Driving value creation in the new economy following the COVID-19 crisis. Data-mining students’ satisfaction from online teaching in the virtual academic climate.

  This study examines the advantages of online teaching from the perspective of students at eleven institutions of higher education, universities and colleges, in Israel. The study was conducted at the end of the second semester of their academic studies, after students had experienced “face to face” studies, and they were asked to reply freely to an open question on their evaluation of the benefits of transitioning to online teaching. Students were forced to cope with a new reality, where they were compelled to study in a “digital classroom”. The academic-social climate, the conduct of lecturer-student relations, and the relations among the students themselves, changed instantaneously, with no preparation by any of those involved. Hence, the research findings can illuminate the strengths of online teaching, with a view to the future. Was the impact of teaching and learning in the coronavirus circumstances a one-time event for the students or one from which it is possible to examine and embrace new ways of learning as they see them?   Based on 1,937 fully completed surveys from eleven academic institutions, we employed a mixed methods research design. Major themes were manually tagged, and an empirical model was developed. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilized to test the model’s goodness-of-fit. Findings present a host of parameters that have a significant positive influence on students’ positive perception of the transition to online teaching.   This study is the first to thoroughly examine advantages and disadvantages of the transition to online teaching among a large group of students, from several different academic institutions, and presents both qualitative and empirical results. Ethical implications of the findings are discussed.