Quality of Online Teaching in Higher Education – the Case of South East European University (SEEU), North Macedonia

Abstract

Online teaching has become obligatory for all higher education institutions in North Macedonia, like in many other countries in the world, during the pandemic crisis. Various platforms and numerous opportunities have been on disposal to university professors depending on their ability to utilize them, their creativity and willingness. The aim of this paper is to present the results of the first stage of a research project about the effectiveness of the online teaching in higher education. Its purpose is to provide answers to the following questions: Which instruments can be used for measuring the effectiveness of the online teaching? To what extent are university professors knowledgeable about the online activities that are the most engaging for students and bring about the best results? How can they gain more information about the quality of their online instruction? The research will examine the following main hypothesis: the characteristics of good quality online teaching resemble closely those of the traditional classroom. Data about online teaching activities of one hundred and ten (110) professors at the South East European University (SEEU) are being collected and analyzed. Results from a student evaluation survey of one hundred and sixteen (116) undergraduate courses at SEEU are examined in order to be compared to the results of the evaluation of the same courses taught online in the next phase of the project. Recommendations based on the conclusions are expected to be useful to policy makers, university management and the professors in order to organize and deliver good quality online instruction.