Exploring Teachers and Students Perceptions of Online Teaching in Montenegro: What Have We Learned?

Abstract

The pandemic year 2020 has led to significant changes in all areas of life. Education was no exception. Due to the closure of schools and universities during the lockdown, educational systems worldwide had to be switched overnight, from face-to-face to a completely virtual education model without prior preparation. The study conducted in Montenegro, based on interviews and a survey, collected data on the basis of which it provided an insight into how the teaching staff of Montenegrin universities coped with the newly created circumstances. The aim of this primary research is to determine the challenges faced by teachers and students in the Montenegrin higher education system regarding their implementation of online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It focuses on the digital competence of the teaching staff, challenges in applying digital technology, opinions regarding online assessments and students’ experiences with online learning. Despite the presented challenges all teachers experienced, the research confirmed that this was a unique experience that brought new opportunities and contributed to improving the teachers’ ability to use new technologies. It is to be expected that this unfortunate situation will trigger the development of various mechanisms for modernizing the way of providing knowledge in the future.

1. Introduction

Even before the outbreak of the pandemic, Internet Distance Learning Platforms (DLS) were used in all universities of Montenegro. Learning materials on the platforms included various educational content—powerpoint presentations, work plans, documents, notes, etc. which students could explore at their own discretion and at their own pace. The platforms were intended primarily for students who, due to their employment, were not able to follow live lectures.

With the lockdown in the spring of 2020, all the universities were forced to switch to full online model, which ensured the continuity of most educational activities. Therefore, the DLS platforms completely revived and became available to all students.

However, as the lockdown continued, they were found insufficient to enable learning to take place, thus it became necessary for teachers to provide live lectures via video conferencing platforms. Thus the Montenegrin universities introduced synchronous, real-time online classes with teaching personnel and students working together in the same session [1] using virtual meeting platforms, such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Viber.

In Montenegro, there were two types of interaction in online education: Synchronous and Asynchronous.

Synchronous courses are live online courses that are conducted in a live learning environment creating a platform for students and teachers to interact in the same session together [2]. Students are required to log in and participate in class at a specific time each week. Live learning environments give students the chance to ask questions and get answers in real-time as if they were raising their hands in a lecture room. They can submit questions for teachers during their lecturing which increases the scope of learning because students can be exposed to different viewpoints. Real-time interaction may spark a debate or discussion, taking the level of depth of a topic further than the teacher’s original presentation would. Maintaining a sense of community and personal connection with a teacher is a big motivational factor for students to attend class each day, which rarely happens in an asynchronous course format.

Asynchronous courses are made up of prebuilt course components (materials, presentations, lectures, notes, curriculum), posted on platforms allowing students to complete them at the time and pace of their choosing, and do not include a live video lecture component. While this style of learning is convenient and seems empowering, there are many risks to asynchronous courses. Students cannot contact their teachers very quickly—certainly not in real-time, and because of that they can feel very isolated. Teachers also typically simply do no more than assign readings and homework questions. Without the oversight and consistent encouragement of the teacher, students have to hold themselves accountable for their progress. In time their continued effort weakens and engagement stays low.

The universities of Montenegro used previously known university platforms for asynchronous online teaching (18.3% response rate), while for synchronous online teaching, they used external tools for video conference calls, the most common of which were Zoom (73.3% response rate), Microsoft Teams (18.3% response rate), Viber (1.7% response rate) and Google meet (0.8% response rate), while a total of 5.8% of the respondents used other tools to teach online classes.

Whether synchronous or asynchronous, new ways of teaching have expanded the boundaries of learning beyond physical lecture theaters [3].

2. Methodology

2.1 Research question

Teaching and learning using a synchronous and asynchronous online environment has become increasingly widespread across the education sector, even if teachers did not properly feel capable to do so. Our study seeks to explore the challenges of teaching and learning online encountered by high education institutions in Montenegro in the context of the Covid-19 lockdown. The research refers to the period from the complete lockdown on March 16, 2020 to July 15, 2020 when the academic year was officially over.

Based on the collected data, we focused on two main research questions.

1. Research question 1—what are the challenges and opportunities of online teaching in Montenegro and its possible impact on traditional teaching as a step towards its modernization.

2. Research question 2—Challenges and opportunities of online examination and potential changes that need to be made.

First, we analyzed the extent to which teachers used online teaching, both synchronous and asynchronous. Second, we analyzed how, in their opinion, they were digitally competent for providing knowledge online, as well as how technologically equipped they were. In addition to online classes, one part of the questions from the questionnaire also referred to online testing, i.e. use of online tests during the examination. Then, we analyzed the attitudes of students related to online teaching and learning, their comments and their objections.

2.2 Participants

The Montenegrin higher education system consists of one large, public university, the University of Montenegro, and a group of three private universities.

The main target group was the teaching staff of all universities in Montenegro. All professors, teaching professors and teaching assistants from the existing four universities were contacted online and asked to fill out the online questionnaire “Challenges and opportunities of online teaching in Montenegro” developed in Google Forms. The questionnaire was filled out by 120 teachers (n = 120), which is a representative sample. The respondents were employed at the University of Montenegro (44.2%), the Mediterranean University (35.8%), the University of Donja Gorica (15%) and the University of the Adriatic (5%). The respondents consisted of full professors (12.5%), associate professors (18.5%), assistant professors (22%), teaching assistants (21.1%) and other staff (2.4%). Of the total respondents, 77 (64.1%) were female and 43 (35.9%) were male. Respondents had 5–10 years of experience (17.9%), 10–15 years of experience (34.2%) and more than 20 years of experience (17.1%).

Semi-structured individual interviews were also conducted with 16 interested professors of various academic titles who volunteered to participate in the research.

Additionally, six interviews were conducted with Student Representatives of their generation as the most affected category in online classes, from different faculties and years of study.

In addition, student statements were used from the students’ forum on the faculty’s internet platforms where they left their comments related to online teaching. A total of 356 different comments were left on the platform of the two universities of Montenegro.

Consent was sought from all participants and they voluntarily responded to the invitation to participate in this study. During the presentation of the findings, numbers were used for the professors and student participants.

2.3 Research design and data collection methods

Three different methods of data collection were used: an online questionnaire, input on university platforms, and semi-structured interviews.

The online quantitative and qualitative questionnaire was developed in Google Forms and distributed to teaching personnel via email or phone. The questionnaire contained 24 multiple-choice and rated questions (using a Likert scale). The aim of the first four questions was to collect general data related to this study’s set variables (gender, university name, teaching experience and professional role).

The second part of the questionnaire consisted of 20 questions, where the respondents, using a Likert rating scale with a range from 1 (do not agree at all) to 5 (completely agree) and with the help of multiple answer choices, expressed their views related to: the biggest challenges that they had faced during online teaching and testing, their level of digital competence, technical equipment, student engagement during online teaching and exams. The questionnaire was anonymous, since some questions directly assessed the work of the university where they were employed, thus avoiding subjectivity in the answers. All study participants provided informed consent before participation, and the study design was approved by the appropriate ethics review board.

As a means of examining students’ insights into their online experience, students were asked to leave their comments on questions posted on online platforms at two of the four universities. This method proved to be a useful tool for students to share their thoughts about the online teaching process, as a total of 356 students shared their experiences about online learning on their universities’ platforms. Students were asked to reflect on their experience in terms of the challenges they encountered, the benefits they felt, their motivation for learning in this way, and to compare online teaching with face-to-face teaching.

The final method used was the semi-structured interview, which is considered an essential source for gathering direct insight into the participants’ experiences. Teachers who expressed their willingness to participate through interviews were asked to reflect on the role of digitization in education, their experience in terms of digital and technical readiness for teaching and testing online during Covid-19, any support they received from their faculty as well as to express their opinion regarding the comparison of online teaching and the traditional face-to-face approach.

Sixteen academic teachers of various titles participated in a semi-structured interview conducted via Zoom with three members of the research team. Each member of the research team asked questions designed to probe the challenges and opportunities of online teaching and learning. The interviews lasted up to 30 minutes. All interviews were audio- and video-recorded and re-watched to ensure the accuracy of the quotes used to represent the theme.

2.4 Data analysis

The study used mixed methods, as both quantitative and qualitative data were collected with the aim of understanding the phenomenon through the perspectives of the participants. On the one hand, quantitative data allowed researchers to obtain more objective, numerical data, while qualitative data provided more detailed information about the context, thus creating a real picture of the study and a more thorough understanding of the situation in its natural environment.

Quantitative data processing was performed using SPSS statistical software. The chi-square, Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for the purpose of hypothesis testing. The quality of the data was checked using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality as well as by cross-tabulation and correlation.

2.5 Findings

The key findings indicate that all the teachers experienced challenging moments while delivering lectures online, but they were also able to identify advantages in such a stressful context.

The analysis of the quantitative data particularly shows three factors that hindered the teaching experience of the participants.

The most common disadvantage of this experience was the lack of direct interaction with students [4]. In most cases, the teachers acted as the only link between the students. This lack of connection can have the effect of causing great anxiety and causing students’ motivation levels to drop [5].

Another challenge faced by the teachers during this unforeseen teaching scenario included the digital literacy of the teachers and aversion to technology and this way of teaching. For this reason, this new teaching setting is, according to the participants, more difficult and tiring than the classroom environment.

In addition, the participants reported that working from home is also problematic considering all the possible distractions in the household, i.e. they did not have the necessary resources to conduct online classes, such as a suitable internet connection or a laptop with a working camera and microphone. The lack of appropriate technological devices limited their participation in the online lecture. Adapting to this scenario for some of them meant spending money on new technological devices that were not completely affordable but were absolutely necessary. Some received help from their university, but this type of help appears to have been rare.

The results of the study show the need for a modernized approach to pedagogies on educational technologies and media that is driven by research-informed analysis. As well as greater involvement of competent institutions towards better technical equipment for teaching staff and students.

3. Discussion

3.1 Digital competence of teachers in Montenegro

An analysis of quantitative and qualitative data summarizing the experiences of university teachers and students regarding online teaching and its comparison with traditional teaching shows that an important factor of difference that the respondents recognized during this process was the fact that they had to learn how to work with applications for synchronized online teaching, which they were not previously familiar with. Asynchronous teaching was more or less known and practiced at the universities of Montenegro because all universities already had their universities’ online platforms and trained the teaching staff to upload materials on them. On the other hand, synchronous online teaching implied familiarity with applications such as e.g. Zoom or Microsoft Teams, which were new to many teachers. At Montenegrin universities, due to the sudden transition to a live teaching environment, there was no organized training for teachers to use these applications, but they found support for their use on YouTube guides (32.5%) as well as from the IT service of their faculties (27.8%). Those methods of self-teacher training were apparently sufficient in the given circumstances because 73.3% of teachers stated that they used Zoom to hold synchronous online classes.

In support of the successful transition of Montenegrin teachers to online teaching is the fact that all respondents with 15 years of service (whose participation in this study is 43.6%) rated their digital competence with an average score of 3.9 and a modal score of 4. If we compare the results of the respondents with years of service of 15 years and more (with participation in the survey of 25.6%), we see that they also rated themselves with high marks. The average grade for answering this question is 3.73 with a modal score of 4, which indicates that teachers, nationally, are quite confident in their digital competence. However, the linear regression shows that there is a significant number at the level of significance 1 (p = 0.054, B = − 0.273). The regression equation shows that by changing the level of the independent variable (length of service) for one unit (year), teaching staff attitudes about their digital competence reduced by 0.273%. The same result was recorded in the answers of the respondents since the average grade for teaching staff with a shorter work experience is higher by 0.17% than for the respondents with a longer work experience. The obtained results show that the confidence in the skills needed to perform synchronous online teaching decreases with years of service.

Therefore, it seems that senior teachers with longer tenure needed additional digital training. This is a field that needs to be worked on in the future, in a way that, for example, universities become more involved and periodically organize teachers’ training programs for online teaching and the use of all distance learning tools [6]. In support of this need is the fact that almost a third of the total teaching staff (30%) believed that they did not have the necessary technological and pedagogical skills to support synchronous online teaching, and 26.7% of the total sample of teaching staff this was a decisive factor for giving up synchronous online classes and staying at the level of using simpler forms of asynchronous online communication with students (communication via Viber, e-mail, via DLS platforms of the university). Of those, 15.5% of teachers used only e-mail as a means of communication.

3.2 Teachers’ opinions on the quality of knowledge provided through online teaching

Teaching practice taught at the teacher-training faculties in Montenegro is quite conservative, promoting teacher-centred methodologies, and has been rigidly followed for the last decades. Therefore, it is not surprising that the vast majority of our teachers (67.4%) had no experience with synchronous online teaching before Covid-19. In addition, a large number of teachers (43.3%) believe that in this way students cannot be taught the skills needed to apply the knowledge delivered in this way in practice.

With a question with a scalar answer on the Likert scale from 1 to 5, on which 1 represents the lowest and 5 the highest grade, we asked the teachers about their views towards the quality of knowledge achieved online in regard to delivering lectures in the lecture theater and obtained answer whose modal score is 2, and the mean value is 2.55. Similarly, the respondents answered the question about their perception of the usability of the knowledge acquired online and its application in the form of skills on the labour market. This answer has a modal score of 2 and a mean value of 2.90.

In addition to the qualitative, there was no uniformity in the transfer of knowledge in the quantitative sense either. Thus, more than a third of the total teaching staff (32.5%) believe that they held fewer classes than they would have held live at the university according to the schedule, and for 30.8% of the teaching staff, the classes lasted less than it would have lasted at the university. In addition, 29.2% of the respondents reduced the scope of the material, while 32.5% slightly reduced the material due to the new online teaching circumstances. In this regard, interviewee 10 (full-time professor) stated in a semi-structured interview that “he is aware that in these conditions online teaching is the only solution, but that it is not nearly the same as face to face teaching and cannot have nearly the same effects.” Also, “It’s not like when you’re in the lecture theatre and you catch a student’s eye and it gives you an extra impulse to continue the lecture” (interviewee 15, full-time professor). “It is very impersonal” (interviewee 3, full-time professor). Through a qualitative analysis of the responses collected through interviews with teachers, the prevailing view is that face-to-face teaching is “real teaching” and that teachers can only be active participants in the teaching process in real-time. That is why 70.3% of the surveyed professors believe that synchronous teaching via Zoom is the closest to traditional face-to-face teaching.

It is devastating that among a certain number of interviewed teachers, there was not even the slightest enthusiasm for acquiring new knowledge and for advancement in this field, but the prevailing desire was to “wait for the extraordinary circumstance to pass” and for “things to return to normal and then continue with teaching” (13.4%). We have to bear in mind that the research was conducted in the initial phase of online teaching, so changes in teachers’ attitudes are possible in the later course of online teaching. Certainly, by including education on the digital competence of teaching staff and promoting online teaching, it will affect the reduction of the negative attitude towards this new form of teaching.

3.3 Students’ experiences and their engagement in online classes

The teacher’s negative attitude towards the online experience is automatically transferred to the target group of students who are just forming their stance towards the new way of teaching and learning online. A teacher who has an aversion to online teaching is unlikely to be capable of guiding and supporting students in a Covid scenario. This is supported by the fact that 38.1% of teaching staff believe that online teaching does not sufficiently stimulate the cognitive motivation of students. The results of the students’ activity and participation in online teaching than in person at the lecture theaters measured on a Likert scale had a mean value of 2.65 and a modal score of 3. Such an attitude seems to be shared by students who on university platforms characterized certain teachers’ online methods as a method of education that is “unacceptable”, “unheard” and “this is not a real learning experience”. Also, “We have neither heard nor seen the professor for 3 months. Through Student Representative we found out what needs to be learned for the final exam. It’s absurd.” A significant number of students stated on the platform that they had “difficulties in understanding the teaching content” and “lack of explanation and teaching” by certain teachers. Among students, this lack of direct connection can have an effect in a way that causes the level of motivation to decline. Many students showed poor persistence in online learning, which severely limited their learning effectiveness [7]. “Truly, in the beginning it was interesting for everyone. Everyone wanted to get to know this new way of monitoring classes. However, as time went on, class attendance decreased”, (interviewee 5, Student Representative). “Although the closing of the university was intended to protect students, for many it began to mean a ‘holiday from learning’” (interviewee 3, Student Representative).

On the other hand, as the main advantages of online classes, students cited “the possibility of organizing learning at their own pace”, “more relaxed work from home”, “shorter duration of classes”, “more free time”, “reduced volume of material” and “more clarifications and support from teachers”.

The analysis also showed different engagement of students depending on teachers’ seniority. Regarding students’ cognitive activity and engagement in online classes as measured by the intensity of the student-teacher discussion during the class, the Kruskal-Wallis test revealed a statistically significant relationship between the variables of teachers’ experience and student engagement (significant at p = 0.038). This test confirmed that, according to the respondents, students were the most active in the online classes given by teachers who had 10–15 years of experience. This data could be linked to a higher assessment of the digital literacy of teachers with up to 15 years of work experience, but also to the fact that this group of teachers were usually teaching assistants who engaged with students in case studies and practice sessions, unlike full-time professors, who focused mostly on delivering lectures.

Thus, for example, interviewee 7 (teaching assistant) stated that, in order to keep the students’ motivation at the same level, every week after the online classes, he assigned homework that included the material covered for the given study week and required the students to do the homework and send it to mail. In this way, he motivated students outside of online classes. According to interviewee 7, “in this way it is possible to effectively combine online learning and independent learning”.

Interviewee 4 (teaching assistant) had an even more demanding approach. He believed that “insufficient preparation for lectures leads to limited participation in discussions in online classes and thus to insufficient depth of discussion”. To address such problems in online classes, he required students to read subject-specific literature and submit brief observations and ambiguities based on reading key materials prior to class. In this way, he was able to make adjustments to the teaching contents before the class and adjust the online teaching to the student’s requirements. In this way, “students will not learn fragmented and superficial knowledge, but will experience ‘deep learning’ during the discussion and be active rather than passive participants”. For students, issues such as interest, motivation and engagement are directly connected to learner success [7].

This could be the beginning of student-centred learning in Montenegro, which international organizations for education have been calling for many years [8]. Namely, Montenegrin higher education has used the teacher-centred approach for a long time, which is quite conservative, narrowly focused on lecturing and over-emphasis on building knowledge, and not enough on developing understanding, skills and attitudes [9]. For many years there was a lack of efficient governance structures to serious attempts to introduce innovative approaches, bringing in the latest methods and ideas from the rest of Europe [10]. Covid-19 has brought some examples of good and innovative practices in the area of student-centred learning (e.g. interactive learning, use of case studies, research-based and problem-based learning, etc. [11]). As of now, the situation is favorable for such a leap forward, to conserve the innovations acquired during the Covid-19 period at the same time as the Montenegrin national system is undergoing reform [12].

3.4 Access to technologies as a challenge for online teaching in Montenegro

Technology is of primary importance for online teaching, which, in addition to digital literacy, is a prerequisite for its successful performance. To follow online classes, both teachers and students need access to online communication tools. In the case of teachers, the following stood out as the main obstacles in the technical sense:

1. Disturbances regarding access to devices (e.g. computers, tablets and telephones). Although 90.5% of teachers have a computer at home, 27.1% of the teaching staff share their computers with family members, and only 2.5% received a computer from their employer. The same could be noticed from the interview… “The situation at home is not the most suitable for carrying out all teaching tasks”, (interviewee 6. teaching assistant).

2. Interference in the Internet connection. In Montenegro, high-speed Internet access is generally more limited than in the European Union. Internet speed that meets the prerequisites for e-learning is defined as a speed of 10 or more Mbps [13]. However, it should be noted that 10 Mbps is lower than the standard considered acceptable in the US (25 Mbps) or the EU (30 Mbps). In that sense, 55% of teaching staff stated that interruptions of online classes due to a poor Internet connection and other technical problems were frequent. “There were problems with internet connection and internet signal. Some teachers handled it better than others”, (interviewee 2, associate professor).

Similar challenges existed for students. The student on the platform stated that he “shares a room and a computer with his brother who goes to school” and that “it was very often physically challenging to follow classes in such an environment.” To the question from the Questionnaire, “Have students contacted you because of the inability to attend classes due to technical problems and interference in the Internet signal?”, 56.5% of the respondents answered in the affirmative. The lack of appropriate technological devices limited students’ participation in online classes. Adapting to this scenario for many “actors” meant spending money on new technological devices that were not completely affordable, but were absolutely necessary. A small number of teachers (2.5%) received help from their university, but it seems that this kind of help for students was and remains a utopia. Despite the public promises and announcements of the state, until the submission of this chapter, there were no official public activities in this direction.

The new way of delivering knowledge discriminates in a way because for a virtual class, you need either a good laptop or a mobile phone with good internet, so that separates the participants because not everyone has this (technological tool and good internet). Students with no or low socio-economic power to afford broadband connection are most vulnerable to fall behind or encounter additional challenges to meet up with others in online learning. This puts in the foreground the material possibilities of students, not their mental capacities, and brings to the fore the class differences between them, but also the differences between developed and developing countries [14].

Greater involvement of state authorities and competent university authorities as autonomous units in providing technological equipment for both students and teachers is a basic prerequisite for digital literacy and inclusion in modern online study courses.

3.5 Knowledge assessment in an online environment

According to the Montenegrin Law on Higher Education, within the structure of the total number of points for a course, 50% of the assessments must be provided by knowledge testing activities during a semester (usually via test examinations and a seminar paper) and 50% must be via a final (oral) exam. According to the current law, it is allowed to hold semester tests online, but there is no article that would enable the final exam to be conducted online. On the contrary, Article 85 of the Law stipulates that the final exam must be “held on the premises of the institution”. Still, only 26% of professors who were enthusiastic about the new way of examining used the right to assign the semester test online.

The online assessment was conducted in a synchronous and asynchronous environment. Assessment in a synchronous environment was conducted in a virtual Zoom classroom (33% of teachers) in such a way that the teacher can visually follow the students while they do the test, on paper or on the computer. Asynchronous environment interaction does not take place in real-time but can be via the university’s online platform, such as taking a course on the Moodle platform (62% of teachers). Assessment methods such as open-ended short answer questions, true-false questions, multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions were appropriate for use in an asynchronous environment to assess the knowledge and competence of students during Covid-19.

For specific subjects where it was not possible to arrange the tests online, the knowledge assessment was organized after the opening of the faculty premises. Interviewee 13, an associate professor from the Faculty of Science, stated that “it was not possible to organize a knowledge test for all subjects due to the specificity and evaluation of clinical skills, so for them the examination took place after the lockdown measures had been eased” (in July 2020). The interviewee 9, associate professor, from the Faculty of Civil Engineering also says that their “tests mainly consist of written calculation-graphic tasks in combination with an oral knowledge assessment, and for most subjects it was not possible to organize high-quality, authoritative and valid knowledge tests of this type, except in the classical way, in the lecture theatre—when the conditions are met”.

On the other hand, at Faculties of Social Sciences where theoretical knowledge is more valued, interviewee 8, an associate professor, says that “the method of examination through the Moodle platform is very objective, and that he regrets not having used it on a larger scale before.” When asked if it was necessary to slightly lower the examination criteria for the “Covid generation”, he points out that “in this way, all the obligations that they have foreseen are fulfilled and that there was no reason to reduce the scope of the material nor the criteria for online tests”.

However, 29.2% of respondents who decided to reduce the amount of material in the curriculum due to the new online teaching circumstances, significantly reduced the material for the exam, or 32.5% of teachers who had slightly reduced the material, clearly disagree with this statement.

So, it seems that teachers “were making some necessary adjustments in assessment” during Covid-19 [4]. The reduction in the scope of the assigned material may have had an effect on the higher passing rate on the tests that the students took online. Namely, 27.5% of respondents stated in the Questionnaire that the passing rate on online tests was significantly higher, that is, 18.3% said that it was slightly higher. Only 10% of respondents thought that the passing rate was the same as last year or even lower according to 3.3%.

Considering that according to 70.9% of teachers who conducted the online examination, there was a strong possibility for the examinee to use illegal material during the exam and therefore cheat, online tests cast doubt on principles of integrity, equity, fairness and ethics. This could be an area for further research.

Taking into account the results of this research, the question arises whether Montenegro is ready to amend the Law on Higher Education in terms of enabling taking the final exam online. If we consider that in the Law on Higher Education, there is already the possibility of taking tests online and that the working group that is currently working on amendments to the Law has initiated the inclusion in the Law the institute of an online class (which is still not known in the Law), then the logical sequence of events, would have been the inclusion of the institute of online exam. This would significantly ease the position of a certain group of students such as: persons with special needs, foreign students, students who due to participation in the Summer Work and Travel program very often miss the Summer exam deadlines and in Covid-19 scenario, perhaps the most relevant—students who are in self-isolation and infected. However, according to the interviewee 1, vice-rector for teaching at the Mediterranean University, Montenegro is still not ready for that novelty. Because, “in order to be able to organize an online final exam, first of all, distance learning programs must be accredited by the Accreditation Board. This has not yet been implemented in Montenegro, and it would be necessary to establish conditions for the accreditation of such programs. Then, institutions must have adequate equipment, technological tools such as video and audio recording surveillance and personnel digitally trained to work with such tools. It is equipment and software that would enable objectivity of examination and transparent verification of knowledge. Currently, with our equipment and our software, it is very difficult to provide fair conditions for online testing, because simply, it is difficult to prevent a student from using illegal means”.

4. Conclusion

This work has demonstrated specific factors in the field of digital education of Montenegrian teachers that influence the successful overcoming of new challenges that have arisen during online teaching caused by the Covid-19 crisis. Based on a combination of alternative research methods: self-reported questionnaire, interviews and self-expressed comments, we reached conclusions about how the higher education institutions of Montenegro coped with the new circumstances and whether they managed to adapt to the new way of teaching.

The findings suggest that, despite the emerging opportunities to discover and learn new technologies, the challenges faced by teachers were not negligible and required attention. The lack of previous experiences in the field of teachers’ digital education, the lack of readiness by educational institutions and the possible lack of technical equipment for both teachers and students, contributed to making this experience more challenging. This study also shed light on the disparity regarding the online teaching experiences of the teachers, as some of them had regular contact with students through largely synchronous teaching, while others lost complete contact with students.

The first conclusion that emerges is that the biggest disadvantage of online teaching is the lack of direct interaction between teachers and students [15]. The live learning environment offers a sense of community, keeps students engaged and focused, and allows for live debates and discussions. Therefore, it is not surprising that, what the vast majority of teaching staff agreed on (73.3%), synchronous teaching in a virtual classroom with the help of the Zoom application is the most similar to face-to-face in-person classes. That is the option most conducive to students’ learning and progression and provides the most similar experience of pre-Covid classes that can successfully replace the direct interaction of teachers with students.

The study then showed that the crucial factors that influence the success or failure of online teaching during Covid-19 are the digital competence of teachers and digital technology resources.

Although the digital literacy of the teaching staff in Montenegro is at a satisfactory level, the third of the teaching staff who did not do well in synchronous online teaching is not to be overlooked. The majority of teaching staff evaluated their digital abilities with relatively high marks. However, the research showed a lower self-assessment by the elder generation of teachers with 15 years of experience or more. Therefore, more activity in the field of digital literacy is needed to help teachers understand the goals and ways of providing online teaching activities, and also to improve their personal attitude towards online teaching. The progress of online classes and the effectiveness of learning depend to a large extent on the teachers and their motivation to animate students to actively attend online classes but also to learn outside of class.

Satisfaction with the quality of knowledge obtained through online teaching in Montenegro was evaluated by the surveyed teaching staff with a grade of 3.14. The satisfaction with the quality of online teaching among students showed the prevailing attitude that they are more dissatisfied than satisfied. An analysis of the frequency of complaints on university platforms found that students cited disadvantages twice as often as advantages of online teaching, which indicates a critical attitude of students towards this form of teaching and certain difficulties in the implementation of this new form of teaching. However, opinions posted by students on the university’s online platforms should be taken with extreme caution, given that they were gathered based on free answers to imprecisely posed questions, which ultimately influenced the way the participants responded.

The technological devices of teachers and students are mentioned as one of the most important preconditions for online teaching. Bearing in mind that the pandemic prevented access to university equipment, teaching staff and students were directed to their own technical means. The dependency of online learning on technological devices and the provision of the equipment was a big challenge for institutions, faculty and learners. Students with outdated technological devices found it hard to meet some technical requirements of online learning. It becomes undeniable that students with a low socio-economic background definitely find it more difficult to migrate to online learning. If the Covid-19 crisis has made anything clear, it is that we lack the necessary infrastructure and institutional activities to support online teaching. The research also showed extremely weak university support for its teaching staff in this domain, because out of four universities, only one university dealt with the technical equipment of its staff during the pandemic, with only 2.5% of the teaching staff from that university stating that they received it from the university to use a computer during the Covid-19 crisis.

As the research was conducted in the first wave of the epidemic, when the emphasis was on the establishment of an online teaching and learning system, evaluation and assessment were in the background. In Montenegro, the assessment system is almost exclusively formative, fact and knowledge-based and rewards good memorization skills. There is a lack of professionals with up-to-date assessment skills. Any curriculum and textbook reform effort would also have to include changing assessment practice, as well. Today, the communicative methodology has significantly changed the way of examination. Students are expected to talk with the teachers and come to their own conclusions. Therefore, in the future, it would be useful to investigate summative assessment, not only in online testing but also in the traditional mode of testing.

Regarding the assessment of knowledge in online conditions, half of the teachers did not even dare to assess knowledge online, while the braver half expressed numerous doubts about the regularity of this form of examination. Those doubts were increased by the significantly higher pass rate of students at the examinations held in this way (27.5% of the respondents stated that the pass rate for the online examinations was significantly higher, while 18.3% said it was slightly higher). We can thus conclude that the system of knowledge assessment using asynchronous assessment methods via online platforms involves numerous questions of reliability in the results, and therefore challenges in terms of fairness and integrity. Subject literature [16] and subject research indicate greater opportunities for academic disrespect than the classic face-to-face examination. Therefore, special strategies and educational perspectives are necessary in order to properly respond to these challenges. It is necessary to develop methods and software that online educators can apply to prevent cheating and plagiarism in the online environment. This opens another area for future research—how to develop academic integrity in an online environment.

Despite the challenges presented by the study, the participants suggested that this was nevertheless a unique experience that would contribute to their further education and the way of providing knowledge in the future. Namely, 55% of the teachers who had less than 20 years of experience agreed that this experience was a “good opportunity for learning” and “an incentive to get out of the comfort zone” and “improve ability to use new technologies”. Many interviewed teachers also reported a “sense of innovation as they developed new technological skills.” As much as it was “disruptive”, it was a “catalyst for change and innovation”. Despite the challenges of online teaching, “countless opportunities” have emerged. For example, interviewee 13, an associate professor, claims: “I have carefully searched for several ways to make my lessons more engaging for my students and I have found a number of ways to create teaching materials and help my students.” Also, interviewee 11, full professor, concludes that “We must see this experience as a key opportunity to challenge ourselves and learn new things, because we do not know when we will face another pandemic”. Interviewee 12, assistant professor, also stated “if it wasn’t for this experience, I wouldn’t have learned any advanced technology; I would only know the basics”. Thus, this Covid-19 scenario provided an opportunity for students and teachers to experiment with modern, new technologies in the teaching/learning process.

The effects of Covid-19 on modern education are already visible, and as we can only expect a strengthening of the importance of technology in all types of education, this must be included in the next Education Policy Development Strategy of Montenegro. There is a great opportunity for educational change and renewal in Montenegro at the moment. In particular, it should be noted that the more frequent occurrences of student-centred methods of teaching conditioned by the Covid-19 crisis represent the first steps for abandoning the long-overdue teacher-centred method. Educational programs for information and communication technology (ICT) must urgently develop strategies for meaningful and enriching learning experiences. Also, teacher degrees must pave the way for the inclusion of ICT literacy in their curricula not only for teachers’ technical communication literacy but also for their future teaching careers [17]. Future work also needs to be undertaken on improving the training support to prepare teachers to teach online. Faculty support teams play a critical role in the learning experiences of students by helping faculty members develop digital competence and online learning experiences. As such, institutions must rethink the way instructional support units do their work, at least during a crisis.

The world is changing, and the causes of interruptions to education are not limited to pandemics. Wars, local conflicts, natural disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes, the polar vortex and other types of natural disasters are issues that should be kept on future agendas as potential sources of interruption. Having said that, there likely will be future public health and safety concerns, and in recent years, faculties could have been closed due to numerous reasons. Thus, the possible need for online teaching must become part of a faculty member’s skill set, as well as professional development programming for any personnel involved in the instructional mission of universities to be better prepared for future needs to implement ICT.