Vol. 6, Issue 8, Part A (2020)

Abstract
The outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus compelled countries and governments to declare emergency states in order to control the spread of the pandemic. In response to that outbreak, several measures were undertaken by the Moroccan government since the declaration of a state of emergency in the kingdom on March 20^th, 2020. The implementation of urgent preventive policies also includes university and school closures to prevent teachers and students’ infection. Consequently, distance learning replaced conventional classrooms to ensure the continuity of the lessons. As to many countries, the shift to online learning was not preceded by adequate strategies to guarantee a successful distance learning phase. Availability of educational technology, mastery of learning environment tools and teacher-student readiness to deal with the new teaching and learning procedures represent extraordinary challenges for Moroccan educational system. In this context, the present paper aims at analyzing challenges encountered by public high school students during distance learning experience. Those challenges are related to home situation, course and technology use, and distance learning platforms. It also sheds light on opportunities offered to students through online learning that allow them to improve their technical skills, enhance their learning abilities and promote their learning strategies. Despite the challenges encountered by high school students, the study reveals interesting opportunities which have made the students benefit from distance learning and created an urgent need to reconsider the national policy of ICT implementation in education.