RESPONDING TO COVID-19: FINDING SOLUTIONS TO MAJOR CHALLENGES OF LECTURING ONLINE
RESPONDING TO COVID-19: FINDING SOLUTIONS TO MAJOR CHALLENGES OF LECTURING ONLINE

Author(s): Iryna Andrusiak
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Education, School education, Distance learning / e-learning
Published by: Biblioteca Ştiinţifică a Universităţii de Stat Alecu Russo
Keywords: online teaching; online learning; online lecturing; synchronous teaching; asynchronous teaching
Summary/Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic is believed to have had multifaceted effects on education systems across the globe. While it is claimed to have caused considerable disruption of education systems due to reducing the learning opportunities for the vulnerable, it has fostered innovation within education at large and in higher education in particular. Universities across Ukraine are steadily changing traditional modes of delivering quality education implementing digital learning and teaching technologies. However, the shift to online teaching and learning environment is far from being smooth: both instructors and students face a wide range of pitfalls that hinder achieving desired learning outcomes. The present study aims at exploring and defining the main issues the academic staff and students face in respect to the lecture delivery options and discuss the possible ways to solve them. This research was conducted using the combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The present paper reports on responses to short survey on teachers’ experiences of online teaching at the faculty of Foreign Philology at Uzhhorod National University. To clarify some of the issues one-on-one post-survey interviews were conducted. Research findings show that the academic staff are facing a number of challenges ranging from professional and personal factors (e.g. low technological competence, unawareness of online education options, lack of time, etc.) to the issues directly associated with the university administration, e.g. sustainable policies and strategies relating to online education. Serious efforts need to be taken by all the stakeholders in order to maintain and develop the quality of higher education in the online modality.

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