Questions that have been engaging our minds for a while. I think it is here to stay

Has changed out teaching for ever, including planning, competencies, and thinking out of the box..

Definitely, in my opinion will guide us toward Blended teaching models, and

For me who is a true believer of the value iif social interaction during learning.. it hasn’t been the same. I feel that I have tried various means, opportunities for engagement , freshman’s has struggled while juniors have been managing and using interactive tools more effectively.

Quality and efficiency remains to be seen.. for sure it has been time a nervy wise draining for some of us.

Thanks for posing this very meaningful and timely question..

I think blended learning (both online & traditional) is likely a way forward. To sustain quality, there is a need to increase student engagement and motivation to learn. I am glad that we now have more platforms to learn from each others in term of teaching methods.

Thank you for starting a good discussion.

I think online education should run along with traditional mode of class room teaching which can improve the effectiveness of teaching learning process.

Thank you @ Zuhar RENDE Beman @ Yusrita @ Monirul for your valuable insights!

Online is here to stay for sure, however institutions have to emphasize each approach's requirements, methodologies and tools to offer authentically the learning outcomes and the appropriate teaching and assessment. All within a specific learning model.

I totally agree with you @Hussin Jose Hejase. Prepareing a comprehensive approach that all the requirements, methods and assessments models is very crucial. Nowadays we see some educational institutions are struggling with this issue, as their online platforms do not contain an integrated system that provides the user an easy and effective usage.

Good afternoon.Yes, online education is firmly established in our lives. After coming out of isolation, we smoothly switched to mixed learning mode. This is very difficult for teachers, in the sense of preparing for lessons.

Good Afternoon @ Svetlana Bezoluk. Thank you for your reply!

Online learning while new to group (albeit a large group) of people is not new, so it is going to continue on post pandemic. But the better question may be to consider which aspects of online learning will be here to stay? Research is already pointing to the fact that online learning tools do lend themselves to engaging students better at times and increasing student engagement. Good online learning takes a lot of pre-planning and pre-building, so that element is probably a good one to keep (pre-building supportive digital assets for example). So the future is probably going to be a gamut of techniques and technologies integrated into teaching that is a bit more transformative.

I think that online education is a reality in today's higher education. More and more universities need to adapt their training offer to this educational model. COVID-19 has detected a deficiency in higher education, which is the lack of ability to adapt to distance education. I believe that online education will grow to a greater extent after COVID-19 due to the need for students to study outside their study center. In higher education, I believe that online and face-to-face training are perfectly comparable, but it all depends on the quality of the teaching staff, the virtual platform and the involvement of the students. In secondary education, it can be equaled, but the fundamental quality factor is the effort and involvement of the teaching staff. In primary and infant education, I see it impossible to abandon the classroom training model.

Thank you Juan Luis for giving your deep insights!

Thank you @Mariam Paulis Sada for your constructive contribution!

Best Regards

Nasser

In my opinion, on line education shall be continued in addition to the physical presence in the school. This is beneficial to the students those who can not attend physically because of various reasons, so that they may join the classes through on-line mode from any part of the globe. However educational institute can restrict this on line attendance as a part academic over physical presence in the school.

Many thanks Nelaturi V Raghavaiah for your reply!

Online learning has greatly expanded the potential reach of our teaching in cost-effective ways. The Covid-19 pandemic has created a needs must scenario whereby otherwise reluctant staff and students have chosen to participate. In my view, this provides a solid basis for continued online teaching on an institution-wide scale and greater solidarity between learners and between educators as to how teaching and learning can be successfully delivered.

I applaud Nasser Alhamar Alkathiri for presenting such a necessary topic. eLearning is the best of bad options in many cases. "The “elephant in the room” is the concern that sacrifices in educational quality have been made to ensure educational continuance and continuity of institutions."* It has the advantages of geographical reach but segments collectives and communities in ways that are hardly ideal. Group work is often impoverished and intergroup communication is absent altogether. Online education is not a substitute for face to face(or vice versa). When looking at comparative advantages the question is to do what? Face to face by its nature can not segment a population to prevent disease, have a simultaneous or asynchronous global reach, or be readily available from one's domicile. On the other hand, eLearning rarely has the media richness able to capture nonverbal indicators of comprehension, community, and peer reinforcement (through modeling etc.). Indeed my personal experience suggests the motivating effects of self-managed workgroups, for students, appears to be diminished because of the lack of observational and informational surveillance of other groups or teams. It will take a lot of honest and sophisticated research to truly understand the dynamics of both online and face to face education in a post COVID world. That being said, to conflate the two into a hierarchical system seems to diminish the advantages of both. As with most things the modality of the learning depends on the limitations and advantages of the context, the skill and training of the instructor, and the motivation and experience of the students. Of course, online education will continue as we move forward post COVID. My hope is that we will try to engage it judiciously in a way where the quality of education differences are diminished.

*(PDF) The Journal of Literacy and Technology Special Issue for Suddenly Online Considerations of Theory, Research, and Practice. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344462029_The_Journal_of_Literacy_and_Technology_Special_Issue_for_Suddenly_Online_Considerations_of_Theory_Research_and_Practice [accessed Dec 01 2020].

I am curious that the question was even asked as it was. Distance Education, including online distance education, has been around for many years and when done well flourishes and offers a key additional choice for students who for a variety of reasons may not be able to attend face-to-face classes.

I think the real question is will we (course designers, instructors, administrators, students, ...) have learned and be willing to continue to learn how to make the best possible use of the available and future flexibility offered by this mode of teaching.

Online learning is not a lesser mode of teaching and brings its own advantages beyond the obvious of offering an alternative when we cannot offer F2F classes. A key advantage that it offers, if done right, is accessibility for persons with disabilities or persons who face other impediments to allocating days, weeks months and years to sitting in classrooms. In the process of meeting the requirements of those who are unable to attend F2F, we are also opening up further education to thousands and even millions who are prevented from seeking an education. Computers and phones that run of solar power open up post-primary education to anyone anywhere in the world.

I think we need to focus on who wants or needs an education that cannot access one in the existing models and ensure that we keep that in the forefront of our work as we get beyond the current situation. Let us remember that so far we have mostly made existing access available to those who already had access. Our goal must be to use what we have learned and built to expand access to all.

So, absolutely online learning must and will go on and grow, even if it requires teachers at all levels to rethink their ways of teaching.

Bundle of thanks to you all for the great insights!

Best Regards

Nasser

I think that e-learning will continue to be used with a combination of it and traditional education, even after the end of the pandemic

Thank you @ Amel Asmar Zaboon for sharing your valuable view!

أصبح اليوم التعليم الالكتروني ضروري ومكملا للتعليم

There is great scope for online learning post COVID-19, as the lessons learned during the pandemic may be applied to enrich it.

It will definitely continue. The unexplored was forced to the forefront for many educators. Hopefully, it will be embraced and educators empower themselves further through training.

I think that online education is important, it promotes independence in the student, it requires resources that we do not have, continuing it from blendedness.

I agree with Adita Maharaj and Miriam Roll Hechavarría. Actually, online university and online learning have long been implemented before the pandemic. However, this pandemic has caused the urgency of performing fully online education worldwide. It's not a choice, it's the only way to deliver knowledge because of the lockdowns. On the bright side, this condition also urges all LMS developers to improvise a lot more to suit our use. The development of online learning has become so rapid within the year 2020 as compared to the previous 10 years.

e-learning will continue to be used with a combination of it and traditional education, even after the end of the pandemic

Great insights! Thanks!

Good morning

I just one will change a word

A PRESENT OF ONLINE EDUCATION

Best regards

Ph.D. Ingrid del Valle García Carreño

Promising! Online education will continue as an integral part of blended teaching and learning methods/strategies in many countries worldwide.

Dear Nasser Alhamar Alkathiri Online education is going to stay in future, although the present vitual mode will get converted intoa hybrid type (conventional + online).

Thanks!

Now, I think we have adapted to online education and it actually good for us also.

Online education is important and necessary in this new normal of covid-19 and in the future, but technological resources are necessary.

As long as the teachers arrive we are preparing.

There is great potential to develop high-quality interactive content and increase accessibility and cut travel, but there has to be a balance.

Can you explain further, Joanthan?