Phenomenological analysis of the perception and lived experience of photography students of weaknesses and The strength of distance learning in the Corona pandemic

The new coronavirus (COVID-19) has created a new and unpredictable situation around the world. As Covid-19 spread to other parts of the world in mid-September, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement declaring the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency that threatens the entire world. Although different age groups and social classes are threatened by COVID-19, the care and control of educational environments has been one of the first safety measures in crisis countries due to the high student population, high class density, use of common spaces, etc. . . Probability and in turn the health consequences and high probability of transmitting the virus through this group to all members of society. Various measures were taken to manage educational spaces in the world. Some countries closed schools altogether, while others used the distance education option. With the outbreak of Covid 19 in Iran, schools, like other countries in the world, were closed and the Ministry of Education used various platforms for students to continue their education in absentia. Accordingly, various strategies were designed to continue educational and research goals, mainly based on cyberspace and distance education. In this course, professors and students were prepared to use the facilities of virtual education software. In addition to creating new opportunities for teachers, families and students, this teaching method also faced new challenges. Some education experts turn to distance education opportunities such as: motivating teachers to use technology, identifying and introducing capable and creative teachers, expanding educational justice by sharing educational materials in different parts of the country, solving problems and reducing time Travel to and from school. Despite identifying the positive and negative consequences of implementing the distance education plan in various journals, there are no comprehensive studies in this field and scientific studies on the implementation of this educational method in different sections and disciplines, such as photography, which offers many practical courses. . Therefore, the present study has attempted to explore and represent the perceptions and perceptions of distance photography students in relation to the opportunities and challenges of distance education in the corona epidemic, without taking into account any judgments. This study reconstructed students' semantic understanding of the strengths and challenges of distance learning with a phenomenological approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 students. Due to the fact that this study was conducted at the time of the outbreak of coronavirus and during the quarantine period of the disease, and due to the limited attendance at school during this period, interviews were conducted in person and some online in cyberspace. In order to observe ethical issues and due to the reluctance of the interviewees to record the interviews and the possibility of self-censorship and conservatism in providing comments and consequently the quality of the data, the method of taking notes during the interview was used. And the interview time was 15 to 30 minutes. Although qualitative interviews with a limited number of participants are not statistically generalizable to the wider community, they do help to remove hidden and generally forgotten layers and aspects of education. At the beginning of the interview, the purpose of the research was generally mentioned and it was emphasized that the interviews will be used only for research purposes and the identities of individuals will not be specified in any way in research reports and published articles. Due to its semi-structural nature, other questions were asked as the next questions to clarify the meaning of the answers provided. Data analysis was performed based on thematic analysis and interpretive approach. In order to validate the collected information, the technique of feedback to the interviewees, researcher review, alignment with research sources and written documents were used. In-depth analysis of student narratives, in addition to categorizing qualitative data, provided a broader understanding of e-learning in Corona. Altogether, an in-depth analysis of the views of photography students led to the identification and categorization of two strengths, including "ease of access to educational services" and "no grade point average due to fraud" and six weaknesses. Distance learning program, such as "procrastination". "Increased feeling of boredom", "increased cheating in evaluation", "weakness in learning specialized courses", "academic failure", "insufficient quality of education and teachers' expectations" were the central factors. Others relate to the infrastructure and nature of distance education. Findings showed that the interviewed students experienced different consequences of the effects of implementing distance learning programs in schools during the corona outbreak and generally face more challenges in their learning process, some of which are addressed in this article. @1400 250 Overall, it can be said that e-learning in Iran has faced major challenges in design and implementation due to the fact that before the Corona crisis, except in some universities, it was not seriously pursued and its infrastructure was not available. Which reduced its success. To make the best use of e-learning facilities, the culture of using this method should be promoted and hardware and software infrastructures should be provided. teachers, the way of teaching should be changed and adapted to the current situation. The use of attractive educational videos and clips and reducing the time of sessions can help improve the quality of learning. One of the important points is that teachers should constantly benefit from their participation in the class due to their characteristics such as distraction and jumping of thoughts, and mere attention to the presence of students' absenteeism can not be a correct criterion in their evaluation. Therefore, the final evaluation method can be done qualitatively during the semester and based on the participation of each student and a smaller share is allocated to the final exam score. Undoubtedly, the outbreak of coronavirus is not the end of the epidemic and there is still a risk of other pandemics. Therefore, given these challenges and opportunities, distance education can be used as a good complement to traditional education after the reopening of schools. Due to the closure of schools and the continuation of formal education through cyberspace, distance education seems to be becoming a vital element in future education systems. The use of virtual education along with traditional education ensures the quality of learning in students by transferring the strengths of both methods. Therefore, by increasing the strengths and taking advantage of the opportunities and reducing the weaknesses and eliminating the threats, the lessons learned in recent months should become valuable experiences and be used as a model in future crises by education officials and teachers to take.