סביבת למידה מקוונת: תיאוריית המרחק העסקי ותיאוריית הלמידה הקונקטיביסטית הלכה למעשה

In winter 2020 schools were closed in Israel and all over the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Teachers were enforced to teach in the digital platform with no previous preparation, and students who were used to face-to-face learning had to cope with changes in learning structure. The physical distance created between students and teachers as well as between students among themselves, caused changes in interactions and discourse. The current research examined the online teaching and learning strategies, which were applied during the Covid-19 crisis. The research was conducted according to a 'Case Study' approach in three Israeli junior and high schools by a qualitative method. Teaching staff (13) was interviewed and students (27) participated in three focus groups. Three main dimensions were identified: Instruction/learning/assessing, personal-emotional and social. Results revealed that instructional/learning and assessing approaches are not suitable to digital environment and thus digital resources are not used appropriately. Both theories that serve as framework to the current research – Transactional Distance Theory and Connectivism Theory, encourage students' autonomy by allowing them the choice of learning purposes and course' content. However, according to the current study findings, teachers perceived autonomy as a means to vary their instructional approaches, while students said they did not know how to take advantage of the autonomy given to them and even felt neglected by their teachers. The current research findings indicate the importance of interactions between teachers and students, the need of flexibility in the curriculum structure and giving appropriate autonomy that suits students' ability. The research functionally contributes to the understanding of identification and maneuvering between the curriculum structure and dialogue, as decreasing or increasing each of the factors can harm students.