Trends in education during the pandemic: modern online technologies as a tool for the sustainability of university education in the field of media and communication studies

Digital transformation in higher education: A qualitative evaluative study of a hybrid virtual format using a smart classroom system

This study presents the salient perceptions of students and instructors in a master's program taught in a hybrid virtual format using the pocket Bipolar Laddering tool, a written open-ended electronic data collection system. Perceptions about the hybrid virtual format were tested on the participants of a master's program taught in the 2021-2022 academic year through a hybrid virtual format based on a Smart Classroom system developed as part of the digital innovations implemented to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. This work aims to shed light on the users' salient perceptions of the format, detect the positive elements mentioned by the surveyed participants and identify the negative items in a bid to minimize, or even revert, their effects for future editions of the master. As expected, the findings suggest that one of the main advantages of this format is that it allows students who have difficulty attending classes on campus to enroll on courses. However, the participants detected diverse elements that could be improved such as interaction, the degree of socialization, or the technical problems that arose during teaching sessions. It is hoped that these findings will be of use when adjusting new editions of the program and will help to determine the design and implementation of other hybrid virtual programs in the Institution.

Advantages and Disadvantages of E-Learning Innovations during COVID-19 Pandemic in Higher Education in Poland

The paper presents the results of the research on the advantages and disadvantages of innovative e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in higher education. In the first stage, an internet questionnaire was used for the study. The research was carried out in Poland on a sample of 621 students. The results allowed the researchers to determine variables that are important for the proper implementation of innovative e-learning, and the emergent perspectives for this form of education after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the most significant disadvantages, there was a lack of direct contact with colleagues, difficulties with teaching practical subjects, lack of direct contact with the teacher, and too much time spent in front of a computer/telephone or other mobile device. The most important correlations included the following: students satisfied with e-learning assess the advantages highly and the disadvantages lower; all the advantages of innovative e-learning are positively correlated with the student’s assessment of the ease of acquiring content in e-learning, and negatively correlated with the student’s assessment of the ease of acquiring content in traditional education; the easier the student assimilates innovative e-learning content, the higher the student’s evaluation of the advantages of e-learning; students who perceive e-learning content as difficult to absorb have low motivation to learn remotely; the better the student knows information technology, the more highly the student evaluates the advantages of innovative e-learning; the better resources to participate in e-learning activities the student has, the higher the student’s evaluation of the advantages of e-learning; the more often innovative e-learning solutions are used in a given university, the better the student assesses the advantages of e-learning.

How to Promote Online Education through Educational Software—An Analytical Study of Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling with Chinese Users as an Example

Online learning has emerged as a fresh method to successfully prevent teacher and student gatherings as well as the propagation of viruses in the context of the ongoing influence of the COVID-19. A problem deserving of consideration is how to increase users’ desire to participate in online learning through online class APPs, identify the variables that affect users’ use of them, and create a useful assessment scale. In this study, user ratings from 68 students who had used an online class APP were collected using the combination of qualitative and quantitative research, and 200 online questionnaires were sent out to complement the interview findings, based on which 328 assessment questionnaires were gathered and 23 valid items were obtained. The influencing elements that had an impact on users’ online learning experiences were identified using factor analysis, and the relationships among the components were investigated using structural equation modeling. Perceived benefits are the main influencing factors, subjective norms and functional quality are the direct factors influencing users’ perceived benefits, and self-efficacy is influenced by subjective norms while promoting the perception of functional quality. The factors influencing users’ use of online class APPs are ultimately identified as perceived benefits, functional quality and self-efficacy. In order to facilitate users’ online learning, user psychological traits, social ties and software functions should be integrated into a cohesive system while designing online class APPs.