From Traditional to Online Teaching and Learning: Major Reflections and Perceptions

Online teaching and learning undertakings are no longer considered as a nice-to-have extramural support but feedback about the context, the mode, the time people learn, and the source they learn it from. Digitization of education permits teachers and students to gain access to accredited data beyond the classroom, in a variety of systems and procedures that aid in exploiting time and space together. Teachers around the globe are struggling to rise above the shortcomings of being physically absent when shifting to online virtual learning platforms. This paper tries to uncover the viability of exploring technologies of education for the teaching/learning of English as a foreign language in the changing approach and perspective. The conclusions of this research are founded on replies to a questionnaire responded by a sample of undergraduate students of the English language department at Mohamed Ben Ahmed University of Algeria. Gen Z, the ‘digital natives’ reveal that they do not desire teachers to be replaced by computers as they require motivation, stimulation, and effective reinforcement. Virtual education is practicable, but its exploit is determined by the effective content structure, mulling over and anticipating this transition, and the flexible exploit of teaching/learning materials that can complement the exertions of the teachers. For virtual teaching and learning, not only do the schools and universities need to be well-appointed, but the learners too need to get to know the changing situation.