Is virtual education better? Teacher evaluation during the pandemic

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56162/transdigital195

Keywords:

virtual education, educational technologies, teacher evaluation, COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic radically changed teaching at the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) in Mexico. Practically overnight, teachers and students had to move from the classroom to online education. This form of teaching continued until the fall of 2022, when all courses returned to the classroom. The transition generated debates about the pros and contras of virtual education. This paper reviews virtual education from the perspective of teacher evaluation, an assessment of teachers’ performance carried out by students each semester. The period of analysis was from the end of 2019 till the end of 2022, allowing for comparisons before, during, and after the pandemic. The data analysis reveals that, according to students, teachers’ performance improved during the pandemic. However, it also stands out that the transition remained limited to a shift from face-to-face to online presentations, with little use of Learning Management Systems. The data suggest that most courses could continue online or in a hybrid mode. Teachers’ qualifications effectively show a slight decline after returning to the classroom. It raises the question of why everyone seems keen to return to the old normal.

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Autor de correspondencia

El autor de correspodencia se identifica con el siguiente símbolo: *

Published

29-05-2023

How to Cite

de Vries, W., & Grijalva Martínez, O. (2023). Is virtual education better? Teacher evaluation during the pandemic. Transdigital, 4(7), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.56162/transdigital195

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Research reports

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