Distance learning during CoviD - 19 pandemic: Students' perspectives

Abstract

Traditional distance learning/education has been studied for decades, however, emergency remote teaching/ learning during pandemic or distance learning during coronavirus crisis requires careful analysis from teachers' and students' perspectives. The primary research with cross-country comparative analysis and multivariate technique aimed to identify the University students' learning experience during the Covid-19 pandemic: challengers students face this period, the perceptions of the convenience of emergency distance learning, and the motivation to distance learning in future education. It was conducted among the Czech and Russian students in December 2020 (total: 250 students of 5 universities). The study confirmed that students face several technical and nontechnical problems. About 26 % of all respondents feel not comfortable, notifying that the overall complexity of their study with the transition to emergency remote education increased. More than 63% of respondents state that they easily adapted to the conditions of distance learning during the pandemic. In general, students are satisfied with online/distance learning when: the teacher is adaptable to a new practice of e-teaching, good in digital skills and creativity to keep students engaged, and when the students are informed about education changes in time. Almost 60% of students would prefer blended learning, combining face-to-face and online education after the pandemic, and in the future of higher education. The findings of the research are of benefit to higher education policymakers and all educational actors: University managers, teachers, students.