The Emergency Remote Teaching Experience During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Arabian Gulf University

This paper aimed to assess the adoption of Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) in the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) and to reflect on the lessons learnt from such experience. Two questionnaires were developed and used to assess the ERT experience from both students’ and academic staff’s perspectives. Around 98% of the College of Graduate Studies (CGS) students and 96% of the academic staff participated in the study. The results indicated that Zoom and Moodle were the mostly-used platforms, while live lectures and PowerPoint presentations were mainly used as teaching methods. Moreover, the results showed that the overall satisfaction level with the ERT experience gradually increased for both students and academic staff, as it reached its maximal point at the end of the experience. However, there was no significant effect of gender and academic degree on the satisfaction level of the ERT. From this disruptive educational experience, it could be inferred that given the diversity of AGU students and the success of the ERT experience, remote teaching would be a good alternative to conventional teaching in emergency and non-emergency situations in the CGS at AGU. Nevertheless, developing specific rules and regulations for the implementation of a resilient blended teaching policy at AGU was recommended. This paper provides insights into the experience of applying ERT in a context where only degrees obtained through conventional teaching are accredited. It assesses this experience providing lessons learned, not only applicable to universities in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, but also to universities where traditional teaching prevails.