Since December 2019, COVID-19 has spread rapidly from China to many countries around the world because of international travel, and it became one of the global challenges placing a significant burden on the healthcare sector. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many countries globally, resulting in the implementation of strict control measures to stop the viral spread. The closure of universities and the adoption of online learning were among these preventive measures [1,2]. UNESCO reported university closures in more than 160 countries that are not sure of how long the coronavirus crisis will last and how it could affect the mental health of the students and faculty [3]. The psychological effects of the sudden transition from face-to-face to online classes generated anguish and uncertainty [4]. Home confinement as a measure to avoid contagion also made many teachers feel afraid, hopeless, and stressed [5]. The closure of universities was a protective measure considered by studies comparing the impact of the spread of COVID-19 among those exposed in face-to-face teaching and unexposed teachers (online teaching), which revealed that the spread of the virus in the exposed community doubled compared to the unexposed teachers. In addition, it was also shown that those in the exposed categories also serve as a vehicle of transmission to others—mostly their partners. These studies concluded that adequate protection should be provided for the teachers; however, this has led to a high degree of social isolation among university staff and students [6,7]. The online teaching method was adapted to keep education going while not exposing the teachers to infection [8]. However, the adoption of the online or distance learning scheme opened a new chapter in the understanding of the mental health stability of teachers and students. Online education is not limited to distance education, as it refers to a grouping of teaching–learning procedures completed in cyberspace [9,10,11]. Mental health problems can have a negative impact on the physical and psychological wellbeing of students and predispose them to many unhealthy behaviors [8]. Melaku (2021) found that depression, anxiety, and stress were common problems among Arsi University medical students exposed to online teaching activities [12]. Gregori (2021) evaluated a program in which teachers served as coaches for professionals [13]. The results showed that with teacher coaching, paraprofessionals increased their behavior intervention implementation fidelity to a hundred percent. The teaching roles in the time of the pandemic include offering support for home confinement, promoting resilience, academic guidance, preventing procrastination, empathetic and active listening, emotional and institutional advising, and acting as a motivator [5,14]. Other requirements for teachers include voice modulation, becoming familiar with the equipment and software and optimizing its use, being mindful of body language, using a script to optimize the use of time, and allowing the students to express themselves freely. During the execution of the classes, teachers are recommended to give clear instructions, resolve doubts, and explain the projects and tasks, among others. In order to fulfill these roles and requirements, the mechanism for evaluating the students and assignment deadlines should be clearly stated and, as a suggestion, tutorials should have clear explanations [5,8].

Fedock (2019) explored how adjunct higher education faculty perceive using social media (SM) as an instructional tool for their students during the pandemic and found out that it is one of the most effective tools for knowledge dissemination [15]. In other related studies, the reliability and effectiveness of different information technology (IT) tools used by teachers were evaluated and it was found that most of the knowledge transfer was based on learning tools (LT), the use of mobile instruments (such as cell phones and tablets), and virtual libraries (VL), with levels of 89%, 85%, and 82%, respectively [16]. In addition, they found that the use of cell phones made the teaching–learning process more dynamic. Adopting an online learning approach has proven to be an alternative to physical classrooms in an uncontrollable situation. This has allowed universities, faculty, and students to have patience and resilience, which will be useful for future challenges in high-quality education [17,18,19]. Another effect of the pandemic is a diminishment in the quality of education that all students deserve [20]; the absence of online learning infrastructure could have worsened the situation worldwide. The physical distancing amid the pandemic has influenced the attitudes of teachers worldwide opting for social media (SM) use in online learning, mainly in developing countries. Switching to online learning using SM under challenging situations like the COVID-19 pandemic is, thus, inevitable [21,22]. Many students have lost close family members and must continue to study under these conditions. In Mexico, higher education institutions (HEIs) are classified into six large groups: public universities, technological education, technological and polytechnic universities, private institutions, normal education, and other public institutions. All the categories switched to the virtual mode of teaching during the pandemic.

There are several challenges that teachers have had in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic; most have declared that their actions were focused not only on the academic component but also on the emotional [28]. Teachers, being on the front lines with their students, were probably not trained to respond to the threats to the emotional wellbeing of themselves and their students, and they may have experienced situations of stress and anxiety [29]. Different investigations on the psychological reactions resulting from the pandemic have suggested that some factors related to anxiety or health had an impact on the vulnerability of some teachers. Among some situations that can be mentioned are a tolerance to uncertainty, the self-perception of their susceptibility to the disease, and anxiety [30]. Other factors, such as being female, having COVID-19 symptoms, misinformation, social isolation, low educational levels, unemployment, or losing one’s job were the main situations that had the reported greatest psychological effects and seem to have been associated with the highest levels of anxiety and depression [31]. Research in China found that young women were among the most vulnerable groups to mental health consequences from the pandemic, as many working women also took care of their homes [32]. Therefore, the closure of school institutions can substantially reduce job performance for fear of not maintaining employment, limiting development opportunities, and affecting one’s financial status [28]. However, and paradoxically, the pandemic has also motivated teachers to have greater commitment to their academic work, and some teachers even perceive that the situation of confinement allowed them to spend more time with their families and have greater comfort and reduced their travel expenses [33,34]. In the case of teachers, the new dynamics of teaching and learning made their work more intense, and it overflowed into their personal time and lives [35]. The need to undergo continuous training predisposed them to the abandonment of leisure activities, sport, and other practices that reduce stress [36]. Alavudeen and Easwaran (2021) generated affectations such as a lack of experience or ignorance in the management of virtual learning platforms (VLPs), poor connectivity, and poor audio/video quality were impotent barriers that increased psychological stress, study discipline, and life status that caused a non-positive impact on the performance of the teaching–learning process in online education [37]. Psychological distress, technical problems associated with accessibility, inexperience, and a lack of preparation were found to be the main barriers limiting students’ acceptance of learning that impacted the outcome of their assessments Mexico was not the exception, as COVID-19 altered the work of HEIs in Mexico, resulting in both expected and unexpected consequences that are yet to be identified and evaluated. Many HEIs undertook different actions and studies to determine the short- and medium-term implications [9,12,17,38]. A preliminary analysis indicated that, in general, HEIs did not have any foresight to face the crisis and its arrival took the HEIs by surprise. However, they reacted positively both to contribute to the reduction of the risks of contagion and to resume their functions and fulfill their commitments. Important institutional processes have been affected even without knowing the negative impacts of the short and medium term. The technological universities have undertaken analysis projects on the impact of COVID-19 and the effects on their academic community of teachers and students. The present work presents the results of one of the first analyses of the situation of COVID-19, confinement, and the virtualization of processes at this educational level. Not all the different entities that make up the Ministry of Education in Mexico (SEP) undertook actions of this nature, which makes the results achieved a project of value for the establishment of systems to improve the teaching–learning process in a virtual way [24].

2. Gender Impact during COVID-19