TY - GEN
T1 - Investigating Online Searching Behavior Based on Google Trends in MENA Region Before and After COVID-19
AU - Belkacem, Abdelkader Nasreddine
AU - Jamil, Nuraini
AU - Alrabaee, Saed
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 IEEE.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had a profound impact on education worldwide. The rise of remote learning is one of the most significant changes in this regard, as many schools and universities were forced to close down by regional health authorities. This has also caused people to become more conservative in trade-offs between healthcare and education. Google Trends is the most common tool for analyzing online search behaviors. It is a free resource that provides information on the trends and changes in users' online interests over time based on certain terms and subjects. The online search queries on Google can be used to assess users' behaviors concerning online learning to forecast their choices regarding online education. This paper examines the frequency of users' web searches for online communication tools, courses, and learning terms. We statistically compared users in the Middle East and North Africa regions by using the volumes of searches recorded on Google Trends from January 2016 to August 2022. Moreover, we used machine learning techniques to identify differences among the keywords used. The findings statistically show that COVID-19 has led to an increase in the extent of students' attention to and interest in online learning.
AB - The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had a profound impact on education worldwide. The rise of remote learning is one of the most significant changes in this regard, as many schools and universities were forced to close down by regional health authorities. This has also caused people to become more conservative in trade-offs between healthcare and education. Google Trends is the most common tool for analyzing online search behaviors. It is a free resource that provides information on the trends and changes in users' online interests over time based on certain terms and subjects. The online search queries on Google can be used to assess users' behaviors concerning online learning to forecast their choices regarding online education. This paper examines the frequency of users' web searches for online communication tools, courses, and learning terms. We statistically compared users in the Middle East and North Africa regions by using the volumes of searches recorded on Google Trends from January 2016 to August 2022. Moreover, we used machine learning techniques to identify differences among the keywords used. The findings statistically show that COVID-19 has led to an increase in the extent of students' attention to and interest in online learning.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Google Trends
KW - MENA
KW - Online learning
KW - Remote learning
KW - Web Behavior
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85183042275&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85183042275&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10342913
DO - 10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10342913
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85183042275
T3 - Proceedings - Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE
BT - 2023 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE 2023 - Proceedings
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 53rd IEEE ASEE Frontiers in Education International Conference, FIE 2023
Y2 - 18 October 2023 through 21 October 2023
ER -