International Journal of Education and Development using ICT

International Journal of Education and Development using ICT > Vol. 17, No. 1 (2021)

Quarantine and education: an assessment of Iranian formal education during the COVID-19 outbreak and school closures

Farnaz Tajik, teacher at Ministry of Education, Tehran,Iran
Mahdi Vahedi, Assistant professor, faculty of Psychology and Education, Allameh Tabataba'i Uni

Abstract
During the period of school closures in Iran, the authors were interested in the different types of platforms being used during quarantine associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the instructors and educators’ point of view while using them in formal education. Student and teacher surveys assisted the authors to gain information about the work carried out during the school closures. The surveys were administered online and were designed to obtain information on the educational gateways, television channels, social media, and MOOCs, which were used during the school closures in Iran. Ninety-two K-12 instructors and five hundred and ninety-three K-12 students participated in the surveys. The results showed that the method most used was social media. The correlation between age and continuing teaching, gender, and continuing teaching during school closures by distance education methods, and age and using technologies, in the instructor surveys were evaluated to show any meaningful relationship. Students’ surveys revealed that older students (in upper grades) use social media more for meeting educational purposes. Due to reasons such as culture and accessibility of technology, participants reported using social media for educational purposes making it more popular than other platforms. Further, the results indicate cause for concern in that every student cannot benefit from all types of Distance Learning.

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