The impact of distance learning on school education during the corona pandemic - a field study on secondary schools in the Emirate of Fujairah-United Arab Emirates

Abstract

The study aims to explore the impact of distance learning in its dimensions (education and electronic content, teacher qualification and training, and online technical support) on school education in its dimensions (education quality, student participation, and student communication) during the COVID-19 pandemic, in its dimensions (parental satisfaction and school readiness) in the United Arab Emirates. The study contributes to developing methods and techniques that the Emirates' school education institutions can use to enhance their educational initiatives, providing teachers with significant insights into integrated teaching, and anticipating future policy directions for the study. The study population comprised teachers and learners with sufficient experience related to the study's topic in the third cycle schools and the twelfth grade in the Fujairah Emirate, as well as the learners' parents. The study followed a quantitative approach with a random sample of 146 learners, 68 teachers, and 136 parents of learners. It concluded that distance learning in its dimensions has a statistically significant impact on school education, as well as an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the relationship between distance learning and school education. The study recommended several key points, including: (1) establishing an integrated educational system to achieve excellence in institutional education, including specific measurable standards, best practices, and determining the quality level of school performance; (2) a proposed mechanism for a rapid transition to distance learning during crises; and (3) a suggestion for integrating a learning portal at all times.