Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges and the greatest known disruption to the education system in Israel and in many countries around the globe, resulting in decisions to switch to online learning in all subjects. The transition to online learning in an emergency situation involves breaking down barriers and poses challenges for faculty members, as well as for students that call for immediate response. In the present study we examined 225 lecturers’ opinions who teach at various academic institutions and 2015 students on the advantages and disadvantages of online teaching and learning from various aspects, from a systemic, multi-institutional perspective. The study employed the quantitative and qualitative methods. The findings of the study indicate the preference for online learning that was not high at the beginning of the crisis: only about a third of the lecturers and students expressed a preference for online learning and the big increase of their online learning preference after a year. The lecturers and the students mentioned the lack of social and emotional interactions (SEL) between students and lecturers and among students as one of the main disadvantages of online learning. In addition, most of the lecturers and students do not consider online learning as providing an advantage in terms of quality of teaching and learning. The findings of the study highlight the lecturer’s role in the digital age, in teaching practice and, in particular, the role of professional administrator in charge of teaching and learning at academic institutions, with an emphasis on the pedagogical aspects of that role. The study also indicates the need for perceptual changes among lecturers, so that they will reexamine the teaching and learning processes and adapt their role and responsibilities to the new opportunities enabled by today’s technological tools and learning environments. The findings of the study also indicate that the success of online learning requires appropriate pedagogical educational approaches rather than replication of traditional frontal teaching patterns on digital platforms. While this study seeks to shed light on teaching practice during a health crisis that was forced on faculty, it also focuses on the potential implications for teaching and learning processes after the current crisis. Specifically the findings of the study call for in-depth discussion among higher education policymakers and academic institutions on the new and effective purpose of the campus in the post-covid period, the distinction between the virtual and the real in academic instruction, and the challenges and ways of coping with the new reality.

Keywords:

Higher education, Online teaching, Online learning, Digital pedagogy, Post - Covid period.