Perception of Postgraduate Students on Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) During the COVID-19 Lock-Down: A Cohort Study in a Public University in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) is a temporary shift from an instructional delivery to an alternate delivery mode, perhaps online, due to the current pandemic situation, which involves the use of fully remote teaching solutions or some blended learning as a hybrid. The present study was conducted with a cohort of students(n=37) within the age range 25-35, pursuing a Master’s degree program in a public university in Sri Lanka to elucidate their perception about ERT. In the pre-COVID-19 time, the major portion of the course has been offered face-to-face. However, due to the crisis situation under the COVID-19 lock-down since March 2020, the course has been shifted totally to online modes, considering ERT, with the concurrence of the students. All online sessions and activities were carefully selected, planned and executed to ensure effective learning takes place. Sessions were delivered asynchronously using the Learning Management System of the institute, WhatsApp and emails. After completion of the course, an online perception survey was conducted using a Google Form to obtain their feedback. The data was cross-tabulated, and a factor analysis was performed. The results revealed that the students perceived all the activities conducted as Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) highly positively, during the COVID-19 lock-down period. The findings of the present study will give all educationists an opportunity to re-visit the courses offered totally face-to-face until now, and to think of moving towards blended learning to facilitate the 21st Century learning.