تحديات التعلم والتعليم عن بعد لطلبة الصفوف المطورة في مدارس القدس خلال وما بعد جائحة كورونا
This study aimed at identifying the main challenges of distance learning and instruction for students in ‘developing classes’ in Jerusalem schools during and post COVID-19 pandemic, by identifying the reality of learning and instruction in the city in depth and revealing the challenges that schools in Jerusalem face in teaching students of the developed classes properly. The study also aimed to explore the effectiveness of the mechanisms the educational academic and administrative staff handled to face the pandemic, and the consequences and problems that it entailed. The study sought to achieve these goals by answering the main study question: What are the challenges of distance learning and instruction for students in the ''developing classes'' in Jerusalem schools during and post COVID-19 pandemic, from the point of view of the teaching staff of the developed classes, the parents and the school principals of these schools? In order to answer this question, a qualitative approach was employed with an analytical descriptive design, through the development of three different models of semi-structured interviews that were conducted and created with six principals of schools containing developed classrooms in Jerusalem, six teachers of these developed classes, and six parents of these students; with the aim of collecting data and getting a deep insight about the challenges that this group of students faced, and are still facing. The validity and reliability of the interviews were confirmed by validating them with a group of specialized arbitrators, measuring the external reliability by analyzing the data by two researchers and matching the similarity of the results of their analysis. The interrater consistency factor was 0.82 revealing an acceptable degree of interrater reliability. In addition, a triangulation of the three sets of data was established while writing up the research findings. The research findings revealed the lack of the schools and the education systems in the city of Jerusalem in having the appropriate infrastructure for distance education, in addition to the lack of readiness of most principals, teachers, parents and students for such an emergency condition, and the lack of any previous experience related to distance education. Therefore, they could not deal with it properly in the beginning, resulting in various problems in communication and evaluation during distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic period. In light of its main findings, the study ended up with a set of practical recommendations for school teacher, principles of schools who have this type of “developing classrooms”, and for policy makers in Jerusalem. Other recommendations were offered for future studies that would serve in the development of this topic. (Author’s abstract)