The Higher Education Sustainability before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Spanish and Ecuadorian Case

Johanna Andrea Navarro-Espinosa, Manuel Vaquero-Abellán, Alberto-Jesús Perea-Moreno, Gerardo Pedrós-Pérez, Pilar Aparicio-Martínez and Pilar Martínez-Jiménez Mª
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Johanna Andrea Navarro-Espinosa: Unidad de Seguimiento a Graduados, Banca Laboral y Prácticas Pre Profesionales, Universidad de ECOTEC, Guayaquil 090501, Ecuador
Manuel Vaquero-Abellán: GC12 Clinical and Epidemiological Research in Primary Care, Campus de Menéndez Pidal, Instituto Maimónides, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Alberto-Jesús Perea-Moreno: Departamento de Física Aplicada, Radiología y Medicina Física, Edificio Albert Einstein, Campus de Rabanales, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Gerardo Pedrós-Pérez: Departamento de Física Aplicada, Radiología y Medicina Física, Edificio Albert Einstein, Campus de Rabanales, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Pilar Aparicio-Martínez: GC12 Clinical and Epidemiological Research in Primary Care, Campus de Menéndez Pidal, Instituto Maimónides, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Pilar Martínez-Jiménez Mª: Departamento de Física Aplicada, Radiología y Medicina Física, Edificio Albert Einstein, Campus de Rabanales, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-22

Abstract: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are key to create sustainable higher education institutions (HEIs). Most researchers focused on the students’ perspective, especially during the online teaching caused by COVID-19; however, university teachers are often forgotten, having their opinion missing. This study’s objective was to determine the factors that contribute to the inclusion of ICTs. The research based on a comparative study through an online qualitative survey focused on the inclusion and use of ICTs in two HEIs and two different moments (pre- and post-lockdowns). There were differences regarding country and working experience ( p < 0.001), being linked to the ICTs use, evaluation of obstacles, and the role given to ICTs ( p < 0.05). The COVID-19 caused modifications of the teachers’ perspectives, including an improvement of the opinion of older teachers regarding the essentialness of ICTs in the teaching process ( p < 0.001) and worsening their perception about their ICTs skill ( p < 0.05). Additionally, an initial model focused only on the university teachers and their use of ICTs has been proposed. In conclusion, the less experienced university teachers used more ICTs, identified more greatly the problematic factors, and considered more important the ICTs, with the perception of all teachers modified by COVID-19.

Keywords: education; ICTs; university teachers; sustainability; e-learning; pre- and post-lockdowns (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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