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Purpose: The purpose of this chapter is to identify various factors that may influence the adoption of online education by students in higher education institutions (HEIs) and contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs) post-COVID-19.

Need for the Study: The study addresses the need to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education, as emphasised by SDG4. It focuses on lifelong learning opportunities and aims to understand the impact of online education on students in HEIs. By identifying the factors that influence adoption, the study aims to contribute to the development of effective strategies for promoting online education.

Methodology: The study utilises a framework incorporating the use of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) software. The framework allows for the analysis of the collected data’s reliability, validity and adequacy.

Findings: The study’s findings indicate that providing students with affordable online higher education can facilitate skill enhancement and create job opportunities. These findings highlight the potential of online education in contributing to the achievement of SDGs, particularly SDG4.

Practical Implications: The practical implications of the study suggest that promoting affordable online higher Education can have a positive impact on students, enabling them to acquire new skills and access job opportunities. By embracing online education, institutions can contribute to the advancement of SDGs and ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all.

In light of Egypt’s expanding flow of online learning (OL), quality assurance (QA) has undoubtedly become a strategic priority. In the near future, QA strategy is anticipated to be a major topic of discussion in educational policy talks. Critical policy concerns must be addressed, like sustaining globally acceptable QA standards and responding to the government’s and other stakeholders’ goals and objectives for OL. Our chapter aspires to offer a contribution to current literature in this regard. This chapter aims to investigate the aspects of QA in maintaining OL, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Particularly, we analyze internal QA of OL in the Egyptian higher education (HE) sector through quality assurance and accreditation project (QAAP) and program of continuous improvement and qualifying for accreditation (PCIQA). We discuss the external quality assurance and accreditation of Egyptian HE institutions with a special focus on the national authority for quality assurance and accreditation of education (NAQAAE). We investigate the policies, practices, and quality standards that are employed by HE institutions to ensure the quality of online courses and programs through document analysis.

Toward the construction of a new paradigm in teacher education in a globalized and digitalized society where it is intended to value knowledge and teacher professional development sustained by collaboration and cooperation, training policies and models based on technology-enhanced active learning will be required. This chapter aims to analyze the dimensions that can affect these training models within a new educational paradigm, at the level of professional development and increase of technological skills, collaborative processes for the creation of communities of practice, and promotion of active learning that contribute to innovative hybrid environments and transformative learning. In the Covid-19 post-pandemic, it is crucial to study and mobilize the experiences developed in the educational field exploring how these can be harnessed to build this new educational paradigm. This work aims to contribute with a reasoned reflection and insights concerning learning models and methodologies in teacher education that contribute to transformative active learning. Focusing on the link between preservice and in-service teacher education, the interrelation among teacher education and evaluation, and the construction of innovative technology-enhanced learning environments, for instance through the active training model.

Higher education models continue to transform and advance across multiple trajectories spurred by knowledge economies and digital futures. The demand for disciplinary expertise, agile and responsive transition of graduates from university to industry, and employees who are adept and multi-skilled at working with global teams, has continued to raise the significance of international curricula and wider student experiences.

This chapter discusses the changing landscape of higher education and the disruptive influences that impinge on existing pedagogical models in the delivery of learning and teaching. It analyses the need for ‘just in time’, stackable units of learning that support learners in their lifelong learning journeys, embedded with 21st Century Learning skills. Further, the chapter will review existing models for course and curriculum development, recommend appropriate course development processes that are seamless, and meet industry and professional disciplinary agency requirements.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically transformed higher education policy and practices across the globe, including Bangladesh. Higher education institutions (HEIs) were forced to deliver teaching and learning online. This chapter discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on teaching and learning practice in higher education in Bangladesh and highlights the cultural transformation of policy and practice. In addition, it proposes future directions on how to be prepared and addresses the challenges of emergencies and draws implications of the findings beyond the national context. In the beginning of the pandemic, most universities in Bangladesh had to initially shut down their operations without offering any alternatives. However, a number of universities gradually rolled out some online teaching and learning activities as the lockdowns kept extending. A large portion of the HEIs struggled to continue their online teaching and learning due to the lack of resources, i.e., devices, technological skills and training, lack of policy, negative mindset, poor network infrastructure, and high cost of internet. This unprecedented situation ushered in by the pandemic showed the lack of preparedness and below-par capacity to respond to emergencies for the continuation of higher education in Bangladesh. Furthermore, it highlighted that improving the higher education sector requires tremendous effort from the government, researchers, policymakers, practitioners, the universities, and other industries directly or indirectly related to the sector.

Due to the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, education has been disrupted right from kindergarten to University. Globally, states are advocating for online learning. The COVID-19 pandemic had led to the closure of universities and it was not clear how long this would last. e-Learning was crucial. Lecturers were asked to complete their syllabuses and continue to teach and administer tests remotely. So far, there is a dearth of information on how Kenya’s higher education responded to the pandemic through online learning. This qualitative study utilized online platforms (zoom and Skype) for interviews. This study employed a constructivist approach to explore the faculty officials’ perception of online learning in Kenya’s institutions of higher education. Approximately 45 faculty officials from public universities were involved in this study. The study was carried out in three public universities in Western Kenya. The participants argued that online education was beneficial and primarily promoted online research and enabled them to connect with other practitioners in the global community. There were challenges associated with online learning for instance unreliable internet. This study’s results are hoped to inform the ministry of education and higher learning policies on making online effective and efficient to both the students and the lecturers. This will also be a fairer spring-ball for Kenya toward the realization of Vision 2030.

Purpose: The research determines how the COVID-19 pandemic affected India’s burgeoning education technology sector and how the new normal responded to this advancement worldwide.

Need for Study: India’s education sector saw a boom in Ed-Tech funding during the pandemic. The Indian Education industry adopted technology as a partner and succeeded in being called as the Ed-Tech capital of the world. The country has a strategic edge in online education that, if explored and researched upon, can be deployed for market growth at a global level.

Research Methodology: The researcher prioritised rigorous original quantitative and qualitative methods of investigation on technology applications in educational contexts during COVID-19 pandemic and drew its conclusions after conducting a comprehensive literature review and collecting and analysing the data from numerous journals and published expert articles on the sector.

Findings: The study found that despite the global pandemic, the Ed-Tech industry was an expanding marketplace for start-ups in India. After the pandemic, the market expanded rapidly, and by 2025, it is expected to have quadrupled in size, expenditure, and investment. It is expected that the global e-learning business, which the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has bolstered, will grow to over 400 billion US dollars by 2026.

Practical Implications: The study sets forth the various Ed-Tech categories, outlining their user bases, growth projections, and the innovative technologies employed in developing these products. The research’s long-term investment projections are envisioned to aid consultants in positioning themselves for profitable operations in the era of digital Ed-Tech disruption worldwide.

The chapter explores the challenges in the financial education of the new generation under the influence of digital transformation, building awareness, and compliance with the new model of society. The rapid development of technology significantly influences our daily lives, thus making us look at the progress of various processes differently, thus facilitating the social and professional performance of subjects. The need for a comprehensive, fast, and logical personality is growing in a society that can analyse a set of different interconnections, draw logical conclusions, and assess risks. The impact of technology is particularly felt in educating future financiers, as accounting, financial analysis, and financial management decision-making have long been unthinkable without the skills to use various computer programmes, big data processing, and visualisation of financial information using the latest information technology tools. The survey was organised to collect data from student questionnaires. The questionnaire analysis allows for assessing students’ digital competences, advantages and drawbacks of the digitalisation process, and university challenges in the digital transformation process as well as detecting the areas that require additional attention to make digital transformation effective. Digital transformation significantly changes the ecosystem, and the level of students’ abilities and skills is also a variable. Therefore, it is important to identify the readiness of the participants in the higher education system for new challenges and to use the limited resources as efficiently as possible to prepare the financial specialists necessary for the development of society.

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated that higher education institutions (HEI) respond quickly and transform their teaching to a remote learning environment. Prior to the pandemic, HEI had already implemented some degree of remote teaching and e-learning. The success of these initiatives depended on the leadership’s decisions regarding their implementation before the pandemic and their rapid implementation during the initial days of the lockdown. This study aimed to assess the level of preparedness and the response of HEI leadership to the health crisis by surveying a global audience of HEI professionals in academic and administrative roles. The results obtained from their responses highlight the areas of success and the concerns if remote teaching will be required in the future. We analyze these findings in the context of the broader implementation of e-learning and remote teaching in HEI.

The chapter illustrates why blended learning should be the minimum threshold that teachers of higher education should meet to address the students' dynamic needs, demands, and preferences. It shows how COVID-19 disrupted the status quo of the global education system, warranting schools to transition to online education fully. The chapter starts by addressing the pre-COVID-19 learning strategies. Schools mainly adhered to traditional face-to-face teaching in classrooms. Nevertheless, the COVID-19-related restrictions (lockdowns) coerced them into introducing e-learning, which was a new experience for most teachers and students. This situation made educators realize they can successfully incorporate virtual learning into their pedagogy, allowing them to implement a blended system. Moreover, the section identifies the main blended learning models that teachers can use depending on their choices, students' preferences, and institutions' resources and capabilities. These frameworks are face-to-face driver, rotation, flex, online lab, and self-blend methods. They have different approaches as well as merits and limitations. The chapter contributes to active and transformative learning by introducing more attractive, relevant, and flexible teaching methods. Owing to the flexibility of the models, the number of students enrolling in diverse programs in the post-COVID-19 era has increased. The chapter highlights various strategies that educators can apply to ensure that learners achieve optimal outcomes from blended learning. Moreover, the segment highlights the prerequisites and compatibility of blended learning for economics classes. Before unveiling blended learning, professors should ensure that students can access digital devices and the internet and understand the operating software. Thus, educators should at least consider using this model in the post-COVID-19 era.