Digital Transformation of the Educational Process during the Covid-19

Pandemic

KHALID NASER AL-ZU’BI

Department of Management Information Systems,

Al-Balqa Applied University,

Al-Salt, Salt, 19110,

JORDAN

Abstract: - E-learning has become an inevitable process for educational organizations as it helps an individual to get

his or her education regardless of the place of learning, reducing the cost, time, and effort of the education process,

especially in crises’ occurrence. The theoretical approach was used in this study to collect the required data based

on the literature review. The study clarified the significance of e-learning as a feature of the digital transformation

process and an integrative, but not full alternative, for face-to-face learning in all the scientific disciplines in the

universities, especially clinical disciplines. The study differentiated between e-learning and emergent-remote

learning that occurred as an emergent response to the Covid-19 pandemic and confirmed that the pandemic-

response migration cannot be equally assessed as much as online education in the ordinary situation. it was

differentiated between methods of response to the emergent-remote learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. Also,

the study demonstrated the challenges that have faced e-learning during the pandemic and the opportunities

provided by the pandemic through e-learning. Finally, a set of suggested solutions was provided in the discussion

section. For instance, It is suggested that schools fulfill their civic duty by teaming up with telecommunications

firms to provide free or cheap internet access and downloads for students and teachers. Also, colleges and

universities need to inspire their students to develop their digital skills so that they can remain competitive in the e-

learning market.

Keywords: - Covid-19 pandemic, education, digital transformation, e-learning, emergent-remote learning,

challenges, opportunities.

Received: June 12, 2022. Revised: September 21, 2022. Accepted: October 11, 2022. Published: November 11, 2022.

1 Introduction

Covid-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) is currently a

major public health emergency. It is described as a

contagious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, [1]. The

disease is caused by a new strain of the coronavirus

family. It is transmitted from one human to another by

small nose or mouth liquid particles. The World

Health Organization (WHO) described the disease as

"2019-nCoV", where "n" refers to novel, "Co" to

corona, and "V" to the virus. In December 2019, it was

reported the first case of Covid-19 in Wuhan city in

China. Then, the disease spread throughout the world

threatening the health of millions of people. In March

2020, Covid-19 spread in most countries causing

693,220 confirmed cases and 33,390 deaths, and

WHO declared Covid-19 as a global pandemic. In

addition to the WHO health recommendation of social

distance as a protective means against the disease

spread.

A pandemic in general is defined as "an outbreak

of a disease that spreads over a wide geographical area

and infects a high proportion of people". Globally, to

curb the pandemic dissemination, most countries

resorted to physical closure in all fields; business,

education, sports, and services sectors. For the

educational sector particularly, educational institutions

have migrated their education to online platforms, [2],

[3]. Online learning is the process of using

technological devices and internet facilities to practice

learning activities and thus achieve the education's

objectives, [4], [5]. It includes two types, namely

synchronous and asynchronous learning. Educational

institutions are to have a comprehensive understanding

of the limitations and benefits of each type, [6], [7].

This study provided a comprehensive awareness of the

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methods used in the crisis-response migration in

education, challenges, and opportunities related to the

Covid-19 pandemic, differentiation between the

emergent remote-learning and e-learning, and finally

provided a set of suggestions that may help the online

learning stakeholders, especially the educational

institutions' management improve the emergent

remote- learning.

2 Literature Review

Digital transformation has been accompanied by

educational institutions and it is not novel for this

sector, especially for universities, [8], [9],

[10]. Undoubtedly, digital transformation has been an

inevitable necessity for all educational institutions, and

today is described as a topical issue that must be

concerned by all stakeholders of education (i.e. faculty

members, students, administrators, and university

management), [11], [12]. Therefore, higher

institutions have to be up to the task of having the

potential capabilities to interact with the up-to-date

digital transformation requirements to face threats as

they appear and provide professional alternative

solutions, [13]. It is suggested that sustainable

management has to be capable of adjusting effectively

to the new modifications reinforced by the novel

technology, [14].

Digital transformation in higher education is

described as the summation of all digital processes

needed to perform a transformation process that assists

the higher education institution in optimally applying

digital technology, [15], [16]. Nevertheless,

knowledge of information communication technology

(ICT) is not enough for higher education institutions to

get professional digital transformation, rather, other

processes have to be taken into consideration, such as

establishing effective strategy, building trust with the

users, involving and promoting all stakeholders,

having organizational and collaborative knowledge,

etc., [17], [18].

It is agreed that digital education has brought about

revolutionary modifications in the field of the higher

education process, as it moved the face-to-face

education that is concerned with place-centered

teaching and achieved in domestic universities, to

online programs to provide learning efficiently;

anytime, and anywhere. In this manner, online courses

loaded are synchronically available to all students in

all their different places, [19], [20]. Additionally,

digital transformation enables students to attend the

class course asynchronously; a student can attend the

lecture given to his/her colleagues after a limited

time, [15]. Therefore, e-learning is described as cost-

effective learning. It can be imagined how much e-

learning minimized costs for educational

institutions, [20], [21]. For instance, a course given by

an online program can sometimes be attended by

hundreds or even thousands of students in the case of a

training program, which cannot be anyway given to

students in a face-to-face situation. Thus, a university

adopting e-learning may reduce the costs of students'

classes' requirements, costs of new instructors in case

of course load, costs of communications, etc.

Although digital transformation was adopted in

higher education, its use was limited to some

educational situations. However, the Covid-19

pandemic has developed and expanded digital

transformation so that novelties that would need many

years to be presented because of highly complicated

and bifurcated managerial regulations just took some

weeks because of the nationally and internationally

continuous, stressful, and collaborative scientific

efforts that were exerted as an urgent response to the

crisis, [22], [23]. Particularly, in Jordan, for instance,

there were highly collaborative and unremitting efforts

during the beginning of the pandemic between the

ministry of digital communication, the Arab weather

organization, and other private programming

companies to design and develop educational stations

for the schools' students.

E-learning is the educational usage of technological

tools and the internet to realize educational objectives,

[24], [25].

Adedoyin and Soykan, [15], mentioned that

technological innovations and internet accessibility

have motivated e-learning since the beginning of the

millennium. Thus, Boricha and Gohil, [26], concluded

that digitalization in higher education cannot be

referred to as e-learning as e-learning is one feature of

the digital transformation in higher education.

However, some scholars have argued that e-learning is

still controversial as it cannot be considered a

substitute for face-to-face education, as it lacks face-

to-face interaction and communication among the

students in the class as well as among the students and

their instructors. Additionally, some scholars went

beyond that when they described e-learning emerging

from the crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic with

emergent-remote education which lacks the quality of

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education compared to direct interaction in the

students’ class, [27].

3 Methods of Response to the Emergent-

Remote Learning

E-learning is not a novel phenomenon, rather it has

been adopted in some universities since 1980, and

expanded later in the 1990s and 2000s, [16]. For its

several merits, it has been viewed by educational

organizations as an effective alternative to face-to-face

education, [28], [29]. Nevertheless, e-learning cannot

be recognized as an educational model that can

guarantee the quality and steadiness of instructional

activities, [30].

Since the WHO, [1], had claimed that Covid-19 is

a pandemic, as it is a very infectious disease that

spreads rapidly near distant people, and thus distance

people communication is recommended, schools and

other educational institutions have been closed to curb

the disease transmission. Accordingly, to maintain the

educational process continuity, the traditional

education method was hindered and replaced, for its

necessity, with the e-learning educational method.

Due to the pandemic's hard circumstances, schools

switched their traditional instructional activities to

remote learning, [10]. With this rapid and compulsory

educational migration approach, remote learning faced

several challenges, [16]. One of the major issues was

the obligatory modifications in the attitudes of the

learners, instructors, and administrators about their

satisfaction with e-learning effectiveness, [30].

However, some schools and universities that adopted

e-learning before the pandemic emergence as a part of

their educational process have not faced such major

issues as much as those that resorted to e-learning as

an urgent response to the pandemic, [31].

After the global physical closure of educational

institutions, universities are to adopt e-learning as a

necessary alternative solution to keep the continuity of

the educational process, [5]. According to Rusly et al.,

[32], two methods of the crisis-response migration of

e-learning have been used by universities, which are

external-assisted migration and external–integrated

migration.

In the first method “external-assisted migration”

the universities used the web.2 platforms (e.g.

Moodle’s, Microsoft 360) designed by an external

organization, [32]. In this case, the universities

transformed all e-learning-related data (i.e. data of

instructors, learners, courses, etc. into the application.

On the other hand, in the external–integrated

migration, the university integrated web.2 platforms

(e.g. Google Classroom, Big Blue Button) with its e-

learning platform, [33], [34]. However, for both

methods, the instructional delivery for both methods is

the same, such as assignments submission, video

conferences, forums discussions, etc.

4 Challenges of the Emergent-Remote

Learning

Several educational challenges have been associated

with the digital transformation of instructional

delivery. The major challenges the education system

has faced during the covid-19 pandemic include the

following:

4.1 Acquisition of Internet Connections and

Smart Technology

E-learning is entirely dependent on the internet and

several subsequent technological devices. Therefore,

students and instructors who do not have internet

connections are liable to be denied e-learning

application access, [35]. However, internet

connections and technological equipment availability

are considered a challenge for institutions, [36].

Kapasia et al. [22], stated that students with

outdated technological devices cannot match up with

e-learning technical requirements. For instance, the

students who try to take their e-quiz using an old

mobile phone, cannot get internet accessibility. Also,

some students may have accessibility problems

therefore they may not have the ability to follow

instructions added by their instructor on the

announcement page related to a particular course.

4.2 Socio-Economic Situation

Because of the inequality in the socio-economic status

of some students, they attempt to rely on their schools'

computers and the internet, [37]. This education-

related migration has infrequently occurred during the

Covid-19 pandemic, as the transfer was mostly limited

because of the pandemic-related lockdown. This

challenge encountered the students with low

socioeconomic status during the pandemic and limited

their academic abilities in e-learning compared to

other students with medium or high-level

socioeconomic status. In the study conducted by

Fishbane & Tomer, [38], it was confirmed through the

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study findings that the rate of increase in community

poverty leads to a decline in internet accessibility. This

inevitable result has led students of low

socioeconomic status to fall behind or be unable to

meet up with their colleagues in the e-learning

process.

4.3 Human-Related Interruption

It is the unexpected interruption that may be caused by

family members or friends during the e-learning

process. Such interruptions may create a diversion or

disruption to the participants' attention during online

learning or teaching, [39]. Manfuso, [31], mentioned

that human-related interruptions usually occur in

online video conferences during the learning progress.

Also, a sound launched during an e-learning lecture by

a pet animal or even outside vehicles led by humans

may cause entropy and distorts the learners' and

instructors’ interaction.

5 Opportunities

E-learning is characterized by several merits, such as

interactivity, flexibility, availability, responsiveness,

etc., [40], [41]. In general, universities have

stressfully used e-learning during the Covid-19

pandemic to get aligned with other organizations

worldwide in minimizing, at least, the spread of the

Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to the desire to keep

the academic calendar. Educational institutions,

especially universities, have responded to the

pandemic through the rapid digital transformation of

their educational processes, [42]. By responding to the

pandemic, universities have attempted to achieve

educational, economic, and social objectives. The

chief information officer (CIO) of Baldwin Wallace

University, Greg Flank, asserted that when he was told

about the quick digital transformation for educational

activities, he informed his team to do best in investing

opportunities offered by the crisis, as the use of e-

learning tools is highly essential for everybody in the

university, [16]. Greg Flank added that e-learning

introduced a roadmap by which the educators, as well

as the stakeholders, can be engaged in creating a novel

market, and the longer the crisis goes on, the more

likely the e-learning becomes an acceptable mode of

learning and education.

5.1 Research-Related Innovations

Since the world health organization (WHO) has

declared that the Corona disease caused by the Covid-

19 virus is a pandemic, researchers have sprung

frequent attempts to find short-term and long-term

alternative solutions to overcome the pandemic and

restrict the virus's spread throughout the world, [1].

However, the increasing number of e-learning

participants entailed the existence of professional

researchers and technologists who can exploit this

opportunity and provide innovations to overwhelm the

online learning challenges, [41], [43], [44]. Such

innovative activities included providing new models

that accommodated the contemporary alterations in e-

learning, reviewing the process of digital

transformation in e-learning activities, improving and

developing new designs of personalized e-learning

models, developing new e-learning models that could

reduce the workload of instructors, etc., [45].

This indicates that there has been a great alteration

of the academics’ attention to Covid-19 searching for

alternative solutions to overcome the pandemic effects

and thus curb its negative impact on education.

5.2 Technological Innovations

Educational institutions and universities have a great

responsibility for providing innovations that can assist

in preventing and protecting humanity against the

pandemic, [46]. Universities, in particular, have a

scientific responsibility by opening new gates for

researchers to collaborate their scientific research in

such a way that can prevent or control the disease's

spread, [33]. For instance, some universities in North

Cyprus have introduced some innovations for the

frontline health workers that assisted in eradicating the

pandemic and for the general public in minimizing

protection against the disease spread, [15].

Some of these innovations include the "3-

dimensional Multiplexer Ventilator" which was

provided by Near East University and Medical

Shields" which was provided by Eastern

Mediterranean University, [16]. Other innovative

technologies supplied by the Covid-19 crisis include

hands-free door openers, Wrist-Mounted Disinfectant

Sprays, and basic ventilators. Some of the urgent

technological innovations brought about by the Covid-

19 era include 3D Printed Hands-Free Door Openers,

Basic Ventilators, Spiderman Wrist-Mounted

Disinfectant Sprays, and Wristband that rings

whenever someone wants to touch his/her face, [15].

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5.3 Social Responsibility

During the Corona pandemic peak, most countries

have been adopting policies of mitigation for reducing

the effects resulting from lockdowns. All

organizations, either public or private, have activated

social responsibilities toward their

communities, [47]. For the higher education sector, in

particular, in North Cyprus, universities called public,

private, and alumni provide social-economic

supportive interventions to the students, [15]. Some of

the socio-economic interventions, for example,

included food items, reduction of increments of tuition

debts, and medical and psychological help to students,

[48]. Some internet service providers in the USA have

supplied university students with free internet

bundles, [38].

6 Discussion

It is clear that educational technology, represented in

e-learning as one of the digital transformations, has

played a significant role in alleviating the effect of the

Covid-19 pandemic by providing platforms for

educational design, delivery, and assessment. Many

researchers have been striving their efforts in

inventing new mechanisms for control and protection

against the Covid-19 pandemic. Adedoyin & Soyka,

[15], confirmed that there should be sharing of the

contemporary research findings relating to the Covid-

19 pandemic. Online learning is not new in the

education process, rather it is deeply rooted in

educational institutions in terms of online education's

planning and design supported by many theories and

models. However, in the migration process during the

Corona pandemic, as an urgent global health situation,

universities witnessed a lack of effective planning,

design, and development of online educational

programs, [46], [48]. Methods used in the crisis-

response migration by the universities were limited to

the delivery media without taking into consideration

the educational theories and models required for

effective online learning. Therefore, the crisis-

response migration cannot be equally assessed as

online education in an ordinary situation, but it should

be viewed from the perspective of remote teaching

platforms.

Digital competence is recognized as a problem in

emergent remote education. Some scholars, [49],

[50], [51] suggested that there is no need for a

university to design a separate platform for learning

digital skills, but they can be embedded in all subjects

of the education process. Others, [52], [53], [54], see

that students in universities have to be motivated to

attain digital competency as they need to be relevant to

what is up-to-date in e-learning.

As an electronic system, the assessment of

students’ learning activities and their exams loaded on

online learning applications is vulnerable to bias,

hacking, and plagiarism. Therefore, there is a

necessary need for a more immune-effective native

assessment of the scientific work on online education

systems, [55].

Technological devices and internet facilities are the

main components of e-learning. However, because

some students and instructors may not have enough

financial capabilities to get e-learning components, it

is recommended that educational institutions provide

their social responsibility by collaborating with

telecommunications companies so that the students

and instructors can get low-cost or free browsing and

download their educational activities, [52]. For the

instructors, there is still a persistent need for

developing a uniform platform of online learning that

can fit all research disciplines to overcome the

compatibility problem.

Emergent- remote learning still needs more

improvement and development to be aligned with e-

learning. Nevertheless, the Corona pandemic has

manifested that e-learning is inevitable even after the

pandemic eradication, [16], [34]. This indicates the

importance of professional usage of e-learning tools

and techniques. Instructors, as well as students, are to

be accustomed to using e-learning tools as they are

required to deal with this technology not only during

the education process but also beyond university

graduation in the workplace, [31], [30].

To be more effective in its outcomes and values, e-

learning must be supported by the faculty members. In

this context, they should activate e-learning activities

similar to face-to-face education. For instance, they

can motivate the students to electronically practice

brainstorming, critical thinking, team discussions,

problem-solving, etc., [56], [57]. Such activities

practiced online arouse the attention of the students

and motivate them to participate in their ideas and

suggestions enthusiastically as similar as they are in

the traditional classroom.

Intrusions by humans or pets that may occur during

e-learning activities can be minimized or eradicated by

setting up a separate online learning library/studio.

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Despite the emergent migration of educational

delivery and content on online platforms by higher

education institutions, the challenges that the

instructors and learners faced have been transformed

into opportunities affirming that e-learning will sustain

and that hybrid education will be dominant.

Acknowledgment:

The author presents this scientific work to all those

who deeply sacrificed during the Covid-19 pandemic

to rescue humanity. Also, the researcher thanks all the

academics and administrators who devoted their time

during the Covid-19 pandemic to support the

educational process in Jordan.

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Conflict of Interest

The author warrants that this study is his original

work, and has not been submitted to any other journal

for publication purposes.

Sources of Funding for Research Presented in a

Scientific Article or Scientific Article Itself

The study did not get financial support from any

agency or organization.

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(Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0)

This article is published under the terms of the

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DOI: 10.37394/23207.2022.19.160

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E-ISSN: 2224-2899

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