Distance Learning Support Measures for Teachers in Poland during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic made higher education institutions switch to distance learning in a very short period of time. The situation was challenging not only for universities themselves but also for the students and teachers. Some universities did not have the means, in terms of infrastructure, for a smooth transition to distance learning. Some teachers were not prepared for the extensive usage of ICT in their work. The pandemic developed dynamically, and it made it extremely difficult for both governments and universities to plan and implement firm solutions on how to conduct the teaching process. The presented paper focuses on the situation of Polish higher education institutions between March 2020 and March 2022. It reviews legal acts and ordinances introduced in the stated period, which focused on the sustainability of the teaching process, countermeasures for the spread of COVID-19 and the implementation of distance learning. The case of the University of Economics in Katowice, Poland, is used to show the correlation between governmental legal acts and those introduced by the university as part of the COVID-19 spread prevention and teaching process support.