**3.2 Teachers' opinions on the quality of knowledge provided through online teaching**

Teaching practice taught at the teacher-training faculties in Montenegro is quite conservative, promoting teacher-centred methodologies, and has been rigidly followed for the last decades. Therefore, it is not surprising that the vast majority of our teachers (67.4%) had no experience with synchronous online teaching before Covid-19. In addition, a large number of teachers (43.3%) believe that in this way students cannot be taught the skills needed to apply the knowledge delivered in this way in practice.

With a question with a scalar answer on the Likert scale from 1 to 5, on which 1 represents the lowest and 5 the highest grade, we asked the teachers about their views towards the quality of knowledge achieved online in regard to delivering lectures in the lecture theater and obtained answer whose modal score is 2, and the mean value is 2.55. Similarly, the respondents answered the question about their perception of the usability of the knowledge acquired online and its application in the form of skills on the labour market. This answer has a modal score of 2 and a mean value of 2.90.

In addition to the qualitative, there was no uniformity in the transfer of knowledge in the quantitative sense either. Thus, more than a third of the total teaching staff (32.5%) believe that they held fewer classes than they would have held live at the university according to the schedule, and for 30.8% of the teaching staff, the classes lasted less than it would have lasted at the university. In addition, 29.2% of the respondents reduced the scope of the material, while 32.5% slightly reduced the material due to the new online teaching circumstances. In this regard, interviewee

*Exploring Teachers and Students Perceptions of Online Teaching in Montenegro: What Have We… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109452*

10 (full-time professor) stated in a semi-structured interview that "he is aware that in these conditions online teaching is the only solution, but that it is not nearly the same as face to face teaching and cannot have nearly the same effects." Also, "It's not like when you're in the lecture theatre and you catch a student's eye and it gives you an extra impulse to continue the lecture" (interviewee 15, full-time professor). "It is very impersonal" (interviewee 3, full-time professor). Through a qualitative analysis of the responses collected through interviews with teachers, the prevailing view is that face-to-face teaching is "real teaching" and that teachers can only be active participants in the teaching process in real-time. That is why 70.3% of the surveyed professors believe that synchronous teaching via Zoom is the closest to traditional face-to-face teaching.

It is devastating that among a certain number of interviewed teachers, there was not even the slightest enthusiasm for acquiring new knowledge and for advancement in this field, but the prevailing desire was to "wait for the extraordinary circumstance to pass" and for "things to return to normal and then continue with teaching" (13.4%). We have to bear in mind that the research was conducted in the initial phase of online teaching, so changes in teachers' attitudes are possible in the later course of online teaching. Certainly, by including education on the digital competence of teaching staff and promoting online teaching, it will affect the reduction of the negative attitude towards this new form of teaching.

#### **3.3 Students' experiences and their engagement in online classes**

The teacher's negative attitude towards the online experience is automatically transferred to the target group of students who are just forming their stance towards the new way of teaching and learning online. A teacher who has an aversion to online teaching is unlikely to be capable of guiding and supporting students in a Covid scenario. This is supported by the fact that 38.1% of teaching staff believe that online teaching does not sufficiently stimulate the cognitive motivation of students. The results of the students' activity and participation in online teaching than in person at the lecture theaters measured on a Likert scale had a mean value of 2.65 and a modal score of 3. Such an attitude seems to be shared by students who on university platforms characterized certain teachers' online methods as a method of education that is "unacceptable", "unheard" and "this is not a real learning experience". Also, "We have neither heard nor seen the professor for 3 months. Through Student Representative we found out what needs to be learned for the final exam. It's absurd." A significant number of students stated on the platform that they had "difficulties in understanding the teaching content" and "lack of explanation and teaching" by certain teachers. Among students, this lack of direct connection can have an effect in a way that causes the level of motivation to decline. Many students showed poor persistence in online learning, which severely limited their learning effectiveness [7]. "Truly, in the beginning it was interesting for everyone. Everyone wanted to get to know this new way of monitoring classes. However, as time went on, class attendance decreased", (interviewee 5, Student Representative). "Although the closing of the university was intended to protect students, for many it began to mean a 'holiday from learning'" (interviewee 3, Student Representative).

On the other hand, as the main advantages of online classes, students cited "the possibility of organizing learning at their own pace", "more relaxed work from home", "shorter duration of classes", "more free time", "reduced volume of material" and "more clarifications and support from teachers".

The analysis also showed different engagement of students depending on teachers' seniority. Regarding students' cognitive activity and engagement in online classes as measured by the intensity of the student-teacher discussion during the class, the Kruskal-Wallis test revealed a statistically significant relationship between the variables of teachers' experience and student engagement (significant at *p* = 0.038). This test confirmed that, according to the respondents, students were the most active in the online classes given by teachers who had 10–15 years of experience. This data could be linked to a higher assessment of the digital literacy of teachers with up to 15 years of work experience, but also to the fact that this group of teachers were usually teaching assistants who engaged with students in case studies and practice sessions, unlike full-time professors, who focused mostly on delivering lectures.

Thus, for example, interviewee 7 (teaching assistant) stated that, in order to keep the students' motivation at the same level, every week after the online classes, he assigned homework that included the material covered for the given study week and required the students to do the homework and send it to mail. In this way, he motivated students outside of online classes. According to interviewee 7, "in this way it is possible to effectively combine online learning and independent learning".

Interviewee 4 (teaching assistant) had an even more demanding approach. He believed that "insufficient preparation for lectures leads to limited participation in discussions in online classes and thus to insufficient depth of discussion". To address such problems in online classes, he required students to read subject-specific literature and submit brief observations and ambiguities based on reading key materials prior to class. In this way, he was able to make adjustments to the teaching contents before the class and adjust the online teaching to the student's requirements. In this way, "students will not learn fragmented and superficial knowledge, but will experience 'deep learning' during the discussion and be active rather than passive participants". For students, issues such as interest, motivation and engagement are directly connected to learner success [7].

This could be the beginning of student-centred learning in Montenegro, which international organizations for education have been calling for many years [8]**.** Namely, Montenegrin higher education has used the teacher-centred approach for a long time, which is quite conservative, narrowly focused on lecturing and overemphasis on building knowledge, and not enough on developing understanding, skills and attitudes [9]. For many years there was a lack of efficient governance structures to serious attempts to introduce innovative approaches, bringing in the latest methods and ideas from the rest of Europe [10]. Covid-19 has brought some examples of good and innovative practices in the area of student-centred learning (e.g. interactive learning, use of case studies, research-based and problem-based learning, etc. [11]). As of now, the situation is favorable for such a leap forward, to conserve the innovations acquired during the Covid-19 period at the same time as the Montenegrin national system is undergoing reform [12].

#### **3.4 Access to technologies as a challenge for online teaching in Montenegro**

Technology is of primary importance for online teaching, which, in addition to digital literacy, is a prerequisite for its successful performance. To follow online classes, both teachers and students need access to online communication tools. In the case of teachers, the following stood out as the main obstacles in the technical sense:

1.Disturbances regarding access to devices (e.g. computers, tablets and telephones). Although 90.5% of teachers have a computer at home, 27.1% of the *Exploring Teachers and Students Perceptions of Online Teaching in Montenegro: What Have We… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109452*

teaching staff share their computers with family members, and only 2.5% received a computer from their employer. The same could be noticed from the interview… "The situation at home is not the most suitable for carrying out all teaching tasks", (interviewee 6. teaching assistant).

2.Interference in the Internet connection. In Montenegro, high-speed Internet access is generally more limited than in the European Union. Internet speed that meets the prerequisites for e-learning is defined as a speed of 10 or more Mbps [13]. However, it should be noted that 10 Mbps is lower than the standard considered acceptable in the US (25 Mbps) or the EU (30 Mbps). In that sense, 55% of teaching staff stated that interruptions of online classes due to a poor Internet connection and other technical problems were frequent. "There were problems with internet connection and internet signal. Some teachers handled it better than others", (interviewee 2, associate professor).

Similar challenges existed for students. The student on the platform stated that he "shares a room and a computer with his brother who goes to school" and that "it was very often physically challenging to follow classes in such an environment." To the question from the Questionnaire, "Have students contacted you because of the inability to attend classes due to technical problems and interference in the Internet signal?", 56.5% of the respondents answered in the affirmative. The lack of appropriate technological devices limited students' participation in online classes. Adapting to this scenario for many "actors" meant spending money on new technological devices that were not completely affordable, but were absolutely necessary. A small number of teachers (2.5%) received help from their university, but it seems that this kind of help for students was and remains a utopia. Despite the public promises and announcements of the state, until the submission of this chapter, there were no official public activities in this direction.

The new way of delivering knowledge discriminates in a way because for a virtual class, you need either a good laptop or a mobile phone with good internet, so that separates the participants because not everyone has this (technological tool and good internet). Students with no or low socio-economic power to afford broadband connection are most vulnerable to fall behind or encounter additional challenges to meet up with others in online learning. This puts in the foreground the material possibilities of students, not their mental capacities, and brings to the fore the class differences between them, but also the differences between developed and developing countries [14].

Greater involvement of state authorities and competent university authorities as autonomous units in providing technological equipment for both students and teachers is a basic prerequisite for digital literacy and inclusion in modern online study courses.

#### **3.5 Knowledge assessment in an online environment**

According to the Montenegrin Law on Higher Education, within the structure of the total number of points for a course, 50% of the assessments must be provided by knowledge testing activities during a semester (usually via test examinations and a seminar paper) and 50% must be via a final (oral) exam. According to the current law, it is allowed to hold semester tests online, but there is no article that would enable the final exam to be conducted online. On the contrary, Article 85 of the Law stipulates that the final exam must be "held on the premises of the institution". Still, only

26% of professors who were enthusiastic about the new way of examining used the right to assign the semester test online.

The online assessment was conducted in a synchronous and asynchronous environment. Assessment in a synchronous environment was conducted in a virtual Zoom classroom (33% of teachers) in such a way that the teacher can visually follow the students while they do the test, on paper or on the computer. Asynchronous environment interaction does not take place in real-time but can be via the university's online platform, such as taking a course on the Moodle platform (62% of teachers). Assessment methods such as open-ended short answer questions, true-false questions, multiplechoice and fill-in-the-blank questions were appropriate for use in an asynchronous environment to assess the knowledge and competence of students during Covid-19.

For specific subjects where it was not possible to arrange the tests online, the knowledge assessment was organized after the opening of the faculty premises. Interviewee 13, an associate professor from the Faculty of Science, stated that "it was not possible to organize a knowledge test for all subjects due to the specificity and evaluation of clinical skills, so for them the examination took place after the lockdown measures had been eased" (in July 2020). The interviewee 9, associate professor, from the Faculty of Civil Engineering also says that their "tests mainly consist of written calculation-graphic tasks in combination with an oral knowledge assessment, and for most subjects it was not possible to organize high-quality, authoritative and valid knowledge tests of this type, except in the classical way, in the lecture theatre—when the conditions are met".

On the other hand, at Faculties of Social Sciences where theoretical knowledge is more valued, interviewee 8, an associate professor, says that "the method of examination through the Moodle platform is very objective, and that he regrets not having used it on a larger scale before." When asked if it was necessary to slightly lower the examination criteria for the "Covid generation", he points out that "in this way, all the obligations that they have foreseen are fulfilled and that there was no reason to reduce the scope of the material nor the criteria for online tests".

However, 29.2% of respondents who decided to reduce the amount of material in the curriculum due to the new online teaching circumstances, significantly reduced the material for the exam, or 32.5% of teachers who had slightly reduced the material, clearly disagree with this statement.

So, it seems that teachers "were making some necessary adjustments in assessment" during Covid-19 [4]. The reduction in the scope of the assigned material may have had an effect on the higher passing rate on the tests that the students took online. Namely, 27.5% of respondents stated in the Questionnaire that the passing rate on online tests was significantly higher, that is, 18.3% said that it was slightly higher. Only 10% of respondents thought that the passing rate was the same as last year or even lower according to 3.3%.

Considering that according to 70.9% of teachers who conducted the online examination, there was a strong possibility for the examinee to use illegal material during the exam and therefore cheat, online tests cast doubt on principles of integrity, equity, fairness and ethics. This could be an area for further research.

Taking into account the results of this research, the question arises whether Montenegro is ready to amend the Law on Higher Education in terms of enabling taking the final exam online. If we consider that in the Law on Higher Education, there is already the possibility of taking tests online and that the working group that is currently working on amendments to the Law has initiated the inclusion in the Law the institute of an online class (which is still not known in the Law), then the logical

*Exploring Teachers and Students Perceptions of Online Teaching in Montenegro: What Have We… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109452*

sequence of events, would have been the inclusion of the institute of online exam. This would significantly ease the position of a certain group of students such as: persons with special needs, foreign students, students who due to participation in the Summer Work and Travel program very often miss the Summer exam deadlines and in Covid-19 scenario, perhaps the most relevant—students who are in self-isolation and infected. However, according to the interviewee 1, vice-rector for teaching at the Mediterranean University, Montenegro is still not ready for that novelty. Because, "in order to be able to organize an online final exam, first of all, distance learning programs must be accredited by the Accreditation Board. This has not yet been implemented in Montenegro, and it would be necessary to establish conditions for the accreditation of such programs. Then, institutions must have adequate equipment, technological tools such as video and audio recording surveillance and personnel digitally trained to work with such tools. It is equipment and software that would enable objectivity of examination and transparent verification of knowledge. Currently, with our equipment and our software, it is very difficult to provide fair conditions for online testing, because simply, it is difficult to prevent a student from using illegal means".

### **4. Conclusion**

This work has demonstrated specific factors in the field of digital education of Montenegrian teachers that influence the successful overcoming of new challenges that have arisen during online teaching caused by the Covid-19 crisis. Based on a combination of alternative research methods: self-reported questionnaire, interviews and self-expressed comments, we reached conclusions about how the higher education institutions of Montenegro coped with the new circumstances and whether they managed to adapt to the new way of teaching.

The findings suggest that, despite the emerging opportunities to discover and learn new technologies, the challenges faced by teachers were not negligible and required attention. The lack of previous experiences in the field of teachers' digital education, the lack of readiness by educational institutions and the possible lack of technical equipment for both teachers and students, contributed to making this experience more challenging. This study also shed light on the disparity regarding the online teaching experiences of the teachers, as some of them had regular contact with students through largely synchronous teaching, while others lost complete contact with students.

The first conclusion that emerges is that the biggest disadvantage of online teaching is the lack of direct interaction between teachers and students [15]. The live learning environment offers a sense of community, keeps students engaged and focused, and allows for live debates and discussions. Therefore, it is not surprising that, what the vast majority of teaching staff agreed on (73.3%), synchronous teaching in a virtual classroom with the help of the Zoom application is the most similar to face-to-face in-person classes. That is the option most conducive to students' learning and progression and provides the most similar experience of pre-Covid classes that can successfully replace the direct interaction of teachers with students.

The study then showed that the crucial factors that influence the success or failure of online teaching during Covid-19 are the digital competence of teachers and digital technology resources.

Although the digital literacy of the teaching staff in Montenegro is at a satisfactory level, the third of the teaching staff who did not do well in synchronous online teaching is not to be overlooked. The majority of teaching staff evaluated their digital abilities with relatively high marks. However, the research showed a lower selfassessment by the elder generation of teachers with 15 years of experience or more. Therefore, more activity in the field of digital literacy is needed to help teachers understand the goals and ways of providing online teaching activities, and also to improve their personal attitude towards online teaching. The progress of online classes and the effectiveness of learning depend to a large extent on the teachers and their motivation to animate students to actively attend online classes but also to learn outside of class.

Satisfaction with the quality of knowledge obtained through online teaching in Montenegro was evaluated by the surveyed teaching staff with a grade of 3.14. The satisfaction with the quality of online teaching among students showed the prevailing attitude that they are more dissatisfied than satisfied. An analysis of the frequency of complaints on university platforms found that students cited disadvantages twice as often as advantages of online teaching, which indicates a critical attitude of students towards this form of teaching and certain difficulties in the implementation of this new form of teaching. However, opinions posted by students on the university's online platforms should be taken with extreme caution, given that they were gathered based on free answers to imprecisely posed questions, which ultimately influenced the way the participants responded.

The technological devices of teachers and students are mentioned as one of the most important preconditions for online teaching. Bearing in mind that the pandemic prevented access to university equipment, teaching staff and students were directed to their own technical means. The dependency of online learning on technological devices and the provision of the equipment was a big challenge for institutions, faculty and learners. Students with outdated technological devices found it hard to meet some technical requirements of online learning. It becomes undeniable that students with a low socioeconomic background definitely find it more difficult to migrate to online learning. If the Covid-19 crisis has made anything clear, it is that we lack the necessary infrastructure and institutional activities to support online teaching. The research also showed extremely weak university support for its teaching staff in this domain, because out of four universities, only one university dealt with the technical equipment of its staff during the pandemic, with only 2.5% of the teaching staff from that university stating that they received it from the university to use a computer during the Covid-19 crisis.

As the research was conducted in the first wave of the epidemic, when the emphasis was on the establishment of an online teaching and learning system, evaluation and assessment were in the background. In Montenegro, the assessment system is almost exclusively formative, fact and knowledge-based and rewards good memorization skills. There is a lack of professionals with up-to-date assessment skills. Any curriculum and textbook reform effort would also have to include changing assessment practice, as well. Today, the communicative methodology has significantly changed the way of examination. Students are expected to talk with the teachers and come to their own conclusions. Therefore, in the future, it would be useful to investigate summative assessment, not only in online testing but also in the traditional mode of testing.

Regarding the assessment of knowledge in online conditions, half of the teachers did not even dare to assess knowledge online, while the braver half expressed numerous doubts about the regularity of this form of examination. Those doubts were increased by the significantly higher pass rate of students at the examinations held in this way (27.5% of the respondents stated that the pass rate for the online examinations was significantly higher, while 18.3% said it was slightly higher). We can thus conclude that the system of knowledge assessment using asynchronous assessment methods via online platforms involves numerous questions of reliability in the results,

#### *Exploring Teachers and Students Perceptions of Online Teaching in Montenegro: What Have We… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109452*

and therefore challenges in terms of fairness and integrity. Subject literature [16] and subject research indicate greater opportunities for academic disrespect than the classic face-to-face examination. Therefore, special strategies and educational perspectives are necessary in order to properly respond to these challenges. It is necessary to develop methods and software that online educators can apply to prevent cheating and plagiarism in the online environment. This opens another area for future research—how to develop academic integrity in an online environment.

Despite the challenges presented by the study, the participants suggested that this was nevertheless a unique experience that would contribute to their further education and the way of providing knowledge in the future. Namely, 55% of the teachers who had less than 20 years of experience agreed that this experience was a "good opportunity for learning" and "an incentive to get out of the comfort zone" and "improve ability to use new technologies". Many interviewed teachers also reported a "sense of innovation as they developed new technological skills." As much as it was "disruptive", it was a "catalyst for change and innovation". Despite the challenges of online teaching, "countless opportunities" have emerged. For example, interviewee 13, an associate professor, claims: "I have carefully searched for several ways to make my lessons more engaging for my students and I have found a number of ways to create teaching materials and help my students." Also, interviewee 11, full professor, concludes that "We must see this experience as a key opportunity to challenge ourselves and learn new things, because we do not know when we will face another pandemic". Interviewee 12, assistant professor, also stated "if it wasn't for this experience, I wouldn't have learned any advanced technology; I would only know the basics". Thus, this Covid-19 scenario provided an opportunity for students and teachers to experiment with modern, new technologies in the teaching/learning process.

The effects of Covid-19 on modern education are already visible, and as we can only expect a strengthening of the importance of technology in all types of education, this must be included in the next Education Policy Development Strategy of Montenegro. There is a great opportunity for educational change and renewal in Montenegro at the moment. In particular, it should be noted that the more frequent occurrences of student-centred methods of teaching conditioned by the Covid-19 crisis represent the first steps for abandoning the long-overdue teacher-centred method. Educational programs for information and communication technology (ICT) must urgently develop strategies for meaningful and enriching learning experiences. Also, teacher degrees must pave the way for the inclusion of ICT literacy in their curricula not only for teachers' technical communication literacy but also for their future teaching careers [17]. Future work also needs to be undertaken on improving the training support to prepare teachers to teach online. Faculty support teams play a critical role in the learning experiences of students by helping faculty members develop digital competence and online learning experiences. As such, institutions must rethink the way instructional support units do their work, at least during a crisis.

The world is changing, and the causes of interruptions to education are not limited to pandemics. Wars, local conflicts, natural disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes, the polar vortex and other types of natural disasters are issues that should be kept on future agendas as potential sources of interruption. Having said that, there likely will be future public health and safety concerns, and in recent years, faculties could have been closed due to numerous reasons. Thus, the possible need for online teaching must become part of a faculty member's skill set, as well as professional development programming for any personnel involved in the instructional mission of universities to be better prepared for future needs to implement ICT.
