In times of trouble: Higher education lecturers' emotional reaction to online instruction during COVID-19 outbreak

Abstract

The disruption of 'normal' academic studies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak was embodied mainly in a rapid transition from in-class teaching to online synchronous instruction. The purpose of this study was to examine the lecturer's emotions towards the change they experienced with the sudden shift to online instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic and the effect of those emotions on their willingness to teach online in the future. In the present study, 239 academic lecturers answered an online questionnaire. Four groups of emotions were examined: Success, opportunity, failure, and threat. The findings indicated that the emotions lecturers experienced most strongly was that of success, followed by opportunity. The predictors of lecturer's willingness to teach online in the future were emotions related to 'opportunity' and 'failure'. Surprisingly, the dramatic event of COVID-19 lockdown evoked more positive than negative emotions among lecturers during the first semester of the crisis. The emotions of threat that might characterize this period did not affect the willingness to teach online in the future as may be expected. This study demonstrates how tracing the emotional response toward adopting technology may contribute to understanding technology acceptance. It also contributes to understanding the differences in experiencing change in the normal process of technology adoption as opposed to emergency times.