The Parental Challenges in Online Learning during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic in Lebanon

Disrupting the traditional methods of education during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a shift towards online learning platforms. This shift has been problematic and challenging for most Lebanese parents who have had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in addition to different economic, political, and environmental problems. The purpose of this research is to explore the types of parental challenges in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon. The study has been conducted on parents from a school in Beirut, and data has been collected using a mixed-methods design; the first instrument is an online survey and the second one is an online interview.55 parents were able to complete the survey, and 10 parents were able to do the interview. The findings of this study show that parents have an important role in the online teaching-learning process. This includes helping with assignments, contacting teachers when needed, following up with schedules, etc. In addition, it was clear that parents had a negative perspective of their children?s? online learning experience which was due to many challenges in online education including electricity cut-offs, internet problems, inability to keep the child focused, having only one device at home, etc. The findings of this study may enhance the attitudes and perceptions of parents towards online education and can improve the quality of online education in Lebanon in the future.