Ana Cristina Ferreira Castela Paixão Casaca, ‘World of Shipping Portugal’, Parede, Portugal and CIMOSM - Centro de Investigação em Modelação e Optimização de Sistemas Multifuncionais, ISEL, 1959-007 Lisboa, Portugal.
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| Maria Amélia Ramos Loja, CIMOSM, ISEL - Centro de Investigação em Modelação e Optimização de Sistemas Multifuncionais, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa,1959-007 Lisboa, Portugal. |
| Portuguese educators have been subject to pedagogic training for many years, which had to be revalidated every five years. Through these continuous training programmes, they gained new knowledge and pedagogic competencies to improve their performance. As information technology/information systems evolved, these courses could be taken in class or distance learning formats, including online. However, in the latter option, the final assessment was carried out in class. Although much emphasis has been put on educators’ training and the importance of being acquainted with the new technologies, at least in Portugal, educators still delivered their lecturing and training in a classroom context. Nevertheless, changes occurred with the COVID-19 Pandemic that emerged in January 2020 due to the revolution it caused at socio-economic and health levels. As the disease spread worldwide, countries were forced ito confinement, transferring almost all professional activities from a physical environment to a remote one. This transfer also applied to all lecturing and training activities, including primary, basic, and secondary schools, vocational and professional training, and university education. Suddenly, trainers, instructors, tutors, teachers, lecturers, and professors worldwide were faced with the urgent need to get acquainted with various supporting tools, including platforms that allow virtual meetings, classes, and webinars. Driven by this sudden change, the authors decided to investigate the online training novelties and supporting tools available in the market. Faced with the information gathered, the authors questioned how maritime education and training was prepared to 1) deal with the shift mentioned above and 2) incorporate the vast range of available online resources to keep their education and training activities. In order to answer both questions, an online survey questionnaire was developed to study the integration of online education and training in the global maritime education and training context and provide an overall picture of the experience gained to identify possible strategies that foster more online maritime education and training. The outcome suggests that the transition of maritime education and training from an in-class environment to an online one is already underway albeit at different speed; however, attention must be given to educators pedagogic training. Besides, there is need to focus on 1) the development of national maritime education and training policies, 2) the development of effective strategies to put in place countries’ maritime education and training policies, 3) human resources and 4) students’ acceptance. |
| Keywords: Maritime Education and Training, COVID-19, Distance Learning, e-Learning, Online Learning, Challenges, Pitfalls. |
