PhD Sanja Gacov
[email protected]
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2857-1046
University ,,Goce Delcev”
Stip, Republic of north Macedonia
Advantages and Disadvantages of Distance Learning | LIBF
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SIDES OF ONLINE TEACHING IN COVID – 19
PANDEMIC IN REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA AND THE WebQuest TOOL
Apstrakt
Education is defined as an act or process of learning of knowledge and skills
acquired through the learning process, this implies the teaching and learning of specific
skills with the aim of building knowledge, good judgment and wisdom, as well as to transfer
culture from one generation to another. Education is mostly acquired in kindergartens,
schools, universities, etc. Education from a teacher who teaches in schools is actually formal
education. Children acquire education from their mothers, fathers, grandmothers, also by
reading books, from television, the Internet as informal education (UNESCO, 2009).
Education is the biggest investment, the most important determinant for every country. In the
new era, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought a new reality to the world level. In an attempt
to deal with the so-called "invisible enemy" (Miloshevska, 2021), the approach of the states
is different, but in the sudden, general blow to the economy, education is one of the most
affected sectors. To prevent the spread of the pandemic, most governments around the world
have temporarily closed educational institutions at all levels (Hashmi, 2020). The transition
from classroom teaching to electronic teaching is not at all a simple undertaking. We can
freely say that online teaching is not only distance teaching, it can also be applied in classes
for the purpose of research through a specific educational application, through an
educational game, quiz, survey, etc. In this context, we will refer to the WebQuest tool, which
is defined as an online oriented learning tool in which most or all of the information students
work with comes from the web. The model was developed by Bernie Dodge at San Diego
State University (Moursund, 2011).
Key words: online teaching, learning in pandemics, webQuest tool, researching,
formal and informal education.
1
Introduction
In the new era, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought a new reality to the world
level. in an attempt to deal with the so-called "invisible enemy", the approach of the states
is different, but in the sudden, general blow to the economy, education is one of the most
affected sectors. To prevent the spread of the pandemic, most governments around the
world have temporarily closed educational institutions at all levels. The consequences of
the forced interruption of teaching are far-reaching, and this measure directly affected
60% of the world's population, that is, the one covered by the educational process. The
transition from classroom teaching to electronic teaching is not at all a simple
undertaking, (Miloshevska, 2021), due to the fact that apart from adequate technical
infrastructure and a certain level of knowledge of digital skills, the implementation of the
learning process also requires enormous support from the family. The benefits of e-
learning are far-reaching, students receive information online, no matter where they are.
Online teaching is not only distance teaching, it can also be applied to classes for the
purpose of research through a specific educational application, through an educational
game, quiz, survey, etc. In that sense, Miraschieva points out that, with the application of
information technology and technology, some curricula can be redesigned in the part of
those contents that do not have great cognitive, practical and educational value, which
will overcome the contradictions between the large amount of information that the
students they receive in the teaching and the real opportunities to adopt that information
in a limited period of time. In this way, conditions are not only created to accelerate the
learning process, but the degree of burden on students with factual knowledge is reduced,
and at the same time, the efficiency and effectiveness of the learning process increases,
which increases the productivity of the teaching process as well as the quality of
education in general; She also points out that information technology and technology in
teaching facilitates access to various sources of knowledge and simulation of many
situations and processes that the student cannot experience in the conditions of classical
teaching. In this way, conditions are created for equal opportunities for education for all
students in approximately the same conditions, teaching with the help of information
technology and technology enables extracurricular teaching at a time determined by the
student's free choice, (Education, 2019-2020). On the other hand, this situation created
exceptional stress not only for the teachers, who were thrust into a new unexpected task,
but also for the students because they had to replace their daily school activities and the
way of socializing with educational tasks received electronically. Of course, many of the
parents also found themselves under extreme pressure in trying to help their children
adapt to the rapid changes as quickly and painlessly as possible (Miloshevska, 2021).
Students spent quite a bit of time on schoolwork during COVID-19:
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Figure 1. Time that students spent on school work during COVID-19
Not at all easy, electronic teaching requires enormous organizational energy and
creativity that must be at a high level to attract the attention of students (in many cases
even more digitally literate than their teachers). As expected, the aspects of electronic
teaching are different for students of different educational levels because, first of all, their
level of independence in following the electronic lesson is different. In addition, the
general social blockade made technology in the educational process should be considered
a condition without which it is impossible, that is, it is no longer perceived as a luxury in
itself. Often, especially in poorer countries, the unfounded assumption is made that all
students and teachers have individual access to broadband internet and a properly updated
computer, while the reality is that there are families that rely on just one smartphone
(National Research Council, 2009). In fact, access to the Internet is one of the main
problems, and from there, in this crisis, the students from poorer families are the most
affected, who lose incomparably more from teaching during the weeks outside of school,
compared to their peers who have a better social position. The "digital divide" exists and
it must be answered accordingly, so more countries in the world put educational programs
on television for free in order to reach those who are not connected to the Internet. The
current situation shows that there is no unified state approach to dealing with the global
challenge. Organizationally, many things depend on previously established infrastructure
for conducting electronic teaching, that is, IT structure, skills and digitization of the
educational process. National policies also depend on the applied educational models, that
is, the response to the crisis is different between those countries that have a centralized
education system, compared to those where schools enjoy greater autonomy in creating
and implementing teaching (Miloshevska, 2021),.
Digital literacy
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During the educational process, students must acquire appropriate ICT skills. The
state does not have enough measures that will strengthen the digital literacy of the
population, which is necessary for all professional activities in the 21st century, not only
for participation in distance learning. The current moment of crisis should be used to
actively build digital skills among pupils and students, who will be digitally prepared
citizens in a modern society tomorrow. We propose to intensify the classes and teaching
of ICT, working with computers and programming, either as completely new ones or
instead of the subjects that were previously offered as electives. Teachers must be trained
to use new technologies in the educational process and urgently. This does not require a
lot of time, and is one of the main prerequisites for conducting distance learning, but also
for modernizing the way of work in general. The digital literacy of teachers can be
strengthened through inclusion in the curriculum of the Faculty of Education, but also
regular training for teachers, and even be included as a prerequisite for employment or
advancement. Technical support is also needed for parents, as a way of raising the digital
literacy of parents as well. This could be achieved by open free programs for using digital
tools that would be available to all citizens on the internet and television. For the teaching
staff and for the students, respectively for the different age groups, appropriate
recommendations for conducting distance education should be drawn up. In particular,
parents of children covered by primary education should be familiar with the overall
process and be actively involved in it. This is important because children up to
(approximately) nine years of age are powerless without their parents and must have
support. The recorded classes and the classes that will take place with physical presence
or at a distance should follow the same curricula and materials, that is, there should be no
problems if students individually or in groups switch from one to another learning
method. To give priority to teaching at a distance, where teachers would work from
schools. For children with disabilities, special regulations/manuals for teaching are
necessary distance. Recommendations are needed to establish efficient assessment
methods.
Coordination
Given that the educational process in the Republic of North Macedonia is extremely
centralized (Jovkovska, 2023), in a crisis situation it is necessary to strengthen the
coordinating role of the Ministry of Education, and the Bureau of Education, as well as
the local self-government units, must be directly involved in the process (Thomas, 2015).
Direct guidance and support of teachers is needed for distance learning. Guidelines
should be formulated as guidelines and standards, and adequate assistance is needed for
their implementation. A timely, serious and effective approach is needed from all
concerned institutions. It is necessary to establish a digital infrastructure, devices for each
of the parties involved in the process who are not able to provide them themselves. This
can be addressed with public procurement, but also with a call for donations from all
companies and public institutions for usable equipment, whereby priority should be given
to students who are part of the vulnerable categories. Internet vouchers are a great step,
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but it is desirable that the state subsidizes the complete Internet intended for sharing
educational content (an example found in some countries). It is necessary to create a
database of both lessons and electronic materials that teachers can exchange and use. It is
important to provide access to the many electronic libraries (although during the
pandemic many of them have provided free access to their documents). In the future, it is
necessary to establish a centralized model, a unified learning platform. But considering
that the procurement of such a platform is complicated and expensive, it takes time to
create and operationalize it (as also proposed in the Concept for developing a distance
education system in primary and secondary schools in the Republic of North Macedonia).
We suggest that as a first step each school chooses own learning platform from those
already available. Unlike platform selection, materials and resources should be centrally
prepared and systematized, and support should also be provided centrally. A coordinated
effort is needed to train teaching staff in the use of information technology and to provide
them with technical assistance at all times. Teaching staff need the most support as this
group bears the brunt of the changes. Urgent solutions and mobilization under the
leadership of the Ministry of Education and Culture are needed, so that every child can
realize his inviolable right to education. Therefore, above all, we appeal to adopt short-
term measures that will enable the improvement of the quality of teaching from the
beginning of the new school year. Strategic formal documents are not so much needed,
but concrete standards for distance learning and practical guidelines for teachers are
necessary (Miftah, M. Z, 2016). More communication is needed by the professional team
of the schools with all the actors in the educational process, especially with the parents,
considering that not everyone is able to provide the necessary help to the children. It is
necessary to develop specific guidelines for parents so that they can provide the necessary
educational and psychological support. Your approach must undoubtedly also include
guidelines for students to embrace distance learning, which will be communicated to
them by teachers and parents. We hope that from the attached recommendations and
presented experiences we will draw positive examples that can be applied in the future
organization of distance education in our country. The goal is to improve public policies
and public services for the benefit of citizens. Hence, it is important to mobilize all
available capacities for serious preparation of teaching and its successful organization in
the future.
The unsatisfactory quality of our educational model
However, the old problems with the unsatisfactory quality of our educational model,
the outdated way of teaching and lecturing, as well as the learning of hundreds of
unnecessary things, instead of preparing young people for life, through an approach that
tries to solve problems and not endlessly repeating the facts. Like in the old movies from
100 years ago, when the Latin language classes repeated the conjugations of the verbs in
chorus. The debate at an event of the Youth Education Forum, held on November 20, in
which the main speakers were students from secondary schools, gives us a clear picture of
what is happening in schools, as well as in the "online" communication between
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professors and students, which in this moment is realized: - "My peers from rural areas do
not have stable Internet, they have problems with access and constant electricity, which
further complicates access to teaching, unlike students from urban areas," said a high
school student from "Ismet Jashari" school in Lipkovo. According to him, the available
platform for online teaching is unsuccessful, with tools that bring great challenges for
students and teachers. – "The way of teaching is not good. Some of the teachers base their
lectures on traditional methods that are not appropriate for today's youth. This does not
mean that they are not experts in their own field, but they need more professional
upgrading", said a high school student from "Nikola Karev" from Skopje. He added that
more support is needed for teachers from the institutions. - "No matter how much we
think that the educational system is modernized, the relationship between teachers and
students remains the same as it was in the time of our parents. They want good grades for
what they teach, and we want A's, but with rote learning and even some intervention,"
said a high school student from the private "Yahya Kemal" high school, according to
whom the students are busy with learning facts by heart, rather than developing freedom
of opinion and expression. High school students locate the problems primarily in the
involvement or availability of teaching, in the case of online communication, but also in
the way where the teaching takes place and the traditional methods present and the quality
or effect that should be achieved during the educational process. High school students are
looking for well-trained teachers, who probably wouldn't have a problem functioning
even in such a crisis situation, but they also have critical words about their own attitude
towards teaching. These are, of course, qualitative and selective data, but they reflect
aspects of a wider situation and not only related to the current situation.
Transition from the old to the new time
The situation with the pandemic has finally enabled us to fully perceive the
importance of education, but also its dysfunctionality and effectiveness. Almost a quarter
or a fifth of the entire population is directly involved in the education process in our
country. There are over 250,000 pupils in primary and secondary education, there are
over 50,000 students, and thousands of teachers and professors work in educational
institutions, as well as thousands of employees as part of, or support in, educational
institutions. However, from what has been said so far, we do not have much room for
optimism. It is certain that in the educational system, the "technical" conditions for most
of the subjects are good, especially on the part of the students, but also many of the
teachers are up to the task. What must be changed urgently is the approach, because now
much more attention should be paid to other aspects, above all to the audio-visual and
technical, unlike the space in the classroom or the lecture hall. And that is already a big
change. Probably, many have witnessed how the professors handle the situation and
whether they successfully complete their work. Because teachers know that every
generation matters and that these students are now, and here, and that there will be no
new time for them.
6
WebQuest platform
WebQuest is an online inquiry-oriented learning tool in which most or all of the content and
information students work with comes from the web. The model was developed by Bernie Dodge
at San Diego State University in February, 1995 with early input from SDSU/Pacific Bell Fellow
Tom March, educational technology staff at the San Diego Unified School District, and waves of
participants each summer in the Teach the Teachers Consortium in Thatcher School in Ojai,
California. Since those early days, tens of thousands of teachers have embraced WebQuests as a
way to put the Internet to good use while engaging their students in the thinking demands of the
21st century. The model has spread around the world, with particular enthusiasm in Brazil, Spain,
China, Australia and the Netherlands (tutormentorconnection.org). At the MERLOT
International Conference in New Orleans last month, QuestGarden was awarded the Teacher
Education Classics Award, an honor that WebQuest received in 2003. MERLOT is a searchable
collection of peer-reviewed, higher education, online learning materials created by registered
members and a collection of services to support the development of the faculty. MERLOT's
vision is to be the premiere online community where faculty, staff and students from
around the world share their learning materials and pedagogy. In the words of one of the
researchers: “The content of this site is thoughtful and instructive. It takes into account
technical and pedagogical information as it guides the instructor through the process steps
to make good and appropriate pages, the content is aligned and also the evaluation of the
WebQuest is in context with its intended task and standards. Furthermore, the ability to
authorize WebQuests in a systematic way, to publish them immediately to the server, and
to communicate and question colleagues who are also working on WebQuests, offers a
support system for ongoing work and development (webquest.org).
What is a WebQuest
If we search the word "WebQuest" in any search engine, we will discover thousands
of online content created by teachers around the world. What is WebQuest? WebQuest is
an online, inquiry-oriented learning tool, says workshop expert Bernie Dodge. This means
that these are classroom-based lessons in which most or all of the information students
research and evaluate comes from the World Wide Web. In addition, WebQuest: it can
be short-term, such as a period of one hour, or as long as a month-long unit; usually
(though not always) involves group work, with the division of labor among students
taking on specific roles or perspectives; it is built from resources that are pre-selected
by the teacher. Students spend their time USING information, not SEEKING it (EDIT
2000 - Introduction to Computers for Teachers-Spring 2007: 2007
(edit2000fall2007.blogspot.com).
The process through which the task is accomplished is as follows:
1. Introduction
2. Task
7
3. Process
4. Evaluation
5. Conclusion
6. Page for the teacher (sites.google.com).
he good thing is that with WebQuest a balance is made between the content and the
freedom of the materials, that is, the students should learn what you want but they are
given
the freedom to be able to get the information in their own way. Here we will explain and
elaborate on an example of a lesson organized on WebQuest. It is a class in which the
material for certain musical instruments should be mastered.
Figure 2. Introduction
In the introduction, the author of this WebQuest introduces us to the problem that
needs to be further developed and solved. It is about instruments and that every culture
has a large number of different instruments.
8
Figure 3. Task
The second part is reserved for the task, that is, the author gives an explanation on
which instruments the student should focus on, and what research to do about them.
9
Figure 4. Process
Then follows the process that will be key to the students' research in relation to the
given topic. Listed here are several selected web pages, as well as a task to search for a
song in which they identify one of the musical instruments.
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Figure 5. Evaluation
The fourth step is the evaluation, here it is seen how much the students have mastered
the teaching material of the specific topic.
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Figure 6. Conclusion
The conclusion is actually the teacher's opinion regarding the assigned task, i.e.
whether the students have successfully completed the WebQuest, i.e. whether they can
apply the obtained information and knowledge in their daily life in the future.
12
Figure 7. Page for the teacher
The importance of research
Memorizing facts and information is not the most important skill in today's world. Facts
change and information is readily available -- what's needed is an understanding of how to
obtain and understand the mass of data. Educators must understand that schools need to go
beyond the accumulation of data and information and move toward generating useful and
applicable knowledge. . . a process that is supported by inquiry learning. In the past, the
success of our countries depended on our supply of natural resources. Today, it depends on a
workforce that "works smarter." Through the process of inquiry, individuals construct much
of their understanding of the natural and human-designed world. Research implies a "need or
want to know" premise. Inquiry is not so much a search for a correct answer -- because there
often isn't one -- but a search for appropriate solutions to questions and issues. For educators,
inquiry implies an emphasis on the development of inquiry skills and the cultivation of
inquiring attitudes or habits of mind that will enable individuals to continue the pursuit of
knowledge throughout life. The content of the disciplines is very important, but as a means to
an end, not as an end in itself. The knowledge base for disciplines is constantly expanding
and changing. No one can ever learn everything, but everyone can better develop their skills
and cultivate the investigative attitudes necessary to continue generating and examining
knowledge throughout their lives. For modern education, skills and the ability to continue
learning should be the most important outcomes. The rationale for why this is necessary is
explained in the following diagrams (shaunbrickman.weebly.com).
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Figure 8. Illustration of how human society continuously generates and transfers the
stock of knowledge.
Human society and individuals within society are constantly generating and
transmitting this fund of knowledge. Experts, who work on the border between the known
and the unknown, are constantly adding to the fund of knowledge. It is very important to
transfer knowledge to all members of society. This transmission takes place through
structures such as schools, families and training courses. Certain attributes are necessary
for both the generation and effective transfer of knowledge (ufs.ac.za). The attributes that
experts use to generate new knowledge are very similar to the qualities essential for
effective knowledge transfer in a student environment. These are the essential elements of
effective learning by inquiry: . Experts see patterns and meanings that are not visible to
novices. . Experts have in-depth knowledge of their fields, structured so that it is most
useful. . Expert knowledge is not just a collection of facts - it is structured to be
accessible, transferable and applicable in different situations. . Experts can easily restore
their knowledge and learn new information in their fields with little effort.
14
Figure 9. Illustration of the attributes necessary for both the generation and effective
transfer of the knowledge base.
We propose that the attributes experts use to generate new knowledge are very similar
to the attributes essential for effective knowledge transfer in the learner environment --
the foundations of effective inquiry learning. Research is important in the generation and
transfer of knowledge. It is also essential for education, because the pool of knowledge is
constantly increasing. The image below illustrates why trying to convey "what we know,"
even if possible, is counterproductive in the long run. This is why schools must change
from a focus on "what we know" to an emphasis on "how we will find out"
(shaunbrickman.weebly.com).
Figure 10. An illustration of the fact that although knowledge is constantly increasing,
so is the limit of the unknown.
An effective and well-rounded education provides individuals with very different but
interconnected worldviews. All disciplines have important relationships that provide a
natural and effective framework for the organization of the school curriculum, as shown
in the table below. The subject matter of the disciplines can be placed in the wider context
of conceptual framework 3. This framework is crucial to understanding change and also
to the organization of the discipline and its application to the natural and human-designed
worlds.
15
Figure 11. Illustration of information processing skills being similar across
disciplines.
Conclusion
An important outcome of learning through inquiry should be useful knowledge about
the natural and man-made worlds, even better if it can be online as a back-up plan in
times of a pandemic or similar disaster, which we have seen facilitated and possible
through the WebQuest application. How are these worlds organized? How do they
change? How are they interconnected? These broad concepts contain important questions
and issues that individuals will face throughout their lives. Also, these concepts can help
organize the content of the school curriculum to provide a relevant and cumulative
framework for effective learning. Adequate education should provide individuals with
different ways of seeing the world, communicating about it, and successfully dealing with
the questions and issues of everyday life (shaunbrickman.weebly.com). As WebQuest's
creator, Dr. Bernie Dodge, a professor at the University of San Diego, states, with a
structured content format, wrapped around an achievable and interesting task, with
materials (The University of the South Pacific, 2011) most of which come via websites where
resources are pre-selected and with By involving students taking on different roles that
allow them to see the problem from different perspectives, the WebQuest involves
higher-level thinking. Unfortunately, this application is not available for RSM, but after
the arguments presented about the importance of online teaching, not only as distance
teaching but also as teaching that can be applied in classes for the purpose of research
through a specific educational application, the necessity for implementing a unified
application, a database that all teachers and professors will supplement daily with
contents that are processed in schools and faculties and are prescribed by the curriculum
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and program as well as in the study programs of the faculties. We can conclude that well-
designed online research-learning activities and content should be placed in a conceptual
context, accessible and appropriate for students' cognitive abilities to help them
accumulate knowledge as they progress from grade to grade. Online teaching in education
should be for greater and easier understanding of the world in which students live, learn,
communicate and work (American Public University System on 2017).
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