Teaching EFL Online via MOODLE Platform: Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions vis-à-vis Lessons and Evaluation Mode

Abstract

The current study aims to scrutinize EFL teachers’ and students’ attitudes toward online teaching via the oodle platform and their perceptions vis-à-vis lessons and evaluation mode at Mila University Center. Accordingly, within the context of this study, two research questions are raised: (1) Has Moodle been an efficient platform for teaching EFL online? (2) How do teachers and students from the Department of Foreign Languages at the University Center of Mila perceive the use of the Moodle platform? In response to the questions, a descriptive method has been opted for the completion of the present research. To obtain the necessary data, two questionnaires have been submitted to a sample composed of 85 third-year students, in addition to another questionnaire for 08 teachers from the Department of Foreign Languages at Mila University Center. The findings indicate that the overwhelming majority of teachers and students are not satisfied with online education via the Moodle platform; they declared that it is not as effective as regular education due to a diverse range of reasons, such as lack of computer knowledge, lack of training on how to use Moodle, technical issues, poor internet connection, and lack of body interaction. Besides, the teachers’ questionnaire analysis revealed that most of the informants agreed on the difficulty of evaluating students remotely because it lacks validity and reliability in the Algerian context. The students’ questionnaire, likewise, demonstrated that the vast majority of the participants suffered from the lack of teachers’ explanation; this made them focus more on memorizing the lessons rather than understanding them. In the light of the findings obtained from the questionnaires, one can say that the results are in the direction of our hypotheses.