The impact of introducing e-learning in secondary education during the Covid-19 pandemic : A case study of “Orosimo 2001”, a tutoring school in northeast Greece, based on teachers’ perspective

Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic affected educational organizations, as new educational delivery models introduced with the use of electronic tools for learning purposes. The use of digital tools has been common in universities and in adult education. However, the adoption of e-learning for providing education to minors has been a new phenomenon. There are many research findings regarding e-learning in higher education and in educational programs concerning adults. Less is known about the challenges of e-learning in secondary education. Therefore, this thesis intends to elicit information about the challenges that students, teachers and organizations faced during the pandemic, when e-learning was introduced as the only means to teaching minors. The challenges were investigated by performing an exploratory case study based on “Orosimo 2001”, a tutoring school in northeast Greece. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews with 9 teachers of the educational organization and thereafter was analyzed through thematic analysis. The findings were classified into three categories: students’ challenges, teachers’ challenges and organizational challenges. Furthermore, the positive and the negative effects of the introduction of e-learning were investigated. Finally, the organizational learning theory was used in order to examine whether the introduction of e-learning was the occasion for the teachers of “Orosimo 2001” to transform their educational practices. This research contributes to the existing literature by describing the challenges and the impact of e-learning in secondary education, providing insights that can be used in order to mitigate the negative effects of e-learning. The findings can be used to build e-learning procedures based on the needs of students, teachers and organizations. Furthermore, the research can be a tool in the training of teachers and members of educational organizations in e-learning environments. In addition, this study proposes an adaptation of organizational learning theory in order to examine the adoption of e-learning tools by secondary school teachers.