Impacts of Emergency Remote Teaching on College Students Amid COVID-19 in the UAE

Satisfaction with online education among students, faculty, and parents before and after the COVID-19 outbreak: Evidence from a meta-analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a unique opportunity for the advancement of online education, as billions of students from 190 countries have been compelled to take classes remotely. The degree of satisfaction is considered one of the major factors in determining the quality of online educational programs. As a result, many empirical studies have been conducted on the level of satisfaction with online education over the last two decades. However, few studies have synthesized previous findings from similar research questions. Therefore, to reinforce statistical power, the study aimed to conduct a meta-analysis to examine satisfaction with online education among students, faculty, and parents before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. A total of 52 studies in English were screened from six academic electronic databases, yielding 57 effect sizes using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software. The results showed that the prevalence of satisfaction with online education among students, faculty, and parents before and after the COVID-19 outbreak was 59.5, 75.3, and 70.7%, respectively, with a significant difference between the satisfaction rates of students and those of their faculty and parents. Besides, we conducted a moderator analysis that found that (1) a significantly higher number of students in the pre-pandemic era in countries with developed digital infrastructure and emergency online learning environments were less satisfied with online education than their counterparts in the post-pandemic era, in countries with developing digital infrastructure, and in non-emergency online learning environments. Additionally, a significantly higher proportion of adult education learners reported being satisfied with online education compared to K-12 and university students. (2) The faculty in the non-emergency situation reported almost double the satisfaction rate of their counterparts in the emergency circumstance. With fewer satisfied remote learning students, efforts could be made by providing well-designed online lessons via faculty and strengthening digital infrastructure via governments to improve student satisfaction.

High prevalence of anxiety, depression, and stress among remote learning students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from a meta-analysis

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has influenced all aspects significantly, and an estimated 1.5 billion students across the globe have been forced to keep up with online courses at home. Many recent empirical studies reported the prevalence of mental health problems among students caused by remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, but a few studies aggregated these results. Therefore, to strengthen statistical power, the article aimed to examine the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and stress among remote learning students during the COVID-19 pandemic via a meta-analysis. A total of 36 original articles have been selected from five academic databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, EBSCO, and Google Scholar, covering 78,674 participants in 19 nations, and yielding 60 effect sizes (22 for anxiety, 17 for depression, and 21 for stress) based on the random effects model via Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software. The results showed that the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and stress among remote learning students during the COVID-19 pandemic was as high as 58, 50, and 71%, respectively. Besides, the moderator analysis found that (1) the prevalence of anxiety and depression among students in higher education was significantly higher than that of students in elementary education. (2) an increasing number of medical students and students in emergency remote learning context suffered from mental stress than their non-medical and traditional distance learning counterparts. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic triggers concerns related to physical health and mental disorders, especially for remote online learning students. The current situation should be brought to the forefront by educators to develop psychological interventions for relieving students' anxiety, depression, and stress during the pandemic period.

A review of the environmental implications of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates

This paper reviews the environmental implications associated with the COVID-19 pandemic at the individual and community levels in the UAE. The positive effects emanating from the pandemic include improved air quality and reduced contamination of public spaces with pollutants. On the other hand, far-reaching negative effects include poor disposal of medical plastic waste and facemasks and the rise in unhygienic health practices amongst residents of UAE. The long-term ecological implications of the pandemic are still not well understood. The findings shed the light on the importance of addressing the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic through preventative policies and strategies for better environmental health and readiness for future crises. Future research could assess the long-term environmental conse-quences of the pandemic on the UAE.

Educational, Emotional, and Social Impact of the Emergency State of COVID-19 on Romanian University Students

Background and Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a global impact at the social, economic, cultural, and political levels. Education is one of the areas that experienced a sudden change during the COVID-19 pandemic that affected both students and teachers worldwide. Thus, the aim of our research was to analyze the educational, emotional, and social impact of the period of the emergency state (16 March 2020–15 May 2020) imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic on Romanian university students. Materials and Methods: We conducted a questionnaire-based survey among Romanian university students at the national level. Results: Our study showed that students accepted online education only as a form of compromise in relation to the epidemiological situation. However, they were affected by the diminished contact with the university and their colleagues and the lack of a regular routine. Emotionally, the participants experienced feelings of loneliness, panic, fear, aggressiveness, and intolerance due to the lack of cultural activities, the struggle with the usual routine, and the restriction of communication and movement. Socially, the relationships with friends and university colleagues were affected; many students returned home to their parents, who supported them during the lockdown. As a general finding, our study describes a social category that felt the full effects of isolation during the emergency state but still managed to cope with the situation by mobilizing a number of specific resources: family, intellectual and cultural concerns, and faith. Conclusions: The emergency state imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic has been a special experience in the lives of Romanian students. Its dramatism was tempered well by an effective support mechanism provided by social ties, intellectual formation, and a certain religiosity. This has produced good resilience among students, but also in the communities they belong to.