M-learning and E-learning Educational Solutions Impact in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In the two years the world faced an unprecedented crisis, the emergence, and the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus. The situation has transformed in a pandemic which led to an accelerated digitalization of many businesses and services, including teleworking and video conferencing, access to healthcare and education. The education sector is one of the many sectors impacted by this crisis where many students of all ages had to adapt to the situation. The study includes a detailed analysis of m-learning and e-learning and their usage in several countries in the educational area during pandemic. In this paper it is analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in different countries over the education sector, the importance of the online learning and we provided a short glimpse on how the governments handled this situation in terms of measures took in this unique and unpredictable case. The study compared the situation in multiple countries in terms of digital presence and access to learning. The implications of the study might be helpful for decision makers in developing further e-learning and m-learning solutions to be used in crisis situations to prevent all the shortcomings registered in this pandemic and to propose actions to be followed to guarantee students' access to education. The findings of the study reveal that although there is a rapid spread of the technology worldwide that was used to organize the education process on short term, there is still a high number of students with lack of access to education if the pandemic will continue for many other months, or in the case when a similar scenario might ever occur.