Lecturers' and Students' Viewpoints of Distance Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Education is an essential component in maximizing the world's long-term competitiveness and social stability capacity. COVID-19 is now a major international public health crisis for our people, communities, and economies. It has infections and deaths reported worldwide. Learning through distance education is no longer optional; it is now a requirement. The goal of this study is to figure out the lecturers' and learners' perspectives on distance education, including their views on the benefits, drawbacks, and ways to strengthen the programs used throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was carried out in a qualitative manner. To obtain in-depth information, data was obtained from open-ended questions, interview google forms. In Northern Cyprus, this google form was distributed to students and lecturers. The results obtained show that the advantages of distance education learning outnumbered the disadvantages during this pandemic. Proposals were also made by the participants on how distance education learning can be enhanced.