Fear of the Unknown: A Major Barrier in the New Educational Setting During the Novel Coronavirus Outbreak

Recently the way life is lived has undergone major changes. A pandemic outbreak, caused by a new virus impacted the world in numerous ways, affecting the health system, the economy, the industry, the everyday life and last, but not least, the educational system. The outbreak determined extreme measures such as school closure in the effort to contain the virus. The number of individuals of all ages not attending schools or universities because of the outbreak is rising. The vast majority of courses moved on-line and the e-learning represents the main educational setting used nowadays. If the main disadvantages of the e-learning, mainly related to the technological features, can be overcome with the help of skills training sessions, the communication barrier caused by the fears related to this outbreak may need a different approach. In this sense, the socio-constructivist theories of education, including the theories of contextualized learning all of which emphasize the socio-cultural dimension of learning, and the importance of social interactions in the process of knowledge building may represent a suitable approach.