Not by choice- Distance education during the Covid-19 crisis

Abstract EN

This study investigates students’ attitudes towards distance education and their perceptions of its effectiveness during the Corona virus (Covid-19) crisis in Lebanon.

The questionnaire for the study consists of 22 items based on six constructs: Technical support by the institution, technology access and use, interaction with the instructor, course organization, distance education effectiveness, and overall satisfaction and comfort.

The sample included 154 undergraduate students at two business faculties from two private universities in Lebanon.

Descriptive statistics was performed to measure the frequencies, the mean and the standard deviation of responses.

The inferential statistics used are the Spearman Correlation and the Stepwise Regression Analysis.

The findings indicate that the students are dissatisfied and not comfortable with distance education, perceiving it as not effective as regular classroom education.

The study findings provide important input for academic public and private institutions to improve their education system and call for corrective intervention whereby distance education can be introduced and upgraded