Distance learning in the wake of COVID-19 in Morocco

Abstract

The integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) has been one of the priorities of the Moroccan education system that date back to pre-COVID-19 period. Since 1999, the National Charter for Education and Training has accorded great importance to distance education (DE) and learning. Several programmes and initiatives (such as GENIE, NAFIDA, Telmidtice, Lycée Attahadi, …) were launched and funded by the government to promote the use of ICT in schools. With the outbreak of COVID-19, the shift to distance education was mandated to ensure pedagogical continuity. In the current study, a mixed-method research approach was used to assess the extent to which the adoption of distance learning in public educational institutions can ensure pedagogical continuity in Morocco during the outbreak period started from April to June 2020. The Analysis of the data collected from the quantitative study showed that the COVID-19 pandemic, DE was used occasionally due to the lack of technological equipment or knowledge and expertise to use it. During the COVID-19 crisis, ¹teachers resorted to self-training and used available social media tools to support learners by sharing various resources with them. In addition, the data collected from the participatory observation of two virtual classes on the «Zoom» and «Teams » platforms showed that the use of videoconferencing in Morocco contributed, even partially, to solving the problem of pedagogical continuity. The experience of lessons broadcast in synchronous mode showed promising results at the technical level in terms of student participation and interactivity, resource sharing and transfer and a favorable classroom climate. However, there is still a lot of work to be done at the pedagogical and didactic level to better exploit the potential of this technology. On the other hand, the Ministry of Education is expected to make a huge effort to guarantee equal access to technology and the internet in order to ensure equitable education, especially in rural areas.

1. Introduction

Over the last two decades, the Moroccan education system has undergone successive major reforms that have affected the architecture of education, curricula, teaching approaches (adoption of the competency-based approach), assessment and evaluation methods (National Education and Training Charter (1999); Emergency Plan (2009–2012); Strategic Vision (2015–2030). In addition, these reforms have addressed the pre-service and in-service training of teachers, the status of the learner in the education system and the introduction of new technologies as teaching/learning aids [1,2] and as a means at the service of intelligent mobility [3]. In its report on the promotion of education and training professions, the Higher Council for Education, Training and Scientific Research (HCETSR) [4] strongly recommended innovation in pedagogical practices in order to meet the needs of the 21st century learner and to develop the prerequisite skills such as information and digital literacy.

During the Covid-19 period, the shift from physical face-to-face teaching to distance learning requires a mastery of technological tools, the use of adapted pedagogical approaches and a high degree of students’ autonomy. In this context, the use of new ICT in education can strengthen face-to-face teaching and improve the quality of student learning worldwide [5,6]. In Morocco, major investments have been mobilized by the Ministry of Education to facilitate this type of education and to improve the use of ICT by secondary school teachers, either in terms of equipment (Nafida2 project, “Telmidtice” platforms, TV broadcasting courses on television, distribution of tablets, etc.) or training (pre-service and in-service training programs (Attahadi High school model, Bridge to Middle school project). However, most of these investments and training programs are targeted at urban areas. In fact, the urban-rural divide in internet use is very pronounced in Morocco because of the socio-economic differences. Compared to other Euro-Mediterranean countries, Morocco has the largest urban-rural gap in the internet use [7].

At the research level, several studies have been conducted on the integration of ICT technologies in education (ICTE) [[8], [9], [10]]. As for the use of DE in Morocco, most studies have focused on the tertiary education. The use of DE through platforms during three months was tried with MA and BA students [11]. Another study focused evaluating the impact of teacher training in DE on the level of learning and participation of learners during the COVID-19 period [12,13]. From the perspective of teachers, DE during the COVID-19 outbreak was affected by numerous technological, training and socio-economic challenges that acted as barriers to the process of DE [14]. Using a quantitative and qualitative approach, a study was conducted to understand DE deeply and to reveal the challenges faced by EFL teachers during the COVID-19 outbreak in the university [15]. Despite the fact that DE in Morocco is a positive experience for both teachers and students, the researchers revealed that this experience is faced with many structural and infrastructural difficulties and others related to the effectiveness of the adopted pedagogical approaches and evaluation methods [16,17]. At the level of public high school, this literature review did not identify any research evaluating the experience of DE in Morocco. It is in this context that the current study is carried out.

Distance Education has been defined as “any situation in which teachers (or tutors) and learners, located in different spaces, communicate through a communication technology and manage their activity in a flexible and autonomous way” [18]. Online distance teaching and online distance learning are integral and often inseparable components of online distance education [19]. This mode of education can be used in alternation with face-to-face teaching; it is the “hybrid model” that combines the advantages of face-to-face and those of DE. When this mode definitively replaces face-to-face teaching, it can be used in “asynchronous”, “synchronous” or “blended” modes [20].

Synchronous distance education, also known as “videoconferencing”, allows two (or more) physically separated interlocutors to see, hear and speak to each other virtually in real time [18]. This technique first appeared in the 1990s at the university level [21,22], and has largely benefited from technological developments that have extended its use to the secondary and primary levels. Thanks to its technical and pedagogical qualities, videoconferencing has become one of the most widely used techniques in education. In fact, with this technique, teachers can invite experts to help students communicate verbally and provide them with good conditions for concentration and self-study.

One of the means of ensuring distance education by creating virtual classes and communicating with students in real time is the Microsoft “Teams” platform. This platform allows the organization of videoconferences with the “Teams” classes created by the teacher thought his official account (Taalim.ma). On the same principle as “Teams”, other teachers have chosen the free videoconferencing platform “Zoom”. In order to find out to what extent these two techniques can guarantee real teaching-learning, two complementary studies were carried out. The first aimed to identify, by means of a questionnaire addressed to 132 Moroccan teachers, a number of indicators relating to the techno pedagogical skills possessed by the respondents and necessary for the success of distance education during the covid-19 period. In order to gain deeper insights into this distance education experience, another qualitative study was carried out consisting of participant observation of two virtual classrooms during synchronous distance education using “Teams” and “Zoom” platforms. Data related to distance teaching practices; classroom interactions and pedagogical resources used were uncovered and analyzed. In this research study, we aim to answer the following questions:

• 1.What are the defining characteristics of teachers for successful distance learning?
• 2.Do teachers have the technical skills to use this technology?
• 3.To what extent can the use of videoconferencing in distance education ensure pedagogical continuity?
• 4.What advice and recommendations should be offered to educational practitioners in order to make the most of the pedagogical potential of these DE techniques?

2. Methodology

The current study was substantially reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board at the Regional Center of Education and Training, Marrakech-Safi region. All teachers who participated in the study provided informed consent before taking part.

This study uses two complementary approaches: one quantitative (questionnaire) and the other qualitative (participant observation).

2.1. The quantitative study

For this study, we used an online questionnaire on Google Forms as research tool. The questionnaire was written in French, which is the language used to teach scientific subjects in Morocco. It consists of 16 questions, one of which is open-ended and fifteen of which are closed-ended. The first version of the questionnaire was checked for clarity and relevance of the items by two researchers in didactics and social sciences and two high school professors who had previously used distance education in their teaching practice. The revised version was distributed to a limited group to test its internal consistency. The final version (Cronbach's alpha coefficient 0.620) was shared for data collection on teacher's professional pages at the national level using social networks. Responses were received randomly from 132 teachers (52.7% of female and 47.3% of male) working in different regional academies of education and training in Morocco (47.1% of the participating teachers work in the Fès-Meknès region, 17.7% in the Marrakech-Safi region, 11.5% in the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region, 9.2% in the Souss-Massa region, 7.7% in the Casablanca-Settat region, and very few teachers from other regions). To determine whether the difference between variables is statistically significant, Pearson chi square significance test was conducted at the level of 0.05 using IBM SPSS 25 statistical software.

2.2. The class observation

This part of the study was carried out as a part of our training course to obtain the diploma of Pedagogical Inspector of Secondary Education. In order to complete the quantitative study, other data were collected from the observation of two virtual high school classes in Life and Earth sciences, in which DE was offered for the first time through videoconferencing. The first class was made up of 12th grade students (17–18 years old), who were about to take the standard national baccalaureate exam in this subject. The second class was made up of 11th grade students (16–17 years old), who were not going to take the national exam, but were going to take the regional exam in other subjects (arts). The observed classes were proposed by our supervisor (inspector of life and earth sciences) with regard to their previous experience in distance education and their willingness to volunteer for this study. Each observed class consisted of students of the same grade but belonging to different classes, most of whom did not know each other, which facilitated the researcher's work in accessing the classes without the Labov paradox effect. Students attended virtual classes under their real names, which allow us to recognize if there are more girls or boys. For the researcher, virtual classes were attended using the ID of an absent student and the class climate and interactions were followed during the course (2 h).

The distinction between the two classes will help us to evaluate, under different learning conditions, the pedagogical practices used in the two classes as well as the learner's behavior during the learning sessions.

The “Zoom” platform was used for 12th grade class, while Microsoft “Teams” platform was used for the 11th grade class. The participatory observation of each of the two classes and the comparison with other teaching situations (face-to-face, television-based, WattsApp or facebook, …) allowed us to collect a set of data about the classroom environment, the student's interactions as well as the teachers' pedagogical practices. The information gathered from class observations were analyzed and compared with quantitative data in order to obtain a more complete and thorough picture of the phenomena under study.

3. Results

3.1. Teachers questionnaire results

3.1.1. Description of the population

Table 1 show that the target population for this quantitative study is heterogeneous and dominated by a category of teachers with more than 25 years of experience. The responses to the questionnaire revealed that prior to the lockdown, only 20.2% of teachers had used distance education (more males than females), while 79.8% of the teachers had never used this mode of teaching (mores females than males).

Table 1.

Description of the sample of the teachers’ population.

Age group	Percentage	Teaching cycle			Having used DE before lockdown
					Yes		No
		Primary school	Middle and high school	University
20–30	14.6%				20.2%		79.8%
30–40	26.2%	17.8%	48.8%	33.3%
40–50	25.4%				females	males	females	males
50 and over	33.8%				14.5%	26.7%	85.5%	73.3%

3.1.2. Source of DE experience

The questionnaire proposed certain types of training and asked teachers to select the suggestions that showed the source of their experiences with DE. For those teachers who had used DE before the closure, the results showed that 75% of the respondents had self-training, 21% had training from various sources (books, TV, internet …), 12% had university training and only 10% had academic training (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.

Teachers' sources of experience in using distance education before and during the Covid-19 period.

For those teachers who did not use distance education prior to the lockdown, the results revealed that the majority of respondents, 70%, used self-training to initiate themselves to distance education. Training obtained from various sources was estimated at 28%. The number of people who had online academic training (10.2%) or online university training (9.3%) was small. Before covid-19, the use of self-training as a source of experience in using distance education revealed statistically significant differences (p = 0.01) between males and females. This difference disappears during covid-19 (p = 0.10). We also found that this source of experience is not influenced by group age (p = 0.06). Approximately 47% of the teachers who used self-training as a source of experience before covid-19 are between 40 and 50 years old, and only 15% of the novice teachers are between 20 and 30 years old.

3.1.3. The technological tools used for DE

When asked about the technological tools used to ensure pedagogical continuity during the lockdown, social network applications (facebook, whattsapp, …) emerged as the mostly widely used, as announced by 76.3% of teachers. Only 35.1% of the teachers surveyed believe in the use of Videoconferencing softwares (Skype, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.) to ensure synchronous distance teaching/learning in virtual classes (Fig. 2). The use of other technological means such as TV channels, radio, and websites didn't exceed 18%. Finally, the ministry's e-takween training platform seems to be the worst technological bridge used to ensure pedagogical continuity during the period of lockdown.

Fig. 2.

Percentage distribution of technological tools used to ensure pedagogical continuity during the lockdown period.

Statistical analysis revealed no gender effect on the use of these tools. However, we noticed a significant effect of teacher's age interval on the type of technological tools used (p = 0.023), in other words, platforms are used more by experienced teachers' compared to novices. We also found a statistically significant difference in the use of videoconferencing in different teaching cycles (p = 0.002). This technique is mainly used in the university and middle and high schools compared to the primary cycle. Significant differences (p = 0.002) were found between different regional academies. Videoconferencing is more frequently used in the Marrakech-Safi region (47.8%), while in Draâ-Tafilalt and Sous-Massa, television, websites, and radio are the predominant technological tools used to ensure pedagogical continuity.

3.1.4. Resources and obstacles

One of the questions to which the participants responded was related to the type of resources used in DE (Table 2). The analysis of the answers shows a variety of resources. Pdf and Word files were the most commonly used (62.8% of teachers). Diagrams, PPT presentations and recorded video sequences were also used with satisfactory percentages.

Table 2.

Teachers’ responses on how they implement distance learning courses.

Resources used in DE	Percentage
Texts in PDF or Word format	62.8%
Variety of resources to present the content (texts, illustrations, narrations, diagrams, …)	54.3%
Recorded video resources	44.2%
Courses in Powerpoint format	35.7%
Videoconferencing	23.3%
Others	10.9%

Statistical analysis showed that the use of videoconferencing varied significantly according to the teaching cycle (p = 0.016). The data showed the dominance of this mode in university (35%), followed by the middle and high school (21%), and finally primary school (4%). In this later, the sharing of recorded videos is the most dominant practice (56.5%) to ensure pedagogical continuity. On the other hand, we found that the use of videoconferencing depends on teachers’ experience in DE before COVID-19 (p = 0.039). We found that 35% of teachers with previous experience in DE used videoconferencing compared to only 17% of teachers with no previous experience in DE before COVID-19.

Regarding the obstacles to distance learning, 78.7% of the respondents consider the lack of materials as the main obstacle, which is even more serious in rural areas, as one teacher put it: “Distance learning is not something difficult or impossible; the only obstacle is in the villages and communities where students lack the means to benefit from the courses".

Lack of training in the use of technological tools and lack of personal experience are also factors that hinder the use of DE by teachers (. Statistically significant differences were found only between age interval and the luck of training as barrier to using DE (p = 0.022).

According to the respondents, the challenge of this teaching method is the interactivity of the students. The majority of teachers (33.30%) involve less than 20% of the whole class in distance teaching-learning sessions and only 23% of them manage to mobilize more than half of the students in the virtual class. The data reported on student interactions revealed statistically significant differences in many parameters such as lack of logistics (p = 0.029), teacher training (p = 0.002) and teacher experience (p = 0.033). Another parameter that can influence student interactions is the teaching cycle (p = 0.001). In general, university cycle shows a high level of interactions, followed by middle and high school. In contrast, the primary cycle tends to have lower rates of student interactions.

3.1.5. DE in post COVID-19

In order to assess the impact of this crisis experience on the development of distance education in Morocco, we surveyed teachers about their experiences with DE. The majority of teachers (53.9%) reported a positive change in their perception of distance education regardless of their gender, teaching cycle, age or previous experience with DE. Those who had a positive experience were asked about their future vision for DE, and their responses fell into two groups (Table 3): 1) the need for training on ICT, materials and resources to support their teaching; 2) the need to adapt their teaching practices and integrate DE into their teaching practice in the coming years.

Table 3.

Categorization of teachers' attitudes towards distance education after the closure.

Training and equipment need

Organize your class and adapting your methodology

•I need to learn more about using communication software like “Teams”. •Frankly, as a first experience, it was not bad, except for some students who had access problems. •This method of working needs to be practiced by both the teacher and the student. •A database of resources should be prepared for such situations and training in computer technology should be provided. •Distance learning is a necessity, not a choice. •Reduce working hours and offer distance courses. •I had the idea of using this technology before it was adopted by the ministry. •Can be used but not enough •Train teachers and provide them with the means to work.

•With teenagers, I always had fears and hesitations, but once I started the experience of distance teaching, I discovered that they are manageable. •Students can learn in any circumstance. •It is more difficult •Distance learning can support classroom teaching. •It facilitates educational continuity •I also need to look for techniques to improve distance interaction. •Distance learning needs to be integrated into the education system. •Dedicate a certain amount of time (e.g. 20–30%, this is optional) of the total module volume to distance learning. •Distance learning is an effective way. •Teaching needs renovation and integration of ICT. •Good initiative, we need to continue. •Support physical teaching through distance learning - Introduce it as a subject in teaching. •Since the subject taught is life sciences, this has made it possible to integrate various documents and videos into the lessons. •Another future teaching method to be promoted.

3.1.6. Teacher characteristics that determine the success of DE

According to the survey results (Table 4), we reported that 87.6% of the teachers believed that having knowledge of technological tools is crucial for successful DE. This belief was statistically significant (p = 0.007) and differed from those teachers who lacked training. In addition, 62% of the respondents felt that teachers should be open to discovering new digital resources and adapting their use to different learning situations. On the other hand, being innovative, investing time and developing responsible behavior towards DE were not considered as significant characteristics by most teachers.

Table 4.

Teachers’ responses to qualities needed for successful DE.

The most important qualities a teacher should have for successful DE	Percentage
A good knowledge of technological tools	87.6%
A willingness to discover new uses for digital ressources and to adapt their use to learning situations	62%
A high personal investment of time	39.5%
Innovation in the use of technological tools	38%
Adopt responsible attitude towards the use of technology tools	37.2
Being aware of the devices proposed by the Ministry of national education	36.4%
A traditional use of ICT in their teaching practices	26.4%

3.1.7. The objectives of DE

Regarding the objectives of DE, 69.3% of respondents identified supporting learners throughout the learning process as the primary objective of DE, followed by developing technological skills (63%) (Table 5). Other important objectives include motivating learners, developing their skills and know-how (especially those who cannot attend face-to-face classes), and sharing resources and materials to validate online training. Regarding the use of technological tools to help students develop their technological skills and knowledge, our results show a statistically significant difference between innovative teachers and those who invest more time (p = 0.004).

Table 5.

Percentage of distance learning objectives as reported by teachers.

Objectives of distance learning	Percentage
Accompany learners through the learning process	69.3%
Developing technological skills	63%
Motivate learners to acquire knowledge	52.8%
Helping learners complete or upgrade or develop their skills and know-how, especially those who cannot attend classroom courses	40.2%
Manage and disseminate resources and course materials and validate the training provided	33.9%

3.2. Participant observation results

The participant observation of the virtual classes allowed us to collect some data related to the use of the videoconferencing method in synchronous mode in terms of technology skills, class interactions and work environment and pedagogical approaches adopted.

3.2.1. At the technical level

The creation of these classes requires, first of all, adequate technological equipment: a computer with an appropriate operating system (or a smartphone for the students), a headset with a microphone and an Internet network with a good flow. The invitation to join these virtual classes is made through a direct link in the case of the “Teams” platform or through a code provided by the teacher in the case of “Zoom”. In order to avoid any surprises, the teachers have started self-training on how to manage a virtual class and the functionalities offered by the two platforms. The management of the lists of participants and their holds, the invitation of people, the blocking of access to participants or guests, the exclusion of a participant, the activation and deactivation of chat boxes, were some the functions tested. These features allow the teacher to control the virtual classroom, preventing all possible sources of disruption and ensuring the effectiveness of the lesson. As for the students, except for some problems related to the Internet throughput and the quality of the technological material used, most of them have the necessary technical competencies to participate and follow their courses.

In physical classrooms, the chalkboard allows the teacher to give explanations and illustrations, and the videoprojector allows images, documents and videos to be displayed. Virtual classrooms have the same functionality, offering the possibility of sharing the teacher's screen (and that of the students, if they are allowed to do so) and thus images, course materials, …, and of following illustrations in real time on a whiteboard shared with the students. Another very important feature that could help absent students, but also students who cannot keep up with the pace of the session, is the ability to record the session and share it with the whole class. This way, students can review the lesson over and over again for better understanding. For this functionality of sharing digital educational resources, the “Teams” platform offers the possibility of hosting documents, something that cannot be done with the “Zoom” platform (at least its free version used here), hence the need to share them by other means. All these functionalities offered by videoconferencing platforms possess do not reflect the rate of use of these techniques to ensure pedagogical continuity; 77.5% of teachers prefer to use social networking applications (facebook and whattsapp) and only about one teacher in five has tried videoconferencing platforms. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the sources of non-technical problems that hinder the use of this technique.

3.2.2. Virtual classroom climate and interactions

The first observation about the climate in a virtual classroom is its flexibility compared to face-to-face classrooms. In the virtual classroom, the teachers, who are more comfortable in front of the camera, conduct discussions with their students with certain flexibility, trying each time to get their commitment and encourage them to participate and interact in the activities proposed during the session. They try to support and consolidate their students’ learning in order to ensure the assimilation of the knowledge and information provided. Students who attend in the session from home feel safer and actively participate in the learning activities. They are aware of the need for their involvement and participation to ensure their learning. In fact, the functionalities offered by the two platforms facilitate interaction, exchange and collaboration not only between students and their teachers, but also between students and their classmates.

These virtual classes offer a favorable climate for student-teacher interaction, which is clearly different from the generally tense climate that prevails in physical classes due to the large number of students (about 45 per class) and the lack of interest of the majority of students, as witnessed by one teacher. This technique is also differs from the distance learning sessions proposed by the Ministry of National Education via television, which, in addition to the short duration of the course (26 min sequences for 2 h of face-to-face teaching), do not offer the students the opportunity to interact, participate or to ask questions during the course.

3.2.3. Pedagogical uses of virtual classrooms

The educational uses of videoconferencing are many and varied. It can be used to establish peer-to-peer exchanges, organize virtual visits, set up collaborative projects, organize debates with experts, as well as to deliver lessons at home to integrate students with special needs [18].

In our study, the use of videoconferencing for the delivery of distance learning courses in the context of pedagogical continuity was described and analyzed. From the observation of the two classes already reported, we found that the approach used in both classes for the implementation of the course was very similar to that used in face-to-face physical classrooms. After a short reminder, the teachers introduced the objective of the lesson and approached their lesson with a main document in “PDF” format that was shared on the screen. While reading the document, both teachers used the available features to add explanations, underline key words, diagram experiments and phenomena on a whiteboard, ask students questions, ask for explanations or interpretations, share students' productions, etc. In turn, the students participated by reading and interpreting the documents, asking questions, and making summaries.

Comparing the two classes, it can also see that the student-teacher and student-knowledge interactions did not depend on the class level. Even the 11th grade class students, who would not be examined in Life and Earth Sciences, interacted well with the course, and this was perhaps related to the personality and good communication skills of their teacher. From a gender perspective, it was noted that more girls enrolled and showed greater motivation and interaction with the course.

In a virtual classroom, teachers admitted that it was difficult to engage the majority of students during the session. With the exception of a few elements, most the students refused to interact even with the questions asked by the teacher. For these reasons, and in order to improve the interaction (teacher-student, student-student, and student/knowledge) in the classroom, teachers are invited to program, for each session, a change of rhythm and modes of knowledge construction and information exchange, alternating between lectures, problem solving, reading of scientific texts with discussion and explanation, etc. In fact, to be successful in virtual teaching, there must be a radical change from a teacher-centered approach to one centered on a responsible, attentive and autonomous learner.

4. Discussion and recommendations

The results of this study provide insights into how the Moroccan teachers faced the transition to DE during the COVID-19 period. It also provides the assessment of the first experience of introducing videoconferencing to teach public high school students. From the quantitative study, we found that, regardless of their experience in DE before COVID-19, Moroccan teachers developed their technological skills mainly through self-training. The transition to DE was made without any formal training from the Ministry of Education. There were clear differences between different regional academies and between novice and expert teachers in terms of technological tools used with a social networking programs dominating. Videoconferencing was used by teachers with previous experience in DE mainly in the university and the resources were mainly in word, “pdf” or “ppt” format.

In contrast to Morocco, some African countries, such as Rwanda and South-Africa, have successfully created online learning platforms that are accessible to more than 3 million students and teachers to adapt their methods to the needs of their students [23,24].

With the evolution of technology, new skills are expected from teachers to be successful in DE. The changes would relate to the pedagogical design of the courses, the support of the students, the diversity of roles that the distance teacher would have to assume from now on and the mastery of technologies [25]. Indeed, for professional use in the context of DE, a good technical command of the technological tools is necessary before they can be used. In fact, data from a case study showed that, the provision of good technical infrastructure and the training of teachers and students were considered key parameters for the success of DE and online teaching [26]. In some countries, such as Canada and France, teachers are required to master a set of technical and pedagogical skills related to the use of ICT in teaching [27] during their pre-service training. While videoconferencing allows teachers to reduce the distance between themselves and their students by creating virtual classrooms, users (teachers and students) must be prepared to deal with any technical problems that may arise. Technical support and even technical training to master this technology is essential to overcome the obstacles of real-time teaching via videoconferencing. This was the greatest challenge faced by the Moroccan teachers and students during this experience according to 87.6% of the teachers surveyed. This training will not only enable users to take advantage of the various functionalities offered by these tools, and thus achieve successful teaching-learning, but, according to 63% of the teachers, it will also help to develop the level of technological skills of the learners. Despite these challenges, the pandemic has created an opportunity for pedagogical innovation and has accelerated the process of teacher' involvement and commitment to distance learning. In Morocco [28], the establishment of social networking discussion groups, live webcasting of lessons, and the sending of assignments by e-mail are examples of teacher engagement and collaboration, as in several African countries [29].

In addition to technical constraints, problems related to the material component are crucial. According to the results of the questionnaire, 78.7% of the teachers believe that the lack of adequate equipment limits the chances of success of DE. The same findings were revealed from the participatory observation of virtual classes. The majority of the disruptions observed were due to low Internet flow or the use of faulty or poorly performing hardware. These problems can affect the quality of the image and sound and thus the students' ability to follow the course. Such problems have been reported in relation to the quality of video calls, which is affected by the limited communication infrastructure available [29], a situation that has been exacerbated with the pandemic due to the large number of Internet users connected.

Other parameters such as the difficulty of owning a computer; access to a reliable connection; the lack of training for teachers in this new mode of education; and the lack of appropriate online teaching resources to keep students engaged and motivated, can affect the success of DE [30]. In this sense, a study in Ethiopia highlights students’ dissatisfaction with poor Internet connectivity. A similar study in Tanzania highlighted the difficulties faced by teachers and students in using the online learning platform effectively [31,32]. These barriers have prevented a smooth transition to DE.

Another challenge for this mode of education, as revealed by the two studies (quantitative and qualitative), was the problem of student interaction, which, according to the present study, is related to the lack of logistics, teacher training and expertise, and the teaching cycle. If, in face-to-face teaching there are students who prefer to observe without participating in the course, this problem becomes more serious in the virtual classroom. Given the low number of connected students (less than 30% according to the teachers) and the poor level of their language (according to their branches and streams, the observed classes should use French as the language of instruction, but most of the observed students enrolled in these streams suffer from language problems), only a limited number of students communicate in class and mobilizing the other students became a real challenge for the teacher. This problem of student interactivity was revealed in the present study, which showed that the majority of teachers, about 33%, managed to engage only one fifth of the students. According to Ref. [33], this problem of interactivity can be explained by the disappearance of spontaneous interaction and nonverbal communication, which generally dominate the exchange between teachers and students in physical classes. In our study, we have identified another parameter that can make it difficult for students to interact with each other and with teachers, namely the mixed nature of virtual classes. In fact, the low attendance rate of students forces teachers to work with virtual classes that group together students who do not know each other, either from different classes or from different disciplines (Physics-Chemistry and Life and Earth Sciences). On the other hand, and for personal reasons, the majority of students were connected with their cameras deactivated. In these conditions, the teacher who asks questions to the class is not sure whether the students are interested and whether they are in front of their screens thinking about the question or looking for the answer from other sources such as books or on the Internet. In the virtual classroom, not seeing anything makes the time seem longer, which makes teachers put pressure on students to answer; teachers are asked to make a special effort to imagine them thinking and to accept this invisible time-out for reflection [34].

To solve the problem of interaction among students in a virtual classroom in synchronous mode, the teacher should start the session with a turn-taking activity in which he or she invites all the students to introduce themselves [35]. This procedure allows students to get to know each other and allows the teacher to ensure that everyone has mastered the technological tools necessary for online communication (and that everyone's microphone and camera are working). Another strategy that could be used to untangle students is to have them work in subgroups, a feature that the “Zoom” platform offers to its users. The researcher suggests other techniques such as: taking turns to meet with students individually before the session to strengthen the bond with them, encouraging students to ask questions or make presentations to the group using their cameras.

It must be said that preparing a distance course requires more effort and time than a face-to-face course. In fact, one of the most important challenges in designing distance courses is learner autonomy [23]. This high-level cognitive, psychological and social skill involves of the engagement of their attention, self-control, intelligence and self-confidence. It is the key to successful distance learning [36]. Therefore, the learners' profile must be well identified at the cognitive and socio-emotional levels, in order to anticipate their possible difficulties and provide them with resources to make them more autonomous and persistent. This was not observed in the virtual classrooms. Teachers used unattractive resources in “PDF” or “Word” format with a classic method that sometimes did not differ from the method used in the physical classroom, which was also confirmed by 62% of the teachers surveyed.

Even if we are in a technological bath, we must always keep in mind the mechanisms of human learning. Digital tools alone are not magic and would not allow us to learn better, or faster [37]. One of the most important mechanisms to guarantee this DE is attention. The learner, if he/she wants to learn, must be attentive. In the context of the virtual classroom, it is more difficult for distance learners to stay focused. The learner at home, away from the teacher, may be listening to music, with a cup of coffee on the desk or a sandwich in hand. Noise from the television, family members and the urge to check cell phones are examples of factors that can interfere with attention. The teacher, as the instructional designer, must consider the factors that might distract the learner from learning before the lesson is scripted. During the session, the teacher must play with the resources used by alternating between texts, articles, videos and images to create an effect of surprise, arouse the learner's curiosity, and focus his or her attention to continue the course [38].

In order to take full advantage of the still untapped pedagogical potential of distance learning and based on the results of this research and the needs expressed by teachers in the questionnaire responses, a number of recommendations can be proposed. These are:

• •Solving technical problems: exchanging experiences and good practices, strengthening teachers' self-training through in-service training to improve their technical skills, collaborating with teaching professionals, programmers, computer graphics designers, multimedia specialists, etc.
• •Adopt a pedagogical scenario compatible with the virtual: the scenario should be explicit, taking into account the formulation of the learning onjectives as well as to the proposed learning approach, leaving the choice to the students to contextualize their learning approaches, according to their interests, needs and objectives.
• •Use the pedagogical approaches required by the virtual world, requiring students' attention and involvement, as well as their autonomy. It is also necessary to diversify the activities offered for students and have them work in groups to improve horizontal interactivity in the classroom.
• •Involve parents to improve their children's learning conditions: for students, distance learning via videoconferencing requires a climate free from all kinds of distractions that can hinder and affect their effectiveness and engagement.

5. Limitations

Certainly, the article deals with an interesting and topical subject that coincides with the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic which, in addition to its negative effects on health, imposes a prolonged closure of universities. These circumstances give impetus to our work, while this favorable context for the development of our study does not prevent certain theoretical and methodological limitations.

On the theoretical level, we encountered the problem of the scarcity of data on which we relied to make a comparison between the results of the present study and those of similar studies from previous periods, as this pandemic situation is unprecedented, and this comparison cannot be made between recent studies on covid as the measures taken to deal with the pandemic depend on the context, which differs according to the country and region. In addition, the changes caused by the pandemic are still ongoing and do not allow for the prediction of long-term effects on education, nor the development of standards and benchmarks for future education.

From a methodological point of view, the limitations lie, firstly, in the small size of the sample of interviewees (132 teachers). Secondly, the sample was not representative. Indeed, teachers with limited access to technology may be under-represented or excluded from the sample, in addition to the lack of mandatory questionnaire completion, as well as its online administration mode imposed by travel restrictions and school closures.

Furthermore, the measurement of the impact of COVID on teaching cannot be accurate, as it will be influenced by connection problems, which are not the responsibility of the student, and/or by the lack of student engagement in this new mode of teaching.

Another limitation may be the rapidity of unexpected changes in data, which influences the collection of reliable and in-depth data that can answer the urgent questions posed by the pandemic, and consequently a lower quality of study than under normal conditions.

6. Conclusion

Technically, videoconferencing requires no special equipment other than a computer with a microphone, a webcam and an Internet connection. In addition to audiovisual communication, this technique offers a range of functionalities such as interactive whiteboard, messaging, file transfer, video recording and/or application sharing. It therefore has all the potential tools for educational use and not just a means of remote communication.

Observing virtual classrooms using this technology during the COVID-19 lockdown period gave us an optimistic view of its use in DE. Although this is the first experience of its kind in public high school education in Morocco, the data revealed about the climate of interaction in the classroom, student attendance, and teachers’ efforts to overcome technical problems are promising. Despite some details, students in these virtual classrooms followed their lessons as if they were in a physical classroom.

The use of videoconferencing has certainly solved the problem of pedagogical continuity, but it is far from replacing face-to-face teaching, at least for the time being. This technology is not accessible to all students due to a lack of resources, especially for students in rural areas, the poor, and those whose parents lost their jobs during the crisis, which explains, among other things, the low rate of students participating in virtual classes even in urban areas.

Finally, this study has given us an overall assessment of the use of the videoconferencing technology in education in Morocco. Despite the fact that more than half of the teachers have positively changed their opinion positively towards the use of DE, further efforts are needed by the relevant stakeholders to expand its use and ensure its proper application.

7. Further work

In the future, it's important to conduct research studies on the use of DE especially videoconferencing, to reinforce classroom instruction. Some examples are tutoring for students in general, and especially for students with special needs (disabilities, accidents, etc.), for exam preparation, especially for those who have been caught up, and for managing virtual school clubs (at least for sessions where attendance is not compulsory).

There is a need to carry out research on the use of videoconferencing in as many different contexts as possible, to carry out in-depth studies on the digital resources and methods used, to compare the performance of students in virtual and physical classes, to introduce and evaluate modes of interaction that take into account of the digital component, to carry out distance assessment trials, to compare the effectiveness of DE between urban and rural areas, etc. Such studies are necessary to better understand the use of DE in the Moroccan context and will be useful to assess the needs of technological investments in education and to bridge the digital gap between the different Moroccan populations.

Author contribution statement

Ismaïl OUTOUKARTE, Samiha BEN FARES: Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.

Houda ITOUNI, Khadija KAID RASSOU, Abdelmajid TAHIRI: Analyzed and interpreted the data; Wrote the paper.

Data availability statement

The data that has been used is confidential.

Additional information

No additional information is available for this paper.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.