The Influence of Emerging Technologies on Distance Education
Recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, distance education became mainstream. Many students were not prepared for this situation—they lacked equipment or were not even connected to the Internet. Schools and government institutions had to react quickly to allow students to learn remotely. They had to...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Electronics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/12/7/1550 |
| _version_ | 1797608088956567552 |
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| author | Magdalena Garlinska Magdalena Osial Klaudia Proniewska Agnieszka Pregowska |
| author_facet | Magdalena Garlinska Magdalena Osial Klaudia Proniewska Agnieszka Pregowska |
| author_sort | Magdalena Garlinska |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, distance education became mainstream. Many students were not prepared for this situation—they lacked equipment or were not even connected to the Internet. Schools and government institutions had to react quickly to allow students to learn remotely. They had to provide students with equipment (e.g., computers, tablets, and goggles) but also provide them with access to the Internet and other necessary tools. On the other hand, teachers were trying to adopt new technologies in the teaching process to enable more interactivity, mitigate feelings of isolation and disconnection, and enhance student engagement. New technologies, including Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), Extended Reality (XR, so-called Metaverse), Big Data, Blockchain, and Free Space Optics (FSO) changed learning, teaching, and assessing. Despite that, some tools were implemented fast, and the COVID-19 pandemic was the trigger for this process; most of these technologies will be used further, even in classroom teaching in both schools and universities. This paper presents a concise review of the emerging technologies applied in distance education. The main emphasis was placed on their influence on the efficiency of the learning process and their psychological impact on users. It turned out that both students and teachers were satisfied with remote learning, while in the case of undergraduate children and high-school students, parents very often expressed their dissatisfaction. The limitation of the availability of remote learning is related to access to stable Internet and computer equipment, which turned out to be a rarity. In the current social context, the obtained results provided valuable insights into factors affecting the acceptance and emerging technologies applied in distance education. Finally, this paper suggests a research direction for the development of effective remote learning techniques. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:39:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-56ee383a5bd14a0a822605e0cee0edd4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-9292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:39:47Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Electronics |
| spelling | doaj.art-56ee383a5bd14a0a822605e0cee0edd42023-11-17T16:32:11ZengMDPI AGElectronics2079-92922023-03-01127155010.3390/electronics12071550The Influence of Emerging Technologies on Distance EducationMagdalena Garlinska0Magdalena Osial1Klaudia Proniewska2Agnieszka Pregowska3Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawinskiego 5B, 02-106 Warsaw, PolandInstitute of Fundamental Technological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawinskiego 5B, 02-106 Warsaw, PolandCenter for Digital Medicine and Robotics, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kopernika 7E Str., 31-034 Krakow, PolandInstitute of Fundamental Technological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawinskiego 5B, 02-106 Warsaw, PolandRecently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, distance education became mainstream. Many students were not prepared for this situation—they lacked equipment or were not even connected to the Internet. Schools and government institutions had to react quickly to allow students to learn remotely. They had to provide students with equipment (e.g., computers, tablets, and goggles) but also provide them with access to the Internet and other necessary tools. On the other hand, teachers were trying to adopt new technologies in the teaching process to enable more interactivity, mitigate feelings of isolation and disconnection, and enhance student engagement. New technologies, including Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), Extended Reality (XR, so-called Metaverse), Big Data, Blockchain, and Free Space Optics (FSO) changed learning, teaching, and assessing. Despite that, some tools were implemented fast, and the COVID-19 pandemic was the trigger for this process; most of these technologies will be used further, even in classroom teaching in both schools and universities. This paper presents a concise review of the emerging technologies applied in distance education. The main emphasis was placed on their influence on the efficiency of the learning process and their psychological impact on users. It turned out that both students and teachers were satisfied with remote learning, while in the case of undergraduate children and high-school students, parents very often expressed their dissatisfaction. The limitation of the availability of remote learning is related to access to stable Internet and computer equipment, which turned out to be a rarity. In the current social context, the obtained results provided valuable insights into factors affecting the acceptance and emerging technologies applied in distance education. Finally, this paper suggests a research direction for the development of effective remote learning techniques.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/12/7/1550distance educationartificial intelligence (AI)virtual realityaugmented realitymixed realityfree space optics (FSO) |
| spellingShingle | Magdalena Garlinska Magdalena Osial Klaudia Proniewska Agnieszka Pregowska The Influence of Emerging Technologies on Distance Education Electronics distance education artificial intelligence (AI) virtual reality augmented reality mixed reality free space optics (FSO) |
| title | The Influence of Emerging Technologies on Distance Education |
| title_full | The Influence of Emerging Technologies on Distance Education |
| title_fullStr | The Influence of Emerging Technologies on Distance Education |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Influence of Emerging Technologies on Distance Education |
| title_short | The Influence of Emerging Technologies on Distance Education |
| title_sort | influence of emerging technologies on distance education |
| topic | distance education artificial intelligence (AI) virtual reality augmented reality mixed reality free space optics (FSO) |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/12/7/1550 |
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