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Management of virtual laboratory experiments in the geosciences field in the time of COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract:

The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed on 29th February 2020 in Ecuador. Shortly after, due to the outbreak, the government imposed strict quarantine conditions issuing the Executive Order No. 1017 in March. Some of the restrictive measures were physical distancing, lockdown, closure of the educational facilities, and the commencement of telecommuting. Adapting the traditional face-to-face teaching method to the online learning modality posed some challenges at all levels of education, mainly for the public higher education institutions since their resources are limited. The university's authorities of Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), agreed on April not to stop its educational activities. In this line, the first academic term was arranged to be in a full-online mode. Hence, one of the main challenges and concerns amongst the teaching staff and students was the limited access to the laboratories and …