Reviewing the nature of virtual education and its challenges during the covid-19 pandemic in Iran's university system
Reviewing the nature of virtual education and its challenges during the covid-19 pandemic in Iran's university system
Yalda Mousazadeh,1,*
1. Department of Public Health, Khalkhal University of Medical Sciences, Khalkhal, Iran
Introduction: Education systems play an important role in economic and social development. The technological advances have changed the university teaching and student learning. Virtual education as a new attitude has developed in the field of learning. The first time virtual education was revealed in the UK, but Americans executed it for the first time. This education has been developed and applied in different countries for many years, but the real development was due to the Internet globally spread. The development of virtual education in Iran is related to the last two decades in Tehran University. The COVID-19 pandemic changed all social mechanisms, including education. Staying at home and quarantine, closure of offices and organizations, telecommuting, distance learning were the consequences of this virus for the whole world.
Methods: The present study is a comprehensive review that was conducted in order to identify the nature and challenges of virtual education in university education. International and national databases including Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, ISC, SID, and Magiran were used for searching. Keywords included virtual education, university education, teaching, and learning. The search was done without time limit and the findings were presented in text format.
Results: Virtual education is mentioned to as the method of training where the teacher and student are divided by time, space or both. In compare to the traditional methods where training is offered face to face in classrooms, laboratories, etc., in virtual education, technological tools like internet, video conferencing, multi-media, mobile phones, tablets, etc. support the instruction. The challenges of the traditional system, the rapid development of the web as a potential underlying factor in online courses, the benefits of e-learning and budget constraints have provided significant incentives for universities to grow and develop virtual education. Flexible learning, choose the time, place, and duration of learning, speed of learning, attention to learners' learning styles, saving on educational expenses including travel costs to cities where universities are located, and holding courses by important universities have made virtual education courses popular in world. Many countries have been taking virtual education seriously for years ago and have provided the necessary context. Therefore, they were ready to deal with the crisis. Iran was used virtual education in a limited way previously. However, the mandatory use of this type of education provided a transformative opportunity for higher education system in Iran. Virtual education system was launched in almost all Iranian universities including public and private after COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the global use, there was an opportunity to identify education problems. The access to the internet and related costs, lack of planning and therefore non-presentation of practical courses, unwillingness of some professors to technology using were some observed problems in the field of virtual education in Iran.
Conclusion: Based on studies, the shortage of necessary software and hardware infrastructures, limit in bandwidth, the costs of Internet, organizational and cultural obstacles were seen as main barriers of the development of virtual education in developed countries at the beginning. Considering the uncertainty of the end of COVID-19, the benefits of virtual education and the desire to continue it in the post-corona, it seems necessary to identify weaknesses and obstacles and provide solution and infrastructure by education planners and policymakers in Iran.