Struggles Faced by Lebanese Families when their children shifted to e-Learning

Abstract

Parents were the most impacted group that faced serious obstacles fulfilling their parenting obligations in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. It imposed safety measures along with new norms that people had to abide by to adapt to the situation. The purpose of this study is to investigate and evaluate the multiple obstacles and challenges faced by parents during Covid-19 Pandemic, shedding light on the impact it had on their lives, parental responsibilities, and overall family dynamics. This study synthesizes current research, and empirical investigations to identify, and characterize the major problems that parents suffered from throughout the pandemic. Majorly, the problems faced were in terms of the availability of required facilities in addition to the expenses that came along. Nevertheless, learners were suffering from securing the right learning environment, parental support, technological issues, and lack of motivation and engagement. Besides, parents concerned with their children’s learning and development became like shadow teachers for their kids; interfering in all their conflicts, whether big or small. Additionally, learners lost skills such as sharing, discussing, creating, analyzing and most importantly, being the center of the learning process. Overall e-learning wasn’t considered a successful approach, and wasn’t beneficial in public schools, as well as in most private schools.

In conclusion, schools weren’t successful in supporting parents with the shift in the learning approach, and families faced challenges in logistics (in accessing the means needed to perform such shift), and on a psychological level.

Introduction

Applications, social media platforms, Google Forms, and all types of new technology became a vital factor of our lives. It’s the technology that invaded our lives leading us to habits which might be positive or negative. Our educational process had reached a new level using all types of technology enriching pedagogy sometimes and distracting the learners some others. The global pandemic faced during the last three years (2020-2021- 2022) confronted a challenging situation leading all educational institutions to adopt and adapt for e-learning as a necessity to fulfill its mission neglecting all the difficulties faced by the whole sector from staff, students and parents who all found themselves bounded in this new essential situation. However, being interested or not there was no escape, and everyone had to be ready for the new shift. Facing the pandemic was a real challenge, but facing the inflation was the most challenging of all. Could parents afford to purchase the devices needed by their children to proceed in the e-learning process? Could students modify to such a sudden shift? Is the home setting appropriate to provide children with discipline, engagement, motivation, and interaction to deal properly with this new type of teaching. It is really a big challenge that laid a heavy burden on the shoulders of most Lebanese families who were suffering from the inflation’s consequences as well as from Covid-19 Pandemic.

However, were teachers ready and well trained, or it was left each one’s eagerness to develop the new skills of teaching that requires knowledge of technological tools and applications, motivating students at home, and attracting their attention in a way or another to adapt to the unplanned shift. Many families got scared, others were anxious to see, hear and feel what is e-learning, and students were frustrated! But e-learning was very imperative and crucial! Abuhammad supports Suzanne Abdul-Reda Abourjeili and Seham Harb by declaring that many families were concerned of the official certificates, and whether their children will proceed to higher classes or not. Students received different learning levels depending on teachers’ initiatives and attitudes. Whereas some families were not able to follow up with their children due to their commitments and lack of time. Consequently, their children were left to tutoring care or their grandmothers’. (Abourjeili & Harb, 2020) (‎Abuhammad, 2020)

Literature Review

According to Nabila Rahhal, On March 17, 2020, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education announced a national distance learning strategy, while adapting to online learning parents faced many obstacles, first, people do not have access to the internet because of its high cost and are unable to work or study from home, as well as, low-income families used low-tech methods of distance learning as opposed to e-platforms.

To illustrate, COVID-19 related school closures and the switch to distance learning has changed our thinking of education and opened it up to new channels of acquiring the skills needed for a viable future. One of those channels for learning is online where students can interact live with their teachers in a virtual classroom. This mode of learning has in turn further highlighted the importance of technology in our daily lives. (Rahhal‎, 2020)

On the other hand, Eva Hashem suggests that the key issue is to know how to adapt to the crisis, and to a new mode of teaching and learning. The ultimate goal is to reset our educational priorities by offering our learners only what is pedagogically sound to help them face 21st century challenges with the power that comes from knowledge. For instance, one of the barriers to offering courses online is the scarcity of instructors who are trained in distance teaching and learning. Educational institutions did not foresee this crisis and so did not provide the adequate professional development to their instructors. This might come as a wakeup call to those who still believe that traditional methods of teaching are the one and only way to transmit knowledge. Even when students have the means to connect online, sometimes you can have thousands of students trying to connect to a school or university’s system at the same time, crashing the server and preventing access to lessons. Other students may find connecting to the internet difficult or impossible, especially if they live in a region that is facing several crises at the economic and health levels. In addition, increasing the bandwidth is paramount, but difficult in a country like Lebanon where connection speeds are notoriously slow. The Lebanese government did announce that it was planning to double the speed of the internet as well as the capacity of consumption for internet service subscribers with the official Ogero network until April to encourage people to work from home. (Hashem, 2020)

As to Suzanne Abdul-Reda Abourjeili and Seham Harb, Education in Lebanon has faced many challenges due to the financial and economic crisis especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Teachers, parents, and students alike were left on their own to struggle through the school year. This has particularly affected the poorest segments of society, as well as parents and teachers with fewer technical skills to educate children. Results showed the difficulties faced by parents in acquiring new skills without adequate support, which made them unable to support their children in distance education. (Abourjeili & Harb, 2020)

Mustafa Najem claims that since the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic, a lot of educational institutions from schools and universities rushed to get an online solution in order to keep their classes going and their students safe at home, But Lebanon’s problem with e-learning goes way back, before the COVID-19 era. (NAJIM‎, 2020)

In the past years, there have been many efforts by educational institutions in Lebanon to make e-learning more accessible, yet the obstacles to this attempt can be categorized under three main titles: curricula structure, which is one of the main issues affecting the good deployment of e-learning in Lebanon. And the importance of updating the teaching methods, revising the structures of the curricula, and implementing new approaches to deliver information to students; teaching staff,  in which many schools  tried deploying an online teaching platform threw in all the bucks on the platform itself and paid little to no attention to the teaching staff qualifications to use such platforms. This was a dangerous gamble for many schools as many of the teachers couldn’t use the platforms properly which is the most critical point in delivering the information to the students; local circumstances, including shortage of electricity where the government provides electricity in separate periods of the day with an average of 8 to 10 hours per day and people rely on private generators to cover a portion of the rest of the day, and since internet access is directly related to electricity supply, which in turn affects online learning, this might be the direct and the most influential reason for the failure of such systems in Lebanon (NAJIM‎, 2020).

Abuhammad supports Suzanne Abdul-Reda Abourjeili and Seham Harb, that many parents faced many types of barriers in their endeavors to assist their children with distance learning during the pandemic. These barriers were personal, technical, logistical, and financial. To remove these barriers some modifications are required, including finding ways to develop relationships with other school students and teachers online and implementing support strategies for lower-achieving students. Furthermore, these barriers can hamper or completely prevent the utilization of distance learning by some groups. It is therefore important to understand the perceptions of parents regarding the barriers to distance learning because doing so will enable government and education decision-makers to create solutions to remove the barriers that most affect parents and prevent them from supporting their children to attain a good education. In addition, an understanding of the barriers encountered by parents could help school administrators and school boards to develop an efficient environment for distance learning during the COVID-19 outbreak and other crises. According to the researches done, the struggles were the same for the entire educational sector including schools, teachers, students and parents. It was not easy to shift to e-learning for all the Lebanese who suffered from the worst economic crises in the last 50 years. Many families suffered from inflation and their main concerns were securing the essential basic needs for their children from food to medicine. At the same time, they were not able to provide adequate academic support or find appropriate tutoring resources for children who may face learning difficulties during remote classes. (‎Abuhammad, 2020)

The current research study will shed light mainly on the detailed daily problems faced by the Lebanese families in Shouf- Region while confronted to e-learning without having any least idea about what is meant by remote learning and the devices needed to implement this new learning approach. Did these families enjoy the new approach and trust the same teachers who used to teach their children at school? There was a big resistance to the change from traditional educational pedagogy to distance learning. Moreover, there was a big gap between the delivery of lessons by e-learning between private and public schools. However, despite the extensive exploration of related studies on the challenges faced by Lebanese families and, no significant research has been conducted specifically addressing the obstacles encountered by Lebanese families in Shouf Region when shifting to E-Learning during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Methodology

Research Design:

This study employs a mixed-methods research design, integrating both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The study will analyze both the quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (interviews) data and find evidence that translates the challenges and burdens faced by families ranged from an educational background to partially educated families.

A survey will be sent to families in Shouf-region and six interviews with different society perspectives will be conducted to understand in depth the barriers faced by these families in the most crucial times in the history of Lebanon. This study employs a mixed-methods research design, integrating both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The aim is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the challenges that Lebanese families faced with their children to convert to e- learning as a new learning approach to avoid losing the academic year and face the 21st century challenges which require encountering all obstacles. A questionnaire will be conducted to a variety of people in the district, and 5 interviews will be conducted with different sections of the community.

Besides a consent form will be signed to avoid any biased errors. The targeted population will be mainly families who have children who were involved in the e-learning new methodology.

To gather comprehensive data on the challenges faced by these families, a combination of qualitative and quantitative data collection tools can be used:

Population, Sample, and Sampling Techniques:

• Population: The targeted population for this study consists of Lebanese families whose children converted to e- learning during the years 2020-2022.
• Sample: The sample size will be chosen depending on feasibility and practical considerations.
• Sampling Technique: Purposive sampling will take place in our research that will provide us with greater and more details. It will help us identify, and recognize the cases, individuals that fit to answer the research question about the challenges faced Lebanese families when their children converted to learning during Covid-10 pandemic. (Etikan, I., Musa, S. A., & Alkassim, R. S., 2016)

Data Collection Tools:

1- Semi-Structured Interviews:

• Semi-structured interviews with parents, (mother or father).
• An interview guide that includes open-ended questions related to their experiences, perceptions, and challenges faced when implementing e-learning as a solution for distance learning, and a step to face the 21^st century challenges. ( Appendix 2)
• The interviews will allow for an in-depth exploration of families experiences, attitudes, and insights regarding the challenges and potential solutions.

2- Surveys:

• Surveys to families in Shouf region Lebanon will be developed, collected, and analyzed. ( Appendix 2)
• The survey will include closed-ended questions.

Ethical Considerations:

Emphasizing voluntary participation in the interview, together with the freedom to mention the name of the interviewee, and the consent form that ensures confidentiality, are all ethical aspects that address ethical considerations. The study secures participants’ rights and maintains research integrity. Participants are free to express their responses from their own perspectives without any interfere. That way the ethical conduct of the research is ensured.

Data collection procedure:

After signing the consent form, the six interviewees got informed about the topic of the interview, and that the questions aim to understand in depth the barriers and challenges faced by them when their children converted to e- learning during Covid-19 pandemic. Each interview lasted between 9 to 15 minutes. A thematic analysis was used to collect to analyze the collected qualitative data to help identify patterns of meaning across a data set (Nowell, Norris, White, & Moules, 2017). The first theme is about school’s support when shifting to e-learning and whether it was sufficient. The second theme is about how do families feel when they received the schools announcing the shift to e- learning. The third theme is about the readiness of both parents and children to converting to e-learning. The fourth theme is about three major barriers that they as families faced when converting to e-learning during the pandemic, years 2020-2022. And the fifth theme is knowing whether families prefer online over Physical attendance accompanied with their suggestions.

Findings

1. Was school’s support sufficient?

When it comes to the school’s support, and whether schools collaborated in a sufficient way the findings showed that each interviewee has a different experience. The second interviewee whose son was in a private school mentioned that the support was insufficient, and teachers and schools were only focusing on the content they need to deliver to students in anyway, neglecting the emotional and social status of the students as well as the families. While the first interviewee whose kids were in a public school mentioned that they suffered a lot from school’s ignorance and teachers’ as well. Her kids were mainly listening to teachers’ voices sent via WhatsApp applications on mobiles, she added my son had the chance to attend 2 zoom lessons during the whole school year.

In addition, the third interviewee mentioned that the school’s guidance was insufficient although she was familiar with social platforms due to her previous career, she added that there were always unexpected issues which they used to face each other day when it comes to receive and submit the assignments. It was the same for the fourth, fifth, and sixth interviewee, they got good guidance from their schools, but they suffered from the many issues which they overcome with time. These obstacles were clearly mentioned in the literature review of a   research conducted by Suzanne Abdul-Reda Abourjeili and Seham Harb, concluded that Teachers, parents, and students alike were left on their own to struggle through the school year.

2. Parents’ feelings when receiving from their children’s schools to convert to e- learning:

All the first three interviewees agreed that it was overwhelming, they got confused, worried and panicked about their kids’ future, and it was really difficult. The fourth interviewee felt happy that her kids will resume education, and safe at the same time, but she was involved in the learning process which led her to be a full-time job mother. The fifth and sixth interviewees were happy, and glad that their kids are happy, safe, and will gain a new experience as well.

3. Parents’ and children’s readiness:

The first interviewee said that they were not prepared, she added: “My son Karam was much more engaged than my daughter who was 3 years old and had to listen to voices sent by the teachers via WhatsApp, simply because he’s older than his sister. It was not successful, that is the case in public schools”. Whereas the second one said that they were not well prepared, she declared that the faced many difficulties, and had no idea about the applications used, many obstacles were faced, the shift to e-learning was not successful. As for my son, he couldn’t focus for a long time, he’s at home and feels free to do whatever he likes, no discipline and I cannot control his attendance. He always used to depend on me, that was annoying and leading me to cheat, unfortunately there was a chance for that, but I really didn’t mean it. The third interviewee considered the shift to be successful somehow, but with difficulties, schools support wasn’t enough, our children and we as parents were not prepared for this shift either, and schools too, I guess. My kids weren’t showing any interest or motivation parents were not prepared for this shift either, and schools too I guess. My kids weren’t showing any interest or motivation.

The fourth interviewee claimed that she wasn’t prepared for such a shift, it was a sudden change, but had to accept it with no negotiations, and considered it an unsuccessful operation where a kid of hers had a big problem who is now in grade three, and the reason was e-learning, they weren’t engaged by all means, maybe videos, you tube are ways that made them a bit engaged, but not enough to fulfill the basic tasks, and goals of learning. Youngest kid couldn’t make him sit Infront of the screen to communicate with the teacher or understand what is happening. As for the fifth interviewee she was well prepared regarding, internet and applications, but it was so difficult for young children, accompanied with technical issues, not using the traditional ways such as books, and using videos, and games for studying not only having fun. Had many challenges and extra work for parents, and children as well. Both of her kids considered online as an optional case not serious and a must to learn, they weren’t concentrating well, not as big kids, they weren’t engaged this made them do an extra effort to let them be committed, where It was something strange for them and not familiar. The sixth interviewee was really willing for such a twist in learning, and wanted to know how the child will be interacting in the classroom, outside his comfort zone, how do teachers deliver information to students. Yet it was challenging in many aspects, her son was excited in the beginning for this new experience, being in his room, his comfort zone, but later on he started losing interest, being very bored until the whole experience was considered terrible for him. These struggles were supported by (‎Abuhammad, 2020) where the focus should be parents and how they help create a good learning environment for their children.

4. Three barriers faced by the interviewed families during the shift to e-learning:

Each interviewee faced a variety of barriers, the first mother mentioned that she didn’t feel free during the e-learning process, they installed internet although they weren’t able to afford the expenses, but it became a must to resume their needed education. She added , “My son was using a tablet while ,my daughter who was around four years old  was using my mobile , which wasn’t easy for her,” she added, “public school teachers were sending voices via WhatsApp , and few YouTube videos which weren’t a good mean for teaching a kindergarten child, and this really affected her learning progress badly, besides the whole home became as a school, I couldn’t complete my motherhood tasks, my kids weren’t improving, but when they returned to physical attendance they showed better, and sufficient progress.”[1]

The second interviewee claimed, “At that time I didn’t have any internet access, no iPad, my son was using my mobile, I couldn’t force to listen attentively, he always depended on me, so I needed to be supporting him continuously.” [2]

The third interviewee’s challenges were, the internet access, communication ways, electricity, and the disability to provide enough devices, providing a good learning environment at home, were all challenging barriers for her, and she thought that these are common barriers for all Lebanese who suffered from the economic crisis, and the Pandemic conflict as well.[3]

The fourth interviewee’s barriers were connection, electricity, offering every child a portable, laptop or iPad, since they have classes in the same time, letting her kids concentrate, interact, listen, and not to mute their teacher, moreover typing was a barrier too.[4]

The fifth interviewee mentioned also the challenges or barriers that she was facing such as,

commitment that she considered as her first barrier, being at home for her kids that wasn’t considered as a place to learn, besides, teachers couldn’t pay attention or know if the students were engaged or understanding, and the kind of communication with their friends that was virtual and not real.[5]

The sixth interviewee had few barriers that was first met in the beginning of the year, the fact of submitting the homework, dealing with application, her major barrier was procuring certain environment where the child can listen to the teacher, and trying to get his attention. [6]

5. Preferring Online Learning Over Physical Attendance and families Suggestions:

The first interviewee whose kids were in a public school was against e-learning, she suggested that children should be trained to online platforms for e-learning and parents too. Whereas the second one declared that online learning led to cheating and she doesn’t like to pass through the same experience with her son, she suggested that schools should show a better follow-up to better engage students and their parents in the new learning approach. The third interviewee said that online learning was a solution to overcome schools’ closure during the pandemic and suggested that schools should design platforms which are easier and clearer for kids and parents

The fourth interviewee preferred physical attendance, especially the young ages; (starting from kindergarten classes where kids are at the age of 3 years, till grade 5 where the kids are at the age of 10 years) for the massive need of following a teacher to learn the basic education, to get the right information. She added that both e-learning and physical attendance are proved to be beneficials in certain ways, visual learning students have the chance to benefit from online, by taking their time, and understanding the concepts , but attending school  is very beneficial for their social life, and for close monitoring from the teacher, building a timetable: waking up early, having a daily routine where online learning didn’t offer this. The fifth interviewee was completely against online learning, it didn’t fit her kids at all, it encourages shy kids to be more antisocial, lonely, and more detached, moreover she mentioned that online learning isn’t designed for young ages and suits more university students where they seek for knowledge and want to learn. Young students need real motivation, interaction, and personal attendance. The sixth interviewee also preferred physical attendance over e-learning although, e-learning was found as a bless, and it saved three years of the children’s’ school years, but she would rather the child interacting physically with his classmates and teachers for the sake of the learning development. Her suggestions were as following that teachers have to reduce their talk time, where students will lose interest and attention. The classroom has to be student centered, more interactive activities to be considered in the future.

Themes Analysis:

1. The first theme of the interview questions showed that most schools in Lebanon, Shouf district were not prepared to this shift. Neither parents, nor students had any least idea about using applications or e-learning platforms. Besides, schools were not prepared how to handle this shift. It is obvious that there was no coordination between parents, schools and students. All were left for the flow, and all that was meant is delivering a content in anyway, neglecting the social and economic status of most Lebanese families who were suffering from two major issues; that is health and the economic crises; inflation. Although few schools provided acceptable guidance to parents but, parents, and children as well kept facing challenges during e-learning that made it an unsuccessful procedure for them.
2. The second theme reveals that even though some families were excited, or felling satisfied that their children will resume their education without disruption and being safe as well, but they all ended feeling overwhelmed, worried about the quality of learning, where their kids weren’t involved and totally engaged in this new process.
3. The third theme regarding parents’ and students’ readiness we can conclude that despite of all the varied responses of the families that were prepared, and others that weren’t ready for such a shift, they all ended up being facing many challenges without having any idea how to overcome it. On the other hand the children suffered from this shift that had negative impact on them, and were driven to accept such situation without comprehending what they’re going through.
4. The fourth theme reflects the number of various barriers that families have faced which put them into hard situations, as well as their children. Most of the families had electricity, internet, and the capability to provide devices for all their children. Moreover, all the families shared challenges regarding their children’s commitment, engagement, and real social interaction.
5. The fifth theme showed that all the 6 interviewees preferred Physical attendance over Online Learning , although they mentioned that it was a must during the pandemic, but they all considered it an unsuccessful experience leading to many problems that affected their children, leading to educational weaknesses and some psychological problems as well, and some gave some suggestions for improving on line learning that may make it more sufficient in case it was needed in the future.

On the other hand, a survey was conducted with 40 families from the same district, the results were merged on excel sheets and a percentage of each response was calculated. The following shows the results of the quantitative data studied and analyzed to support the findings of the current research paper. This survey was conducted to recognize the challenges faced by families and their children when turning from physically attending school to e-learning in Shouf-District Lebanon in the years 2020-2022, and 40 responses were filled. The google form and the findings are shown in the charts below:

Question 1: When was the first time you heard about e-learning?

Due to the question 47.5% of parent heard about e-learning for the first time was in 2020 while 30% of them heard about remote learning in 2018, 17.5% in 2019 while 5% of them was in 2021.

Question 2: Was it hard for your child to turn to e-learning?

70% of children did not find it hard to turn to e-learning, while 23% find a bit hard to turn to e-learning as 7% of children find too hard to turn to e-learning.

Question 3: How long it took the whole family to modify to such new approach “e-learning”?

In the chart above, 70% of the whole family took few time to adapt to  the new approach “e-Learning” while 30% took long time.

Question 4: As a parent, did you have access to all items needed to turn to e-learning? (iPad – internet – electricity)

52.5% of parents had access to all items needed to turn to e-learning, on the other hand, 42.5% had few items needed, and 5% did not have any items needed to turn to e-learning.

Question 5: Did your child own good knowledge to use the application needed?

57.5% of the children had enough knowledge to use the application needed, while 37.5% had little knowledge, but 5% of them did not have any knowledge of using the application.

Question 6: Did you face difficulties adapting (you & your child) to the idea of online learning from home?

77.5% sometimes of parents faced difficulties adapting to the idea of online learning from home, 12.5% always faced difficulties while 10% never faced difficulties.

Question 7: What difficulties did you face as a parent during remote learning?(you can choose more than one)

45% of parents find difficulties in staying with children during remote learning, while 30% of them find difficulties in using the new teaching techniques, as well as 20% of them could not provide their children with the needed devices, and 37.5% of parents found difficulties in all the mentioned statement.

Question 8: What challenges did your child face during e-learning. (you can choose more than one)

70% of the challenges faced by children during e-learning was poor internet connection, 37.5% was motivation of the children, while 10% of the children could not finish their assignments on time, as for 22.5% of them found all the reasons mentioned challenge faced by the children.

Question 9: Did e-learning create a real conflict at home? Choose the type you suffered from:

55% parents suffered from child discipline, while 22.5% of them suffered from knowledge of e-learning, and 10% of parents suffered financially, as well as 12.5% of parents suffered from all the mentions reasons.

Question 10: As a parent, what barriers did you face during this shift?

20% had a work schedule conflict barrier, 35% had a difficulty in providing a quiet learning environment, 5% had monitoring , and mentoring was a difficulty, whereas 40% had a difficulty in all the above .

Question 11: Did schools provide you with important clear tips to help you resolve any technical obstacles regarding the applications issued?

45% of schools sometimes provide parent with important clear tips to help them to resolve any technical obstacles regarding the applications issued, while 37.5% always schools provide support for parents, on contrary 17.5% schools never provide with important clear tips to help them to resolve any technical obstacles regarding the applications issued.

Question 12: Did you find e-learning as a beneficial solution for emergency cases such as Covid-19?

60% found e-learning kind of a beneficial solution for emergency cases,35% found it strongly beneficial, and 5% didn’t find it beneficial at all.

Question 13: Do you suggest turning to remote learning as a solution for less hindrance on parents; such as decreasing school fees, buying books, transportation and more?

60% of parents don’t agree to turn to  remote learning as a solution for less hindrance, in other hand 35% it could be to turn to e-learning , while 5% strongly agree to turn to remote learning which will decrease school fees, transportation and other fees which affect parents in this economic crisis.

Question 14: What makes you biased to school attendance and not to e-learning?

In the above chart, 15% of parents influenced to school attendance and not to e-learning for their children’s progress while 12.5% for their children’s engagement, and 5% for their children’s enthusiasm and 77.5% agreed of all the mentioned reasons.

Question 15:  As a parent, what do you prefer?

97.5% of parents prefer physical school attendance while only 2.5% prefer remote schooling.

Conclusion

Overall, the survey results suggest that it was a new experience for all the families who were confronted to face this new pedagogy, because it was a must and a recent solution during this years 2020-2022. In addition, most of the families faced many difficulties such as providing their children with devices, internet access, and electricity which was a major issue due to the Lebanese economic crisis faced at the same time. Moreover, many families had difficulties regarding e-learning itself such as, students’ engagement, commitment, providing a suitable environment, monitoring, and mentoring their children. Finally, the survey interpreted that 97.5% of the families are against e-learning. Moreover, 77.5% of families prefer physical school attendance that positively affect students’ progress, enthusiasm, and engagement. Whereas 60% of the families don’t agree to turn to online learning to decrease school fees, transportation and buying books. At the same time 45% of the participants agreed that schools provided them with clear tips to overcome technical and e-application issues. It was so clear that learners were able to modify to the new e- learning strategies faster than their parents did. The survey findings comply that 57% of children owned goo knowledge to use the applications needed whereas 77% of the families find difficulties adapting to the idea of online learning from home.

The research shed light on the main barriers faced by Lebanese families in Shouf-district. It showed that the pandemic as well as the economic crisis in Lebanon had strongly affected the e-learning process in years 2020-2022 on families and their children, where the lack of electricity, devices needed, knowledge of varied applications and google platforms for parents, and children played a dominant role on the e-learning process. Both the covid-19 pandemic and the crisis were two factors that increased the stress on families and learners at the same time. The major consequences on the families were their children’s involvement and educational progress. Learning became so challenging to most families and their children where they noticed that their progress isn’t sufficient. Moreover, these barriers were manifested in many ways such as families’ time, a safe home environment, internet and electricity access, and discipline.

Theoretical and Practical Implications:

The findings of this research study add to the schools’ responsibility to deliver and practice students and their families to using online learning together with physically attendance learning at the same time. In this case, families and their children will not suffer, and the e-learning process would be more familiar and safer to both parents, and their children. The study also adds a clear significance to the burden created by the economic crisis and Covid-19 pandemic on the Lebanese pedagogy and learners’ standards in years 2020-2022.

Moreover, the results have practical implications for the educational sector in many ways. The first is to consider e-learning as a parallel process to physically attending school, and the next to improve weight of following up with families since they became more involved in the learning process than when their children are attending schools physically. They can use these findings to prevent future problems for the three vertices: schools, parents, and learners. Therefore, the findings can be practically used to create better platforms, and train students and families to use them and come up with better solutions for the many problems faced by these families.

Limitations and recommendations:

Interviewing families in their homes was not that easy, as interviewers had to explain the aim of the interview and the purpose of the study. Many families refused to participate and record their voices thinking that the recordings might not be used in proper ways. Another limitation was constructing questions relevant to the barriers and families’ perspectives at the same time.

The current research opens many paths for future research by also interviewing more families from all Lebanese districts to hear from them what barriers the suffered from during the online learning shift in the years 2020-2023, and to study how these barriers affected them in their daily lives and their children learning progress.

The findings will urge schools to better consider and evaluate the online teaching process, and the conflicts and barriers faced by students and their families to promote the wellbeing of the three vertices mentioned above. In this way the learners’ online progress will be raised and eased.       

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