Third-Millennium Challenges in Virtual-Learning Contexts: A Systematic Review in Developing Countries

Education is the only industry in the pandemic era in most countries, even developing countries, has been wholly transferred to the online mode. Although virtual-learning is the best way to continue education during an epidemic, developing countries face challenges. This study aimed to determine the challenges of virtual education in developing countries. The PRISMA guideline was followed in this review, with seven databases searched: Scopus, ISI, ScienceDirect, Emerald, Pubmed, Ovid SP, and Google Scholar. The query "(virtual-learning OR E-Learning OR online learning) AND (challenges))" was used to retrieve records in the fields of title, keywords, and abstract without any date restrictions in order to achieve as many articles on this topic as possible. Then the references of each article were backward-tracked and searched in Google Scholar to identify extra potentially relevant articles. Three hundred and twenty-five records were retrieved from the literature search on January 9, 2021, with 56 retained after removing duplicates. After a detailed screening and selection process, 32 articles were selected. The results showed that the most critical virtual-learning challenges in developing countries were in six Items 1. Technical (Lack of proper telecommunications infrastructure, Lack of necessary electronic standards, hardware and software, reduced information security) 2. Cultural (attitude of second-rate education. 3. Virtual-learning skills (unfamiliarity with the virtual-learning environment, low hardware, and software literacy) 4. Socio-psychiatric factor (fear and anxiety in facing the virtual-learning environment, Distractions) 5. Quality of (education, difficulty in assessing the quality of learning, Lack of effective student-teacher interaction (6. Ethical (information plagiarism, Lack of intellectual property rights, and copyright law) were why most e-learners and e-tutors in developing countries were dissatisfied with virtual learning. According to the results, to overcome these challenges, it is necessary to create infrastructure and technology standards and use the experiences of developed countries concerning virtual-learning. In addition, it is necessary to create an appropriate culture and familiarize professors and learners with the development and use of a virtual-learning system while maintaining ethics.