From Emergency Remote Teaching to Remote Online Education: Challenges, Benefits and Differences in EFL Setting

Abstract

Purpose: Emergency distance learning that started in the middle of 2019-2020 education year caused a lot of uncertainties and even chaos in many education settings around the world. However, conditions were different when the 2020-2021 education year started fully online. This descriptive inquiry aims to explore the views, perceptions, and experiences of learners and instructors, who started fully online distance education in the preparatory class of a School of Foreign Languages at a state university and compare and contrast these experiences with the emergency distance education they had in the previous term. Design/Methodology/Approach: The participants of the study included 247 students and 27 instructors who were administered open-ended questions as the data collection tool. Hence, the study utilized qualitative data collection and analysis methods. Findings: The results provided insights about the participants’ experiences from various aspects and showed that both parties were conscious of the benefits and challenges of the online courses. Highlights: Different from emergency remote learning, online classes in 2020-2021 academic year were seemingly organized with better planning, which also contributed to instructors’ and students’ adaptation.