Online Education in Palestine: ELT Teachers doing ERT (again) by Hidayat Abu Elhawa, Chris Alexander and Jarosław Krajka
Online Education in Palestine: ELT Teachers doing ERT (again) by Hidayat Abu Elhawa, Chris Alexander and Jarosław Krajka

Summary/Abstract: The frequency of disruptions to the function of Palestine’s education systems highlights the need for Palestinian educational institutions to implement online delivery of institutional services and course content in order to ensure reliable access for teachers and students. This qualitative case study explored the beliefs and perceptions of five teachers of English as a foreign language who worked at a Palestinian university that transitioned to online emergency remote teaching during the 16-month-long halt to face-to-face instruction forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data throughout the school closure period, and findings derived by thematic analysis showed that the teachers, including three with no experience teaching online, faced challenges but eventually adapted to the situation. The data revealed agreement and divergence among the teachers regarding the benefits and downsides of moving their courses online. An overarching theme of uncertainty emerged as a characteristic of the teachers’ practices and work lives during the study period, with the shock transition to e-learning, labour intensive teaching conditions, inadequate e-learning infrastructures, and four types of classroom impacts identified as primary contributing factors. By the conclusion of the study, all teachers agreed that e-learning will play an increasingly important role in the future of education in Palestine, and four were willing to continue teaching online. By identifying associated benefits and challenges and highlighting influences that physical and cultural contexts can have on the transition to online education, this study contributes to the literature regarding the adoption of e-learning at universities in developing countries.

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