FORCED INNOVATION IN A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCE OF DISTANCE LEARNING DURING THE PANDEMIC

Abstract

Yesterday's situation in the universities of the world is distance teaching and learning during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Mass distance teaching and learning practices were uncommon before the pandemic. Therefore, it can be argued that the scientific sources that analyze distance teaching and learning were intended to discuss the experiences and attitudes of technology enthusiasts and visionaries. The article aims at discussing the students’ distance learning experience during the pandemic, treating this experience as a kind of forced innovation. The participants of the research are the first-year English-speaking students at the X University of Lithuania (N = 110). The study revealed the diversity of the pandemic distance learning experience, the positive and negative aspects of this extreme situation, from which lessons can be learned, and the perspective of further distance teaching and learning for university teachers, IT professionals, and students.