Eliciting the Challenges and the Benefits of Online Education under COVID19 (ENSAS: A Case Study)

Résumé

Due to COVID 19, Distance Education has suddenly and forcefully replaced face-to-face education in many parts of the world. This sudden transition not only has constituted a global phenomenon but also has brought with it some challenges and benefits. The latter have now become new realities in the educational sector of many countries. The present study reports the results of a case study in which over 134 engineer students of the ENSA Safi were surveyed through a questionnaire to investigate their perceptions about the benefits and challenges of online learning during the pandemic period. The findings of this study indicated that students showed a level of satisfaction with online learning since it provided them with the flexibility in learning. They also indicated that the virtual teaming experiences in the online courses were beneficial for them to develop virtual team skills. Yet, some of the students also indicated that online education displays some challenges; students found it difficult to communicate with their teachers and their classmates freely as they used to do in face-to-face education. Transition to distance learning as a result of covid‐19 has exposed some challenges as well as provided some benefits. Further studies and research are still needed not only to prove the utility of online education but also to provide the necessary data and findings on how effective this sudden change could be beneficial to students, staff, and the entire university system.