engleski

Introducing E-learning Platforms During Pandemic: From Experiences to Guidelines

Although the use of e-learning platforms is not new, their use increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges of introducing e-learning platforms were greater for those institutions that had not previously adopted the concept of e-learning. However, user experience with distance learning is not so straightforward. Therefore, the aim of this research is to review the literature on e-learning platforms used in higher education institutions (HEIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic(2020-2022), thus providing the research framework for implementation of e- learning platforms in this setting. Articles from journals and conference proceedings that were published in the period 2020-2022 and cited in the Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science database were searched. After discarding the articles that did not meet the criteria defined by this research, a detailed analysis was carried out. After the thematic network analysis of the articles in VOSviewer, the key attributes for the classification of the articles and their in-depth content analysis in NVivo were defined: (I) obstacles/problems/issues ; and (II) advantages of e-learning platforms implementation in higher education. Content analysis of the articles revealed three groups of most frequently mentioned obstacles to distance learning: (I i) technical difficulties ; (I ii) challenges related to the organization and performance of teaching activities ; (I iii) socioeconomic issues. Technical difficulties refer to the shortcomings of the Internet infrastructure, while challenges in the domain of teaching activities are a direct consequence of a fast transition from traditional to online teaching. Socioeconomic difficulties, however, are a consequence of inequality in the possibilities of using the Internet and computers, as well as insufficient levels of digital literacy. Furthermore, the content analysis of the articles identified two groups of advantages of using e-learning platforms. The first group consists of (II i) extracurricular advantages – such as saving money and time for teachers and students. The second group unites numerous advantages that are (II ii) directly related to the transition to online education, i.e., curricular advantages. In this category, flexibility and adaptability to the needs of students and teachers, and availability of teaching materials are advantages which most often stand out. By analysing the literature from the researched area, the experiences of users of e- learning platforms in higher education institutions were systematized, thus providing a basis for a methodological framework. The proposed framework or content analysis model can be used for further research of e-learning and serve as a guide for successful implementation of e-learning systems in HEIs. Our framework can be used in future studies for an analysis that would include articles from other relevant citation databases of scientific articles, thus increasing the generalization of our results. Future research can also be focused on the analysis of country- specific factors that influence the success of the implementation of e- learning platforms. Another prominent avenue of the research is the analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of specific e- learning platforms, since these are relatively poorly described.

literature review ; e-learning platforms ; higher education institutions ; COVID-19 pandemic ; implementation guidelines

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