2020 International Research Symposium

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Effectiveness of Synchronous Online Learning Compared to Face-to-Face Learning Among Higher Education Students in Cambodia during the COVID-19 Pandemic
(CamEd Business School, November 15, 2020) Casey Barnett; Bunthorn Yem
The International Monetary Fund reported that global gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 3.5 percent in 2020 compared to positive growth of 2.8 percent in 2019 (International Monetary Fund [IMF], 2021). This economic loss means more people will suffer the effects of poverty. The economic loss is largely due to COVID and its effects which include safety measures such as restrictions on gatherings and movement. One safety measure implemented by countries has been the prohibition of face-to-face learning in schools. However, the closure of schools may have ongoing negative economic consequences for years to come. A study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that “due to lost productivity, one year of lost primary and secondary school learning will result in an economic loss equivalent to 202 percent of future GDP” (Hanushek & Woessmann, 2020, p. 9). Empirical studies are showing that learning loss arising from school shutdowns is proportional to the duration of the shutdown. For example, a study of national exam results for approximately 350,000 students in the Netherlands found that an 8-week shutdown resulted in a learning loss equivalent to the same period of the shutdown (Engzell et al., 2021).
The Impact of COVID-19 on Students’ Preferences of Learning Mode: A Basis for Consideration
(CamEd Business School, November 15, 2020) Bunthorn Yem
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been harmful and widespread. The regrettable loss of so many human lives worldwide and the incalculable damage caused by this novel coronavirus is one of the most tragic disasters in human history. There have also been many associated changes to work practices. One of the drastic changes caused by this pandemic in countries around the world has been the change in education, and in particular, the changes in teaching and learning modes. Li and Lalani (2020) predicted that COVID-19 has changed education forever. When a change in teaching and learning modes happens so quickly, it can be hard for both the teachers and students to prepare themselves in order to adjust to the new and unexpected environment. It can be even harder for any educational institutions or schools to prepare themselves, quickly organizing the infrastructure, supporting facilities, human resources and the like, in order to cope with the new environment and to ensure a successful and rapid transition. There are so many things that the institutions have to do during this process. Cadungog-Uy (2020) proposed that schools and universities should have an important role in supporting the learners to alleviate the potential negative impact of the quick transition. However, schools and universities should do even more to prepare the stakeholders for more changes during this unpredicrable situation both as the crisis continues and when it is over. After the pandemic is over, it is uncertain whether things should go back to ‘normal’ as they used to be before the pandemic. In their study, Lau et al. (2020) noted that observers pondered whether the future might just have become the present. It is questionable whether the present online learning environment will become the future or revert to the traditional learning mode of in-classroom teaching, or whether there will be a mix of the two, and scope for unpredictably beyond this.