The university ventured into the world of remote learning in mid-March after the Moroccan government suspended in-person classes.
Rabat – Approximately 71% of students and 84% of professors at the Mohammed V University of Rabat are “rather satisfied” with the remote learning systems the university launched amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a recent survey revealed.
According to the survey, which collected feedback from 8,355 students and 571 professors, only 29% of students are dissatisfied with their remote learning experience.
“More than 8 out of 10 professors are at least rather satisfied, while less than 16% of them are dissatisfied,” the university said in its findings report.
The new educational methods were challenging for students and professors and required a lot of flexibility. According to the survey, 70% of students and 72% of professors admitted to never having used similar learning methods before the COVID-19 lockdown and needed time to adapt to them.
The study revealed that 24% of professors had to rely on remote technical support to use the new learning tools and platforms, while 34% benefited from direct support from their educational establishments to record the courses.
In terms of operational tools, nearly 90% of professors said they had access to the necessary information and platforms to continue teaching their courses, such as accounts on e-learning platforms and contact information for their students.
Nearly 64% of professors at the Mohammed V University used only the two platforms recommended by the institution—Google’s G Suite and Microsoft Teams. Approximately 20% professors said they combined the two platforms with other platforms and social networks, while the remaining 16% did not use the recommended platforms and relied on different methods.
The survey revealed that approximately 7 out of 10 students believe the education platforms the university recommended and set up are easy to use. Meanwhile, 3 out of 10 students describe the platforms as difficult to use.
The Mohammed V University, like other Moroccan universities, launched a remote learning initiative soon after the Moroccan government suspended in-person classes on March 16 to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The university, founded in 1957, is one of the oldest Moroccan modern universities. As of 2020, it counts 87,389 students enrolled in 264 different curricula.
