Zuheir Khlaif - An Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine
Soheil Salha - An Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine

The purpose of the current paper is to explore the challenges associated with the emergency remote teaching (ERT) in developing countries including Palestine, Libya, and Afghanistan, as reported by students, parents, and teachers. A qualitative approach was used for data collection and analysis. Semi-structured interviews and online class observation were used for data collection. The subjects in the interviews included 60 participants from different countries and 60 online classes were observed. Each class lasted around 40 minutes. Thematic analysis was used to categorize the findings into themes. The findings of the study revealed various challenges in the emergency remote teaching in COVID-19 crisis. These challenges included the learning environment, quality of digital content, digital inequity, and the violation/invasion of digital privacy. The participants reported that COVID-19 has broadened the digital gap among students and their families, depriving them of attending online classes. Another emerging challenge in emergency remote teaching was the violation of students’ and parents’ digital privacy. Moreover, the findings confirmed that these challenges were the main factors that negatively influenced students’ attendance and engagement in online classes. Further research with larger samples is required to better understand the challenges of ERT in developing countries.

COVID-19, online learning, Emergency Remote Teaching, Remote Teaching, Remote Learning