Progress monitoring of academic achievement is an essential element to prevent learning disorders. A prominent approach is curriculum-based measurement (CBM). Various studies have documented positive effects of CBM on students’ achievement. Nevertheless, the use of CBM is associated with additional work for teachers. The use of tablets may be of help here. Yet, although many advantages of computer- or tablet-based assessments are being discussed in the literature (e. g. innovative item formats, adaptive testing, automated scoring and feedback), there are still concerns regarding the comparability of different assessment modes (paper-pencil vs. tablet). In the study presented, we analyze the CBM data of 98 fourth graders. They processed the exact same computation items once with paper and pen and once in a tablet application. The analyses point to comparable results in the test modes, although some significant deviations can be found at item level. In addition, the children report perceived benefits when working with the tablet.

In this study in which case study – one of the qualitative research methods - was used, it was aimed to assess the effects of covid-19 pandemic on preschool education by teachers. Preschool teachers working in 14 provinces where the number of cases is high form the universe of the study. Sample group is 140 teachers in total. So as to get data for the study, survey questions prepared by the researcher and submitted to expert opinion and structured interview forms were used. The findings of the study are as follows: preschool children had feelings of anxiety, fear and longing all together during this process and they wanted to return to their schools as soon as possible. Similarly, most of the teachers were highly concerned and worried. The teachers attended online educations related to their professional development during the process of staying home. Before Covid-19 came to Turkey, the schools did not take any measures; then, when distance education started, all schools were disinfected, the materials and toys in the classrooms were put aside after disinfection. Distance education process was quite difficult in preschool education; all the teachers taught in line with their own initiatives. During this process, while the activities most preferred by the teachers were games and art activities, the activities having pandemic theme were experiments and dramas about hygiene. Distance education increased parent participation to preschool education and this had a positive effect on parent-child interaction. In the distance education process, by establishing platforms intended for preschools, suggestions to make more and professional activities, to have common actions in cooperation with schools and to train parents were made.

This article examines how the crisis of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) became a crucible, or a means of transformation, for global educators. How teachers leverage their lived experience of teaching through the implications of COVID-19 to transform identity and practice is a new phenomenon and merits examination. Through a collection of interviews, the ways in which the life experiences of teaching through COVID-19 worked to create new identities in teachers and new practices within the classroom is examined. Data was gathered through informal interviews from eleven educators teaching through the crisis of COVID-19 across the world, including four continents and six countries. Drawing on simple thematic analysis, a narrative approach was utilized to examine the process of transformation in teachers across the globe. The findings and analysis of this research will help those working with teachers better understand how teachers leverage a crisis be it COVID-19, or another disruptive force, as a crucible for transformation.

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has increased anxiety and stress among teacher education managers and has given rise to the question of whether they have the competencies to execute their operational responsibilities productively. The theories of resilience and transformational leadership underpin this study in which teacher education managers’ resilience and their responsiveness to the well-being of staff executing their operational practices in an open distance e-learning context were explored. A qualitative approach was adopted and virtual video conferencing interviews with teacher education managers were used to explore how they mitigated their strategic and operational roles and their managerial functions to ensure the well-being and organisational performance of staff working from home. Results revealed the experiences of distance managers to have been positive in that they implemented organisational strategies to mitigate the challenges faced to ensure wellness and performance among staff working from a distance. Further research applying a mixed-method design should be undertaken to determine how resilient managers and staff working from home are. That may yield different results.

Various studies have shown that teachers are subject to an increased stress level and the associated physical and psychological consequences. In this article, the possibilities of coping of stressful situations in everyday school life are systematized. In addition, the knowledge and usage of available programs and trainings for coping with stress at school in German-speaking countries will be assessed. This is a descriptive study based on a survey of 32 teachers. Effects due to contextual variables (gender, school type, and work experience) were examined. The results indicate that only a few of the programs surveyed are known and used in schools. Effects in connection with the gender of the teachers as well as their professional experience could not be determined. Instead, significantly more special education teachers knew and used programs to strengthen protective context factors (school type effect). The fact that a high proportion of teachers are unaware of and do not use available programs, despite their high importance for healthy coping with personal job demands, suggests deficiencies in teacher education and training. In addition, lack of resources at schools may be limiting. The successful management of stressful situations must not be seen as a task for individual employees; rather, systemic solutions must be found. Particularly due to the increased stress experienced by teachers in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, aspects of health promotion in schools should play a significant role. The aim must be to provide more detailed information about stress management approaches in schools and to support their implementation.

During the period of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the boundaries between the home and the school as study spaces were blurred. School studies entered the home, with the parents present and observing their children’s e-lessons and the teachers’ teaching methods. The purpose of the current study was to explore the explicit and implicit attitudes of the lesson partners: teachers, parents, and students, to e-learning. The study explores whether and to what degree the attitudes of teachers, students, and parents to e-teaching are compatible, and what are the implications for the future. The study shows that although in recent years the relationships between parents and the school and between teachers and students have waned, with regard to the separation of authorities between the home and school, the period of the COVID-19 crisis clarified the need to enhance the relationship and cooperation between the home and the school as two meaningful study spaces for independent learners. The research findings raise the paradox that not only does technology not increase the distance rather it has the potential to strengthen the relationships between parents, teachers, and the school. The study points to the need to prepare holistic guidance sessions and professional development courses.

During the pandemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), English as a foreign language (EFL) students have to study and submit their assignments and quizzes through online systems using electronic files instead of hardcopies. This has created an opportunity for teachers to use computer tools to conduct preliminary assessment of the students’ writing performance and then give advice to them timely. Hence, this paper proposed some indicators which were essay readability scored by Flesch Reading Ease (FRE), length of essays, errors in writing and a method to assist the teachers in providing writing feedback to the students. The results showed a large difference in FRE, the number of words, sentences, paragraphs and errors. The K-means clustering findings were applied to classify groups of students based on writing proficiency indicators. The findings also revealed that the number of words and sentences in the essays indicated some deficiencies. The concept of paragraph should be reinforced while some specific errors such as misspelling, grammatical and typographical errors found need to be eliminated. This study showcased that the computer tools should be integrated to process the students’ essays so that the teachers can pinpoint the problems and make suggestions to their students in appropriate time. Lastly, the results can be served as the guidelines for the teachers to develop and adjust teaching materials pertinent to writing to enhance the writing performance of EFL learners.

Technological advances and the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic have forced higher education institutions to be innovative in delivering education in their countries. E- assessment using e-portfolio illustrates the importance of assessment practices that promote constructivist perception, allowing students to create their own learning as active participants through innovative learning and assessment activities. The purpose of this paper was to explore lecturer’s understandings on the functionality of e-portfolio as an alternative assessment in an Open Distance e-Learning (ODeL). For this qualitative study, within an interpretative paradigm, interviews were conducted with four lecturers using thematic approach. The findings revealed that e-portfolio is beneficial for assessment in the ODeL as it allows students the opportunity to self-embrace their learning, e-portfolio enhances student-centeredness through authentic assessment practices. However, e-portfolio is not implemented to its potential due to challenges and constraints experienced by lecturers. Based on the findings, it is recommended that training workshops beneficial for lecturers should be conducted at the beginning of the course/module on how to create their e-portfolios. Furthermore, an e-portfolio assessment framework to be facilitated for the successful implementation of e-portfolio assessment strategy.  

Open educational resources (OER) are an innovation coined to bridge the educational divide by providing free quality learning resources. Consequently, this study explored the perception of the Namibian open and distance learning institutions' perception of the use of OER as a pedagogical approach. The study focused on faculty members from the three public ODL institutions in Namibia. Integrated theories with a qualitative case study and interpretivist paradigm underpin this study. Qualitative methodologies were used to collect and analyse data. This study showed an inconsistency between the faculty members' perceptions and OER use within the ODL institutions in Namibia. Although the faculty members displayed positive attitudes towards the use of OER, very little has been achieved in the use of OER within the institutions for the benefit of the Namibian ODL students. The study identified various challenges that impede OER adoption at the institutional level. Recommendations were formulated to address the identified challenges.

Lecturers have different perceptions of the effect of internal continuous assessment (ICASS) on students at tertiary vocational education and training (TVET) colleges. This qualitative multiple case study explored computer practice module lecturer’s experience of internal continuous assessment (ICASS) in three KwaZulu-Natal TVET colleges. Six lecturers were purposively selected from three KwaZulu-Natal TVET colleges. Drawing from an interpretivist perspective, constructivist theory entailing cognitive and social constructivism guided this study. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Collected data were transcribed, categorized into codes and themes emerged using thematic data analysis method. The findings revealed that it was difficult to complete the curriculum due to limited time and assessments methods were limited and did not meet the diverse needs of students. Lecturers had to work beyond the set assessment schedules to cater students who missed or scored below average marks. Moderation and assessment feedback were not considered as a critical aspect in the ICASS. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis hindered the successful implementation of the ICASS. It is recommended that the policy makers should insist TVET college managements to offer specialized in-service training for lecturers’ professional development and upgrade the infrastructure and equipment. Time should be set for teaching activities to enhance effective learning so that extra lectures can be offered to students with limited or no previous computer knowledge and encourage them to follow the comments by lecturers as a corrective assessment feedback. It is concluded that lecturers should use diverse assessment methods to improve students’ ICASS.

Due to the pandemic in many countries, schools were closed in 2020. Therefore, education was suspended, and distance education was started. During the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, teachers gave lessons online in virtual classrooms. In this study, Scale of Attitudes Towards Online Formative Assessment (S-AOFA) for teachers conducting online and distance courses was developed, and the teachers' attitudes were examined with respect to demographic variables. In the study conducted in the mixed-design method, qualitative and quantitative data were collected for the scale development and survey. Data were obtained from 369 teachers (science teacher, mathematics teacher, classroom teacher, and teachers in other fields) working in school in Turkey. S-AOFA was made up of 20 items and two factors as a five-point Likert-type. When the teachers' attitudes towards online formative assessment (AOFA) was examined, it was found that the mean for the factor of "Assessment Systems" was lower than that of the "Assessment Approaches". In addition, the findings revealed that there was no significant difference in the teachers' AOFA in terms of gender and that no significant difference existed in AOFA with respect to the school levels of the teachers (elementary, secondary and high school). Moreover, the results demonstrated that there was a low negative significant relationship between the teachers' AOFA and the number of students in which virtual lessons were given online. Lastly, there was a low level positive significant relationship between the teachers' AOFA and the in-class participation percentages of the students who were taught online in virtual classrooms. S-AOFA could be used by researchers in different studies in future.

South Africa, like other countries in the world, went into lockdown due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which meant closure of venue-based exam centres, university libraries and academic offices for more than three months. This encounter forced higher institutions of learning to review and reconfigure their assessment practices and conduct alternative assessment practises like timed exams, take home exams, randomised multiple-choice examinations and an online portfolio. Over and above that South Africa experienced load shedding (interruptions to electricity supply) and connectivity challenges which impacted the online examinations. This paper explores the experiences of lecturers whilst administering online examination at a South African Open Distance e-Learning university during COVID-19. Data collected from the lecturers who administered online examination through semi-structured interviews. Thematic analyses were used to analyse the data. Lecturers reported on student challenges related to time allocation, exam security, internet connectivity and data access, digital incompetency and support received from the information communication technology (ICT) department. Academics’ reflection suggests that the system and students were not fully prepared and ready to write the online examination. The researchers propose continued technical and technological education and support for academics and students. Therefore, in line with these experiences, it is important to conduct further the research.

Teacher professionalism is needed for quality education. The current practice for increasing teacher professionalism is to use skill applications. However, the implementation of skill applications has, in fact, not succeeded in significantly increasing teacher professionalism. This study aims to explain the importance of an effective skill application model coupled with a comprehensive approach to raise the level of teacher competence. This study is qualitative with its data derived from observations, interviews, and questionnaires. The paper's research findings show that existing programs are not sufficiently enhancing teacher competencies and professionalism. Various teacher professional development activities are conducted; however, there has been no continuous post-activity follow-up. These professional development activities tend only to fulfill the administrative requirements for teacher promotion. What is needed is a comprehensive and continuous teacher professionalism assessment model, which is underpinned by a system of mentoring. This study has implications for evaluating the teacher's professional competencies. More comprehensive skill applications need to be formulated as part of an integrated, sustainable, and mentoring [terpadu, sustainable, pendampingan-TSP] approach to develop teacher professionalism significantly.

This work describes the design and validation of a questionnaire to assess the expectations of higher education professors regarding virtual education (CEDVES). The sample included 546 professors, 299 men (54.66%) and 247 women (45.23%), from different scientific disciplines of a university in Chile. The final version consisted of 38 items answered using a five-point Likert scale. Nine factors were identified from the exploratory factor analysis. This configuration accounts for 75% of the variance. The structure of the instrument was studied using confirmatory factor analysis. It was found that nine factors produced a good fit, derived from a hierarchical solution in which all these factors depend on a factor of second general order. Each of the scales, like the general factor, present good indicators of reliability. The analysis indicates that this questionnaire has adequate validation and could be broadly used in higher education.

Currently, physics education is a science that is still considered abstract by many students and the public. Thus, there is a need for information on the current trends in physics education to adapt to the current situation. Based on the Scopus, the research objective is to explore the ongoing trends in the last ten years and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research is a bibliometric and bibliometric analysis. The findings show that research related to physics education is dominated by the most developed during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 – 2021) countries Indonesia. Meanwhile, the Journal of Physics Conference Series is the journal that publishes the most publications (Scopus) related to physics education, followed by the AIP Conference Proceeding. Research implication to research, librarian, and policy maker (1) Research and development need to be carried out in-depth related to the growing trend of physics education so that it can be published in Scopus. (2) Cooperation and collaboration between other universities to increase publications at the international level. (3) The need for continuous research to follow current trends.

The purpose of this study was to increase student activity and learning outcomes by applying peer tutor learning methods combined with interactive case methods in online learning mode through Electronic Learning Aid (ELENA) and Zoom meeting. This study was carried out with a classroom action research (CAR) design in three cycles of implementation. This study was carried out in the even semester of 2020/2021 in the Cost Accounting course. Data collection methods used are documentation, observation, and tests. Student learning activities in online learning through ELENA and Zoom meetings have been recorded to show changes and improvements in the quality of student learning activities. The data analysis method used is quantitative descriptive analysis. The application of the peer tutor learning with the interactive case methods has been going well through the Zoom meeting and ELENA and is able to have an impact on student activities and learning outcomes in the Cost Accounting course. The increase in student learning activities can be seen in the increased ability of students to ask questions, provide responses or answers, and express opinions or ideas during lectures. Student learning outcomes also experienced a significant increase, which was 7.5%. Students who act as tutors can carry out their duties well.

This study aimed to analyze the effect of game-based learning (GBL) through the use of Genially in English as a foreign language (EFL) online instruction. The participants were 61 EFL undergraduate students, who were distributed into an experimental group (32 students), and a control group (29 students). Their ages ranged from 22 to 56 years old, and their English proficiency level was B1, according to the Common European Framework of References (CEFR). The students were enrolled in two pre-intermediate courses that are part of an EFL Teaching program at a private university in southern Ecuador. The courses were delivered in an online remote learning environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study followed a quasi-experimental approach and it took place over a sixteen-week period. The instruments included a diagnostic survey, a pre-test, a post-test, a students’ perceptions survey, and a semi-structured interview. The main findings revealed that Genially games have the potential to enhance EFL learners’ academic performance in online instruction, particularly in aspects related to students’ knowledge of grammar and vocabulary in context. Besides, it was found that according to students’ perceptions, the implementation of games based on their real learning needs increases their motivation, especially when feedback is effectively provided.  

The purpose of the study was to identify the - interventions that can be adopted for teaching chemistry disciplines to the graduates majoring in Pharmacy (Mpharm) in Ukraine. The study employed a systematic review methodology and a qualitative approach to synthesising the sources. The triangular assessment method was used to rate the short-listed instructional interventions for feasibility, transferability, and duplicability in the settings of teaching chemistry disciplines to pharmacy graduates in Ukraine. The review found seven eligible publications for the analysis. It was identified that the shortlisted instructional models were technology-mediated and positively affected students’ skills and occupational knowledge. Three out of seven instructional models used chatbots and AI to automate the process of management of students learning activity which suggested that automation of the process of educational content delivery was becoming an emerging trend in instructional design. Having performed the triangular assessment method (TAM) analysis, three instructional models were given preference in terms of their use in medical education settings in Ukraine. These models were as follows: a) PhET simulations-based model, b) the model based on automated delivery of the course using the Smart Sender platform and c) the model based on automation of the Moodle-driven e-course using Dialogflow chatbot.

Online game addiction and psychological distress are two continuously developing problems in the Philippines, with Filipinos aged 18 to 24 being the second largest age group to overuse interactive online-related games. This sequential explanatory mixed method study aimed to assess the young adults’ gaming addiction and perceived psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic and identify the other factors contributing to the respondents’ frequent engagement in online interactive games, which served as a basis for a preventive intervention program. The researcher administered the survey questionnaires of the Gaming Addiction Scale and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 to 399 young adults aged 18–24 and a semi-structured interview guide to 20 addicted and non-addicted gamers. Key results showed that a small percentage of the respondents experienced polythetic and serious monothetic addiction to interactive online games. In contrast, half of the respondents manifested mild to moderate symptoms of depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Major findings also found no significant gender differences in the level of online game addiction and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a moderate level of relationship substantiated the association. Further results revealed that the negative compensatory factors were associated with addicted gamers’ frequent engagement with online games, whereas non-addicted gamers were associated with positive, beneficial factors. This phenomenon has hardly ever been the focus of in-depth research, and the results of this study can be used to further refine the conceptualization of “internet gaming disorder” as a mental disorder and develop a more comprehensive treatment method.

Higher education institutions around the world had to implement an emergency remote education (ERE) modality due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to determine the individual and relational factors that affect the perception of learning in engineering, education, and health students during emergency distance education. Through a quantitative, non-experimental, and correlational study, an online survey was administered to a sample of 929 higher education students regarding their ERE experience. They were surveyed regarding their perceived learning, empathy, classroom interaction, self-regulation of learning, positive agency, student engagement, learning approaches, and use of digital resources. Data was analyzed using quantitative methods, namely correlations, comparisons of means and a linear regression analysis. Education students showed a more positive perception of learning, used a deep learning approach, and rated more positively the empathy shown by their professors and the possibilities for class participation than other students. Engineering students had the lowest scores on perceived learning and on almost all other variables. In general, students with a better perception of learning presented a higher engagement in their studies and a lower use of surface learning approach.