID-19 on
Jordanian Higher Education Institutions
 COVID-19 Pandemic motivates educators to make use of new technologies to enhance
teaching, learning, and overall education performance. Moreover, COVID-19 pandemic has
presented a need for greater integration of technology as a platform and environment to
educate students. This has been met with great challenges in terms of best practices and
empirical research to guide instructors.
 The distance learning tools implemented in response to the education crisis caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic have revealed the potential of new technologies, especially those using
e-Learning and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education.

 However, by exacerbating existing inequalities, this crisis has also strengthened our
conviction that further work is needed to ensure that these technologies are truly inclusive. In
other words, they must be accessible to all and adapted to the specific needs of each learner.
 This issue is central to the spirit of the use of ICT during this difficult challenge due to the
Coronavirus Pandemic Crisis.
 This part of the presentation will focus on the role of educational technology and e-Learning
during the Coronavirus in ensuring educational continuity and quality learning in Jordanian
higher education institutions. Also, it aims to address this void by convening an international
interdisciplinary group of practitioners and researchers to identify effective pedagogical
strategies for technology use in higher education institutions.

 E-Learning is a timely topic and the international perspective is useful, specifically in the light of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
 E-Learning has become the mandatory component of all educational institutions like schools,
colleges, and universities in and around the world due to the pandemic crisis of COVID-19. This
deadly situation has flipped out the offline teaching process. E-Learning provides an effective
teaching method that brings out the best in learners.

 The main core of education is to learn; learning is a process of acquiring knowledge or skills
through study, experience, or being taught. Any freak accident that happens in the world will
always leave its impact on education. And so the pandemic of COVID 19 has its footprints on
education. The outbreak of this dangerous virus across the globe has forced educational
institutions to shut down to control the spread of this virus.
 This happening made the teaching professionals think of alternative methods of teaching
during this lockdown. And thus it paves the way towards web-based learning or e-Learning or
online learning.
 In today's scenario learning has stepped into the digital world. In which teaching professionals
and students are virtually connected. E-Learning is quite simple to understand and
implement.

 The use of a desktop, laptop, or smartphones and the internet forms a major component of
this learning methodology. E-Learning provides rapid growth and proved to be the best in all
sectors, especially in education during this lockdown.
 In short, in response to the emerging and ever solution to the COVID-19 outbreak, most of the
higher education system is operating through e-Learning. Meanwhile, to tackle the COVID-19
pandemic, almost all the world, and including the Jordanian Ministry of Education and Ministry
of Higher Education and Scientific Research, have issued the ordered to close the public and
private schools and higher education institutions closure as an emergency measure to stop
spreading the infection.
 Hence, due to the COVID-19 outbreak universities closed and lockdown, most instructors and
students in Jordan are enforced to move to online education.

 The faculty members of most Jordanian universities -if not all- have begun to get online training
on how to use e-Learning and distance learning tools to deliver online teaching to their students.
At the same time, faculty and staff members are learning how to use online learning platforms.
 Previous, they are using only the delivery through face-to-face teaching. However, the shift to
online mode has raised many queries on the quality of education.
 Furthermore, the quality of education and excellent infrastructures such as computers and IT
modern equipment reception are now in massive demand and universities are changing their
teaching models with the use of intellectual capital.

 Thus, an unexpected shift from face-to-face learning to online learning, there are some difficulties
faced by students and lecturers. Moreover, most of the higher education institutions in Jordan
have significant issues with technological infrastructure in rural areas; thus, the standard of online
education may be a critical issue that needs essential focus.
 Therefore, top management of universities in Jordan must be provided with recommendations for
developing an understanding of the implication of e-Service quality, information quality, system
quality, system use, and user satisfaction concerning e-Learning success.

Statistics about E-Learning in Jordan in the Light of the
Coronavirus Pandemic
 At the beginning of June 2020, the Jordanian Ministry of Higher Education issued a report,
which concluded that the number of courses that have been computerized in the public
universities since the beginning of the pandemic amounted to 20,258 courses. These courses
accounted for 82.21 percent of the courses offered in the second academic semester's
schedule of 2019/2020 in the public universities of Jordan, while the ratio of computerized
courses to the courses presented in private universities for the same semester accounted for
93.94 percent.
 This recently released report also showed that the number of those who logged in the
electronic applications and platforms of the public universities was 326,643 students,
accounting for 77.07 percent of the total registered students, while 133,749 students logged in
the electronic educational platforms of the private universities, accounting for 88.81 percent of
the total students in these universities.

 The report showed that these percentages continued to rise, reaching until the sixth week of
utilizing e-Learning, in terms of computerized courses, to 94.5 percent in public universities
and 98.28 percent in private universities, an increase of 12.29 percent for public universities
and 4.34 percent for private universities.
 According to this report, the number of students benefiting from computerized courses is
417,373 students in the public universities and 168,294 students in the private universities, an
increase of 90,730 students, and the percentage of beneficiary students during the sixth week
reached 86.49 percent in the public universities, and 85.52 percent in the private universities.

 The report also showed that the university theses discussed in Jordanian universities through
visual telecommunication methods for the end of last April amounted to 286, including 207
Master theses and 79 Doctorate dissertation. The report stressed that the e-Learning
experience in Jordanian universities was evaluated through the Jordanian Ministry of Higher
Education.
 The report also showed that the level of student satisfaction with the effectiveness of e-
Learning was 54.4 percent according to the study conducted by the Jordanian Ministry of
Higher Education, which was designed within four topics, namely the methods and
technologies with a satisfaction rate of 55.93 percent, the electronic content with a satisfaction
rate of 52.56 percent, the effectiveness of teaching with a satisfaction rate of 56.83 percent,
and assessment with a satisfaction rate of 50.63 percent.
 The report showed that the rate of satisfaction with the effectiveness of e-teaching for Master
students reached 70.54 percent, and 53.06 percent for undergraduate program students,
while it reached 58.14 percent for intermediate diploma students.

 The report emphasized that the results of the study conducted by the Ministry did not show a
statistically significant difference in the degree of satisfaction with the effectiveness of e-
Learning among students living in rural areas compared to those living in urban areas, the
rate of satisfaction reached 54.72 percent among students in villages and 54.37 percent
among students in cities. The report stated that the highest satisfaction rate was recorded for
students of humanities at about 60.00 percent, followed by information technology students at
54.60 percent.
 The report indicated that, according to the survey, the percentage of students who use the
educational platforms provided by their universities, reached 83 percent, and 92 percent for
instructors of the Jordanian universities who use these platforms. The report showed that 65
percent of students reported that the universities provided instructional information to them on
how to use these platforms, while 51 percent of them reported that the universities provided
the technical assistance when needed.

 The report also indicated that the survey results showed that 73 percent of the students use
their smartphones to access the educational platforms for learning purposes and 78 percent
of university instructors use laptops, while 87 percent of the students expressed their desire to
implement the Pass/Fail mechanism for the second semester of the academic year
2019/2020.
 It is worth noting here that the e-Learning plan, adopted by the Jordanian Ministry of Higher
Education since the start of the crisis, included a training course for administrators of e-
Learning centers in the Jordanian public and private universities, to provide them with the
skills needed to design the teaching process and develop electronic content for the academic
courses. The report indicated that a guide has been developed to clarify the designing
sequence of the educational content online in cooperation with the Edraak Foundation for
Education and Community Development, one of the initiatives of the Queen Rania
Foundation.

 As for the distance assessment mechanism, the report showed that the Information
Technology and Electronic Transformation Directorate in the Jordanian Ministry of Higher
Education, held three training workshops to explain the principles and mechanism of distance
assessment, how they are aligned with the objectives of e-Learning, and the best methods
used for student participation in e-Learning. The workshops were held in cooperation with
Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown University of the United States of America with the
participation of specialists in the field of building electronic courses, and several faculty
members in the Jordanian public and private universities.
 The report indicated that during the Coronavirus crisis, the Jordanian Ministry of Higher
Education of Jordan announced an exceptional research course for 56 research projects, and
identified 1790 free sites that provide Internet services that students of the Jordanian public
and private universities can use to take final exams.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Higher Education in Jordan
 The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Jordanian higher education sector, and the need for e-
Learning methodologies are as follows:
 Modern teaching methodologies developed through this crisis have a great influence in terms of
cooperation and collaboration in sharing experiences related to best practices in teaching and learning
globally and at the national level as well.
 New learning and teaching approaches that utilize ICT and digital technologies have enhanced students’
skills in producing digital artifacts, critically questioning online materials, and using ethical digital
practices.
 The information available, from the conducted study performed by Prof. Al-Shboul in 2020, indicated that
lecturers responded positively to the opportunity to modernize their teaching approach and foster greater
independent learning within their classes in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Jordanian higher education sector(Continued):
 The information available also indicated that overall the online training provided during the COVID-19 has
positive developmental and learning experiences for those who attended the courses.
 While most participants indicated that they were already comfortable in using digital technologies within
their teaching during the coronavirus crisis, the results indicated that the online training on the use of ICT
and e-Learning tools and platforms helped them to realize further opportunities to integrate into student-
focused and collaborative learning techniques.
 It is clear that the more creative, problem-based work in the e-Learning environment allowed for greater
engagement with content and ideas, resulting in greater knowledge transfer and transformation.

 The impact of the educational technology and distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic,
and the need for e-Learning methodologies, are as follows:
 The application of flipped methodology was proven to have a positive impact on the students’ learning
process during the lockdown in Jordan due to the Coronavirus, especially for graduate students; whereas,
the use of problem-based learning could not be that effective during the lockdown due the nature of online
based-learning.
 Where flipped methodologies were used in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in Jordan, this
appeared to have enhanced teaching and learning because it allows extra practice and discussion from
the students and instructors as well.
 As we witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, designing learning for the 21st-century practices of
learners rather than using digital tools to enhance existing practice seems vital and fundamental.
 The movement to online (e-Learning) has resulted in fewer classrooms being required; thus, save expenses for the
universities.

 The impact of the educational technology and distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic
(Continued):
 There are definite benefits for instructors and universities in introducing e-Learning of stable/fixed content for
large cohorts of learners.
 One of the drawbacks, of implementing the e-Learning during the pandemic, is that a further investigation is
required in regard to a potential digital divide in terms of equity of access to online learning models.
 The students see the utilization of e-Learning methodology during the lockdown has some benefits and
whereas others preferring to have face-to-face classes. However, weekly quizzes are required to aid motivation.
All in all, more not less structure was required.
 The courses e-Content/material are available 24/7 for the students via Moodle e-Learning Platform.
 General points about the move to online learning in the Jordanian Universities:
 Whether online courses result in increased or decreased workload for lecturers needs further investigation.
 Training is required at a basic level for both lecturers and students in order to participate fully in online learning.

Conclusions
 E-Learning seems to be the forthcoming trend; it has been extending widespread. The online
method of learning is best suited for everyone. Depending on their availability and comfort, many
people choose to learn at a convenient time. This enables the learner to access updated content
whenever they want it. Due to the wide set of benefits, it gives to students. In conclusion, e-
Learning has become quite popular among students across the world particularly, during the
lockdown period due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 E-Learning is not the result of the current situation crisis due to the outbreak of Coronavirus in
most countries around the world. Its transformation into a pandemic prevented the continuation of
the educational process in its traditional face-to-face form in all educational institutions at all
levels. Consequently, many university education institutions adopted the e-Learning system,
whether completely or partially, to raise the efficiency and effectiveness of the educational
process and advance it towards achieving its goals during COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

 COVID-19: Jordanian Higher Education Challenges and Responses
 The crisis that encountered the educational sector - due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus –
has certainly pushed e-Learning towards the forefront, so it became an irreplaceable option
(except in the absence of infrastructure).
 Instructors will face great challenges to cope with this sudden shift. However, they can
overcome many obstacles and constraints through appropriate planning, increase its use in
the educational learning process, and thus maximize its effectiveness to serve students in
their learning process and achieve the targeted learning outcomes in light of this modern style
of education that has been formally adopted by the Jordanian government as a result of the
Coronavirus pandemic, which caused the suspension of studies on campus but continued
electronically despite the interruption of work and the implementation of quarantine in Jordan.

Contact Information
 Prof. Muhannad Al-Shboul
 Professor of Educational Technology (e-Learning)
 Vice Dean for Quality Affairs and Development
 School of Educational Sciences
 Department of Curriculum and Instruction
 The University of Jordan
 Email: malshboul@ju.edu.jo
 Facebook: Dr-Muhannad Al-Shboul
 Twitter: @malshboul
 Linkedin: Dr. Muhannad Al-Shboul

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