Challenges Faced by University Teachers in Virtual Education During Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic: A Systematic Review

COVID-19 affected education systems around the world. Virtual education was chosen as a solution not to stop education in schools and universities. While the resolution was adopted to prevent education in the countries, it presented new challenges and complications for university teachers.

This systematic review examines teachers' challenges during COVID-19 in virtual education.

The present study is a systematic review based on the PRISMA guideline. To conduct this study, Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus databases were searched from 1 December 2019 to 11 November 2021. The inclusion criteria for this study were original research articles published in English that examined the challenges faced by professors in virtual education during COVID-19.

Finally, 17 articles were included from the 2219 articles found in the initial search stage, which examined the challenges faced by Professors in virtual education. The results indicated that the most critical challenges facing Professors during the COVID-19 pandemic were as follows, in order of highest to lowest: 1) Limitations on Internet access and appropriate communication infrastructures, 2) lack of access to computer equipment and hardware, 3) low levels of familiarity and necessary training of teachers and students in working with virtual education systems.

According to the results of the present study, teachers have faced many challenges due to the existing circumstances and the rapid shift from face-to-face to virtual education. Relevant organizations and institutions should train teachers and students to apply virtual education tools properly.