The Heavy Load of Teaching in the Coronavirus Pandemic and its Impacts on Students Perfection.

Abstract

This study analyzes the current state of higher education in Algeria during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Algerian health ministry announced a state of confinement on the Algerian citizens, including Algerian university students, which has led to the closure of universities and the shift from face to face education to online education. In view of these facts, teachers and students must not only adapt to the new teaching and learning methods at an amazing speed, but also must adapt to the unpredicted transition to ICT tools, which leads to a lot of pressure. The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of this dizzying shift on the teachers and students of The English Language department at Ibn Khaldoun University – Tiaret. However, what is intended to be found at the end of this research is whether the spread of the COVID19 pandemic has affected the English language department in a negative way or if it had no side effects on it. The aim of the current study is divided into two parts, first aim is to reveal the major impact that the spread of COVID19 had on the English Language department and the second aim is to spot any damage and analyze it. To reach these objectives, a mixed approach of both quantitative and qualitative instrument was used; the sample population of this study consists of 1st, 2nd and 3rd year students and the teachers’ staff of the English Language department at Ibn Khaldoun University – Tiaret. One data collection instrument was used to collect the needed data for the current study, teachers’ and students’ mixed questionnaire (open-closed ended questions). The results obtained revealed contradictory facts. The first obtained findings show that students are lost without the face to face guidance provided by teachers, their answers to the questionnaire show that half of them are not familiar with autonomous learning nor learning by using an online platform as the majority of them cannot even log in, while on the other side, teachers are disappointed in the curriculum given with a short period of time, their answers to the questionnaire show that more than half are not satisfied with the provided ICT tools and the crowded classrooms.