شبكة المعلومات العربية التربوية

Through a field study applied to (334) principals and Vice principal of a schools of pre-university education in various Egyptian governorates, the study reached a number of results. The most important of which was that the type of distance education that took place in most Egyptian schools during the Covid-19 pandemic, respectively, was on social media, by sending paper files, and then by uploading educational materials. Among the most important educational materials that were provided to students were: ready-made materials downloaded from the Internet (open sources) and the Knowledge Bank, with more than a third (38.77%). This was followed by worksheets and support cards printed by a specialized team from the school staff, audio or video clips through social media. (45.81%) of the study sample stated that the teachers were not trained and the teachers’ capabilities and self-instructors were relied on, while (40.12%) confirmed that a support team was formed from within the school to support the teachers and solve their problems, while (12.28%) reported that teachers were trained by the Ministry on the subject of distance education. The most important topics that teachers were trained on were as follows: Create virtual classrooms, upload educational materials via education and knowledge bank platforms, Managing the distance education process, Electronic assessments and their types, and Creating and designing electronic content, Organize the flipped rows. The most important topics that students were trained on are as follows: Mechanism for obtaining educational materials, How to download and use educational applications, How to deal with electronic tests, and How to handle assignments and deliver them across the various platforms. While about two thirds of the study sample (64.70%) reported that the effect of training among teachers was not evaluated, more than two thirds of the study sample (69.2%) stated that the effect of training on students was not evaluated. The most prominent obstacles that faced the school administration during the distance education process came in the following order: Infrastructure problems: 1) Inadequate home environment for distance education. 2) Parents not responding to distance education. 3) Problems with equipment inside the school. 4) Lack of self-preparedness for the educational body regarding the transition to distance education. 5) Technical problems. 6) Problems related to lack of motivation among students. 7) Finally, the issues related to preparing educational content and materials. The study sample members expressed their disagreement with the validity of distance education for all disciplines and all academic levels, while they supported the combination of traditional and distance education in the future. The research recommendations are as follows: 1) The need for the government to ensure and facilitate families' access to Internet services for the purposes of distance education in these circumstances; 2) Ensure free access to the home educational curriculum; 3) Providing supplementary educational tools and materials to guide students and parents through the distance education process, especially for poor and low-income families, or in government schools that do not have the technical tools and programs for distance education. (Published Abstract)