COVID-19 has impacted greatly research on the national and international scale. Researchers and decision-makers started relying on official media outlet information to identify gaps for research. Decisions makers started following models of other countries that are strongly hit with COVID-19. The number of cases and mortality rates recorded in some European countries along with the panic caused by media has impacted all aspects of life greatly, especially education. The different concepts, types of distance education, procedures and previous studies will be discussed in this section.
2.1 Definitions of Key Terms
The developments of technology have resulted in the emergence of new terms on education. In this regard, we hear of Information Communication Technology (ICT) integration in education, e-learning, online environment, among others. Attitudes are an important variable in using such platforms.
According to Davies & Hewer (2009, as cited in Dang and Nguyen, 2014, p. 34)
ICT refers to all technological tools that are currently available or will be available. ICT specifically refers to computer-based technologies such as desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and software and internet-based technologies including email, websites, and social networking sites for English teaching and learning.
ICT can be a learning resource like videos and portable document formats (PDFs), management of learning like MOOCs and Moodle, TV channels, and radio.
Distance education means learning and teaching through other ways that do not involve being in the same brick and mortar classrooms. It is synonymously used with e-learning and e-teaching that can be synchronous or asynchronous. The former means that it is online, whereas the latter is offline.
During the crisis of COVID-19, another term has become viral. It is emergency remote instruction. However, this term is teacher-fronted; whereas distance education is all-inclusive as it comprises students, teachers and educational authorities including parents as well.
As for attitudes, they are perceptions that move the behavior of individuals. It is one of the components of KSA that stands for knowledge, skills and attitudes. They refer to patterns of thinking and feeling. Attitudes are very important in studying the behavior of students and their influence on learning habits.