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ISSN No. 2454-6186 | DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS | Volume IX Issue X October 2025
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Investigating Literature Lecturers’ Perceptions on Emergency
Remote Teaching in the Literature Classroom during COVID-19
Sabhithra Ramachandran, Halimah Mohamed Ali, Rosnidar Ain
University Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
DOI:
https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.910000008
Received: 30 September 2025; Accepted: 05 October 2025; Published: 01 November 2025
ABSTRACT
This study intends to investigate how did the Literature lecturers conduct the teaching-learning process through
the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) during the COVID-19 crisis. The lecturers were panicked in the
beginning as they do not have the exposure of conducting the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) previously.
Apart from lack of exposure, internet issues, devices, adaptation towards Literature syllabus and lack of ICT
skills were also the problems faced by the Literature lecturers when conducting the Emergency Remote Teaching
(ERT). The research questions focused on Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT), Literature syllabus and
technology. Nine Literature lecturers from three public universities participated in this study. A qualitative study
which involved a virtual interview was implemented to obtain data about Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT).
Findings showed that the Literature lecturers successfully adapted to the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT).
Also, technology played an important role in exposing many education applications to the lecturers. Flipped
classroom and hybrid learning were suggested for the future.
Keywords— COVID-19, Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT), higher institution, Literature Classroom,
technology.
INTRODUCTION
Coronavirus Disease or better known as COVID-19 is a virus that could easily spread via human transmission.
This virus includes common symptoms such as cough, dizziness, fever, flu, headache and diarrhea. This virus
could spread through cough, sneezing, talking and breathing of an infected person. The article COVID-19:
Transmission, prevention, and potential therapeutic opportunities expanded some explanation on how COVID-
19 was transmitted. This virus was originated from bats in China. On 31
st
December, a cluster of pneumonia
cases were reported by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission which immediately attracted the Chinese
government. This virus was initially called “novel coronavirus 2019” and was renamed to “severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2”. It has been founded that Hunan seafood market in Wuhan city China was
the origin of the outbreak. This virus has a rapid growth all around the world and it has caused so many deaths.
Due to this, World Health Communication declared a pandemic on 12 March 2020. Pandemic is known as
widespread occurrence of an infectious disease over the country at a particular time.
The article COVID-19 Epidemic in Malaysia: Epidemic Progression, Challenges and Response explained how
COVID-19 was spread in Malaysia. On March 11, the International Health Regulations Focal Point (IHRFP) in
Brunei informed IHR FP Malaysia that a COVID-19 patient in Brunei attended a religious event that was held
at Masjid Jamek in Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur from February 27 to 3
rd
March 2020. The COVID-19 cases in
Malaysia rose tremendously after this religious event. Other cluster of positive cases in Malaysia were formed
from local mass gatherings of travelling from oversea countries. In order to reduce the spread of this virus, Yang
Berhormat Tan Sri Dato Haji’ Muhyiddin Yassin, the former prime minister of Malaysia announced the
Movement Control Order (MCO). MCO included travel restrictions where Malaysian citizen was instructed to
isolate themselves for 14 days after returning from oversea. At the same time, the stay-at-home rule was
implemented to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 crisis. Working sites such as factories and companies were
closed to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
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Education defines as a process of giving instruction is a school or universities. When the COVID-19 virus spread
tremendously, it has sadly affected the education system in Malaysia. Education develops the individual
according to one’s needs and demands for the society. Schools and universities were instructed to be closed
temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to this, the teaching-learning process had to take place outside
the classroom. With this, the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) was introduced. The term Emergency Remote
Teaching (ERT) refers to a temporary shift in the delivery of education from the typical modes of teaching to
distance or online, in response to a pressing and crisis situation. (Hodges, Moore, Lockee, Trust, & Bond, 2020).
Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) takes place when the traditional method of teaching is unable to take place
for a certain period. This method is likely to be known as a reactive strategy as it is implemented during an
emergency situation. The article Emergency Remote Teaching explained that this method of teaching is temporal
in nature and immediacy of an emergency of instruction. During this phase, lecturers are likely instructed to learn
everything with limited time, resources and training. Although the Literature lecturers have no exposure in
implementing this teaching method, but they decided to conduct the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) in the
Literature Classroom.
In Malaysia, semesters in public universities are conducted in February and September. The traditional method
which refers to the face-to-face teaching was implemented in the Literature Classroom until 2019 as Malaysia
was in a normal condition. When the lockdown was announced by the prime minister, the Literature lecturers
were panicked as they did not have any exposure in conducting the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). They
had to struggle for the first semester and as time passes by, it was not a problem to the lecturers anymore as they
have conquered the teaching method. In the September semester, the Literature lecturers felt very comfortable
in implementing the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) in the Literature Classroom. Technology has played
an important role in this process. In other words, technology is the independent variable that allowed the
teaching-learning process to take place in the Literature Classroom during the COVID-19 crisis. The article
What is Educational Technology? An Inquiry into the Meaning, Use, and Reciprocity of Technology
described technology as applications, methods, theories, practices, that are used to reach desirable ends. In this
situation, it is not forgettable that technology has helped the Literature lecturers in conducting the Emergency
Remote Teaching (ERT).
Research Questions
1. How did the Literature lecturers conduct the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) in the Literature
Classroom?
2. How much was the Literature syllabus modified in the Literature Classroom?
3. How useful was technology in conducting the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) in the Literature
Classroom?
Research Objectives
1. To investigate the way Literature lecturers conducted the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) in the
Literature Classroom.
2. To analyze how much was the Literature syllabus modified in the Literature Classroom.
3. To observe how useful technology was in conducting the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) in the
Literature Classroom.
METHODOLOGY
A qualitative method which involves a virtual interview was used in this study to obtain data about the
Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). The virtual interview session took place with lecturers who have
experienced the face-to-face and remote teaching. Lecturers who have the face-to-face teaching will be able to
differentiate between the old and new method of teaching. The Literature lecturers shared how they have adapted
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)
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to the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT), the obstacles faced during the remote teaching, how did technology
help them during COVID-19 and how was the Literature syllabus modified to the Literature Classroom.
Interview was the suitable instruments to be used in this research as it helps in gaining information about the
education system that take place in higher institution.
Nine Literature lecturers were chosen to participate in this study based on a purposive sampling. These lecturers
are purely from a Literature background and they have teaching experience in both face-to-face and remote
teaching. University Putra Malaysia, University Kebangsaan Malaysia and University Malaya are located at the
west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Also, young and senior lecturers were chosen to participate in this study to
gain different perspectives about the teaching methods, Literature syllabus and technology. The lecturers must
have undergone the face-to-face and the remote teaching. Also, should be teaching Literature subjects. The
lecturers had partially implemented technology in the Literature Classroom before the rise of COVID-19. When
COVID-19 took place in Malaysia, the Literature lecturers had to completely implement technology in their
teaching. The purpose of choosing Literature lecturers who have undergone both ways of teaching is because it
helps the researcher in obtaining more knowledge on the differences between face to-face and remote teaching
in a Literature classroom.
Virtual Interview
A virtual interview with the nine Literature lecturers was conducted in this study. These lecturers were
interviewed to explore the differences between face-to-face and remote teaching, the challenges that these
lecturers faced throughout the Emergency Remote Teaching, how much the Literature syllabus has been
modified and how technology helped the Literature lecturers in conducting their teachings remotely. The
interview questions were prepared according to the research objectives of this study by following the interview
protocol as suggested by Carspecken (1996) on the Critical qualitative research which has been used as a prompt
to guide when developing the interview questions with lead-in questions and relevant follow up to obtain
consistent data from targeted respondents. In the virtual interview questions, the researcher has incorporated
introduction, transition questions, five questions related to this study and a conclusion.
As all the institutions have returned to face-to-face teaching, the virtual interview could only be conducted in
late evenings. As per the local institution’s nature, lecturers tend to have classes until evening. The interview
session was mostly conducted at night with the Literature lecturers. Each interview session with the lecturers
ranged from 45 minutes to an hour, with the virtual interviews conducted over the course of three weeks. The
interview session took place with three Literature lecturers from UPM, two lecturers from UKM and four
lecturers from UM. Before conducting the interview session, a set of interview questions was shared to the
Literature lecturers for them to familiarize with the questions. At the same time, the questions were also shared
through the screen as it helps the Literature lecturers in referring to the questions when sharing information
which is related to the questions. The Literature lecturers was asked to turn on their webcam to strengthen the
trustworthiness of the interview session. The researcher disclosed the Literature lecturers’ names as an
unidentified respondent to minimize bias.
Data Analysis
A. Braun and Clarke’s Thematic Analysis Theory (2006)
Braun and Clarke have provided a six-phase guide which is a very useful framework for conducting qualitative
research. Familiarisation with data is derived as the first step in Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis model.
Reading, re-reading and transcription is the first step in a qualitative analysis. According to Edward & Lampert
(1993) and Lapadat & Lindsay (1999), they stated that various conventions exist for transforming spoken texts
into written text. Once the interview session has been conducted with the Literature lecturers, the spoken texts
are transcribed into written forms which is also known as transcriptions. After the data has been transcribed,
initial coding, the second step in Braun and Clarke’s theory takes place. This phase involves using a software
called NVivo application. This application is well known for the coding process. Coding is known as chunking
highlighted information that related to the research study. During this process, important sentences will be
highlighted and a code will be given to obtain a depth data.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)
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After that, the third phase which involves searching for themes takes place. This step is about arranging different
codes into themes and collating all the relevant codes within the identified themes. The codes derived from the
transcriptions will be analysed and recombined to form an overarching theme. Next, the review of theme phase
take place where the preliminary themes that has been encountered in the third step will be reviewed, modified
and developed. Some codes will be placed under the preliminary themes whereas the remaining codes will be
categorized under the subthemes through the NVivo software. Once this step is done, the fifth step which refers
to defining and naming of themes takes place. This is the phase where NVivo software helps in collaborating the
themes that has been analyzed into an image form. It would be easier for the research to name the themes by
referring to the image form. Reporting is the last step in Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis theory. The data
given in the image form will be extracted to produce a good report for this study.
LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Incorporation of Technology in Literature Education
According to Sailer (2021), digital technologies for education have substantially changed instructional practices
in higher education over the past decades. This shows that digital technologies should be familiarized by
educational practitioners. Nevertheless, prior to COVID-19, teaching in higher education was carried out
predominantly in the face-to-face formats, enriched with digital technologies on an occasional basis at best.
While a transition from face-to-face to online, or flipped classroom teaching requires careful planning, this was
not possible during the onset of the COVID-19 crisis due to the unprecedented physical closing of universities
and schools in most countries. Consequently, Sailer (2021) stated that faculty holding a key role in online
teaching alongside students’ learning activities, as well as the administrative/university environment were
confronted with the unexpected challenge of teaching exclusively online. However, the article COVID 19 –
Lockdown: Technology Adaption, Teaching, Learning, Students Engagement and Faculty Experience by Ms.
Veena Shenoy, Ms. Sheetal Mahendra, Ms. Navita Vijay (2020) aims to understand the technology adoption,
teaching and learning process, student engagement and faculty experiences towards virtual classrooms during
the lockdown due to COVID-19 in India. Telephone interview was conducted with 20 teaching staffs and the
findings concluded that created a revolution in Indian higher education as there were a lot of refusal in teaching
fraternity towards adapting to technology during the pre-COVID days. Due to this, most of them has adapted to
technology and started taking virtual classes which resulted in having a great experience. Technology has always
been effective to the lecturers even before the rise of COVID-19. Yet, it became more useful for the lecturers
during lockdown as it helped them in exploring more educational applications that could be implemented in the
classroom. However, lecturers and students had the fear of conducting remote teaching in the beginning due to
lack of experience. According to Ahorsu & Lin (2020), they stated that the pandemic nature of COVID-19 has
even worsened the situation leading to psychosocial challenges, such as loss and discrimination. Similarly, the
article Fear from COVID-19 and Technology Adoption: The Impact of Google Meet during Coronavirus
Pandemic by Rana Saeed Al-Maroof, Said A. Salloum, Aboul Ella Hassanien and Khaled Shaalan aims to
investigate the impact of fear emotion on students’ and teachers’ adaptation towards technology during the
COVID-19 pandemic. The data collected from the study were analysed by using the partial least squares
structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and machine learning algorithms. Findings from this article showed a
positive result where both data analysis techniques successfully provided support to all the hypothesized
relationships of the research model. Students’ intention to accept technology is higher when GM was the only
available source in studying during the spread of COVID-19. The gap that has been identified is the first article
focused on the perception of the lecturers in technology whereas the second article focused on the fear emotions
on technology adoption during COVID-19. This study intends to identify the importance of technology. This
study intends to identify the applications used by the lecturers to teach Literature virtually. The second gap that
has been identified is the first article focused in India and the second article was focused in Oman. This research
study is based on a Malaysian context. The third gap that was identified is the first article used a telephone
interview and the second article used the PLS-SEM model to gather data whereas this article used a virtual
interview through Zoom to gather data. The number of participants is also a gap as this study uses only nine
Literature lecturers as the participants whereas 20 faculties were used in the first article no participants were used
in the second article. Both the article focused generally on remote teaching whereas this study intends to identify
the importance of technology in the Literature Classroom. Although full usage of technology was required during
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the pandemic, the lecturers have learnt in utilizing technology very well in education especially for Literature
subjects. In addition, these articles focus on the adoption of technology during the pandemic whereas this study
intends to investigate how technology helped the Literature lecturers in conducting the remote teaching during
the pandemic. Also, this research study intends to emphasize the importance of blended learning in a Literature
Classroom.
B. Proactive Crisis Management
Proactive management means anticipating needs and challenges so that a team are prepared to overcome a crisis.
It means one taking precaution before the rise of an issue or a crisis. Proactive strategies can focus primarily on
regulation of one’s own behaviours and thoughts, (self-regulation), or on collaboration with others, (co-
regulation), or both (Pietarinen et al. 2013, Tikkanen et al. 2017, Väisänen et al. 2018). Proactive discipline plans
could be categorized as being preventative and implementing a positive approach to manage something.
Proactive organizations assume that they are obligated to make the world safe and they do everything possible
to publicize advance warning of crises. Proactive leaders and their teams are confident to predict and plan around
potential challenges. When difficulties arise, the response in time is shortened by having a strong plan in place.
Proactive managers often allocate more time and resources to skills, development, training and mentoring their
team. Proactive management manages a crisis effectively by following three steps which consist of conducting
an organizational evaluation to evaluate the current level of crisis preparedness, establish a crisis management
team to assist in the resolution of the crisis and draft a crisis management plan to give guidance on employees
on what to do and how to do it. Proactive strategy would be really useful to be implemented especially in
educational field. Straud et al. (2015) said that educators can utilize proactive strategies in order to cope with
stress.
Similarly, a study done by Pyhältö et al., (2020) on the article Teacher Burnout Profile and Proactive Strategies
to explore socio-contextual burnout risk profiles and their association with the reported use of proactive strategies
among in-service teachers by using a person-oriented approach. The results proved that well-developed proactive
strategies in terms of self and co-regulative strategies are related to lower risk of experiencing socio-contextual
burnout. Teacher’s burnout most probably develops due to poor work stress management. This statement is
supported by Foley & Murphy (2015), by saying that it has been suggested that teacher’s burnout gradually
develops as a result of expensive and prolonged work- related stress which could be exhaustion and tiredness at
work could be the cause of stress. Prior to this, this study showed how proactive strategy was implemented in a
teaching environment.
When COVID-19 happened, steps were taken after the lockdown was announced in Malaysia. The lecturers were
panicked because they did not know how to conduct the teaching-learning process during the lockdown.
Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) was introduced during the lockdown period. After all the incident that took
place during the lockdown in the education field, Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) will be considered as a
proactive strategy if COVID-19 takes place in the future. This is said because, the lecturers have had the exposure
of conducting the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). This statement has been proven by Klassen and Durksen
(2014) saying that staying organised and seeking help is one of the proactive strategies that could help in reducing
stress among novice teachers. Staying organised ensures teachers have a proper planning according to their time
schedule. This article proved that steps has been taken before handling a problem.
C. Reactive Crisis Management
Reactive strategy is applied when leaders respond to crises when they arise. Reactive discipline strategies are
essentially remedial in nature (Little & Hudson, 1998). Reactive team members are should be able to work under
pressure as steps are only taken after the rise of a crisis. Emotions like fear to take up a leading role and objective
thinking is absent from the crisis response. Reactive strategies might experience problems or high turnover in
companies. Reactive management are more comfortable with trying different approaches. Schools and higher
institutions are also likely to face an immediate crisis response. Even though reactive strategies are not highly
recommended, but it is frequently used in classrooms (Shepherd & Linn, 2015). Most of the educators
implements reactive strategies in handling students’ attitudes in a classroom. One of the most challenging aspects
of a teaching profession is coping with disruptive behaviour (Aloe et al., 2014). A study done in Norway by
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Ødegård & Solberg, 2024 showed that how teachers managed to control disrupted behaviour in a classroom by
implementing reactive strategies. Findings of the study showed the teachers used individual orientated strategies
like ignoring students’ behaviour as a reactive strategy in the classroom. Another example which is similar to
COVID-19 is the Influenza According to the article Behavioral Responses to the influenza A (H1N1) Outbreak
in Malaysia retrieved from 1st August 2020 stated that Influenza A or better known as H1N1 was the first case
of pandemic in Malaysia that was reported on 15 May 2009. Due to this, Datuk Sri Liow Tiong Lai, the former
health minister in 2009 urged everyone including schools to wear mask if symptoms of the flu were present.
Wearing a mask in schools and universities to reduce the spread of Influenza A was the reactive strategy that
was taken at that time. Lockdown was not announced during the Influenza A pandemic in Malaysia.
However, COVID-19 was the first case that urged for a lockdown after the rise of the virus. So, COVID-19 is
considered as a reactive management as precautions were only taken after the rise of the pandemic. COVID-19
is an unforeseen virus that no one anticipated such a profound impact on the world. All this while, people were
having physical contact in companies, hospitals, factories, school and higher institutions. Once the lockdown
was announced, higher institution planned on an alternative way for the lecturers in conducting the teaching-
learning process. There were no strategies prepared as a precaution before the COVID-19 pandemic. Since
COVID-19 was the first case that caused a lockdown, all private and government sectors were worried as
precautions had to be taken immediately. Education is one of the fields that was highly affected and there was
an urge in finding a solution to conduct the teaching-learning process in overcoming the pandemic.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
A. Remote Teaching
Remote teaching is a teaching method that takes place outside of the classroom. Due to the tremendous spread
of COVID-19 in Malaysia, the government has set a lockdown education. Since the Literature lecturers has
experiences in remote teaching after COVID-19 happened, the Literature lecturers have shared their experiences
in the interview session. Respondent 1 has stated that remote teaching is definitely used through the multiple
online platforms. Google Meet, Zoom Meeting and Google Classroom were used to conduct the online classes.
Since the hardcopies of the worksheet could not be distributed, the lecturer had to ensure that the texts were
available electronically for the students. Respondent 1 preferred Google classroom as it was easy to make
resources available and students could easily submit their work. Students frequently use the chat box and ask
questions frequently. The lecturers had synchronous and asynchronous learning during remote teaching.
Respondent 2 personally switched to task-based learning which is a learner centered and ensured that students
complete the different task every week. It was very new for the respondent to use the Learning Management
System, synchronous classes and Microsoft teams. Respondent 2 emphasized on the communication and stated
that the kind of questions that students ask would make the learning environment richer. Respondent 2 wanted
the students to be independent during online teaching. Similarly, respondent 3 prefers students to be more
independent during the remote teaching. The lecturer could only conduct the online teaching with the help of the
internet. The respondent used keywords and materials and shared screen to the students for a better understanding
during online classes. At the same time, students were instructed to find the right resources using the internet for
the subject. The fifth respondent also stated the perception towards remote teaching where lectures and
assignments were uploaded in a platform called Spectrum. WhatsApp was the only application used to share
notes and slides initially. However, the respondent started using google meet for online classes and started
uploading students lectures and slides in Spectrum. The fourth respondent emphasised creative thinking during
online teaching. Remote Teaching was very new to all the Literature lecturers as they did not have experiences
before this. Respondent 7 uploaded all the notes and slides through a portal called Putrablast. Educational
applications like Kahot and Padlet were used in the Literature Classroom to gain students’ understanding. Most
of the lecturers emphasised on independent learning. Recorded lesson was highly implemented in remote
teaching to guide students for reference purposes. Most of the lecturers took about one semester to adapt to
remote teaching.
According to the Literature lecturers’ statements about remote teaching, it has been reported that some of the
lecturers did not face any issues by implementing the Emergency Remote Teaching in the Literature Classroom
as they had the exposure with the students during the face-to-face teaching. This statement has been proven by
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the second respondent saying that Google Classroom was used when the lecturer was unable to have a face-to-
face teaching with the students during the pre-covid days. Another example given by the first respondent saying
that the lecturer also used Zoom and Google Classroom to conduct the lessons before the lockdown which
resulted a smooth remote teaching during the closure of the higher institution. However, some lecturers did face
some circumstances during the implementation of the Emergency Remote Teaching as this teaching method was
very new to them. For example, the sixth respondent stated that the lecturer did not have idea of implementing
the remote teaching in the Literature Classroom. By having a goal formation, the Literature lecturers were
determined in conducting the Emergency Remote Teaching in the Literature Classroom despite having
circumstances. Also, the Literature lecturers were able to have a strategy formulation after analysing the
environment where physical contacts were prohibited during the lockdown. After the strategy implementation
process has been indulged, strategy control which involves the way Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) was
handled in the Literature Classroom has also related in this section. By having a lot of practices, the Literature
lecturers were able to implement the strategic control process in the Literature Classroom. The lecturers were
able to control the tools in the platforms. As per the lecturers’ statement, students were able to join the class once
the link has been sent to them. Once the class has begun, the lecturers were able to share their screen and teach
the students remotely. After teaching the students remotely, students used the chat box to ask questions related
to the topic that has been taught. This shows that students were focused when the lecturers delivered the content
remotely. This process shows that the lecturers were able to control the Emergency Remote Teaching in the
Literature Classroom. The Literature lecturers were able to ensure students followed their instructions during the
remote teaching. The lecturers were engaged with teaching remotely repeatedly until they were able to conquer
the strategic control process in the Literature Classroom. By this, it has been proven that this section has answered
the first research question which portrays how did the Literature lecturers conduct the Emergency Remote
Teaching (ERT) in the Literature Classroom.
B. Literature Syllabus
During the remote teaching, most of the Literature lecturers stated that there were no changes made to the
Literature syllabus. The ways of teaching were being modified during remote teaching. As per the lecturers’
statement regarding the modification of the syllabus, most of the lecturers highlighted on remaining with
Literature syllabus as there were no issues in teaching remotely. The third respondent said that the syllabus is
not centralised but it is being created by the perspective lecturers according to their subjects. Prior to this
statement, the first respondent did not change the syllabus but modified the text. It did not take a long time for
the respondent to modify the text. The respondent added that prioritizing students is more important when
modifying the syllabus during remote teaching. Moreover, the lecturers also emphasised on following the
learning outcome according to the syllabus. This matter has been highlighted by most of the lecturers as it acts
as the main component in a subject. Prior to that, the lecturers ensured that the learning outcomes have been
achieved although the semester was conducted remotely. The third respondent had to choose certain subjects
that need to be taught online. Respondent 7 also added on including pictures and videos in the lecturers’ lesson
for students’ better understanding. On the other hand, respondent 8 has mentioned about changing the syllabus.
The respondent added that subjects like theatre performances have to be changed in order to adapt to the situation.
The moment the lecturer got to know that everything needs to be conducted online, the lecturer decided to modify
the syllabus and ensured that students had the right platform to conduct their theatre performances. Respondent
8 also highlighted on the importance of a syllabus in order to look at the assessments. An assessment could only
be given to the students by following the syllabus in a subject. Hence, syllabus is very important to be addressed
during the remote teaching. In addition, the Literature syllabus was also related to the Emergency Remote
Teaching where syllabus had to be taught remotely according to the students’ needs. This is said because the
face-to-face and remote teaching were two different teaching methods which gives a huge impact in the teaching-
learning.
After analysing the Literature syllabus, it was then indulged in the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) by the
Literature lecturers. Prior to this statement, strategy implementation in Burnett’s Crisis Management Model
portrays how Literature syllabus in indulged remotely in the Literature Classroom. The strategy implementation
phase in Burnett’s inner circle relates in this section where the Literature lecturers indulge the Literature topic
through screen sharing via the online platforms. Zoom Meeting and Google Classroom were the online platform
used by all lecturers during the remote teaching. The Literature topics were taught through the Zoom Meeting
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and Google Classroom. By having an exposure in teaching Literature syllabus online, the lecturers were able to
have a proper strategy implementation phase throughout the Emergency Remote Teaching. As an example,
respondent 8 was the only lecturer who mentioned on modifying the theatre performance into an online theatre
play. After the lecturer evaluated the platform in the strategy evaluation phase, the online theatre play was
conducted in the Literature Classroom via the online platform. Conducting the online theatre play is an example
of how the strategy implementation phase is connected in this section. The strategy implementation phase
expanded and guided the Literature lecturers in implementing the Literature syllabus remotely. Adding to this
statement, the Literature lecturers managed to achieve their goals in indulging the Literature syllabus through
this phase. This phase also explained on how the Literature syllabus was conducted and taught through the
Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT).
When the lecturers taught the Literature syllabus through the educational platforms, the lecturer was able to
control students’ attention through the Q&A session. An example given by the first respondent saying that
students were able to use the chat box to ask questions. When students questioned regarding the Literature topic,
this shows that students were able to concentrate and follow the lecturers’ instruction. Hence, this proved that
the strategic control phase in Burnett’s inner layer circle has been implemented in this section. When the lecturers
taught the Literature syllabus remotely, the students were able to follow the lecturers’ instruction. Thus, this
section has answered the second research question. In this section, it has been proven that the strategic control
phase in Burnett’s Crisis Management Model portrayed the way students’ attention and understanding was
controlled by the Literature lecturers when teaching about the Literature syllabus. The strategic control phase in
indulging the Literature syllabus is vital as the Literature syllabus is the element that contributes to the
assessments. Thus, by having a good strategic control criterion, the lecturers were able to ensure students to have
a good understanding on a Literature topic.
C. Technology
In this section, the Literature lecturers have shared their perceptions about the implementation of technology
during the remote teaching. From the interview session, it has been concluded that technology was very helpful
to the Literature lecturers during the remote teaching as they were all reliant to it. Adding to that, the lecturers
had gained a lot of knowledge about technology. Online platforms such as google meet, zoom meetings, google
classroom, Microsoft teams were mostly used to conduct the remote teaching. Respondent 1 shared her
experiences on using technology during the remote teaching where she was very savvy with technology before
COVID-19. The respondent had a trial class with the students in preparation before lockdown. The lecturer also
added that interactive technology is important as it would be able for the lecturers and students to know how to
use the tools like screen sharing, chat box and breakout rooms. The respondent emphasized saying that lecturers
must have ICT skills. Educators should also know how to upload materials in online platforms and how to
organize a text in PowerPoint slide. At the same time, marks were allocated on how students use technology in
the first respondent’s class. In addition, respondent 2 felt very positive about the technology implementation in
remote teaching during the lockdown. The lecturer had a good technological device and had to learn about the
element of technology.
The respondent still prefers the chalk and board method which is also known as the old school method as it was
much easier. The lecturer also stated that UKM is trying to promote flipped classroom and the pandemic has
proved that it is able to be conducted since they have conquered the knowledge on technology. Moreover, the
importance of technology eased the teaching-learning process by searching information or materials from the
internet. This can be seen when respondent 3 felt very easy to search for materials in a short period and it was
easy for him to send the link to the students to search for the materials. Respondent 3 said that it was hard to use
technology in the beginning due to the least of experiences especially Microsoft teams was used to teach the
students. The respondent was able to use Microsoft teams after seeking assistance from the colleagues. At the
same time, it was difficult for the respondent to search for materials. It was easier when the respondent knew
that it was easy to search for materials using the internet. Similarly, respondent 4 said that it is very important
for Literature students to search materials online. Prior to that respondent 5 also said that students had to use
technology to find materials. Therefore, they were very attached to technology at this time.
Technology helped respondent 5 in delivering the content and applications like google meet, zoom and Microsoft
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)
ISSN No. 2454-6186 | DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS | Volume IX Issue X October 2025
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teams were very helpful in terms of sharing files. Respondent 7 also emphasized technology for students’
learning. Full usage of technology was implemented in the classroom and students were asked to do research on
a topic. This was where students had to implement technology and produce a good work and zoom was the only
platform available at UPM. At the same time, technology has helped respondent 9 as the respondent aware of
how the world is changing constantly. The respondent implemented full usage of technology in the classroom as
the respondent wanted to expose technology to the students. Kahoot and Quizzes were used by most of the
Literature lecturers to teach during the lockdown. More reading about technology was done by respondent 9 to
improve the skills on using technology. Respondent 8 prioritized digital learning which is a skill to navigate
online resources and participate in online discussions. The lecturer was able to access international libraries in
oversea in order to help students through online readings. It is for free as it facilitates the learning environment
for lecturers and students. The respondent also used Canva, Blackboard and digital libraries to teach students.
Laptops, handphones, TV and PC were the technological devices used by the Literature lecturers during the
remote teaching. Based on the Literature lecturers’ statements and opinions about technology, it has been
analysed that technology had been the support system for the Literature lecturers in conducting Literature
education remotely during the lockdown. Teaching platforms such as google meet, Zoom meetings and Microsoft
teams mentioned by the Literature lecturers in the interview session were implemented in the Emergency Remote
Teaching. According to the first and second research question which focused on the Emergency Remote
Teaching and the Literature syllabus, the explanation given by the lecturers was related in the inner layer circle
in Burnett’s Crisis Model as the explanation focused on how did Emergency Remote Teaching and the Literature
syllabus was taught remotely in the Literature Classroom with the new method of teaching. However, the strategy
implementation phase in Burnett’s inner layer circle had demonstrated the importance of technology in the
Literature Classroom during the lockdown. By considering the lecturers’ explanation on implementing the
Emergency Remote Teaching and the Literature syllabus remotely in the Literature Classroom, it could be
analysed that the teaching-learning process was able to take place with technology. The lecturers were able to
gain their experiences on remote teaching through the strategy implementation phase as they were frequently
involved in teaching Literature remotely during the lockdown. Yet, the strategy implementation phase was
successfully conducted with the help of technology. This is said because technology acted as the medium for the
lecturers in conducting the Emergency Remote Teaching through the strategy implementation phase. Regarding
to this statement, the Literature lecturers had mentioned on teaching the Literature syllabus remotely by sharing
their screen through the teaching platforms. Adding to this statement, the lecturers also mentioned on remaining
with the syllabus but changing the method of teaching. Therefore, lecture notes in a Literature syllabus was one
of the contents that was demonstrated through the teaching platforms. Prior to this statement, this was how the
teaching-learning process was conducted remotely in the Literature Classroom during the lockdown. At the same
time, students’ assessments which included assignments, projects and examinations were also exposed through
the Emergency Remote Teaching. This has also been analyzed that technology has helped the lecturers in
implementing the Literature syllabus through the Emergency Remote Teaching in the strategy implementation
phase. By this, the strategy control phase was being achieved through technology. This is said because, the
Emergency Remote Teaching was the strategy that was planned and implemented in the Literature Classroom
during the lockdown in ensuring the teaching-learning process in taking place. On the other hand, the Literature
syllabus which was also vital as it was the content that has been delivered through the Emergency Remote
Teaching. These elements were planned and evaluated by the Literature lecturers before implementing in the
Literature Classroom. However, the Literature lecturers successfully achieved the plan by through the strategy
implementation phase. Thus, it could not be denied that the strategic control phase was successful.
Limitations
As far as this research study is beneficial for the Literature lecturers to explore about the Emergency Remote
Teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, there were also some limitations. Firstly, the participant was a
limitation to this study as only Literature lecturers participated. This is said because this research study focused
on how Literature lecturers overcome the crisis by conducting the Emergency Remote Teaching in the Literature
Classroom. Thus, Literature lecturers were only chosen to participate in this research study.
Besides that, the number of samples chosen for this study to obtain the data from the Literature lecturers were
only nine and two to three Literature lecturers were chosen from each university to study on their experiences
which has been shared. This shows that the participation of the lecturers’ population is also another limitation
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)
ISSN No. 2454-6186 | DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS | Volume IX Issue X October 2025
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www.rsisinternational.org
due to the small number of samples. This is said due to the limitation of Literature courses in higher institutions.
At the same time, the number of lecturers who are teaching Literature courses are also limited. Since lecturers
have experience in both teaching methods and is the criteria in this research study, only nine lecturers were
chosen to participate in the interview session.
Lastly, the research instrument has been a limitation to this study as only a virtual interview session was used to
gain information about the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). Since this research mainly focused on the
Literature lecturers, the interview session was the only instrument chosen to collect data about the Emergency
Remote Teaching (ERT). Prior to this statement, the interview questions had covered all the elements about the
Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) that enabled information to be sufficient for this study.
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