An Evaluation of the Transition to Online Teaching in Secondary Schools in Saudi Arabia During Covid-19 Pandemic: Teachers' Perspectives’

Abstract

This is the first time that traditional education has been replaced by online education. The rapid and sudden transition to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic can be viewed as a useful opportunity to analyse the benefits and challenges of online education. Thus, this study aimed to examine teachers’ perception of the effectiveness of online education as well as its impacts on their health and workload, following their teaching experience during the COVID-19 crisis in secondary schools in Saudi Arabia. A mixed-method research design, with interviews and questionnaires, was used for this study. A total of 99 secondary school educators participated in this study and three of them were randomly selected for an interview. Overall, data emphasized that the transition from the traditional to the online learning mode at Saudi Arabia secondary schools was a successful experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study's findings also show that online education is quite effective at achieving educational goals. However, the effectiveness of achieving certain educational goals that require direct physical interaction may vary. The results of this study showed that the transition to online education had a negative effect on teachers' physical health but not on their mental health.