Design Issues in e-Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic led to fast and unexpected changes in social life, including education. Institutions and social actors were forced to rethink school participation in order to respect social distance, but also to ensure quality in education and social order. Digital and collaborative platforms replaced the physical classrooms and mediated the virtual interaction between students and teacher. The paper contributes to the scientific debate on collaborative learning, by analyzing the challenges and opportunities encountered by Romanian students, teachers, and parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis is based on a national survey that elicits perspectives on quality and strategies of online education from 9401 students, 3265 teachers and 4269 parents. Online education has proven both an opportunity for systemic reform and a risk for social exclusion, rising concerns on how to leverage technology for extending, rather than diminishing, learning experiences.