The challenges and opportunities of online learning and teaching at engineering and theoretical colleges during the pandemic

Education has been one of the major areas disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on users’ (students and faculty members) learning in higher education, examining how engineering students and faculty perceived the abrupt transition in comparison to other colleges. The current research aims to investigate the outcomes of enforcing eLearning to facilitate teaching and learning processes in higher education after this unprecedented pandemic and identify the most significant challenges and opportunities the users face. This study uses a quantitative approach; it included 1713 respondents, 227 full-time faculty members, and 1486 students at the University of Sharjah. The survey analysis indicated general agreement that the most significant advantage of online learning implementation was its flexibility in place and time, with 77.2% of users providing positive feedback. Moreover, the accessibility and effectiveness of the assessment and communication methods used showed a positive trend in the hypotheses, 80.3% of the users. The sudden implementation of eLearning during the COVID-19 pandemic had discouraging implications for users' mental health and socialization, where 55.6% of the sample agreed that they had been affected negatively. 75% of the users prefer a flexible model blending face-to-face and e-learning techniques rather than solely depending on either of them. Therefore, A Hybrid-Flexible (HyFlex) is recommended for the university to apply based on the nature of the courses.