Revue de l’administration de l’éducation, n°10, 2021.

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Distance Learning During the Pandemic of COVID-19 : Prsectives of Trainee

Teachers in Morocco

Jamal Din Slimani

Professor, Regional Center for the
Professions of Education and Training,
Rabat, Morocco.
Abstract

In the second term of 2020, practically all education institutions in Morocco were taken aback by
the pandemic of COVID-19. Most of these institutions were, therefore, obliged to transition to
distance learning so that the school or academic year would not come to a sudden halt. This
quantitative and qualitative study explored the reaction of 119 trainee teachers to this transition.
More specifically, it investigated the advantages and disadvantages of distance learning during
the pandemic. The main finding of the quantitative and qualitative analyses of the trainee
teachers’ responses revealed that the majority thought face-to-face learning was much more
effective than distance learning.

Keywords: Distance learning; face-to-face learning; technology; advantages; disadvantages.

L’enseignement à distance pendant la pandémie COVID-19 : Perspectives des

Professeurs Stagiaires AU mAROC

Jamal Din Slimani

Professeur au Centre Régional des Métiers
de l’Education et de la Formation.
Département d’Anglais, Rabat-Maroc

Résumé

Au deuxième trimestre de l’année 2020, pratiquement tous les établissements de l’enseignement

au Maroc ont été pris de court par la pandémie de COVID-19. La plupart de ces établissements
ont donc été obligés de passer à l'enseignement à distance afin que l'année scolaire ou
académique ne s'arrête pas brutalement. Cette étude quantitative et qualitative a exploré la
réaction de 119 enseignants stagiaires à cette transition. Plus précisément, elle a étudié les
avantages et les inconvénients de l'enseignement à distance pendant la pandémie. Les analyses
quantitatives et qualitatives des réponses des enseignants stagiaires ont révélé que la majorité
pensait que l'apprentissage en présentiel était beaucoup plus efficace que l'apprentissage à
distance.

Mots-clés : Enseignement à distance ; apprentissage en présentiel ; technologie ; avantages ;

inconvénients.

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1. Introduction

As soon as the pandemic of COVID-19 had broken out, the kingdom of Morocco, which was
among the first countries in the world to react to this outbreak, imposed a quick and effective
confinement throughout the country. The latter was immediately placed under curfew and travel
from city to city was very limited. A lot of businesses shut down. Most sectors saw their
activities partly or wholly reduced. But there was one sector that could not be stopped. It was
education. We were in March 2020 and there was no way students would stop studying.
Therefore, the Ministry of Education decided that all the students in secondary and higher
education would switch to online learning. The current study aimed to investigate the advantages
and disadvantages of online learning from the perspective of 119 trainee teachers of English. The
latter filled out an online form that included both open-ended and close-ended questions. The
quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data yielded interesting facts ontrainee teachers’
opinions about the sudden switch from face-to-face learning to online learning. These facts will
be discussed in detail in the sections below.

2. Method

A total of 119 participants completed an anonymous online questionnaire hosted on Google

survey platform. 67 were female (56%) and 52 were male (43.7%). Most of the participants
either commuted to the training center or rented an apartment as close to the center as possible.
The rest either lived with their parents or stayed with relatives in Rabat (the capital of Morocco),
where the teacher training center is located. To be admitted to the center, you have to have a
bachelor degree and pass both a written and an oral exam. Then you are eligible to study for a
year before you become a teacher. The year is divided in two semesters: semester one which
starts late December and finishes early March; semester two begins in April and ends in June.
Graduation exams and make-up exams take place in July. When online learning started, the
trainees had already finished semester one, which meant they had covered 50 % of the training
program (i.e., eight modules or 240 hours of the training load).

I administered a 10-item questionnaire geared at gauging the trainee teachers’ experiences with
the sudden shift from face-to-face learning to online learning. The bulk of the data revolved
around the advantages and disadvantages of online learning as perceived by trainee teachers of
English in Morocco.

Quantitative items. The questionnaire included items about the trainee teachers’ gender, their
psychological and technological readiness for online learning, the platforms they preferred, their
opinions about their trainers’ coordination in terms of scheduling online sessions and
assignments, and about the effectiveness of online learning.

Qualitative items. Included as well were two open-ended questions about the advantages and
disadvantages of online learning: “In your opinion, what are the advantages of online learning?”
and “In your opinion, what are the disadvantages of online learning?” Data were analyzed and
coded. Table 1 displays the themes and categories yielded by the qualitative analysis of the
responses of our 119 trainees.

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3. Results

3.1 Quantitative data

Table 1. Gender of respondents.

As Table 1 shows, of the 119 trainees who filled out the questionnaire, 56.3% are female and
43.7% are male.

Table 2. Trainees’ psychological readiness for distance learning.

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When asked if they were psychologically prepared for distance learning, 40 trainees (33.6%) said
they were while 79 (66.4%) said they were not.

Table 3. Trainees’ technological readiness for distance learning.

Conversely, 72 respondents (60.5%) reported that they were technologically ready for distance
learning while 48 (40.3%) said they were not.

Table 4. Trainees’ favorite online platforms.

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According to Table 4, the majority of the trainees (69.9%) preferred Google Classroom to other
platforms like Zoom, which was selected as the second most preferred platform.

Table 5. Coordination among trainers in terms of scheduling online sessions.

As Table 5 shows, more than half of the respondents (53.8%) thought their trainers did not
coordinate among themselves in terms of their online sessions, which made the trainees attend
several sessions a day and have a lot of assignments to do in a short time.

Table 6. Number of assignments during distance learning.

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Almost all the trainees seemed to agree that their trainers gave them too many assignments to do.
This might be due to the lack of coordination among them (see Table 5 above).

Table 7. Face-to-face learning compared with distance learning.

As Table 7 shows, the majority of trainees confirmed that face-to-face learning is more effective
that distance learning.

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3.2 Qualitative data

Theme Category
Advantages Home Being with one’s family
Environment
Comfortable furniture

Getting enough sleep

No need to dress up

No transportation fees
Financial
benefits No rent

No food expenses

Flexible schedule

Absence of Online sessions are recorded

Pressure
Working at one’s own pace

Autonomous learning

Responsibility for one’s own

Personal training
benefits
Self-discipline

Mastering ICT tools and

software

Exploring online resources

to support one’s learning
Technological

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benefits

Bad internet connection

Difficult to stay online for
several hours

4G connection is expensive

Disadvantages Technological
Issues
Lack of interaction between
trainers and trainees

Lack of interaction among

trainees

Lack of feedback from

Interactional trainers.
Issues

Eye problems

Sedentariness

Kids,
Health issues
Guests

Distraction

Table 8. The main themes and their categories.

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3.2.1 Advantages of online learning

Five themes emerged from advantages of online learning: Home environment, financial benefits,
absence of pressure, personal gain, and technological benefits.The results are presented in no
particular order.

Home environment.During online classes, the trainee teachers saw their respective homes as a
comfortable place where they could not only study, but also be with their loved ones.
Additionally, they were able get enough sleep as they didnothave to get up as early as when they
had to attend face-to-face classes. Finally, they didnot have to worry about what to wear since
what mattered then was attending online classes and paying attention.

Financial benefits. All the trainees reported that they had saved quite a lot of money from their
monthly scholarships because they didnothave to worry about transportation fees or rent as they
were now living with their parents. Nor did they have to worry about food expenses since meals
were prepared at home (usually by Mom).

Absence of pressure. In the opinion of the trainees, online sessions offered the advantage of
being recorded. Therefore, each session could be viewed several times and each trainee can work
at theirown pace. Moreover, the weekly schedule was flexible enough for the trainees to organize
themselves and manage their study time better.

Personal benefits. Autonomous learning was among the personal benefits mentioned by the
trainees since they had to do several assignments each week, which made it necessary for them
to consult online resources in order to complete the tasks assigned by their trainers. Thus, they
became responsible for their own pre-service training.

Technological benefits.The trainees reported that thanks to online classes, they succeeded in
mastering ICT tools and software. In addition, theyexplored more references and resources to
support their learning experience (e.g. watching videos related to the modules studied).

3.2.2Disadvantages of online learning

The four themes that stood up from disadvantages of online learning were: Technological issues,
interactional issues, health issues, and distraction. Again, the results below are not listed in any
particular order.

Technological issues. All the respondents mentioned bad internet connection as a nuisance,
particularly those who live in remote areas or in areas where network signal is very weak. When
internet connection is ok, it means staying online for several hours because sometimes the
trainees had to attend several online classes in a row, which in turn entailed higher connection
fees for those who relied on 4G connection.

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Health issues. Most of the trainees complained about the fact that staying for a long time in front
of their computers or mobile phones was tiring to the eyes, especially when they had several
online classes in a row, as mentioned above. Additionally, the trainees felt they were becoming
more and more sedentary, particularly when they had to take several classes in the same morning
or afternoon.

Interactional issues. The respondents seemed to agree that, during online sessions, there was a
conspicuous lack of interaction between the trainers and their trainees and alsoamong the
trainees themselves. The trainees also complained that they hardly received any feedback from
their trainers on the assignments given to them. Finally, the trainees mentioned a lack of
coordination among the trainers because the latter assigned tasks and gave deadlines without
taking into consideration the number of tasks given by other trainers.As a result, the trainees had
too many assignments to do in a relatively short time.

Distraction. The final disadvantage of online classes listed by the trainees was distraction. Those
who had kids often had to attend to them in the middle of an online session, particularly female
trainees who were mothers. Guests can also be a nuisance when they visit (often unannounced!!)
a family in which a trainee is either a parent or a son or a daughter. In Moroccan culture, it is an
obligation to welcome and entertain a guest even if that means “taking a break” from the session
you are attending.

4. Discussion

Owing to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many education institutions found
themselves with no other choice but to transition from face-to-face learning to distance learning.
This study presents the reaction of Moroccan trainee teachers to this sudden change and their
perception of the advantages and disadvantages of distance learning.The quantitative and
qualitative results showed that almost all the trainees found face-to-face learning much more
effective than distance learning. These findingsare consistent with existing literature (Aguilera-
Hermida, 2020; Chen, Kaczmarek, Ohyama, 2020; Bali, S., & Liu, M. C. (2018).

Concerning home environment and financial benefits, the data showed that the trainees were
happy to study from their respective homes, where they did not have to worry about where to sit
or what to wear. In addition, they were able to get more sleep because they did not have to get up
early to take a bus or a train. Consequently, the trainees did not have to spend much of the
meagre monthly scholarships they got from the Ministry of Education. This is an instance of
well-being discussed by researchers like Aguilera-Hermida (2020), whoreported that the students
were happy to spend more time with their families during the stay-at-home order.

As regards pressure, the qualitative data revealed that the trainees did not feel any of it because
the sessions were recorded and, hence, the latter were viewed as many times as it was necessary,
which is an instance of the technological benefits mentioned by the trainees,who were able to
consolidate what they had learned by consulting other online resources and references, which
made the trainees spend more time with technology and eventually succeed in mastering ICT
tools and software.

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Finally, regarding personal benefits, the trainees mentioned autonomous learning as a salient
advantage because they had to do several assignments each week and consult online resources in
order to complete the tasks assigned by their trainers. Thus, they became responsible for their
own pre-service training.

As for the disadvantages, the data revealed that all the respondents had technological issues such
as bad internet connection, which meant that they could not attend synchronous online sessions
from the beginning to the end, nor could they ask questions when something was not clear.
Moreover, those who used 4G connection found expensive to attend several online sessions
almost daily.

Another disadvantage mentioned by the trainees was health issues. Indeed, being in front of the
computer for several hours was too tiring for the eyes. In addition, the trainees felt they were
becoming more and more sedentary, a problem mentioned by Radu et. al. (2020) and Son et. al.
(2020).

The data also showed the existence of some interactional issues between the trainees and their
trainers. The former hardly received any feedback from the latter on their assignments. Also, the
trainees rarely had a chance to ask questions during online sessions because the main concern of
the trainers was to finish their sessions on time. The problem was even worse when the trainees
had to watch a recorded session. If something was not clear, they had to rely on themselves
and/or on their peers to fully grasp the content of that session. To this end, the trainees often
formed their own virtual groups in order to work collaboratively and help each other overcome
the obstacles just mentioned. Yilmazli Trout andAlsandor (2021) advocate a “safe space” where
“students can share their experiences and feelings” so that they “connect with each other at a
deeper level and develop a sense of community.”

All in all, and despite the advantages of distance learning mentioned by the trainees, almost all of
them agreed that face-to-face learning was much more effective than distance learning. This
finding is confirmed by Chen, Kaczmarek, Ohyama, (2020) who have found out that their
students perceived their education worsening with the transition to virtual learning, with
increased burnout and decreased retention and engagement in course material.

4.1 Implications for training

The findings of this study call for some recommendations for both trainers and trainees so that
distance learning does not become an undertaking that everyone will shun.

• It is very important that everyone understands that we are in the midst of a health crisis
that requires specific solutions so that the crisis does not have a debilitating effect on the
training as a whole. Switching to distance learning seems to be the best solution at hand
and we have to capitalize on its advantages and minimize its shortcomings.
• Decision makers have to assist both trainers and trainees during the pandemic. Trainers
who need training on the use of technology for distance learning should be helped in that
respect. Trainees who cannot afford Wi-Fi or 4G connection should be given special
offers so that they can attend their online classes.

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• Trainers need to communicate with each other in regards to the timing of their respective
classes as well as to the assignments they give their trainees in order that the latter do not
end up taking too many classes on the same day or doing too many assignments in a short
lapse of time.

4.2 Limitations

One of the limitations of this study is that, except for the first question on the gender of trainees,
all the subsequent responses do not show how many are given by female trainees and how many
are given by male ones. Additionally, I know first-hand that some female trainees are married
and have one child or two, which means they have more responsibilities than those who are
single. The study does not show whether those who are married have less time to attend online
classes and do their assignments.

Another limitation is that although the majority of the trainees in this study agreed that their
favorite platform was Google Classroom, this finding cannot be generalizable to all the trainees
in Morocco since the latter may use other platforms not mentioned in the survey. Future research
should investigate all the platforms used by trainers in distance learning.

Conclusion

This study aimed to shed light on the advantages and disadvantages of distance learning during
the COVID-19 pandemic. While the trainees seemed to enjoy taking online classes form their
sweet homes and to save quite a lot of money that would have otherwise been spent on
transportation, rent, and food, they all concur with each other regarding the effectiveness of face-
to-face classes confirming that distance learning is no match for them. The dark side of distance
learning is that it causes health issues such as eye problems and the installation of a sedentary
lifestyle.

References

⎯ Aguilera-Hermida, A.P. (2020). College students’ use and acceptance of emergency

online learning due to COVID-19. International Journal of Educational Research Open,
1.
⎯ Bali, S., & Liu, M. C. (2018). Students’ perceptions toward online learning and face-to-
face learning courses. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1108, 12094.
10.1088/1742-6596/1108/1/012094.
⎯ Chen, E., Kaczmarek, K., Ohyama, H. (2020). Student perceptions of distance learning
strategies during COVID-19. Journal of Dental Education,85 (S1), 1190-1191.
⎯ Radu, M.-C., Schnakovszky, C., Herghelegiu, E., Ciubotariu, V.-A. & Cristea, I. (2020).
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the quality of educational process: A student
survey. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(21),
7770.
⎯ Son, C., Hegde, S., Smith, A., Wang, X. &Sasangohar, F. (2020). Effects of COVID-19
on college students’ mental health in the United States: Interview survey study. Journal
of Medical Internet Research, 22(9).

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⎯ Yilmazli Trout, I. &Alsandor, D.J. (2021). Graduate student well-being: Learning and
living in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of
Multidisciplinary Perspectives in Higher Education, 5(1), 150-155.

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