Emergency Remote Learning in Higher Education during COVID-19 Era: Students and Professors’ Experiences

Abstract

Due to the current massive pandemic situation, global educational systems have, by necessity, shifted from in-person to virtual learning. As a result, this newfangled educational paradigm has changed the conception of teaching and learning from a rigid process to a novel environment where new rules and objectives are set. In the present context, this research paper is intended to discuss the contemporary educational prototype as an alternative to traditional face-to-face instruction in order to accomplish quality learning and rescue the academic year from a doomed failure. In this regard, this study relies on a quantitative and qualitative research analysis, based on questionnaires designated to teachers and students of the National School of Applied Sciences of Tétouan (ENSATE) at Abdelmalek Essaâdi University to reflect upon their experiences, insights, and perceptions of distance education with respect to teaching materials, content, and syllabus delivery. The aim, therefore, is to disclose the variant challenges that are being encountered by the aforementioned students and teachers, including their attitudes toward e-learning course content and pedagogy. It is equally important to pinpoint the different possible strategies and policies that ought to be adopted by education policy makers to perfectly meet the novice learning/teaching needs and aspirations.