A Silver Lining of Coronavirus: Jordanian Universities Turn to Distance Education

• Published in: International journal of information and communication technology education Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 138 - 148
• Main Authors: Bataineh, Khaleel Bader, Atoum, Mohammed Salem, Alsmadi, Lama Ahmad, Shikhali, May
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hershey IGI Global 01.04.2021
• Subjects: Adaptation; Barriers; College Students; Colleges & universities; Communication; Computer Mediated Communication; Coronaviruses; Course Content; COVID-19; Creative Teaching; Developmental Continuity; Distance Education; Distance learning; Education; Educational Methods; Educational Objectives; Educational technology; Electronic Learning; Epidemics; Foreign Countries; Graduate Students; Handheld Devices; Higher education; Influence of Technology; Information technology; Internet; Interviews; Learner Engagement; Learning management systems; Learning Motivation; Learning Processes; Literature Reviews; Management Systems; Methods; Motivation; Negative Attitudes; Online Courses; Online instruction; Open access publishing; Pandemics; Periodicals; Private Colleges; Program Effectiveness; Public Colleges; Student Motivation; Student Satisfaction; Students; Teaching methods; Technology education; Undergraduate Students; Universities and colleges; University students; Videoconferencing; Jordan
• ISSN: 1550-1876; 1550-1337
• DOI: 10.4018/IJICTE.20210401.oa1

Jordan, like other countries in the world, is facing the Coronavirus pandemic and is making a great effort to continue education in Jordanian schools and universities through distance education. To evaluate this novel experience, this study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of distance education in Jordanian universities in light of the Coronavirus pandemic and identifying the obstacles faced by university students. To reach the research objectives, a questionnaire was developed by the researchers followed by semi-structured interviews. A sample of 1000 students was selected randomly from public and private universities. The results revealed that the majority of the Jordanian university students are not pleased with this distance learning experience as most of the students encountered some obstacles such as internet speed, technological difficulties, and online content design.