University teachers' perspectives on the quality of emergency remote teaching: The case of Serbia during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The study deals with the quality of emergency remote teaching (ERT) during the COVID-19 pandemic in higher education in Serbia. We aimed to explore how university teachers assess the quality of ERT and whether their assessments are related to their previous online teaching experiences and their beliefs on the potentials of online teaching. The survey included 443 teachers from the University of Belgrade. The findings show that the teachers were not satisfied with the quality of ERT in terms of the interaction with students, students' motivation, and the quality of their engagement during classes. Teachers who had prior experience in online teaching and more positive beliefs regarding the potentials of online teaching/learning, used a greater variety of online tools, teaching methods, and activities during ERT and, in turn, were more satisfied with the quality of online teaching. Therefore, attention should be paid to expanding teachers' knowledge and awareness of the potentials of online teaching/learning as the ERT did not allow for its full potential to be realized.