Evaluation of the Efficiency of the Sudden Implementation of the Synchronous Online Course: Findings of a Mixed Method Study

Tragedies are neither sought nor requested. Unfortunately, they happen and affect all areas of life, especially education. However, they leave lessons that work to face new challenges. This study aims to analyze the transition from classroom classes to distance classes due to an earthquake that hit Mexico City in 2017, damaging its buildings and infrastructure, to find the necessary aspects for an efficient transition in these cases, using different Tecnologico de Monterrey's institutional data. Faculty members were interviewed about their views during the transition. The student's grades were also compared. Student responses were analyzed in the teacher satisfaction surveys. Challenges encountered by faculty during the sudden implementation of online courses were difficulties in the use of digital technologies, the amount of time spent preparing the class, the new ways of communication, the lack of use and knowledge of the online model, and the student's evaluation in online settings. The advantages mentioned by the faculty were flexibility, recorded classes, and the new tools that can be used for teaching. It was also observed that the student averages were higher in the semester after the earthquake. However, although young faculty with excellent technology management or experienced faculty with good use of technology and who are very well trained were the profiles that students better evaluated, no correlation was found between their teacher-associated variables and teacher performance indicators with the student averages. This experience served as a basis for meeting the contingency of 2020 with COVID-19. It represented itself as one antecedent in evaluating online education, allowing the establishment of a more expeditious and efficient online educational system.