Distance Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic in UAE Public Schools: Student Satisfaction, Attitudes and Challenges

Muhammad S Bawa’aneh

doi:10.30935/cedtech/10872

Muhammad S Bawa’aneh ¹ ² ^*

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CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 13, Issue 3, Article No: ep304

https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/10872

Submitted: 21 November 2020, Published Online: 01 May 2021

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Abstract

In the current circumstances, the second wave of COVID-19 Pandemic is spreading and we seem to have to live longer with most of the urgent measures taken in early 2020 to fight the spread out of the pandemic; of which is school closure. The present study aims at investigating students’ satisfaction, attitudes and challenges in UAE public schools during the distance learning time of the third trimester of the academic year 2019-2020. The study also aims to measure differences of satisfaction level, attitudes, and challenges across gender and geographic places of residence within the UAE. Data collection started eight weeks after the commencement of the distance learning process and continued for two weeks. The first eight weeks that preceded data collection witnessed a continuous update of the, previously rich and well established, educational plans in line with continuous development plan for students and instructors that included intensive training for students and instructors on the use of up-to-date educational technologies. That has reflected on the results of the study, where the student satisfaction level, attitudes and challenges were found to lie within the “strong” category indicating high satisfaction level, positive attitude, and minimum faced challenges, with statistically significant differences in the mean across gender and residency for some cases. Such positive result is directly related to the fact that students of the UAE public schools were partially exposed to electronic learning even before the pandemic, the tremendous efforts of the ministry of education to guarantee smooth transfer to full distance learning after the outbreak of the pandemic, and the well established infrastructure of the country.

Keywords: student satisfaction, student attitudes, student challenges, distance learning, e-learning, virtual classes, COVID-19

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Citation

Bawa’aneh, M. S. (2021). Distance Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic in UAE Public Schools: Student Satisfaction, Attitudes and Challenges. Contemporary Educational Technology, 13(3), ep304. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/10872

Bawa’aneh, M. S. (2021). Distance Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic in UAE Public Schools: Student Satisfaction, Attitudes and Challenges. Contemporary Educational Technology, 13(3), ep304. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/10872

Bawa’aneh MS. Distance Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic in UAE Public Schools: Student Satisfaction, Attitudes and Challenges. CONT ED TECHNOLOGY. 2021;13(3), ep304. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/10872

Bawa’aneh, Muhammad S. "Distance Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic in UAE Public Schools: Student Satisfaction, Attitudes and Challenges". Contemporary Educational Technology 2021 13 no. 3 (2021): ep304. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/10872

Bawa’aneh, Muhammad S "Distance Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic in UAE Public Schools: Student Satisfaction, Attitudes and Challenges". Contemporary Educational Technology, vol. 13, no. 3, 2021, ep304. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/10872

Bawa’aneh MS. Distance Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic in UAE Public Schools: Student Satisfaction, Attitudes and Challenges. CONT ED TECHNOLOGY. 2021;13(3):ep304. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/10872