E-Learning: Exploring the challenges of E-teaching E-evaluation (A case study of Ilam’s Farhangian University)

The spread of virtual education and the reduction of costs have increased the fortune of parents, learners and guardians towards the quality of such an educational method. The current research aims to study the acceptance and challenges of e-learning/ e-evaluation among the professors and teacher-training students during Covid-19 pandemic.

Through a qualitative phenomenological study, the participants (19 people) 11 professors and 8 students (class representatives) of Farhangian University of Ilam province, were selected by purposive sampling. Data collection was performed by semi-structured interview method until theoretical saturation was reached. The data were coded and analyzed in an interpretative way. The validity and reliability of the conducted interviews were checked based on Guba and Lincoln’s (1985) criteria.

The analysis of the information obtained from the interviews was categorized into 5 main themes and 30 sub-themes. The five main topics included 1- challenges of technical and infrastructure issues, 2- challenges of teaching and learning methods in cyber space, 3- challenges of interaction and communication, 4- challenges of content and curriculum, and 5- challenges of learning evaluation.Low internet speed, lack of sufficient infrastructure in different regions, lack of providing appropriate feedback, lack of raising conceptual questions during training, in-sufficient attention to practical aspects of training, lack of face-to-face communication, inconsistency of content with training methods used, time-consuming preparation of the content, lack of justice in virtual evaluations, and the difficulty of real evaluation in the virtual space were among the challenges of training and virtual evaluation from the point of view of the interviewees.

According to the results of the research, it is suggested that professors in virtual classes create a warmer and intimate communication space, evaluate and provide timely and continuous feedback, use activities in the form of a process, pose conceptual questions, emphasize research, use the content to solve real problems, use the reverse teaching method and its components, turn the limitations and bottlenecks of the virtual educational method into opportunities.