Criteria for designing and evaluating the quality of virtual classrooms during emergency learning

Abstract

Distance education during emergencies requires planning, design, and goal setting to create an effective learning environment. Virtual distance education involves more than just uploading educational content; it is rather an educational process that provides choice for learners, as well as flexibility and responsibility for learning and academic support. In this context, the aim of this research is to determine the quality criteria for designing virtual classrooms with their different styles (synchronous, asynchronous, and blended), and organizing them into categories and criteria to verify the availability of the criteria required for learning in the virtual environment. Also, the research aims to propose a method for evaluating and measuring the extent to which virtual classrooms during emergency learning meet its design quality criteria. The study used the descriptive method and analysis processes to determine the quality aspects of the virtual classrooms design, to draw out the design criteria and quality indicators, and to explore the opinions of the research population on the importance of these criteria and their measurement indicators. A purposive population of (17) specialists in the field of educational design and e-learning participated in the study, all of whom hold a PhD degree in the specialty in order to systematize the list of criteria for designing the virtual classroom and the indicators for measuring them in light of emergency learning. The importance of this current research lies in its aim to contribute to the improvement of training and learning environments through virtual classrooms during emergency learning, and to provide a list of design criteria that benefit teachers and instructional designers, in addition to reconsidering the use of learning management system tools and electronic content with virtual classrooms in order to achieve the maximum benefit for students in achievement outcomes of their learning, especially in the context of emergency learning.