Teaching software engineering during Covid-19 constraint or opportunity?

Fitoussi, R.; Chassidim, H.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, academic institutions around the globe have been forced to shut their gates and switch to online learning environments (OLEs). Current online academic environments may not be customized equally for different fields of instruction. This study examined the influence of Covid-19 on OLEs in Software Engineering (SE) and Computer Sciences (CS) fields, where there is allegedly great potential for creating customized OLEs. For this purpose, students and lecturers from Israeli institutions of higher education participated in an online survey that examined the opportunities and constraints involved in learning solely in online environment. Results show that generally, the degree of interactivity in the OLE and adjustment of OLE's for CS and SE fields affect the learning experience and outcome for students. The study points to the need to customize the OLE to the CS and SE fields and emphasize 'hands on' experiences rather than theoretical skills. Additionally, it can be is expanding the knowledge and skills of the students to operate at an OLE by adding mandatory provisions to the Software Engineer Book of Knowledge. © 2021 IEEE.