Obstacles to E-Learning in Primary Education Schools in Damascus in the Period of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Crisis

Abstract

     The aim of the research is to identify the obstacles to e-learning in light of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis from the viewpoints of a sample of teachers, managers and mentors in the schools of the first cycle of basic education in the city of Damascus, and to identify the differences in the answers to assessing the obstacles among the sample members according to the variables of the nature of work and years of experience. The research sample consisted of (357) individuals distributed among (303) teachers from among the teachers of the first cycle of basic education, and (36) directors in addition to (18) instructors, to whom a questionnaire was applied to assess the obstacles to e-learning after judging and verifying their validity and reliability. The results indicated that what hinders e-learning the most are: (the obstacles related to the school curriculum in the first place, then the obstacles related to educational administration, then the experience of teachers in the field of e-learning). Other areas came in the following ranks: (infrastructure constraints, then what is related to the students, then the psychological and social obstacles). The results also showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the sample members in estimating the obstacles according to the variable of the nature of work. There were statistically significant differences according to the years of experience variable in favor of those with years of experience (5 years and more).