“Even in a country like Uruguay—which has high educational connectivity—the suspension of in-person classes due to COVID-19 caused tensions and challenges in the workplace, in teaching, and in technology,” stated Dr. Denise Vaillant, dean of the Institute of Education at Universidad ORT Uruguay; Dr. Eduardo Rodríguez Zidán, professor, researcher, and member of the Academic Committee for the Doctorate in Education; and Dr. Mariela Questa-Torterolo, graduate professor and associate academic coordinator of the Master’s in Educational Management and the Master’s in Teacher Training at the Institute of Education.
In the article titled “The Pandemic and Teachers’ Perceptions of Emergency Remote Learning: The Case of Uruguay,” the authors sought to understand teachers’ perceptions of the changes brought about in teaching processes following the health emergency.
Based on the information gathered—and consistent with regional and international evidence—they concluded that there was a “negative impact on occupational health and teacher stress.” In fact, 33% of the teachers surveyed reported feeling stressed during the lockdown period.
On the other hand, they found low levels of adoption and issues with “teachers’ pedagogical use of technology” as a result of the pandemic: “The teachers surveyed report on the wide range of pedagogical strategies and teaching methods implemented during the pandemic, but at the same time identify gaps in teachers’ access to and use of technology.”
“It would appear that even in countries like Uruguay, which have high levels of access to technological resources, digital tools are not always used extensively for educational purposes in the classroom,” the authors explained.
The article “Pandemic and Teachers’ Perceptions of Emergency Remote Learning: The Case of Uruguay” was published in volume 26, issue 1 of the journal Educare (January–April 2022).