Exploring university teachers’ online education during COVID-19: Tensions between enthusiasm and stress

Evolving attitudes toward online education in Peruvian university students: A quantitative approach

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated universities' adaptation process toward online education, and it is necessary to know the students' attitudes toward this online education.

Objective

To describe the evolution of the attitude toward online education among social science students at a public university in Peru in the academic year 2020, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

The study uses a quantitative approach, a descriptive level, a non-experimental design, and a longitudinal trend. The sample consisted of 1063 students at the beginning of the class period, 908 during the classes, and 1026 at the end of the class period. The questionnaire for data collection was the Attitude scale toward online education for university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data was collected using Google Forms.

Results

As a result, the attitude towards online education was predominantly weak negative at the beginning (51.1 %) and during the classes (49.1 %), and weak positive (48.1 %) at the end of the class period. The changes were not significant when comparing the three moments, the levels of attitude toward, intention to adopt, ease of use, technical and pedagogical support, stressors, and need for online education (p-value <0.05).

Conclusion

The evolution of the attitude towards online education in the sample had a non-significant positive trend. In the initial and process stages, a weak negative attitude prevailed due to the institution's inexperience and poor digital infrastructure; in the end, the attitude became weak and positive due to the adaptation and need for online education.

Understanding the Impact of Technostress on University Teachers’ Online Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic with the Transactional Theory of Stress (TTS)

Colleges and universities worldwide have adopted online teaching for short or long periods in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. This study examines the appraisal results of specific techno-stressors related to online instruction and how these appraisal results impact teachers’ continuance intention towards online instruction. The investigation is important because it enables university administrators to manage different techno-stressors distinctively and adopt appropriate coping strategies to support online teaching. A research model is developed based on the transactional theory of stress (TTS) and tested empirically with a sample of 201 university teachers in China. The results reveal that (a) work overload is positively associated with university teachers’ challenge appraisal but negatively associated with their threat appraisal ; (b) invasion of privacy is not significantly associated with challenge or threat appraisal ; (c) work–home conflict is positively associated with threat appraisal but negatively associated with challenge appraisal ; and (d) challenge appraisal is positively associated with continuance intention , while threat appraisal is negatively associated with continuance intention . Implications for online learning during pandemics are discussed.

Analysis of Sustainable Communication Patterns during the Telework Period in Western Romanian Corporations

The research was conducted in a particular context, the recent pandemic. It is a comparative study of the methods and quality of communication in global companies between 2021 and 2022. The corporations involved in the research are important providers of flexible production, quality, and logistics solutions that cover customers' real needs. They are active in the automotive industry and units involved in mass production in the electronics industry, household appliances, and cosmetics industries. In their case, it was noted that to achieve operational objectives such as developing employee skills, using advanced technologies, and exceeding customer expectations, it is important to use innovative methods and tools such as single platforms, which allow access to the most important information from a distance, anywhere, anytime. It is significant that, according to the research, the preferred method of communication by employees, regardless of the existing conditions, is face-to-face. Primarily, this method is chosen because it provides an open area of interpersonal interaction. The participants observe non-verbal attitudes or can perceive emotions and feelings. Their personality can be identified through unintentional contact to obtain constructive feedback through guidance and counseling. Moreover, it can be formed and develop productive, intentional connections. Stakeholders' efficient and effective open dialogs are encouraged in this sense.