O1: Survey of the needs of instructors and students. by M&M Profuture Training, S.L.

DIGITAL EDUCATION IN THE ERA OF COVID-19 FINDINGS ON THE NEEDS OF UNIVERSITY INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS Anetta Čaplánová, Estera Szakadátová and Ľubomír Darmo (Editors)

DIGITAL EDUCATION IN THE ERA OF COVID-19

M&M Profuture Training, S.L., Spain, 2021

Anetta Čaplánová, Estera Szakadátová and Ľubomír Darmo (Editors)

FINDINGS ON THE NEEDS OF UNIVERSITY INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS

Edited by: Anetta Čaplánová, Estera Szakadátová and Ľubomír Darmo

This publication was prepared in the framework of the project

Collaboration for Effective Digital Education (D-COLLAB)

FINDINGS ON THE NEEDS OF UNIVERSITY INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS

DIGITAL EDUCATION IN THE ERA OF COVID-19

Erasmus+ KA2 Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

KA226 Partnership for Digital Education Readinesss

The text was not language edited. The ideas expressed in this publication are those of the authors and any remaining mistatkes are their sole responsibility. In case of any commnets, a reader is required to contact the editors.

Published by: M&M Profuture Training, S.L. (Spain), 2021

ISBN 978-84-09-35002-5

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Project Ref. No.: 2020 1 SK01 KA226 HE 094384

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Darmo, Ľubomír; University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia Chapter 1 Garulla, Daniele; FOR SRL, Italy ………………………………………….. Chapter 4 Moreno, Mónica; M&M Profuture Training, Spain Chapter 2

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REVIEWERS

AUTHORS

The manuscript was not language edited. Any remaining language and contextual mistakes are the responsibility of the authors of respective chapters.

Alexandra Jurkovičová, MSc; University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia Prof. María Ruiz Ortiz; VIU, Spain

Anastasiou, Maria; University of Cyprus, Cyprus Chapter 3 Čaplánová, Anetta; University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia Chapter 1

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Photiades, Thomas; University of Cyprus, Cyprus Chapter 3 Szakadátová, Estera; University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia Chapter 1 Yeratziotis, Alexandros; University of Cyprus, Cyprus Chapter 3

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Chapter 4 The shift to online learning and students with special needs problems, needs and ways to address them

....................................................................................................... 12

1.5. Conclusions

2.1. Introduction Review of relevant literature Results

81 3.4.

1.4. Results of the analysis of students’ attitudes

.................................................................................................................. 72 3.2.

................................................................ 25

.......................................................................................................................... 48

4.1. Introduction Review of relevant literature

........................................................................................................ 25

48 2.3.2.

2.3.1. Experience with online education.......................................................................... Digital learning experience at the University Lessons learned and Conclusion...................................................................................

1.3.3. Teaching staff

1.1. Introduction 12

1.2. Review of relevant literature

.................................................................................................................. 42 2.2.

73 3.3.

1.3.1. Student population Students with special needs

3.1. Introduction Review of relevant literature Results Students Teachers Conclusions

88 4.2.

1.3. Structure of students and academic staff at the University of Economics in Bratislava

................................................................................................................. 76 3.3.2.

Chapter 3 The perceptions of academics and students with the use of online instruction problems and needs (eLearning Technologies) 72

............................................................................................................................................. 19

FOREWORD

........................................................................................ 44 2.3.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

.................................................................................................................. 84

Chapter 1 The experience of academics and students with the transition to online instruction problems and perspectives

........................................................................................................................... 11

Chapter 2 The reflection of academics and students on the online instruction problems and needs (eLearning Methodologies)

........................................................................................ 13

................................................................................................. 19 1.3.2.

.......................................................................................................................... 76 3.3.1.

........................................................ 54 2.4.

4.3. Survey results the experience of students with special needs with online learning .. 91 4.3.1. Overall Experience with online learning 92

4.3.2. Digital learning experience 97

Annex 2 Questionnaire for teaching staff 115

Annex 3 Questionnaire for students with special needs 122

4.3.3. Worries/Negative aspects of digital learning....................................................... 102 4.4. Conclusions and discussion 103

Annex 1 Questionnaire for students 107

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Table 1.2. Structure of students at individual faculties of the University of Economics in Bratislava undergraduate level of study 20

Table 1.1. Structure of students at individual faculties of the University of Economics in Bratislava all levels of study 19

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1. Categories and number of students with disabilities 92

Table 1.6. Students with special needs studying at individual faculties of the University of Economics in Bratislava (numbers, academic year 2020/21) 22

Table 1.10. Descriptive statistics 26

Table 1.4. Structure of students at individual faculties of the University of Economics in Bratislava PhD. level of study 21

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Table 1.8. Overview of support services provided to students with special needs according to the type of disability (academic year 2020/2021) 23

Table 1.7. Students with special needs at the University of Economics in Bratislava by the type of disability (numbers, academic year 2020/21) 22

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Table 1.5. Structure of foreign students at individual faculties of the University of Economics in Bratislava 21

Table 1.3. Structure of students at individual faculties of the University of Economics in Bratislava master level of study............................................................................................ 20

Table 1.9. Structure of the teaching staff at individual faculties of the University of Economics in Bratislava 25

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Figure 1.1. Preferred teaching method by the degree of study (number of students) ............. 27

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Figure 3.1. Devices used by students during pandemic period for teaching purposes ............ 76

Figure 3.4. How easy is to use the remote learning tools provided by university? ................. 79

Figure 3.7. Effectiveness of online tools and features 81

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Figure 3.2. Preferences of students 77

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Figure 1.4. How difficult was using programmes used during online education? 32

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Figure 2.17. Have you received adequate technical support and training at your university? (students) 64

Figure 3.3. Top resons to enjoy online learning 78

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.6. Digital approaches that motivate to learn.............................................................. 80

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Figure 1.2. The perceived effectiveness of remote learning compared to traditional (on site) teaching by the degree of study (number of students). 29

Figure 2.12. Methods students engage to learn digitally in percentage points (students)(in percent). 61

Figure 2.16. Biggest barrier in effectively learning online from home (students). ................. 64

Figure 2.2. (students) Preferred teaching method (regular, hybrid, or online classes) 48

Figure 2.11. Development of a unique personal teaching strategy during the distance learning hours (academics). 59

Figure 2.3. (students) Effectiveness of remote learning compared to traditional instruction . 50

Figure 2.14. Preferred method for clearing doubts (students). ................................................ 62

Figure 3.8. Digital skills before the pandemic and presently .................................................. 82

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Figure 2.6. Method used for integrating the teaching material in percentage points (academics) (in percentage). 53

Figure 3.5. Methods, students are engaged with to learn digitally 79

Figure 1.3. Average daily time spent on distance learning (percentage points) ...................... 31

Figure 3.9. Need of training/consultation 83

Figure 2.13. Which of the digital collaborations enables you to work on a specific task at ease? (students) 61

Figure 2.1. The degree of inclusion of disadvantaged studnets in selected European countries 47

Figure 1.5. How helpful was the university in providing resources to learn from home? (Number of students) 33

Figure 1.7. What factors hindered the effectiveness of studying during online education? (Number of students) 35

Figure 2.9. How helpful was the university in providing resources to learning from home? (students) 55

Figure 1.6. Preferred working methods by students (number of students). 34

Figure 2.5. Participation in online training courses for distance learning (academics)........... 52

Figure 2.7. Academics’ preferred teaching methods (in percentage). ..................................... 53

Figure 2.10. Strategy used to involve less enterprising students in percentage points (academics) (in percent). 58

Figure 2.15. Need of training / consultancy (academics). 63

Figure 2.4. Reasons why distance learning is the preferred mode of instruction (students). .. 52

Figure 2.8. Difficulty for using the distance learning programs facilitated by the university (students). 54

Figure 4.2. Deviced used in distance learning (number of students) 93

Figure 4.11. What is your most preferred method for clearing doubts/unclear points about the material covered in the online learning process? (in percentage) 101

Figure 4.8. Which methods do you personally engage with to learn digitally? 99

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Figure 4.12. Considering only online services, or features that you have used during your online studies at you University, which specific features work well for you? (number of students) 102

Figure 4.6. How easy is it for you to use the remote learning tools your university provides?(in percentage).......................................................................................................... 97

Figure 4.9. Which teaching method do you think is most attractive? (number of students) . 100

Figure 4.13. My lecturers/teachers have ensured sufficient accessibility to online learning materials for me 103

Figure 4.1. How much have you learnt during remote learning compared to regular school instruction? 93

Figure 4.5. Rank the top three reasons you enjoy online learning for 96

Figure 4.3. Do you prefer regular, hybrid, or online classes (in percentage) 94

Figure 4.4. Effectiveness of distance learning (in percentage) 95

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Figure 4.10. Which methods do you personally engage in to learn digitally? (in percentage)100

Figure 4.7. How helpful your University has been in offering you the resource to learn from home? (in percentage) 98

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LIST OF BOXES

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Box 2.5. Type of missing resources 65

Box 2.3. Recommendations and comments by students on how to improve study resources 56

Box 2.4. How can university improve its support? 57

Box 2.1. Positive methodological aspects of eLearning 50

Box 1.1. Suggestions for improvement 37

FOREWORD

Anetta Čaplánová

Even though the data used in the analysis are based on the responses of university students and academics in economics and business programmes, we believe that they are also relevant for other social science and humanity study fields. We hope that this publication will provide inspiration for the design and redesign of difgital teaching and will help to improve its quality not only during the times when digital teaching becomes a necessity due to extraordinary circumstances such as Covid 19 pandemic, but also when (re)designing standard distance learning study programmes.

The pandemic of Covid 19 affected the education sector and led to an increased use of digital teaching and learning at all levels of formal education. After over a year of experience with online teaching and learning it is possible to draw conclusions about its effective and less effective aspects. This publication presents the results of the original reseach carried out by the authors and supported by the Erasmus+ strategic partnership project. The data used in this study were collected among the students and academics at the University of Economics in Bratislava in June 2021, i.e., after they had a three semester experience with online learning and teaching. During this period the teaching was carried out fully in an online mode at the University of Economics in Bratislava

The volume focuses on methodological as well as technological aspects of digital teaching and learning and studies the perceptions of academic staff and students at different levels of higher education studies regarding online education and reflects their individual views. Specific attention is paid to students with special needs and the challenges they faced in their studies during the Covid 19 period. It is the aim of the authors to bring the outcomes of this research to readers and to help them not only to understand the experience of academics and students during the pandemic, but, in the first place, to illuminate the needs they faced, the support they lacked and still need, and thus, to indicate the pathways for further development and improvement of online teaching and learning.

On behalf of editors

1.1. Introduction

Up to 31st May 2021, there were 23 countries with full school closures, more than 2.02 billion students experienced long or short interruptions in their learning such as school closures with learning from home, school closures without learning and social distanced learning at the school premises (UNESCO, 2021). According to UNESCO, schooling disruption caused by the pandemic affected 91% of the world’s student population, and these students were exposed

Chapter

Since the pandemic outbreak, governments have introduced measures aimed to decrease the spread of the coronavirus SARS COV 19. One of the measures widely implemented has been predominantly linked to social distancing. As a result of social distancing measures, many activities had to be cancelled or moved to the remote environment and many of them took place online. This has also affected the education sector, where educators and students had to adapt, more or less, from day to day to online, distance teaching and learning. For most of them this has been a challenge, since in many schools the distance learning has been very limited, or it did not exist before. Even though these were especially elementary, or secondary schools, which were adversely affected, also many universities and higher education institutions were taken by surprise by the need to switch from the onsite to the online mode from one day to another. It has been discussed what effects this change would have on relevant stakeholders, students and teachers, but also on the future of the provision of education services. The longterm impact of the Covid 19 pandemic still remains to be studied and assessed, however, after over a year since the onset of the first wave of the pandemic, we can identify first lessons from the transition to online learning and use them for the sake of improving the student experience in the future, should the need to keep learning in the remote, digital, form continue. This study can also help teachers, administrators and managers to develop more efficient distance learning programmes as an alternative to onsite teaching and learning.

Anetta Čaplánová, Estera Szakadátová, Ľubomír Darmo

The experience of academics and students with the transition to online instruction problems and perspectives

1.2. Review of relevant literature

to the risk of falling behind in their learning. Here, we consider the experience with remote learning in higher education using data collected at the University of Economics in Bratislava.1 The study is based on the data collected at the University if Economics in Bratislava in May 2021. The findings are based on the feedback obtained from students and academics they present their views after virtually three semesters of online instruction.2 This study is structured as follows. In the next part, we review the relevant literature, then we present findings from the analysis of different stakeholder groups. Finally, we conclude the study with the discussion and concluding remarks.

Even though distance learning does not represent a new modality of education (Jin, Lin, Zhao, Yu, & Su, 2021; Pokhrel & Chhetri, 2021), the sudden shift from school based learning to online or distance learning has brought a new challenge to affected stakeholders. As a consequence of Covid 19 pandemic teachers had to switch to the remote delivery of teaching, many of them suffered from mental stress including alienated, anxiety, lack of confidence, lack of trust and depression (Asha, Mahesh, Vivek, & Suresh, 2021). As for students, the online learning is linked to many issues, which need to be discussed and addressed, such as how to sustain students’ concentration, reduce excessive screen usage, the absence of hands on experience, lack of interactive personal exchange, lack of access to learning resources and others (Dhawan, 2020, Murray, Holt, & Lesley, 2021; Adedoyin & Soykan,The2020).move to remote learning has also negative effects on students’ and lecturers’ mental health. Studies have shown anxiety and depression to be intensified with the growing uncertainty that was brought about by the Covid 19 pandemic. Remote education has restrained students’ interactions with their peers and friends. This led them to feel increasingly lonely and affected adversely their psychological wellbeing, which is shown to have negative impact on their educational outcomes (de Oliveira Araújo et al., 2020). Al Rabiaah et al. (2020) and Kafka (2020) highlight that the uncertainty and anxiety brought about by the Covid 19 pandemic has contributed to the increased stress levels of students which can

1 The University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia, is a public research university providing higher education at all three levels of higher education studies in economics and business.

2 When the first wave of pandemic started the summer term of academic year 2019/20 was in its fourth week and since the instruction continued fully in the online form until the end of academic year 2020/21.

To keep students safe from the COVID 19 pandemic, the traditional face to face education was replaced by the modality of online delivery by using information and communication technology. The globally and frequently applied ICT technologies include 1) online video and audio conferencing, such as WebEx®, Microsoft Teams®, Zoom®, Google Classroom® or Google Meet®; 2) readily record online platforms for course delivery, quiz, assignment, and feedback, such as Moodle®, Nearpod® and Purple Mash® (Arja, et al., 2021); 3) also, popular social media were used for more informal forms of instruction, questions and answers, such as Telegram®, Messenger®, or WhatsApp®, 4) and other supporting resources such as YouTube® (Pokhrel & Chhetri, 2021). From the point of view of the management of class, there exist two types of online learning, synchronological and asynchronological. An important function in ICT is integrated learning. Using it staff members are able to use technologies and technological gadgets to enhance online learning that is the necessity in time of lockdowns (Ali, 2020).

From among many questions related to online learning, perhaps, one of the most frequently discussed is the impact of online learning on students. Case studies from the developed European countries showed relatively positive impact of distance learning on students. According to a survey about students’ expectations and their experience in the Netherlands, 70% of higher education students were satisfied with distance learning and indicated that they considered it as sufficient and more than sufficient, while only 30% of the students thought that online learning was insufficient (Suleri, 2020). A study from Norway by Bubb & Jones (2020) found that 63% of surveyed Grade 5 to 10 students gained more independence from their online learning experience, all students were trained and ready to use Microsoft Teams® for video conference mode on their tablets or laptops, 40 percent thought that they had improved their skills to use the technology. The observational online study by Kovacs et al (2021) from 10 countries including Germany, Hungary, France, Slovakia, Russian Federation, Poland, Italy, Spain, Romania, and Portugal, studying the experience of students aged 6 18 years focused on physical education. Their results showed that 66.4 percent of the students followed structured timetable on weekdays, and more than half were active

14 adversely affect students’ mental health. Moreover, stress and anxiety are intensified for international students (Zhai and Du, 2020). The pandemic may also have negative impact on the careers of graduates who are experiencing significant interruptions in teaching during the final months of their studies. In addition, due to the disruptions on the labour market, students graduating during the pandemic can face difficulties of finding a job due to the changes in the economy and the labour market (Sahu, 2020).

Davis, et al. (2021) found that parents with children who struggled with distance learning experienced elevated mental distress and argued for the importance of supporting parents during the period of pandemic school measures to improve students’ schooling. Aristovnik, et al. (2020) carried out a study of students’ perceptions about the impact of Covid 19 pandemic on several aspects of their lives. The study captures more than 30 thousand

during online physical education classes. Parents of these students confirmed that for 69.5 percent of them the screen time exceeding 2 hours per day. According to this study roughly two months after the Covid 19 pandemic was declared, only 1 in 5 children met the WHO Global physical activity recommendations. As a consequence, they suggest that the decision makers mandate online physical education to be delivered by schools during the distance learning period. Also, the closing of outdoor facilities for physical activity should be considered only as the last resort during lockdowns. In the U.K, many children have experienced severe loss of schooling due to Covid 19. According to Holt & Murray (2021) the students were unequally impacted by the transition to online learning, some of them claiming to be unready for this mode of learning and were frustrated by the decreased social life and outdoor activities due to a 6 month lockdown. In the U.S, the switch to exclusively an online learning mode has led to the decline in total learning time, which is perceived to negatively affect the whole child development (García & Weiss, 2020). Their report also points out that consistent internet and computer access and personalized instructions are key elements of effective online learning. Especially at lower levels of education, a switch to distance and digital learning had a strong effect on parents of children in the education system. Daniela, Rubene & Rūdolfa (2021) analysed the results of a study in Latvia that looked at the use of digital tools by schools to support their learning. In particular they studied the views of parents of elementary and high school students. The authors found that the parents became learning agents to support their children during their studies. In this regard, the parents highlighted that they would have liked to receive more support from the educators so that they can better understand and support their children. This study also suggests that when parents do not have the relevant knowledge and skills to use the digital technologies, their children are more prone to experience the risks of falling behind compared to other students. Bubb & Jones (2020) explored the views of pupils, parents/carers and teachers of ‘home school’ in a Norwegian municipality gathered through parallel online surveys in April 2020 during the peak of the Covid 19 lockdown period. They found that the adaptation happened very quickly and that home school was well received by pupils and parents. There was more creative learning, better progress, more useful feedback and greater student independence.

students from 62 countries that have responded to online questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 39 questions focused on different aspects of higher education as academic work, academic life, social life, change in habits, emotional life, personal circumstances and the role of institutions. For the purpose of this report, we focus on the results focused on academic work and academic life. The results related to academic work suggest that about one third of students reported lower or significantly lower workload as face to face learning, about one fifth of students reported similar workload and about 42 percent of students experienced larger or significantly larger workload. Higher workload was recorded mainly in Oceania, Europe and North America, while the workload in South America, Asia and Africa was perceived as lower (Aristovnik, et al., 2020). Questions related to economic life were focused on the availability of infrastructure and computer skills. The study has shown that most of the students use notebooks and computers for online learning. However, sufficient internet connection was reported by only about 60 percent of students and even only 29.2 percent in Africa. Not surprisingly, the students self reported their highest concern and the least developed skills related to advanced settings of some programmes and the use of online teaching platforms (Aristovnik, et al., 2020).

Needless to say, the switch to online learning affected substantially also teachers and educators in general. It might be claimed that with the increased availability of the teaching resources and educational technologies, teaching online has become convenient and flexible (Arja, et al., 2021). About 40 percent of Norwegian teachers perceived that that they had improved their skills by applying digital tools and 80 percent of them claimed to achieve the improvement of these skills through training and daily application, many teachers planned to continue e conferencing, or giving online feedback even after the pandemic (Bubb & Jones, 2020). Nevertheless, when switching from onsite to online learning teachers also faced certain challenges. One of the obstacles is linked to using e learning platforms and their availability. It was shown that educators prefer to use e learning platforms that are widely available and were found not to be satisfied with features or facilities of the e learning systems available at their universities (Irfan, Kusumaningrum, Yulia & Widodo, 2020). This research was carried out among lecturers with specialisation in the field of mathematics at Indonesian universities. These lecturers faced a challenge related to the ways of presenting materials that include mathematical equations or programming languages to students

Even though the use of online teaching and learning increased due to the Covid 19 pandemic, this type of education has also the potential to globally open up access to education and it helps to decreas the cost and increase the flexibility of learning for students. In addition,

it allows to adapt the study programmes to meet students’ demands. However, there have been several concerns related to online teaching during the pandemic. As mentioned above, the accessibility and affordability of basic infrastructure including technical devices (such as smartphones, tablets or computers), reliable and sufficiently fast internet and other educational resources have been critical. Once the infrastructure was built and became generally accessible, the conditions for providing online education, possibly also after the pandemic, have improved. In their study of the experience of three UAE higher education institutions, Ashour, El Refae, & Zaitoun (2021) found that many lessons learnt during the period of forced adoption of distance education will continue to be used by the universities to enhance and expand the provision of online learning. This shift will be driven by investments that the universities have made in distance education and the increased familiarity of students, staff and institutions with e learning. The participants of this study foresee that more sophisticated forms of hybrid campuses will become a more appropriate model for the future of higher education.Also, the fact that online learning requires appropriate teaching approaches and adjustments of teaching methods that would be used during face to face instruction is also to be noted. This is especially true for subjects which are practically focused, such as medical education. However, in their study of the first two years of university medical education, Arja, et al. (2021) pointed out that online education of medical students during first two years of their studies led to the achievement of expected learning outcomes. They considered flexibility, time savings and comfort as advantages of online education, on the other hand, they pointed out that technical challenges, lack of motivation and of personal interaction as well as limitations on lab and hands on experiences represent principal disadvantages of online learning.Based on the discussed impacts on and concerns regarding online education, the pursuit of the quality of online learning has been under heated discussion. Quality is usually perceived in connection to the achievement of specified goals and objectives. Even though adequate comparative insights on the quality of online learning vs. face to face learning still need to be established, the quality of online instruction has been addressed by the literature. Saxena et al. (2021) use the data from the empirical study of 435 university students in India. In their research they use a conceptual model for understanding the variables influencing e learning quality and learner satisfaction in a setting where social distancing is maintained. The results suggest that assurance, reliability, responsiveness, and website content all influence the e learning quality, which has strong impact on learners’ satisfaction. Regarding the quality of

online learning, Bowers & Kumar (2015) identified the negative impact of lack of social and teacher interaction in online classes. This lead to high dropout rates of students in the online learning environment as authors consider it as a major factor leading to student attrition. Their study compares the perceptions of social and teacher presence in the classroom by comparing the feedback from 34 students enrolled in online courses and 29 students enrolled in face to face courses. With regard to the perception of social presence, two out of three dimensions were found significantly stronger in online classes (linked to open communication, group cohesion) in comparison to face to face classes. In case of the teaching presence (linked to the design & organization, facilitation, direction), also all these three dimensions had significantly higher perceptions in online classes.

One of the ways, how to assess the outcomes of learning is grade based learning outcomes. The study by Cavanaugh & Jacquemin (2015) focused on the comparison of student performance in face to face and online courses in terms of GPA (Grade Points Average) on a sample of 5000 courses provided by over 100 teachers during the period of 10 academic terms. The results of the multiple regression model showed that on a 4 point scale the difference in the GPA between online and face to face courses was only 0.07 points. Authors concluded that considering various courses, the university level and provision of online versus face to face courses, students’ performance did not differentiate. Similar results, i.e. no significant differences in achieved test score on assignments, or final grades between two modes of provision of the course were found in the study by Neuhauser (2002). The study compares one section of the course that was provided online with the second one that was taught face to face. Moreover, more than 96 percent of students considered an online course to be either the same or even more effective as the traditional face to face course. To assess the impact of online learning on student outcomes, Xu & Jaggars (2013) estimated the impact of online versus face to face course delivery on student performance. They used the dataset from 34 community and technical collages and concluded that there was not any difference related to the persistence and course grade between online and face to face courses in the community college setting. In order to provide effective online courses, crucial factors are considered to be the technology, e.g., an ease of access and navigation, the interface design, the level of interaction; instructors’ attitudes towards students, their technical competences, classroom interaction, and previous use of technology by students (Volery & Lord, 2000).

An urgent need to shift from onsite to online teaching has brought several challenges as we mentioned in the previous text. One of them is additional workload on teachers brought about by the need for preparation of new course materials suitable for the new online

Faculty No. of students in class form of study of students distance form of study

environment and the necessity to change the methodology of teaching so that it is compatible with and allows to use the online platforms efficiently. This is supported by the study of Tomei (2006), who analysed the impact of online teaching on the faculty workload and computes an ideal class size for online courses. Tomei concluded that online teaching required a minimum of 14 percent more of instruction time compared to the traditional instruction, most of which was spent on presenting instructional content (Tomei, 2006). The ideal size of the traditional class was estimated to be 17 students, for an online class it was estimated to be 12 students.

Table 1 1.

1.3. Structure of students and academic staff at the University of Economics in Bratislava

Faculty of Commerce 1 305 135

Faculty of Economic Informatics 1 266 35

1.3.1. Student population

No.

Faculty of National Economy 1 431 173

By the October 31st, 2020, 7 404 students studied at the University of Economics in Bratislava within its 7 faculties at all three levels of the study. Students were enrolled to 18 study programs at the undergraduate level of the study, to 26 study programs at the master level of the study and to 12 PhD study programs. The number of programmes that the university is offering is higher, however, there are no students enrolled in some programmes.

The structure of students at individual faculties of the University of Economics in Bratislava is summarised in the tables below

Most of the students studied onsite, respectively in class form of study. At the bachelor level of study, 4 863 students were enrolled, representing 65.58 percent of all students. Within these students, 194 students studied a distance form of study. Altogether with the master and PhD study programs, only 6.56 percent of students (486 students) decided to study in a distance form at all three levels of study. Master level programs were attended by 2 343 students, representing 31.65 percent of all students. Among them, 214 students studied in a distance form of study. PhD study programs were studied by 198 students (2.67 percent of all students). 78 of these students decided to study in a distance form of study.

Structure of students at individual faculties of the University of Economics in Bratislava all levels of study

Faculty of International Relations 589 12

Table 1.2.

Faculty No. of students in-class form of study No. of students distance form of study

Faculty of Economic Informatics 820 0 Faculty of ManagementBusiness 1040 0

Source: University of Economics in Bratislava, 2021.

Faculty of International Relations 434 0

Table 1.3

Total 2 129 214

Faculty of ManagementBusiness 1 466 42

Source: University of Economics in Bratislava, 2021.

Structure of students at individual faculties of the University of Economics in Bratislava master level of study

Faculty of Applied Languages 86 0 Faculty of Business Economy 196 28

Total 4 669 194

Faculty of International Relations 142 0

Faculty No. of students in class form of study No. of students distance form of study

Structure of students at individual faculties of the University of Economics in Bratislava undergraduate level of study

Faculty of Applied Languages 212 0 Faculty of Business Economy 649 89

Total 6 918 486

Faculty of Applied Languages 126 0 Faculty of Business Economy 438 56

Faculty of National Economy 419 51 Faculty of Commerce 455 88 Faculty of Economic Informatics 424 28 Faculty of ManagementBusiness 407 19

Faculty of National Economy 982 104 Faculty of Commerce 829 34

Structure of students at individual faculties of the University of Economics in Bratislava PhD. level of study

Faculty of National Economy 30 18

Total 120 78

Faculty of National Economy 1 24 1 2 26 1 3 0 1

Source: University of Economics in Bratislava, 2021.

Faculty of International Relations 13 12

Faculty of Applied Languages 0 0

Faculty of Economic Informatics 22 7

Faculty of InformaticsEconomic 1 12 0 2 13 0 3 0 1

Table 1.4

Faculty No. of students in class form of study No. of students distance form of study

Faculty of Commerce 21 13

Faculty of ManagementBusiness 19 23

It is important fot the university to be attractive for foreign students during the internationalization processes. There were 298 foreign students studying at the University of Economics in Bratislava in 2020. 267 students studied in in class form of study and 31 foreign students in a distance form of study. In undergraduate study programmes there were 159 students enrolled in in class form and 3 students in a distance form of study. At the master level, 107 students were enrolled in in class and 1 student in distance for ofm study. PhD programmes were studied by 1 foreign student in class and by 27 students in a distance learning form. The summary of the structure of foreign students at individual levels of study can be found in the Table 1.5 below.

Structure of foreign students at individual faculties of the University of Economics in Bratislava

Faculty of Commerce 1 38 0 2 34 0 3 0 3

Table 1.5

Faculty Level of study No. of students in class form of study No. of students distance form of study

Faculty of ManagementBusiness 1 49 0 2 16 0 3 1 14

Faculty of Business Economy 15 5

Total 267 31

Students with special needs studying at individual faculties of the University of Economics in Bratislava (numbers, academic year 2020/21)

1.3.2. Students with special needs

Faculty of National Economy 7 2

Table 1.7.

Faculty of Business Economy 1 4 2 2 4 0 3 0 0

Faculty of Commerce 4 0

Number of students Students with multiple disabilities

There were 32 students with special needs registered at the University of Economics in Bratislava in the academic year 2020/2021, 8 of them had multiple disabilities. Tables 1.6 and 1.7 provide the overview of the number of students with special needs at the University of Economics in Bratislava according to individual faculties and the nature of impairment in the academic year 2020/21. In recent years, the University focused on wider provision of focused services to these students and creating necessary infrastructure they need. The overview of special services to students with different type of impairment is provided in Table 1.8.

Faculty

Faculty of Economic Informatics 10 2

Faculty of LanguagesApplied 1 3 0 2 1 0 3 0 0

Source: Office for students with special needs, University of Economics in Bratislava.

Type of disability No. of students

Faculty of Business Economy 3 0

Faculty of International Relations 1 29 0 2 13 0 3 0 8

Faculty of ManagementBusiness 6 3

Faculty of International Relations 2 1

Total 32 8

Hearing disorders (hard of hearing, deaf) 3

Source: University of Economics in Bratislava, 2021.

Table 1.6

Faculty of Applied Languages 0 0

Students with special needs at the University of Economics in Bratislava by the type of disability (numbers, academic year 2020/21)

• support in providing study materials in an adequate form

Health impairment 3

Lower limps impairment 5

• documenting and processing notes from lectures and seminars

• orientation training for the use of university premises

• counselling services

• sign language interpretation

• extended duration of the period for borrowing of literature from the Slovak Economic Library

• counselling services

• teaching in barrier free premises

Type of disability

• transportation services (taxi service)

• individual schedule to accomplish study tasks under the predetermined conditions with the possibility of the use of alternative forms

• assistance technologies for students with visual impairments (braille display, screen reader)

Source: Office for students with special needs, University of Economics in Bratislava.

Overview of support services provided to students with special needs according to the type of disability (academic year 2020/2021)

• students assistance (shopping, adminstration, etc.)

Learning disabilities 10

Lower and upper limps impairment

• individual schedule to accomplish study tasks under predetermined conditions with the possibility of alternative forms

Mental illness 4

• individual teaching of selected courses

• individual schedule to accomplish study tasks under predetermined conditions with the possibility of using alternative forms

• extended time for midterm and final exams

Table 1.8

• combination of oral and written exams

• extended time for midterm and final exams

• accommodation in the dormitory

Vision disorders

Vision disorders (visually impaired, blind) 5

Hearing disorders

Upper limbs impairment 2

Total 40

• individual teaching of selected courses

• combination of oral and written exams

• documenting and processing notes from lectures and seminars

• barrier free access to the Slovak Economic Library

• accommodation in the dormitory

Type of support services provided

Chronic disease 8

• extended duration of the period for borrowing of literature from the Slovak Economic Library

Source: Office for students with special needs, University of Economics in Bratislava.

All students with special needs benefit from the availability of a large scanning device for the transformation of texts into electronic form on the premises of the Slovak Economic Library. The facility is operated by the library staff. At the university, a special classroom for the purpose of teaching students with special needs is equipped with assistance technologies and special IT technology/equipment. Laptops, tablets, graphics pads, scanning pens, audio amplifiers are at their disposal. These compensating aids are also available for students to borrow during the academic year.

Mental illness

• individual schedule for study tasks under predetermined conditions

• extended duration of study literature borrowing in the Slovak Economic Library

• accommodation in the dormitory in a barrier free rooms

• extended time for hand in of assignments according to the degree of learning disability

• counselling services

• documenting and processing notes from lectures and seminars

• support in providing study literature, materials from lectures and assignments from seminars from the teacher

Chronic and health impairment

• borrowing literature from the Slovak Economic Library for a longer time period

• reserved parking

Learning disabilities

The University of Economics in Bratislava also provides students with additional support services, in particular, individual teaching of foreign languages for students with

• individual schedule of study commitments under predetermined conditions

• flexible deadlines for tasks submissions and tasks assessment under predetermined conditions

• support in providing study literature, materials from lectures and assignments from seminars from academic staff

• assistance with the work with catalogues in library

• assistance provided to students (shopping, etc.)

• documenting and processing notes from lectures and seminars

• counselling services

• dietary meals

• transportation services

• borrowing literature from the Slovak Economic Library for a longer time period

• consulting services

• extended time for midterm and final exams

• counselling services

• individual consultations

• individual schedule for study tasks under predetermined conditions

Table 1.9.

Faculty of ManagementBusiness 8 21 50 0 0 0 79 Faculty RelationsInternationalof 1 7 22 0 0 0 30

Structure of the teaching staff at individual faculties of the University of Economics in Bratislava

Faculty of LanguagesApplied 1 6 39 2 0 9 57

Faculty of Business Economy 4 10 24 0 0 1 39 Center of physical education and sports 0 0 2 9 0 0 11

1.4. Results of the analysis of students’ attitudes

In this part, we present the results of the survey that was carried out at the end of 2020/21 academic year among students. During this academic year, the instruction was fully online. Overall, 254 students of the University of Economics in Bratislava participated in this survey. The responses allow us to determine what were students’ experiences with online learning and

Total 38 105 283 12 1 14 453 Source: University of Economics in Bratislava, 2021.

Faculty Prof. Assoc.prof. Assist. prof. (with PhD.) Assist.prof. Assistant Lecturer TOTAL Faculty of National Economy 13 20 58 0 0 3 94 Faculty Commerceof 3 18 48 0 0 1 73 Faculty InformaticsEconomicof 5 23 40 1 1 0 70

The University of Economics in Bratislava has 931 employees (as of December 31, 2020). Among these employees, 453 employees are academic staff (i.e., professors, associate professors, assistant professors and lecturers). The structure of the teaching staff is summarized in Table 1.9.

1.3.3. Teaching staff

learning disabilities and students with long term illness, thematic workshops focused on promoting and improvement of their soft skills, student assistance.

Sample size (N) 254

Size of the city of residence < 1 999 residents 18 2 000 4 999 residents 14 5 000 9 999 residents 11 10 000 19 999 residents 8 20 000 49 999 residents 19 50 000 99 999 residents 12 100 000 < residents 18

Bratislava region 35 Trnava region 14 Nitra region 12 Trenčín region 10 Banská Bystrica region 4 Žilina region 11 Prešov region 10 Košice region 4

(inProportionpercentages)

Region of residence during the period of distance learning

Degree of study Bachelor 72 Master 22 Doctoral 6

In our sample, women represent 68 percent of respondents. Table 1.10 suggests that the majority of students in the sample live in the western, more economically developed part of Slovakia, with most of the respondents living in the Bratislava region. However, considering the size of the city (the population of the city of residence), the number of students living in different sizes of cities does not differ greatly. The sample contains responses from students of all three levels of education 72 percent of the students in our sample are bachelor students, followed by master’s degree students (22 percent), and doctoral students represent the minority in our sample (6 percent).

Gender Woman 68 Man 32

Source: Original data collected by authors.

how has the distance/online learning affected their learning outcomes. In addition, this survey helps us to identify difficulties that the students faced during this period and the ways how online education could be improved in the future.

Table Descriptive1.10statistics

Preferred teaching method by the degree of study (number of students)

Bachelor's degree

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Master's degree

Hybrid approach Traditional (on site) teaching

Note: The sample size for bachelor’s degree is 182 students, for master’s degree 57 students and for doctoral degree 15 students.

Source: Original data collected by authors.

Doctoral

Figure 1.1. shows respondents’ preferences regarding the teaching methods used. Hybrid and traditional teaching mode are preferred by the respondents. More than a third of bachelor students prefers traditional, on site teaching method, while slightly less than a third of students prefer a hybrid approach. However, considering the preferences of master and doctoral students, these students have higher preference for hybrid classes. All three groups of students marked online teaching as their lowest preference. The differences in students’ preferences may also reflect their familiarity with higher education and education topics. Bachelor students may be more used to on site teaching as online teaching is used in secondary education very sporadically. Therefore, students may lack independence and they may not be comfortable with the self study. In addition, bachelor students may be less familiar with topics covered in lectures which may also affect their preferences towards on site education. On the other hand, master’s and PhD students’ preferences towards a hybrid teaching approach may be related to the fact that many of these students are employed, thus, they prefer more flexibility. Moreover, they are more likely to have experience in the field of their study, which can help them to make distant learning easier and more enjoyable. Surveyed students

Figure 1.1

Onlinedegreeteaching

On the other hand, many students also highlight positive aspects of online education. One of the main arguments in favour of online education is that it allows for higher flexibility and saves travel time and costs. Students are able to use the saved time on self development, on pursuing hobbies and interests or working. Thus, the saved time can be used to engage in activities that may have positive impact on students’ performance and employability. The respondents have also pointed out that online education is less stressful since they can stay in a familiar environment, in most cases, no one can see them, and they do not have to hurry to get to the class on time.

highlighted numerous arguments against and in favour of online teaching vis á vis on site teaching, which are discussed below.

One of the most common arguments against the use of online education is the lack of social interaction with lecturers and peers. Students highlight that face to face interaction with lecturers and other students allows them to better focus on covered material and engage in the discussion. In addition, they stress that it is easier to receive help and further explanation of the topics that they have not understood in the onsite mode, both from lecturers themselves and from otherThestudents.majority of students has also highlighted that their environment for studying at home is not ideal there are a lot of distractions and stimuli that do not allow them to focus for an extended period of time on their studies, which in the end affects students’ outcomes. These students argue that on the university campus they can focus better on lectures, classes overall and what the lecturer is saying. Another downside of online education highlighted by the respondents is that a number of lecturers do not have adequate skills to make online education interesting and engaging. In addition, lecturers do not have sufficient technology and technological resources to support their teaching. It was often mentioned that lecturers or students had technical difficulties with the software/program used for teaching or had unstable internet connection which interrupted lectures, or seminars. Some students also point out that online education had adverse effects on their health whether it is physical or mental health.

As can be seen from Figure 1.1., many students prefer hybrid teaching approach. After the pandemic, students claim that they can imagine the mode of instruction, where certain classes of non quantitative nature and lectures would be online and quantitatively focused modules and seminars would be taught on site. Given that the goal of seminars is to discuss the studied topic in class, the preference of students towards attending seminars on site is understandable. In addition, despite the upsides of online education, some students perceive

The perceived effectiveness of remote learning compared to traditional (on site) teaching by the degree of study (number of students)

Source: Original data collected by authors.

the quality of teaching on site to be higher than the quality of online teaching, and thus, prefer a hybrid approach.

Bachelor's degree Master's degree Doctoral degree

Extremely effective

9080706050403020100

Note: The sample size for bachelor’s degree is 182 students, for master’s degree 57 students and for doctoral degree 15 students.

Very effective

Figure 1.2

Figure 1.2. shows students’ perceived effectiveness of online education vis á vis traditional, on site, education. As can be seen, most students in at each degree level find online teaching moderately effective. Almost half of the bachelor and doctoral students find online education moderately effective, and about 40 percent of master students find this teaching method moderately effective. No master students in our sample consider distance learning to be ineffective (i.e., having chosen an answer “Not effective at all”), whereas approximately 5 percent of bachelor’s degree students and 6 percent doctoral students find online teaching ineffective. On the other hand, approximately a quarter of all students find remote learning very effective or extremely effective.

One of the reasons highlighted as a way to explain why online learning is less effective than on site learning is that students have difficulties concentrating during online lectures. A reason for this is that the environment that they study in is not tidy and there are distractions coming from around them. In many cases other family members are also spending more time at home during the pandemic, and students often have to help with house chores or take care of their siblings. Having these distractions in the background or the need to do other chores can

Not at all effective Slightly effective Moderately effective

significantly reduce students’ attention and adversely affect their learning outcomes. In addition, the respondents point out that, compared to pre pandemic times, during remote learning students had to engage more in self study, since not all topics were covered in the classes. A common point of agreement among students in the sample is that the quality of seminars got lower during the pandemic; thus, students did not understand the topics covered too well and had less opportunities for discussion. Based on the answers provided, online teaching had negative impact especially on the quality of quantitative module classes (seminars), as lecturers often did not have graphic tablets or did not know how to use built in whiteboards. Few students noted an example when a lecturer was solving problems on paper and then showing them on the camera, however, due to low resolution, students were not able to see the handwriting properly

Figure 1.3. shows the average time students devoted to studying. It allows us to compare the effort students devoted to studying accoeriding to their degree of study. These results show that approximately 40 percent of bachelor and master students devote to studying on average 5 7 hours a day. However, when considering doctoral students only, the largest share of them (46 percent) devotes on average 1 3 hours a day to studying. This may be explained by the structure of the doctoral courses and the lower number of contact hours compared to bachelor’s

However, there are aspects of remote learning that students consider to make it more efficient compared to on site learning. The most common argument raised by students is that online learning helps them to save and to better manage their time. Subsequently, students have more time to devote to projects or assignments. In addition, students were given more assignments and projects to work on during the pandemic than before. Number of students have pointed out that they had the perception that they were doing more university/course related work during the pandemic than before the pandemic, during on site learning. Another advantage of online learning is that students who are shy are less ashamed to speak up, since they can be hidden behind the computer or they do not have to have their camera on. This may allow them to engage more often in discussions and to better understand the topics covered. Lastly, the shift to online teaching and learning has forced lecturers and instructors to make better use of technologies and software programmes. Surveyed respondents pointed out that during the pandemic in lecturers they have used a variety of online platforms, resources and programmes to assist them in their teaching (for example, many lecturers used the interactive tool Kahoot to do quizzes, or to revise the material covered). Students appreciated this aspect as they argued that it helped them to better understand the concepts and made lectures more interesting and interactive.

Average daily time spent on distance learning (percentage points)

When choosing the platforms, programmes and software that are going to be used for distant education, it is important to provide students with sufficient guidelines on how to work with them so that students can benefit from the education to the greatest extent possible.

Figure 1.3.

and master’s degree programmes. A small fraction of students indicate that they devote more than 10 hours per day to university studies this view was held by 3 percent of bachelor students and 7 percent of master and doctoral students. Devoting this much time to studies can be a result of poor time management from the student’s side or could be caused by the lack of support from the side of university staff and the lack of resources provided. This can be also a reflection of low requirements and demands on students from their lecturers and instructors.

Note: The sample size for bachelor’s degree is 182 students, for master’s degree 57 students and for doctoral degree 15 students.

Source: Original data collected by authors.

As can be seen in Figure 1.4 , Approximately 35 percent of all surveyed students indicated that it was very easy for them to work with the programs and platforms used for online education. In addition, 39 percent of students found working with these platforms and programs rather easy. This suggests that the choice of platforms and programs used to support online learning was adequate and that the majority of students faced no significant difficulties when working with them.

35% 39% 22% 4%

Figure 1.4.

On the other hand, 22 percent of students indicated that they found it neither easy nor difficult working with programs used for online learning, and 4 percent of survey participants noted that they found it rather difficult working with the programs used.

How difficult was using programmes used during online education?

Very easy Rather easy Neither easy nor difficult Rather difficult Very difficult

One of the main problems that students indicated that they faced using various platforms and programs was that when multiple programmes were used at once during a lecture it was difficult to pay attention to everything that the lecturer was explaining. Students noted that in quantitative modules the lecturers were often switching between whiteboard, presentations and other programs. If students wanted to replicate what the lecturer was doing as well as writing notes, they were not able to fully pay attention to the topic being covered and engage in discussions or answer questions posed by the lecturer. Moreover, students may have different versions of the program to the lecturer or among each other too. Sometimes, students have access only to demo versions, hence having limited access to tools and functions that the program used offers. Therefore, it may take longer for students than lecturers to perform certain actions or perform them at all. Thus, the universities should invest into programs that are used as a part of curriculum and offer students access to full versions. Number of students also noted that during larger classes the system or platform often worked slower or collapsed. This was especially the case during exams when it took longer for the exams to open or load. Students living in more remote locations highlighted that they did not have access to high speed internet,

Source: Original data collected by authors.

Note: The responses are based on the entire sample of respondents.

Figure 1.5.

Source: Original data collected by authors.

also highlighted that there have been disparities between different courses in terms of the study material provision. In some cases, students were provided with lecture notes and additional study resources, in other instances, students were given no access to study materials. Number of students highlighted that they were provided adequate support from the lecturers during the exams (e.g., an explanation on how to use the platform and how the exam was structured). There was a common agreement, that the use of interactive quizzes and 0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Moderately helpful

Not at all helpful

thus, they were often seeing the lectures with some time lag. Lastly, students indicated that the platforms used for online education were sometimes unreliable and stopped working. The lecture had to be then interrupted and the topic could not be fully covered.

Another important aspect of online education is the support that the students receive from the university whether it is from lecturers or other teaching and administrative university staff members. Figure 1.5. shows students’ satisfaction with the support and help they received from the university staff. Approximately 45 percent of all students report to be moderately satisfied with the help and assistance that they received from the university during distance learning. More than a third of students consider the support given by the university to be very helpful. However, a minority (7 students) perceive the support received as insufficient, or not at all helpful.Students

Note: The responses are based on the entire sample of respondents.

Sightly helpful

Very Extremelyhelpfulhelpful

How helpful was the university in providing resources to learn from home? (Number of students)

Figure 1.6.

webpages helped the students to understand and revise the studied topics. Respondents indicated that lecture recordings allowed them to revisit the lecture when studying for exams or they helped them to better understand the topic and go back to parts that they missed during the lecture. Overall, the communication and information provided from the side of university is perceived as adequate among students.

Preferred working methods by students (number of students)

Note: The responses are based on the entire sample of respondents.

Source: Original data collected by authors.

Efficient working methods represent a very important aspect of online instruction. As can be seen from Figure 1.6., approximately a third of all students prefer to work on assignments individually. 37 percent of all students prefer to work in small groups of 2 to 5 students. However, only 3 students indicate that they prefer to work in bigger groups of 6 to 10 people. Nevertheless, the inclination towards work in smaller groups indicates that group work is an appreciated feature of online instruction methods.

Nevertheless, according to the responses, number of lecturers did not provide students with any study materials or resources (students noted that in some cases their learning felt more like a self study). Given that during the pandemic a lot of bookstores and libraries were closed, students had limited or no access to recommended literature and it was also more difficult to buy books from their peers. Thus, students had to rely on lecture notes or online resources. Moreover, in some cases, lecturers did not provide complete references or information.

7483 94 3 0 20 40 60 80 100

Prefer to work individually

Respondents also note that collaborations and group works are adapted in practice of online teaching, as almost all of the surveyed students indicate that in the past year they have

Prefer to work in a team of two

Prefer to work in a big group (6-10 studetns)

Prefer to work in a small group (2-5 students)

worked on projects in groups as well as on individual assignments. In most cases, students worked in small groups of 2 to 5 people. It can be challenging to engage with multiple people in an online environment, but at the same time, it can help to overcome the feeling of social and professional isolation that many experience when working virtually. It is understandable that students do not have strong preferences for working in bigger groups as it can be hard to coordinate meetings with other students and spot ones that are shirking or easy riding. Also, the experience shows that there is larger potential for free riding in larger groups and more pressure towards so called groupthink.

Unadequate internet speed

It is important to note that there are multiple factors that can adversely affect students’ study environment, and hence also their study results. Survey results suggest that

What factors hindered the effectiveness of studying during online education? (Number of students)

Need to take care of family members

Given these preferences for work in groups, lecturers and instructors should engage students more often in discussions and collaborative projects. Collaborating, sharing ideas and knowledge can help students to deepen their understanding and get practical experience. Group projects can help students to improve their interpersonal and personal skills that are valuable in the workplace e.g., they can learn how to work in a team, improve their leadership, communication and listening skills. In addition, given that students are isolated and do not engage with their peers as they would if the education was carried out on site, group projects can help them to socialise and have contact with other students and lecturers.

Source: Original data collected by authors.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Note: The responses are based on the entire sample of respondents.

No difficulties during online learning

Figure 1.7.

Lack of quiet space

about 30 percent of all students indicated that they had lack of quiet space for their studies. These students claim that lack of quiet space for studying had a negative effect on their concentration and they highlighted that it was therefore hard for them to follow the lectures. Moreover, 22 percent of students in our sample noted that they faced difficulties following lectures due to bad internet speed. Given that some of the students live in smaller cities (in our sample 32 percent of students live in cities with population of less than 5000 inhabitants, while 18 percent of students live in cities with less than 1999 residents), they are more likely to have poorer internet speed or have worse internet coverage in the area they live in. Thus, compared to students living in more urban areas, students living in smaller cities can miss parts of lectures due to worse internet connection. Many students indicated that having access to lecture recordings would allow them to revisit the lectures and note down parts of the lectures they have missed. Thus, to improve the quality of education for all the students, lecturers should consider recording lectures, or at least the most important parts of them. Another factor that few students indicated to hinder the effectiveness of online learning is the need to take care of other family members. To slow the spread of COVID 19, the Slovak government closed the schools for a prolonged period of time. Many parents had to stay at home with their younger children, or in cases when parents’ job did not allow them to work from home, older siblings had to look after their younger siblings. Unfortunately, this is a factor that cannot be solved by the university

approximately 35 percent of all survey participants did not have any difficulties during online learning.However,

37 Box 1.1. Suggestions for improvement

We provide the comments of some of the students, who filled in the questionnaire:

Students pointed out alternatives which might improve their online learning experience. One of the factors frequently mentioned was the provision of trainings to teachers on how to use teaching/learning platforms and also providing them with the technology that would complement teaching and be beneficial for explaining better the topics covered.

During unprecedented times such as the Covid 19 pandemic, ministries and universities should invest into infrastructure and technological resources (graphical/normal tablets; visualisers).

Self development courses, e.g. in time management should be organized.

Key limitation of online education is the lack of face to face and social interaction between students and university staff. Another common disadvantage of online education is that students do not have an equal access to good study environment, which can harm students’ ability to concentrate and have adverse effect on their study outcomes. Another important aspect to consider during these challenging times is the impact of the pandemic and online learning on physical and mental wellbeing of students and the university staff. Also, the access

Online social activities and clubs should be also organized, since some students have never met in person before.

Teacher training (also on how to use online quizzes, etc.) should be implemented, instruction videos for students how to use platforms should be provided.

1.5. Conclusions

All in all, the pandemic forced many of us to change the way we work almost from day to day. This survey allowed us to analyse and study students’ views on online education. Students’ responses support traditionally perceived key limitations and advantages of online education when compared to on site education. In addition, by analysing the responses, we were able to identify potential causes of low efficiency and effectiveness of online educations and identify key areas for future improvement.

Online learning resources should be provided to students.

have learned, the move to remote teaching has also its benefits. One of the greatest advantages of working/teaching remotely is the flexibility and time/cost saving this method of teaching and learning allows for. The time saved can be devoted to other activities, e.g., personal development, time spent with the family. Moreover, it was highlighted by students that online learning allows them to overcome shyness to engage in discussions. It was also noted by some students that learning in their home environment helps to reduce their stress and it makes them feel more comfortable. The decrease of the cost of study is also an important factor especially for students, who reside away from the location of the university. The distance learning can substantially reduce indirect cost of university studies and if provided in an efficient manner without the necessity to reduce the quality of learning and decrease the learning outcomes compared to the onsite instruction.

Even though the pandemic took the education system by surprise already at this stage it is clear that at least at higher education level the transition towards distance learning has taken place rather smoothly. New modes of instruction were adapted and the skills to use technology for learning and teaching were built up. Even though some challenges still persist, the experience from online instruction during the pandemic has shown that it represents a viable alternative to face to face instruction, which can open up new opportunities for higher education institutions in the future (e.g. in terms of internationalization of the programmes). The information collected in this survey can be used to improve the quality of online education at respondents’ institution and also in a broader context. The findings can also contribute to the design of courses in a way that they are more beneficial for students as well as for the faculty staff. Also, given the experience from remote teaching during the most recent period and the feedback from students, the universities can be better prepared for future shocks that would require an abrupt shift move to a fully online mode of instructions.

Al Rabiaah, A., Temsah, M. H., Al Eyadhy, A. A., Hasan, G. M., Al Zamil, F., Al Subaie, S., ... & Somily, A. M. (2020). Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus

Adedoyin, O. B., & Soykan, E. (2020). Covid 19 pandemic and online learning: the challenges and opportunities. Interactive Learning Environments, 1 13.

to technical infrastructure, including reliable internet connection may represent a challenge for some of the However,students.aswe

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Kafka, A. C. (2020). Shock, fear, and fatalism: as coronavirus prompts colleges to close, students grapple with uncertainty. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 12. Kovacs, V. A., Starc, G., Brandes, M., Kaj, M., Blagus, R., Leskošek, B., & Okely, A. D. (2021). Physical activity, screen time and the COVID 19 school closures in Europe an observational study in 10 countries. European Journal of Sport Science, 110. Murray, Holt, L., & Lesley. (2021). Children and Covid 19 in the UK. Children's Geographies. Neuhauser, C. (2002). Learning style and effectiveness of online and face to face instruction. The American Journal of Distance Education, 16(2), 99 113. Pokhrel, S., & Chhetri, R. (2021). A Literature Review on Impact of COVID 19 Pandemic on Teaching and Learning. Higher Education for the Future, 133 141. Sahu, P. (2020). Closure of universities due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19): impact on education and mental health of students and academic staff. Cureus, 12(4). Saxena, C., Baber, H., & Kumar, P. (2021). Examining the moderating effect of perceived benefits of maintaining social distance on e learning quality during COVID 19 pandemic. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 49(4), 532 554.

Suleri, J. (2020). Learners’ experience and expectations during and post COVID 19 in higher education. Research in Hospitality Management, 91 96. Tomei, L. (2006). The impact of online teaching on faculty load: Computing the ideal class size for online courses. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 14(3), 531

University of Economic in Bratislava. (2021). Výročná správa o činnosti Ekonomickej univerzity v Bratislave za rok 2020. Available online at: https://euba.sk/www_write/files/SK/docs/vyrocne spravy/vs_2020_cinnost.pdf Volery, T., & Lord, D. (2000). Critical success factors in online education. International journal of educational management.

Xu, D., & Jaggars, S. S. (2013). The impact of online learning on students’ course outcomes: Evidence from a large community and technical college system. Economics of Education Review, 37, 46 57.

Zhai, Y., & Du, X. (2020). Mental health care for international Chinese students affected by the COVID 19 outbreak. The Lancet. Psychiatry, 7(4), e22.

evident that remote teaching and learning is more easily implementable and applicable in well resourced settings where teachers and students previously had at least some experience with online platforms and programs. However, even in the best settings, socially disadvantaged children and those with higher need for educational support fell even more behind during the pandemic, increasing the inequality as many students did not have access to sufficient internet connection, or they had no access to internet. Although, the majority of students around the world have access to smartphones which they are able to use as learning devices, and some students are more fortunate and have access to tablets, laptops or desktops, the reality is that not all students have access to the digital learning world. In addition, academic staff, some with no previous experience with teaching online or remotely, discovered new approaches to teaching and learning and imaginative work was undertaken to overcome the very real challenges the pandemic gave rise to. However, not many lecturers were prepared well for using the new instruction methods and resources.

Chapter 2

2.1. Introduction

Mónica Moreno

The reflection of academics and students on the online instruction problems and needs (eLearning methodologies)

After the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic, in spring 2020, around 180 countries worldwide decided to close their schools to control the transmission of the virus, leaving about 1.5 billion students missing out on learning (World Health Organization, 2020) and education was affected by all measures applied: from primary education to higher education or non formal education.Moreover, the Covid 19 crisis has transformed educational institutions in many new and surprising ways. Educational organizations had to take radical actions and implement major efforts to slow the contagion, forge new paths in crisis management and use new teaching tools and methodologies. This brings both challenges and opportunities to Europe’s educational organizations, in particular in relation to digitalisation and digitally enhanced learning and teaching, Open Science, research, quality assurance, university autonomy, funding and civic engagement.Itis

educational processes and establishing new ways to design how learning takes place is becoming increasingly important. In fact, learning is increasingly taking place in a mix of spaces, in the classroom and/or remotely, and today teachers and students are immersed in a digital culture that “has resulted in the coming together of the online and offline, to the extent that the school and the world have merged through network connections” (Pretto, & Avanzo, 2018, p. 49).

What is the new pedagogy of online teaching? What does engaged learning look like in the new, remote environment? How can online learning produce outstanding learning experiences?Rethinking

At first, many teachers replicated online what they normally did in a face to face classroom. They soon discovered this was not a strategy that was practical, as not all students could access synchronous classes reliably and many had challenges, such as other siblings or parents needing access to the technology, the costs of broadband Internet access exceeding their ability to pay, or were in different time zones.

Teachers and lecturers have to be familiar with and know how to use digital information and communication technologies to produce sustainable learning scenarios, implementing teaching strategies that motivate learning and inspire students’ creativity by using digital tools that are part of their students’ daily lives.

Other important point is that since students are increasingly accustomed to constant use of digital technology, teachers needed help in learning how to adapt the use of these technologies to educational environments, working together to create good learning environment, “learning to learn” in digital environment, “learning to work” in a digital society and “learning to use” all possible digital tools, thus achieving true digital fluency.

This chapter is composed of a literature review of studies relevant to the methodologies for effective digital teaching, the analysis of the target groups’ answers and a final conclusions and lessons learnt about the academic staff’s and students’ needs to be addressed in the future.

Based on the results of the survey that was carried out among academic staff and students of the University of Economics in Bratislava in May 2021, we can infer they ideas and opinions related to “Methodologies for effective digital teaching at universities”. In particular, the survey participants provided feedback and their reflections on the academic year 2020/21 that was, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, taught fully online, in virtual space.

Didactic transposition of digital and media knowledge and competences the capacity to teach the media, applying pedagogical and didactic knowledge to digital Digitaltechnologies.andmedia knowledge and competences being able to use effectively media languages and digital tools with the awareness of socio ethical implications.

Creativity, entrepreneurship, learning to learn, digital competences and other 21st century skills and competences are emerging as more and more important for innovation, growth and participation in a digital society and economy. Educators are at this time confronted with a great number of digital educational resources they can use for teaching. One of the key competences any educator needs to improve is to identify effectively this variety and to choose the best one that fits their learning objectives, learner group and teaching style, to structure the wealth of materials, establish connections and to modify, add on to and develop themselves digital resources to support their teaching (Redecker, 2017).

The majority of the authors acknowledge that digital competences are not limited to those which enable the development of tasks for personal benefit, but that mastering these skills can also contribute to achieving collective goals, and teachers have to be conscious of this reality (Erstad, 2006; Gansmø, 2009; Ilomäki et al., 2016; From, 2017; Ferrari, 2012; Claro et al., 2012).Inthe area of education, teachers’ digital competences must inevitably demonstrate not only their own work capacity. They must also prove their ability to use digital competences to facilitate and advance learning by their students, helping them to enhance development of their digital competences. Ranieri, Bruni & Xivry (2017) explicitly describe that the concept of teachers’ digital competences includes different sorts of knowledge: Didactic transposition of disciplinary contents through the use of media and digital technologies the ability to use the media to teach a specific subject matter (p. 11).

Digital Pedagogy is a problematic term to define. It can be defined as: “Digital Pedagogy is precisely not about using digital technologies for teaching and, rather, about approaching those tools from a critical pedagogical perspective. So, it is as much about using digital tools thoughtfully as it is about deciding when not to use digital tools, and about paying attention to the impact of digital tools on learning” (The Digital Padagogy Lab, 2021). Brian

2.2. Review of relevant literature

Returning to the idea of the digital competence of teachers in Europe, the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators describe what it means for educators to be digitally competent (Redecker, 2017). The framework is based on work carried out by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), on behalf of the Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC). The framework can support the implementation of correct eLearning methodologies based on six areas focusing on different aspects of educators’ professional activities:

Area 6: Facilitating Learners’ Digital Competence

Area 1: Professional Engagement

§ Managing and orchestrating the use of digital technologies in teaching and learning.

Area 4: Assessment

Different examples exist that these “electronic elements” can vary from a PowerPoint presentation, to full on MOOCs, to flipped classrooms. They can include blogging assignments, use of social media in the classroom, forking syllabi with Github, or getting students to use digital tools to test out ideas. In brief, it is an attempt to change teaching and learning in a variety of ways through the thoughtful use of technology and using technology for working different competences or types of thinking (e. g. critical and creative thinking).

Area 2: Digital Resources

Area 3: Teaching and Learning

§ Enabling learners to creatively and responsibly use digital technologies for information, communication, content creation, wellbeing and problem solving.

§ Using digital technologies and strategies to enhance assessment.

§ Using digital technologies for communication, collaboration and professional development.

Area 5: Empowering Learners

Croxall (2013), in his introduction to the MLA defines it very generally, stating that it “is the use of electronic elements to enhance or to change the experience of education.”

§ Using digital technologies to enhance inclusion, personalisation and learners’ active engagement.

§ Sourcing, creating and sharing digital resources.

Political §

Technological §

The Article 24 and General Comment No4 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) defends the right of inclusive education for all. However, despite the ratification of the CRPD by the EU and all EU Member States still persist in Europe

The 2021 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report Teaching and Learning Edition identifies trends, technologies, and practices shaping the future of teaching and learning. The report highlights that one of the main trends in education are eLearning methods:

Widespread Adoption of Hybrid Learning Models Increased Use of Learning Technologies Online Faculty Development Decreasing Higher Education Funding Demand for New/Different Workforce Skills Uncertainty in Economic Models Climate Change Reduction in Work Travel Sustainable Development Increase in Online Globalization Rise of Nationalism Public Funding for Higher Education

Social Remote Work/Learning Widening of the Digital Divide Mental Health Issues

Economic §

Environmental §

It is evident that the inclusion of students with disabilities has been affected during the pandemic (the experience of students with disabilities is discussed in more detail in Chapter 4). Due to the lectures taking place remotely, students were unable to obtain printed learning materials or other user friendly materials. This loss of educational resources had an especially negative impact on students with disabilities, who were unable to access their learning materials in alternative formats and they no longer had access to the assistive technologies used at their onsite lessons.

The degree of inclusion of disadvantaged studnets in selected European countries

The main goal of this study has been to identify in detail and with sufficient specificity the needs of the target groups (students and the academic staff) for the enhanced effectiveness of digital teaching in terms of methodologies used and related aspects. The results allow us to

the inequalities in education and the global Covid 19 pandemic. The global Covid 19 pandemic is affecting more to the pre existing inequalities, exposing the scope of exclusion and highlighting that it is imperative to work on disability inclusion.

The European Disability Forum reports extent of the access to inclusive education for students with disabilities before and after the Covid 19 outbreak in the European countries (Drakopoulou, 2020).

The main results, according to testimonials of parents, highlight that the online platforms used for online education are not properly adapted for students with disabilities. In addition, it was not clear to parents, how the distance learning should be implemented. Parents also noted that even though their children were disadvantaged compared to other students, their deadlines to submit work were not flexible. Students were often not provided with feedback and evaluation of their submitted work.

Source: Drakopoulou, E (2020). Inclusive Education and the Impact of COVID 19 on learners with disabilities

Figure 2.1.

36% 38% 19% 7% Prefer NoclassesPreferclassesPreferclassesregularhybridonlinepreferences

2.3. Results

The data used in this analysis include the responses of 254 students and 73 academics. In this section we analyse the feedback obtained with regard to different aspects of teaching/learning methodologies in the digital, remote environment.

2.3.1. Experience with online education

Preferred teaching method (regular, hybrid, or online classes)

learn about the successes and failures of methodological aspects of digital instruction from the point of view of students and academic staff.

Analysing the results, we see that there is almost a balance between the preference of regular, on site (35.4 percent) and hybrid classes (38.2 percent) and only 19.3 percent of students prefer fully online classes. Students provided details about their preferences that can be classified into positive and negative aspects in reference to their selection. Their answers give us an idea about the teaching methodology that works better for them and that can be used for upgrading and improving digital teaching/learning methodologies.

Students who highlighted their preference of regular classes noted that the personal contact with the lecturers and classmates is one of the main reasons for choosing this form of instruction as the preferred one. This direct contact allows students to have an achievement motivation to study, to receive help from classmates, creating a team it emphasizes that a student is not a machine, but a living person.

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Figure 2.2. (students)

Time seems to be the most important justification for highlighting preference for online education students can save the travel time (they do not need to commute to the university), it is time efficient, it allows students to manage their days as they want, it is an excellent system for combining personal and student life at the same time and it allows for more flexibility.

Students in our sample also highlighted that when the teaching was carried out on site, there were less technical difficulties and problems they had to overcome, compared to online learning (this applies for both sides, students and academic staff).

Also, students note that their learning on site is more affective, since they can pay better and more attention to the lecturer, trying to listen to him, get involved, but most of all try to learn as much as possible and nothing distracting them.

In addition, there are technical problems with online learning that sometimes cannot be solved instantly, and the lecture has to be interrupted. During remote learning students are often not able to concentrate and teir attention drifts off, as they are not able to pay attention to the lecture and look at a screen for a prolonged period of time.

Although, those who do not prefer online mode of instruction highlight that this is due to viarious reasons. The most notable aspect is that they miss the personal contact with peers and lecturers and that sitting alone in front of a computer is demotivating and unhealthy.

If we sum the values of moderately effective (41.5 percent), very effective (20.6 percent) and extremely effective (4 percent) i.e., the most positive responses it is clear that students have a very positive view of remote learning compared to traditional instruction (see Figure 2.3.). On the contrary, only the 4.3 percent of students considers the remote learning not at all effective.

Nevertheless, number of students expressed their preference for hybrid education. Students believe that there are certain courses that could be taught remotely (online), but in other courses face to face contact between students and academics is necessary. Online lectures can be a practical form of teaching, still, to ensure efficiency, it is crucial that seminars are run in person. This holds in particular for courses of quantitative nature, such as accounting or mathematics these courses are often difficult to learn and teach, but some, more theoretical, courses could be better suited to be taught in online space.

Moreover, students also highlighted that they prefer on site education as it has better impact on their mental health it is less stressful, more comfortable and they can concentrate better if they study in a lecture hall or university premises.

Figure 2.3. (students)

5% 27% 43% 21% 4%

Students highlight a number of positive aspects of remote learning based on which they dreq their responses:Multiple lectures were recorded, and presentations shared. Possibility to work in different programs, teachers could share their screen. Good organization of teaching despite obstacles. Effectiveness mainly due to the form of teaching. Teacher could pay more attention to students and describe the issue in more detail. Students were given more assignments and presentations to prepare (this forced students to study more).

Online teaching eliminates unnecessary entanglement of teachers in explaining the material.

Effectiveness of remote learning compared to traditional instruction

Not at all effective Slightly ExtremelyVeryModeratelyeffectiveeffectiveeffectiveeffective

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Box 2.1. Positive methodological aspects of eLearning

Analysing the students answers and focusing on the topic of “methodologies for effective digital teaching at universities” we can go beyond generic responses and we can look into those related to the methodologies/methods used by academics/universities that have favoured their use and on which students base their answers.

The efforts of teachers helped the whole situation, but the motivation in the home environment is sometimes lacking.

No contact with the teacher and classmates during seminars. Some curriculum is harder to explain online.

The lectures and seminars were at times inefficient e.g., when teachers didn't know how to work in an online environment and the lessons didn't make sense at all.

Lost attention during online teaching.

Incomprehensible presentations were provided on some subjects after lectures. There was a lack of feedback and discussion, which is more livelly during the onsite instruction.

The lectures were sometimes not very clear and transparent. Lecturers could make the lessons more effective, but it is not always even possible.

Poor training of some members of the academic staff.

Students indicate different negative aspects that arised during remote learning:

The form of teaching is impersonal, often lacking motivation.

In some classes, teachers were covering the material too fast, which is demotivating, and in others too slow and not on time.

Box 2.2. Negative methodological aspects of eLearning

Difficult to simultaneously monitor what the teacher is doing and doing the exercise at the same time.

Three quarters of the students highlight its freedom aspect compared to face to face training 74.8 percent of students note that prefer online education as they are able to learn whenever it is the most convenient for them, and 75.2 percent of students indicate that they value that they are able to learn wherever they choose. Even, the aspect of learning at their own

Teachers try to explain the material, but it is harder to keep students’ attention for the whole Studentsclass.had to further search for more study related materials.

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Teamwork is not a substitute for online education.

Students’ responses to the survey allow us to study their opinions regarding distance learning and why it is considered a better learning method (compared to on site, regular education). Figure 2.4. provides a summary of the students’ responses.

Sometimes problems with presentations and interned connection, it was also impersonal if the lecturer did not have the camera on.

Collaborate virtually with a team on a project Do not…

Interact with other students through social media

Do not enjoy online teaching

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

pace (55.10 percnet) can be contribute to the feeling of freedom and flexibility indicated on the previous answer.

Figure 2.5

Interact online with the teacher

NoYes

Learn when it is convenient for me

Figure 2.4.

Learn from a variety of online resources (i.e., video,…

Study topics that are not offered at my school

Reasons why distance learning is the preferred mode of instruction (students).

Moreover, it is important to remark that there are multiple factors that can affect the effectiveness of eLearning training and the views expressed by students the resources provided by the university and the methodologies used by the academics for online teaching are vital aspects that can help to improve the effectiveness of online education and contribute to the improvement of students’ knowledge.

Learn wherever I choose

Participation in online training courses for distance learning (academics).

Learn at my own pace

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia. 63% 37% 55,10% 74,80% 9,80%12,20% 75,20% 7,90% 44,50% 15,70%20,90%

Teaching material created by lectures themselves is the most used technique for integrating the teaching materials (83.6 percent of respondents). A second aspect to be considered is that only 43.8 percent of teachers used the material available on the Internet and the digital textbooks were used by 23.3 percent of them. It brings us to the question, how this situation should be explained. Figure 2.7. below summarises the academics’ needs related to eLearning methodologies.

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia. 1,4 43,8 83,6 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Teach in a similar way as during on site teaching

All of the above options

Divide students into groups in a virtual classroom

Use of screen sharing, use of whiteboard, etc.

20,523,3 1,41,4

Material created and shared by colleagues

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

1,41,4

Figure 2.7.

Material available on the Internet

Student presentations

Method used for integrating the teaching material in percentage points (academics) (in percentage).

Digital textbooks and related resources

Integrate teaching with individual tasks for students

Print textbook compulsory literature 26 13,7 52,1 11 24,7

Analysing Figure 2.5., we see that only 63 percent of the academic staff participated in online training courses for distance learning, what makes evidence of the need of a specific training for improving their knowledge and in consequence, their eLearning methodologies.

Extra material available on the Internet

Figure 2.6

Material created by the lecturer

Use all above fogs depending on the form of teaching…

Use all above depending on the form of teaching and…

Academics’ preferred teaching methods (in percentage).

2.3.2. Digital learning experience at the University Knowing the students and academics’ opinion about the digital learning experience and relating their answers to the situation at their university, we obtain relevant information for the ways to improve digital teaching methodologies.

One important aspect is the task that the university developed the resources and support offered to students.

Difficulty for using the distance learning programs facilitated by the university (students).

Figure 2.8.

Academics express that they teach in a manner similar to the one they use face to face (52.1 percent of academic staff in our sample), which is not adequate for, or compatible with, using the eLearning methodologies this aspect has been also expressed in the students’ feedback this suggests that there is the need for training the academics about how to use these eLearning methodologies and tools.

4% 22% 39% 35% VeryQuitedifficultNeitherADifficultlittledifficulteasynoreasyeasy

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Figure 2.8. and Figure 2.9. highlight that students consider their digital learning experience at the university as a positive. In particular, 39 percent of students in our sample indicate that the programs the university uses to facilitate online learning are quite easy to use and 35 percent of students claim that the programs are neither easy nor difficult to use (i.e., the are indifferent). Furthermore, this positive reflection on the use of online learning programs is complemented with the consideration that resources provided by the university are very helpful (approximately 34 percent of student respondents share this belief) or moderately helpful (about 43 percent of respondents have chosen this answer).

Figure 2.9.

3% 43%17%34% 3%

How helpful was the university in providing resources to learning from home? (students)

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Not at all helpful

Slightly ExtremelyVeryModeratelyhelpfulhelpfulhelpfulhelpful

Students' experiences and aspects of online education (whether positive or negative) allow us to point to the ways on how to improve methodologies of digital teaching.

Box 2.3. Recommendations and comments by students on how to improve study resources

To send informative emails the university should provide sufficient information. Some teachers did not want to provide materials such as pdf or ppt presentations.

Students had to do everything themselves and especially foreign literature/in some subjects the teachers provided prefabricated books, but in most clasees students had to find the resources themselves

Teachers provided more resources for study than in onsite teaching /The literature needed was not always available, as there was nowhere to buy it/Apart from presentations, instructors did not provide many resources./Some teachers, apparently demotivated from this form of teaching, provided only half of the information and resources, or provided them very late, the effort is required from the students, but it should also be from all teachers, but some were great

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

In the first semester, the university provided an online library access via VPN, but cancelled it. A virtual library was a big advantage during the exam. Students could not access online resources and did not know how it works at the moment/ It wasn't quite easy to get these materials

Overall, the EUBA does not sufficiently help guiding students Office 365 is available, but not everyone has enough connectivity, and then it can be a problem to connect to class

The university has not provided sufficient and clear information regarding studies for a long time.

It was chaos at first and students had to learn themselves./They had to learn to work in a team themselves.

More resources would be useful for writing bachelor thesis, from which students could obtain information.

§ To do an auxiliary course for teachers on how to control/master MS Teams

Asked for a specific teacher/university support to help students with online study, they provided the following examples:

§ The subject of presentation skills could also be completed by some teachers.

§ More proactivity to improve processes, sufficient quality equipment for teachers

Students suggestions for the improvement of online teaching:

§ To be able to listen to the lecture outside the lecture period by recording it

§ Moodle was a frequent problem during exams, it fell several times, it was not possible to open the test

§ Slower and clearer explanations.

Box 2.4. How can university improve its support?

§ Explain the curriculum more slowly, and make sure everyone really understands it.

§ Teachers should respect more if the internet is disconnected during the test.

§ Use interactive videos in teaching, ensure a stable internet connection.

§ Improving the techniques

§ Record all lectures, access to presentations, better communication, etc.

§ More group tasks in seminars.

§ Better communication, students had a problem with reporting on subjects and everyone got different answer from the university

§ Trainings for teachers how to work in an online environment.

§ Better communication with students/Better interaction of teachers with students

§ It would be good to verify the computer skills of teachers.

§ Sometimes teachers give moe assignments than in the onsite instruction.

§ Definitely improve the presentation and technical skills of teachers.

§ The availability of online books and materials.

§ Make the virtual study room available again.

Academics on the improvement of online teaching:

Ask students to give examples, solutions

§ Availability of printed books

§ Helping older teachers with technical problems/Better prepare teachers (especially older years), how to record the presentation, turn on the microphone, camera, use the online whiteboard, etc.

§ Access to e textbooks as not everyone has the opportunity to go to the library to borrow literature.

Source: Original data collected by the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

§ Better equipment for teachers, tablets so they can draw and explain, for example, equations

Assign students to groups to discuss issue

Figure 2.10

§ Involve an external IT company for better results.

Teamwork on which each students has to…

Give students tasks to prepare in advance

Figure 2.10. provides a summary of methods used by lecturers to engage students during lectures and seminars. More than half of the lecturers in our sample engage students by asking them questions directly, almost 25 percents of academic engage students by assigning 52,1 11 24,726 13,7 1,41,4 0 10 20 30 40 50 60

§ Training teachers to use basics of the MS Teams platform

Use Whiteboard to solve problems

Ask students questions directly

Material preconditions:

§ More interaction with students. Some teachers do not respond to emails or messages through MS Teams.

Strategy used to involve less enterprising students in percentage points (academics) (in percent).

§ It would be good to provide mathematics/ or similar subjects with graphics tablets so that they do not have to write examples on the paper

Use of screen sharing, use of whiteboard,…

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia

them to groups of students and 26 percent ask students to provide examples that ar relevant to the topic being discussed. We can consider that the strategy of keeping the contact (teacher student or between students) is the basis for involving students.

Figure 2.11

When students were asked what ONE thing they would like their teachers to do differently with regards to the use technology to enhance their academic success, this question facilitated different proposals for improving the teaching eLearning methodologies and the learning teachers’ needs:

Relationship between academics and students could be improved by: Communicating with students.

Development of a unique personal teaching strategy during the distance learning hours (academics).

the specific strategies, we see that out of 11 responses obtained, only 2 of them mention new methodologies (design thinking and Project Based Learning and students' own teaching materials focused on students' independent thinking), other are related to strategies related to the use of technologies.

82% 18% NoYes

Empathy understanding that complete distance learning was not our choice, and from that point of view not to try to complicate the conditions, either during the study or especially during the exams.

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Efficient and concrete teaching methods are an important aspect and 82.2 percent of academic respondents have developed a unique personal teaching strategy for their distance learningAnalyzingclasses.

Suggesting better training of mature professors in using the technology more effectively. They often have difficulty with this during class. Involving students in the teaching process in class.

Making classes more interactive.

Elaboration of business plans, where problems in business would be solved on Summarizingexamples. at the end of the lesson what is important on the test/statics. Using animations more, videos that would help teaching more students.

Teaching methods:

PPTs/More videos it's a more fun form of learning and students can also learn a lot from them/online quizes/white and clean presentations without unnecessary decorations and the like (it is very difficult to learn from color presentations)/provide their presentations to students/ recording lectures.

Better knowledge of the technologies teachers work with.

Uploading and sharing materials and presentations. More teachers recording lectures.

Using primary teams for all activities as well as continuous evaluation, file and information sharing and especially tasks, papers and credits.

alternation of tools in teaching everyone uses the same methods (it's monotonous).

Asking more questions.

Making lectures more lively.

Extra tutoring lessons.

Large group (6-10 students) working together

Project-based learning

Methods students engage to learn digitally in percentage points (students)(in percent).

Figure 2.13.

Two by two (2-member team)

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Figure 2.12

32% 41% 1% 26%

Students also highlighted that one of the methods used during eLearning to engage them in learning are individual assignments, aprocimately 62 percent of students engaged with individual assignments in the academic year 2020/21 (see Figure 2.13.). Another popular method to engage students with covered material is the work in small groups about 30 percent of students in our sample engaged in group work with their peers.

Which of the digital collaborations enables you to work on a specific task at ease? (students)

Individual assignments Small group work (up to 5 people)

Large group assignment (up to 10 people)

I prefer working individually 30 4 4

Small group workgroup (3- 5 students) working together

Source: Original data collected by the authors at University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

36% 19% 30% 15%

Complementing this aspect and adding more information to the previously mentioned aspect of direct/personal contact with academics, 36 percent of students prefer asking the professor during/after online classes, about 30 percent of student respondents prefer to clear any doubts they have after a lecture by finding online material that will give them more explanation. Finally, 19 percent of students indicate the option of asking classmates for explanation as a method for clearing doubt, what shows us the importance given to the personal contact to the students again.

To develop the most effective digital teaching methodologies at universities it is understand students’ opinions about specific tools, resources, teaching methods used during remote teaching/learning. Figure 2.13. and Figure 2.14. facilitate information about it.

Ask the teacher during / after class online

The last point that provides relevant information for the development of methodologies for effective digital teaching at universities is the importance of considering concerns that stem from the academics’ needs and barriers and lack of students’ support when carrying out digital learning.

Working in large groups (1.2 percent) is the least valued collaboration option, individual or small groups are the ones that stand out among the students. That is a key point to be considered for the creation of more efficient teaching methodologies.

Figure 2.14

Preferred method for clearing doubts (students).

Search for publicly available Internet resources

Source: Original data collected by the authors at University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Finding online material that will give me more explanation

Ask classmates for an explanation

Source: Original data collected by the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Techniques to improve student involvement

Technical training on the use of learning platforms

Figure 2.15. shows that almost 50 percent of academics in our sample would find it beneficial if they were provided further training options where they could learn for example methods and techniques on how to best involve and engage students, when they use LMS platforms. In addition, approximately 39 percent of academics highlighted that they would benefit from a technical training on the use of online learning platforms. It was also noted by a number of lecturers (i.e., 12.3 percent of respondents) that they would welcome training on methods that would improve the effectiveness of online learning for students with special needs. 1,4 38,4 49,3 34,2 23,3 12,3 1,41,41,4 5,6 0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Best practices and functional teaching methods

Employer's contribution to energy costs

Methods to improve the effeciveness of teaching…

A combination of the above just more practice I don't register any problems

All of the above

Need of training / consultancy (academics).

Use of tests for student evaluation

Figure 2.15

Figure 2.16. gives us information about the biggest barrier and it is interesting that 34.5 perecent of respondents say that they don’t have any barriers with online learning. However, 3,5 29,1 4 23 35,4 1,83,2 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Source: Original data collected by the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

64% 36% NoYes

Biggest barrier in effectively learning online from home (students).

Analysing the barriers, the technical support and training offered by the University to students on how to plan and prepare for the online classes we will be able to delve into the type of methodology offered. We will know if these has been a barrier to implement distance training or not. On the other hand, knowing the opinion about the aid provided by the university will help us to have a clearer idea about how to improve this aspect and consequently, improve the distance training methodologies.

The need to take care of fammily members

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Lack of quiet workspace

Insufficient technological equipment

Figure 2.16

Figure 2.17

Have you received adequate technical support and training at your university? (students)

Lack of concentration at Otherhome

Insufficiently reliable internet connection I have no barriers in online education

Communication:Communicate with students, it would be better if the answer was given somewhere by e mail, maybe students would ask less and be clear in everything.

of the work done in reference to the resources and support provided, 63.8 percent of respondents remark that they received adequate technical support (see Figure 2.17.). Nevertheless, 36.2 percent of student respondents has indicated that they have not received adequate technical support.

Box 2.5. Type of missing resources

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

approximately 29 percent of students note that the greatest barrier to efficient learning is the lack of quiet workspace, followed by insufficient reliable internet connection (21.3 percent). Remarkably, nobody declared any specific extra requirements/ideas for changes in methodology, or Continuingtechnology.withtheanalysis

Students have highlighted to lack help and instructions in various aspects: More information about how the online tools work

Maybe an explanation of the programs, but mostly professors should be trained

Clear instructions on how to handle MS Teams/Moodle/eskuska.

Many times, students lack more detailed information about students, such as registering for an exam, etc.

In the beginning, no one explained how to work with Teams, or Zoom

No one explained anything to students and had to study everything, download it themselves. Nobody takes into account that e.g., if they have a MAC OS, then don't have Windows programs.

How to work with individual platforms was not explained Human approach

Publication of teaching materials, lectures, presentations. More motivation to study and complete assignments during online learning.

As a result of the "state of emergency," due to the COVID 19 pandemic all around the world, educational centers were closed and the educational system was reorganized so that million students could continue their education remotely.

In adapting to a system of online teaching not all start from the same point, nor they have the same resources or conditions and capacities to do it effectively. This new reality has shown that schools and their academics need to improve their skills and knowledge related to which the best ICT tools are to be used during their classes and students’ profiles and how to use them in the best way.

Moreover, academics admit having developed a unique personal teaching strategy during the distance teaching but this point is focused on the use of technologies and new methodologies/teaching strategies have not been acquired by the vast majority of academics.

2.4. Lessons learned and Conclusion

We can synthesize the situation and the problems experienced in some fundamental ideas: going from face to face teaching to distance work trying to reach all the students from one day to the next “without an instruction manual”, with little technological means, little training in its didactic use, little experience in digital education, in networks of learning and collaborative work online, without previous experiences to base upon and without a planned operation, it was not easy at all. Another important point is that the current crisis has forced the educational systems to migrate to the online mode immediately, without time or space for planning and the design of learning experiences for a better teaching and learning procedure.

As a result, educational organizations witnessed situations, where the digital divide was exposed students were saturated with “homework”, forced to stay at home and follow classes online during a long period of confinement, in familiar surroundings that helped when they could or if they could and the academics weren’t sufficiently prepared for this new teaching reality. It is clear for educational organizations that the technologies, which have been essential during the crisis, are not an alternative to the face to face educational relationship, but are an increasingly enriching tool to support the teaching learning process.

As we have learned during this research, there is a need for specific training for improving academics’ knowledge and in consequence, their eLearning methodologies. They teach in a manner similar to the one they use face to face, did not adaptat to using the eLearning methodologies. Moreover, there is the need for learning techniques for better involvement of students and methods for greater teaching effectiveness for students with special needs.

11. Individual and small group assignments.

We can summarize the main ideas on: eLearning methodology:

3. Academics sharing screen.

8. The option of listening to lecture outside the lecture period by recording.

Throughout the discussion above it is clear that the personal contact with the teacher and classmates is one of the main characteristics demanded by students. This direct contact allows students to be more motivated to study. Receiving help from classmates, creating and working in a team, empathy, involving students in the teaching process in class, provoking student asking them more, extra hours of tutoring and communication with students, forums implementations, shared working rooms, etc.

1. Multiple lectures recorded and presentations shared.

Another important conclusion is that although they created material for integrating the teaching material, not even half of academics’ state that they use existing materials on the internet, what shows the need of learning how to use eLearning resources available or how to create a concrete eLearning resource.

2. Work in different programs.

§ Positive aspects (aspects should be considered for including in the definition of eLearning methodologies)

7. To provide materials such as pdf, videos, animations or ppt presentations.

10. Dynamic, actives and lively lectures.

4. Doing more assignments, presentations and credits is good for learning more.

12. Have a clear instructions/guide.

9. Always responding to emails or messages through Teams/platforms: not delay the answers.

Relationship lecturer student

6. Use of teamwork: it is difficult, but it is an important aspect for including.

It is clear that the existence of limitations of online education and students have given different clues for knowing the aspects that give us the keys to define eLearning methodologies.

5. Good organization of teaching despite obstacles.

Academics’ methodology

One aspect that we consider necessary to indicate is that a large number of the comments and responses of the students indicate the lack of knowledge of the use of eLearning resources by teachers. A summary sentence of this finding would be: Elearning is inefficient if teachers do not know how to teach in an online environment and the lessons don't make sense then at all.The evidence collected in this study can be used to improve the eLearning methodologies of academics and responsible educational practitioners. The results can be used for the development of academic methodologies and teaching methods for being more effective and attractive for students. Also, as a result of the experience with eLearning during the Covid 19 pandemic situation and the feedback from students and academics, we can work towards preparing the university for the future, that could be carried out online and the teaching methodology will be absolutely different.

If we compare this result with the new concept of academic methodologies, it is evident that there is the need for highlighting the known as “active methodologies” in education. All active methodologies have common objectives a nd processes to ensure that students participate actively in the learning process, cooperate with other students, reflect, make decisions and expand their knowledge. We also have to answer the question about how active methodologies and digital technologies can foster a more active participation of students in their learning process.

A second aspect is to offer feedback in online education direct communication for encouraging students and teachers to exchange opinions and feedbacks. Making this aspect real is difficult, when we use eLearning methods and some improvements could be done e.g. by: providing timely and constructive eLearning feedback, showing real world implications to encourage change, focusing on skills or behaviors that can be altered, encouraging group eLearning feedback through collaborative exercises, letting students know academics are available for questions and comments, encouraging students to participate in survey or organizingFeelingquizzes.part of a community is an aspect to take into consideration. Students remark that the lack of the instructor’s presence can generate feeling of isolation and lack of support.

3 European Higher Education Area

Distance learning or blended learning in a stricter sense is the mix of face to face and online activities and this is considered the future of education. Methodologies and resources such as virtual campus, flipped classroom, peer instruction, problem based learning, project based learning, game based learning work well, when they are adequately combined with information and communication technologies as they put the student at the center of the teaching and learning process.

Claro, M., Salinas, A., Cabello Hutt, T., San Martín, E., Preiss, D. D., Valenzuela, S., & Jara, I. (2018). Teaching in a Digital Environment (TIDE): Defining and measuring teachers’ capacity to develop students’ digital information and communication skills. Computers & Education, 121, June, 162 174.

Oltra (2019) postulates the following: “Active methodologies are necessary to integrate into the process of adapting university education to the EHEA3 and research into these techniques will undoubtedly facilitate their incorporation. An adequate change in teaching practices will allow society to offer creative, reflective professionals with a solid base of technical and technological knowledge, capable of learning throughout life and with essential communication skills nowadays. The university, as a trainer of professionals and a creator of science and technology, faces an important challenge: to pay its land in an appropriate way to obtain graduates with knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as competent in the working world; qualities that undoubtedly foster these methodologies actively.”

Likewise, it is clear that technology applied to education is an increasingly essential tool to help teachers in the development of their learning models and it has been widely used as a way to connect better with students. However, for making the distance teaching a really postitive experience, the improvement of academics' skills and knowledge of ICT use is needed.

Drakopoulou, E (2020). Inclusive Education and the Impact of COVID 19 on learners with disabilities. Available at https://www.edf feph.org/content/uploads/2021/06/Inclusive Education and COVID 19_Eleni Drakopoulou.docx

References

Ferrari, A. (2012). Digital Competence in Practice: An Analysis of Frameworks. JRC Technical Reports. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Gansmø, H. (2009). Fun for all=digital competence for all? Learning Media and Technology, 34(4), 351 355.

World Health Organization (2020). WHO High level Meeting on Schooling during the COVID 19 Pandemic.

Ranieri, M., Bruni, I., & Xivry, A. C. O. (2017). Teachers’ Professional Development on Digital and Media Literacy. Findings and recommendations from a European project. REM Research on Education and Media. 10(2), 10 19.

Erstad, O. (2006). A new direction? digital literacy, student participation and curriculum reform in Norway. Education & Information Technologies, 11, 415 429.

Ilomaki, L., Paavola, S., Lakkala, M., & Kantosalo, A. (2016). Digital competence an emergent boundary concept for policy and educational research. Education and Information Technologies, 21(3), 655-679.

Oltra, R. (2019). Application of active methodologies in a university subject. INTED Conference. Available at: 0Subject.pdf;sequence=1%20Application%20Of%20Active%20Methodologies%20In%20A%20University%2https://riunet.upv.es/bitstream/handle/10251/129756/Oltra%20

Redecker, Ch. (2017). European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators: DigCompEdu. Available at: 10.2760/178382

The Digital Padagogy Lab (2021). Available at: https://digitalpedagogylab.com/ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) Available at: https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.html

Pretto, N., & Avanzo, H. (2018). Arquitetura educacional na cultura digital. In D. Mill (coord.) Dicionário crítico de educação e tecnologias e educação a distância (pp. 46 50). Campinas, SP: Papirus.

Croxall, B. (2013). “Digital Pedagogy?”. Available at: https://www.briancroxall.net/digitalpedagogy/what is digital pedagogy/ Horizon Report® 2021 EDUCAUSE Teaching and Learning Edition. Available at: https://library.educause.edu/resources/2021/4/2021 educause horizon report teaching and learning edition

Available at: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/339955/WHO EURO 2021 2108 41863 57424 eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Part 3 Worries / Negative aspects of digital learning.

The perceptions of academics and students with the use of online instruction problems and needs (eLearning Technologies)

Alexandros Yeratziotis, Thomas Photiadis, Maria Anastasiou,

The teachers' questionnaire is divided into the following three sections:

Chapter 3

Overall Experience with online learning.

3.1. Introduction

This chapter reviewes the survey’s outcome from teaching staff and students. There are 73 responses collected from the teachers’ questionnaire and 254 from the students’ survey This review provides only the feedback related to the online learning procedure assessment, aiming to identify the technological aspects of digital teaching and learning during the pandemic period, which will be considered during the implementation of other D COLLAB intellectual

The global outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic created the most extensive disruption of the educational system, affecting almost the 1.6 billion learners and educators in more than 200 countries. The closure of schools and educational institutions have affected 94 percent of their operations. That has caused far reaching changes altogether in various aspects of our lives. Social distancing and policies restricting mobility have disrupted traditional educational methods, creating new challenges after relaxing restrictions. The need now is to innovate and achieve an alternative educational system and assessment strategy. The Covid 19 pandemic has given a chance to pave the way for introducing digital learning

Part 2 Students’ digital learning experience

Many educators and students are interested in online learning courses to enhance and improve their digital learning skills while battling the lack of resources, facilities, and equipment, especially in higher education institutions. Also, online learning has become more efficient and effective in its potential for providing access to content at any time from different places (Pokhrel & Chhetri, 2021; Adnan, & Anwar, 2020).

Eachoutputs.questionnaire is divided into three sections. The students' survey is divided in three sections:Part1

ELearning tools had a crucial role during the current period, facilitating and improving online teaching and learning, obliging the educators and students to become accustomed to these new opportunities (Subedi et al., 2020; Taneja & Dutt, 2021). Unfortunately, there is not a single online tool that fits and covers the individuals' needs of educators and students. Students, parents, and educators worldwide have felt the unexpected ripple effect of the Covid 19 pandemic as schools, institutions, and educational faculties have been closed to mitigate the spread of the virus and to fight the global pandemic (Sintema, 2020) While governments, frontline workers, and health officials work tirelessly to slow down the outbreak, educational institutions seeked technologies and tools to continue providing high quality educational experiences to all students and educators during these difficult times (Basilaia & Kvavadze, 2020).

3.2. Review of relevant literature

The aim of the survey is to determine the technological aspects of online learning during the pandemic period and the way it has impacted educators’ and learners’ online experiences.

Part 1 Technical and methodological background.

Part 3 Evaluation and Needs.

The best practices for online learning experiences are still being researched (Petrie, 2020; Kristóf, 2020). International trends of remote teaching in light of the Covid 19 pandemic bought forward most popular video conferencing applications that implement communication (Taneja & Dutt, 2021). The implementation of digital tools in online learning is dependented on both teachers' and students' expertise and exposure to information and communication technologies (ICT). Some of the online platforms that have been used so far include unified communication and collaboration platforms like Microsoft Teams, Google Classroom, Canvas

Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, many countries were in lockdown following social distancing measures and closures of schools, training institutes, and higher education institutions Nevertheless, educators and students tried to adapt under the new circumstances, trying to keep the same quality level of education as before the pandemic (Bao, 2020). Despite the difficulties in transitioning from face to face teaching to online or remote teaching, digital learning tools have emerged as viable solutions to this unique global pandemic (Pokhrel & Chhetri, 2021; Badar, Mason & Flood, 2020).

Part 2 Teaching Methods and Student Participation.

In contrast, the vulnerable group, which includes students who are weak learners, faced difficulties. Some academically capable students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds were unable to access and afford online education (Bsharat & Behak, 2020). Due to reduced contact hours for learners and the lack of consultation with teachers, when experiencing difficulties in learning and understanding the material covered in lectures and classes, the level of academic performance of students is likely to drop for classes held for both internal and year end examination (Sintema, 2020).

The difficulties of using online learning tools range from downloading errors, installation issues, login issues, audio and video problems to accessibility, affordability, flexibility, learning pedagogy, life long learning, and educational policies (Murgatrotd, 2020). Many countries faced significant difficulties in obtaining reliable internet connection and access to digital devices/tools (Maatuk et al., 2021). Another aroused issue was the lack of parental guidance, especially for young learners, because of their working hours. In addition, there are practical problems concerning physical workspaces that are conducive to various modes of learning. The innately motivated learners are relatively unaffected in their knowledge because they require little supervision and guidance (Doraisamy, 2021).

74 and Blackboard, which allow teachers to create educational courses, trainings, and skill development programs (Petrie, 2020). They include workplace chat, video meetings, and file storage options to keep classes organized and simple to work with (Dutt & Sharma, 2020). Additionally, they typically encourage sharing content such as Word documents, PDFs, Excel files and audio and video files. Also, they allow to track and evaluate students’ learning outcomes through quizzes, exercises and submitted assignments. Videoconferencing platforms (Google Hangouts Meet, Zoom, Slack, Cisco, WebEx) and customizable cloud based learning management platforms (Elias, Moodle, BigBlue Button, and Skype) are frequently used in virtual classrooms (Maatuk et al. 2021).

Online student assessments create uncertainty and confusion among educators, students, and parents. The method used to conduct online examinations varies depending on the convenience and expertise of the educators, as well as the compatibility of the learners. Appropriate measures to prevent plagiarism have yet to be implemented in many schools and institutions (Song et al., 2004). The ongoing situation has significantly impacted the country’s education system (predominantly schools, colleges, and universities). It is also possible that the interruptions will benefit some students' careers. Aside from being enjoyable for the children, engaging with other students and academics promotes social skills and awareness. While students are away from their regular school schedule, they face economic, social, and

ELearning has some flaws, as it can impede communication between the learner and the educator, i.e., direct communication and human touch are not evident. Moreover, many technical issues may arise for users, obstructing and slowing down the teaching learning process (Favale et al., 2020). Even though the flexibility of time and location is an advantage of online learning, these aspects are fragile and cause problems. Nonserious student behaviour in terms of time and flexibility can lead to plenty of issues. All students and learners are not the same; they differ in terms of their abilities and level of confidence. Some people do not feel comfortable learning online, which leads to increased frustration and confusion. Inadequate compatibility between the design of the technology and the component of psychology required by the learning process, and insufficient customization of learning processes can obstruct and create an imbalance in the teaching process (Subedi et al., 2020).

75 psychological consequences (Sharma, 2020). Many of these students have now enrolled in online courses, spending more time on virtual platforms, which can leave children vulnerable to online exploitation. Increased and unstructured online learning time has exposed children to potentially harmful and violent content, as well as an increased risk of cyberbullying (Basilaia & Kvavadze, 2020). Because of school closures and strict containment measures, more families rely on technology and digital solutions to keep their children engaged in learning, entertained and connected to the outside world; however, not all children have the necessary knowledge, skills, and resources to keep themselves safe when online (Favale et al., 2020).

In general, students agree that eLearning is beneficial and assists them in remaining safe while it improves their academic standards. Furthermore, most students claim that introducing eLearning in their life is difficult and that the poor quality of internet services is the most significant barrier to its implementation. Moreover, students claim that eLearning has drawbacks, the most important of which is that it reduces teaching staffs’ workload while it increases the pressure on students. On the other hand, the teaching staff believes that eLearning

Moreover, another major issue of online learning is the limited one-to-one attention from teachers to students. Most of the students prefer a two way interaction, which can be challenging to implement at times. Another significant issue is the poor quality of the course content. The learning process will not be successful until students put what they have learned into practice. But, sometimes, online content is completely theoretical and does not allow students to put their knowledge into practice, making online learning less interesting and engaging. Students believe that the main barriers to online learning are lack of group membership, technical difficulties, and difficulties on understanding the instructional goals (Song et al., 2004).

3.3.1. Students

Based on the outcome of the literature review, the current report provides feedback related to the online learning procedure assessment, aiming to identify the technological aspects of digital teaching and learning during the Covid 19 period, which will be considered during the implementation of other D-COLLAB intellectual outputs.

The analysis began with the students’ questionnaire to determine the technological students’ digital learning needs during the pandemic. The devices they used during the remote learning period almost all students utilized their laptops, and more than half of the sample used their smartphones. It is to note in the future that it is important that the educational resources that are created consider smartphone users and the limitations that they may have. Therefore, the teaching material should be adapted in a way that it is accessible and compatible with different screen sizes.

Figure 3.1.

is beneficial. One of the most important positive aspects is that it helps students to develop their technological skills. However, most of the teaching staff agree that there are challenges regarding the implementation of eLearning. According to the teaching staff, the most important challenge is that it necessitates financial support compared to conventional learning (Maatuk et al. 2021; Subedi et al., 2020).

3.3. Results

Source: Original data collected by the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

011111 176 24 43 239 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 external monitor purchase of monitor mainly ownmonitornotes printer, scanner no devicesmartphoneavailabletabletdesktoplaptop

Devices used by students during pandemic period for teaching purposes

Depending on the nature of the course, students also expressed their preference for hybrid teaching and learning approach. Students would prefer to have courses and seminars on site, since during these interaction with peers and lecturers is crucial.

Another aspect of our interest is whether students preferred the regular, hybrid or online classes. Most of the responses are in favour of hybrid classes, but at the same time, slightly more than a third of students would like to return to te sire "regular" instruction. But, again, this was based on the interaction and face to face communication they have with their teacher and fellow students.

Another technical question is about the “Top three reasons students enjoy online learning”, on which the majority of students answered, "Learn wherever I choose" and "Learn when it is convenient for me." More than half of the sample selected "Learn at my own pace",

Prefer online classes No preference

Source: Original data collected by the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Another reason students prefer online classes is the fact that they do not have to commute to university, and they can enjoy the comfort they have at home. Some of the students noted that they could concentrate more during regular, on site, classes; however, there was a percentage that highlighted that they can concentrate better at home during online lectures

On the other hand, many students like online learning too. They believe that online classes are more practical and more personalized. Also, some of them want to work and study, and thus, they prefer online classes.

Figure 3.2.

Preferences of students

36% 38% 19% 7%

prefer hybrid classes

Prefer regular classes

Do not enjoy online teaching

Figure 3.3.

Top resons to enjoy online learning

Learn wherever I choose

Study topocs that are not offered at my school

Learn from variety of online resources

Furthermore, according to the question, “How easy is it for you to use the remote learning tools your university provides?” students did not report having difficulties with the use of remote learning tools provided by the university. In fact, 74 percnt of students reported to find working with and using remote working tools as easy or very easy (see Figure 3.4.). 40 53 113 20 191 2531 190 140 0 50 100 150 200 250

Interact online with the teacher

Learn at my own pace

Interact with other students through social media

and 44.5 percent of students choose "Learn from a variety of online resources (i.e., video, animation, interactive media, simulations, virtual manipulatives, etc.)." It should be noted from the responses that students prefer different media regarding online resources; thus, effort should be made to offer variety, as students can differ in terms of the type of resources that supports their learning better.

Source: Original data collected by the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Learn when is convenient for me

Collaborate virtually with a team on a project

Two by two (2-member team)

Source: Original data collected by the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Large group (3-5 students) working Itogetherpreferworking individually

Source: Original data collected by the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Figure 3.6. provides a summary of digital approaches that motivate students to study. Most students indicated that PowerPoint presentations that they are provided help to motivate them to study. In addition, students in our sample note that the use of Whiteboard or various

Figure 3.4.

29% 37% 1% 33%

Moreover, figure 3.5. shows that almost 60 percent of students in the sample highlighted that their preferable method of engagement during online learning were individual assignments and small group work (preferred by approximately by 26.4 percent students).

Figure 3.5.

4% 22% 39% 35%

Small group workgroup (3-5 students) working together

How easy is to use the remote learning tools provided by university?

Methods, students are engaged with to learn digitally

Not easy at all Slightly ExtremelyQuiteSomewhateasyeasyeasyeasy

Motivation is adequate criticism and PowerPointDigitalcommendationpenandslatepresentationWhiteboardandpenAnimations

YouTube videos, the internet, Google and virtual reality are some of the additional tools that students rely on in order to achieve academic success, however, the current tools are not provided by the university. Another interesting outcome emerged from the survey is the effectiveness of online tools and features that were used during online learning. Almost three quarters of students note that documents provided by lecturers were helpful in improving the effectiveness of the lectures. In addition, most of these students highlighted that when these resources were saved in one place and were easily accessible, it also helped to improve their productivity and experience with online learning. As can be seen from Figure 3.7, approximately 50 percent of students highlighted that online quizzes and assignments motivated them to study and keep their focus and attention during the lectures. About 45 percent of students mentioned that discussions during the courses made the lectures and seminars more exciting, attractive and engaging. Lastly, it was noted that lecture recordings that were shared with students allowed

Sharing class materials

Given options have not effect on my motivation

No motivation from given options, pen and slate was…

Having own motivation

animations contributes to their motivation to study. Animations are an interesting choice since, generally, there is a delicate balance in animation not becoming distracting.

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Well aragned presentations and assignments

Source: Original data collected by the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Figure 3.6. Digital approaches that motivate to learn

Vital and interesting interpretation. Demotivating is… Internet videos

Any online tools motivate, it is additional load for…

Combination of presentation and pen (lectures) and…

Teacher making notes at the same pace as studentsNone

Best motivation is motivated teacher, the rest are only…

Source: Original data collected by the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

4952

Convenient access to course materials for instructor…

Student group tools such as discussions, file exchange,…

Figure 3.7. Effectiveness of online tools and features

them to revisit the material, for example when students were studying for exams or when they were working on an assignement.

Online class discussions

Links to electronic course reserves

The second part of the analysis concerns the teachers’ questionnaire aiming at their technological digital learning needs during the pandemic. Starting with the tegnological skills before and after the pandemic, teachers defined that their technological skill level was poor or fair (49.3 percent of respondents), while 23.3 percent mentioned that was that their technological skills are on an average level, and only the 27.4 percent of academics had good or excellent technical skills. That shows that most teaching staff needed trainings, seminars or some extra material in order to improve their skill set and feel more comfortable and flexbile in online education. An interesting result was that the definition of technological skills and usage of digital teaching tools was changed dramatically over the last year, providing that a lot of trainings for teaching staff can be helpful and efficient. Only 1.4 percent of teachers answered that their technological skills were poor or fair, 16.4 percent indicated that their level of technological skills was at an average level, and 82 percent of academics in our sample indicated that their skills were good or excellent. 126 68 138 120 24 41 65 186 43 82 169 12 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

3.3.2 Teachers

Lecture Capture - recording, storing, and distributing…

Course access limited to official class rosters

108115

Homework assignment and submission

Class calendars and scheduling

Encrypted (https) sessions

Source: Original data collected by the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Presently

Figure 3.9. presents a summary of the need of the educators of participating in trainings or support services to feel more familiar with the educational tools. Approximately 50 percent of teachers noted that they needed to improve their teaching techniques so as to improve the student involvement in lectures and seminars. In addition, 35 percent of respondents believed that it would be helpful and constructive to participate in technical trainings, workshops regarding the best practices for online learning.

Digital skills before the pandemic and presently Before

Source: Original data collected by the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Figure 3.8

Technical training on the use of distance learning…

Comparing the outcome of the teachers’ and students’ survey we can observe a number of important outcomes. For instance, there is commonality of both sample on using Microsoft Teams as the most used platform for online learning and teaching followed by Moodle (used by 41 percent of lecturers and 65 percent of students). In addition, approximately 26 percent of the teachers included other platfoms for their courses such as Zoom or Skype.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Use of questionnaires and tests for student evaluation

Figure 3.10

Techniques to better involve students

Source: Original data collected by the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

More experience needed

Contribution of employeer for home officeNone

All given options

Methods for greater teaching effectiveness for…

Need of training/consultation

Source: Original data collected by the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

No resitered any problems

No problems with digital teaching

Combination of given options

No issues with digital teaching

100,0%90,0%80,0%70,0%60,0%50,0%40,0%30,0%20,0%10,0%0,0%EdmodoHangoutMeet(di…Meet(diGoogle…MicrosoftTeams Moodle PearsonZoomMeetingCiscoWebexSkype/SkypeforbusinessGoogleWebexforeducation eSchoolSociálnesiete Teachers Students

Best practices and functional teaching methods in…

Figure 3.9

Technologies used for teaching during the pandemic

3.4. Conclusions

Another common question was about the usage of platforms out of school purposes.

YouTube videos, Google and Virtual Reality softwares were tools that students used the most On the other hand, the majority of lecturers (94.5 percent) use Microsoft Teams platform, and Skype is the second most commonly used platform (by 68.5 percent of academic respondents). Zoom meetings was indicatef to be used by approximately 59 percent of respondents; Moodle, Hangout, and Meet are used between 25 45 percent of academic staff.

The results of this chapter show several indicators that the D COLLAB project should consider when defining the upcoming intellectual outputs.

Students and teachers can perceive and understand the benefits of online learning, but the combination with face to face courses (hybrid approach) can create a productive, helpful and fruitful experience for both students and lecturers. It is strongly recommended not only for pedagogical purposes but also for improving physical interaction and communication with the teacher and colleagues and for the social perspective of being part of a (class) community (Pokhrel & Chhetri, 2021; Badar, Mason & Flood, 2020). The fact that a noteworthy group of the sample does not profer distance learning and teaching, but they still believe that it is important, especially nowadays, to highlight the technical problems that have arisen during the pandemic period i.e., downloading errors, installation issues, login issues, audio and video problems, lack of knowledge, guidance, connection problems, accessibility, affordability, flexibility, etc. (Murgatrotd, 2020; Maatuk et al., 2021; Doraisamy, 2021). However, in order to for the lectures to be effective, the lectures have to be well managed and the educational material well prepared. The academic staff should be educated, via trainings, workshops to improve their knowledge in using online technological tools, to be prepared to respond under different circumstances, while keeping the same quality of the educational level (Pokhrel & Chhetri, 2021; Badar, Mason & Flood, 2020); this contributes to students' preference for face to face Regardingeducation.

the technical part of the survey, a high percentage of students prefer using their smartphones during the online courses because they are more confident and more effortless to participate in an educational platform. However, there are plenty of issues and barriers aroused during the pandemic, such as poor quality of internet services, and of course, content, access to digital devices/tools, lack of parental guidance, low quality of presentations,

Future steps and work could enrich the current survey, providing in depth analysis of data around the technological interaction of educators and learners for example, regarding the devices used by students during the pandemic period, they can be divided into sub questions such as the number of students that use smartphones as the main device and tool for digital learning or how often students use them during lectures or seminars. Furthermore, concerning the student's preferences for face to classes, it would be helpful to explore the reasons for this situation, or for the students that do not have any preference, it will be interesting to investigate the factors for their choice. Finally, from the technical perspective, extending the questions will provide more feedback about the teachers' and students' ICT levels, how they can be adapted to new educational platforms, how teachers cope with the high workload, or how to manage the criticism that academics often receive from students regarding the dysfunctional way of teaching.

Another outcome of the survey is the attractiveness of teaching, which we can examine from various perspectives. Due to the lack of the teachers' digital knowledge and experiences, and in effort to keep the quality of the educational level at a high level, as it was before the pandemic, created shortcomings and gaps in the adaptation of online educational material. As a result, students had problems understanding and following the lectures, losing their interest and motivation. Students suggested in the survey that interaction can be implemented through small group activities or individual assignments rather than extensive group activities, which can play a significant role in the participation in the online courses. Moreover, they mentioned that resources, documentation, tutorials, videos, and other relevant material should be prepared by the teachers and shared to help and improve the students' technological interaction and enrich the quality of the educational content.

video and audio malfunctioning, difficulties on sharing files etc. (Maatuk et al. 2021; Subedi et al., 2020) affecting their motivation in the online learning experience.

An important fact emerges from the analysed data and is interrelated with the above mentioned the personalization of each student's learning procedure, which leads to the involvement in the interactive educational experience. The most significant factor in online learning is the personalization of interaction learning procedure between the teacher student, student platform, and student student in a way that can help, motivate, educate, encourage, support, and cover students' needs. At the same time, the personalization of interaction between teacher platform and teacher student is also important, so all the issues and barriers that affect students also concern teachers.

Kristóf, Z. (2020). International trends of remote teaching ordered in light of the coronavirus (COVID 19) and its most popular video conferencing applications that implement communication. Central European Journal of Educational Research, 2(2), 84 92.

Adnan, M., & Anwar, K. (2020). Online Learning amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Students' Perspectives. Online Submission, 2(1), 45 51.

Maatuk, A. M., Elberkawi, E. K., Aljawarneh, S., Rashaideh, H., & Alharbi, H. (2021). The COVID 19 Pandemic and E learning: Challenges and Opportunities from the

Basilaia, G., & Kvavadze, D. (2020). Transition to online education in schools during a SARS CoV 2 coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic in Georgia. Pedagogical Research, 5(4).

Bao, W. (2020). COVID‐19 and online teaching in higher education: A case study of Peking University. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 2(2), 113 115.

Favale, T., Soro, F., Trevisan, M., Drago, I., & Mellia, M. (2020). Campus traffic and e Learning during COVID 19 pandemic. Computer networks, 176, 107290.

Acknowledgement

References

Badar, F., Mason, J., & Flood, M. (2020, November). Pandemic 2020 and Education: Responding from Kiribati. In 28th International Conference on Computers in Education, ICCE 2020 (pp. 388 393). Asia Pacific Society for Computers in Education.

We would like to express our very great appreciation to Mrs Evangelia Vanezi for her valuable and constructive contributions and suggestions in the authoring of this chapter. Her willingness to give her time so generously has been very much appreciated.

Bsharat, T. R., & Behak, F. (2020). The Impact of Microsoft Teams’ App in Enhancing Teaching Learning English during the Coronavirus (COVID 19) from the English teachers’ perspectives’ in Jenin city. Malaysian Journal of Science Health & Technology, 7.Dhawan, S. (2020). Online learning: A panacea in the time of COVID 19 crisis. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 49(1), 5 22.

Doraisamy, H. D. (2021). Current issues and challenges of online learning approach due to pandemic outbreak of coronavirus (Covid 19). Journal of Scientific Research & Engineering Trends, 7(1), 124 130.

Dutt, I., Taneja, A., & Sharma, A. (2020). Predicting the students' learning behaviour for a technical course during Covid 19.

Taneja, A., & Dutt, I. (2021). COVID 19 and its implications on students’ learning behaviour

Perspective of Students and Instructors. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 1 Pokhrel,18.S., & Chhetri, R. (2021). A literature review on the impact of COVID 19 pandemic on teaching and learning. Higher Education for the Future, 8(1), 133 141.

Song, L., Singleton, E. S., Hill, J. R., & Koh, M. H. (2004). Improving online learning: Student perceptions of useful and challenging characteristics. The internet and higher education, 7(1), 59 70.

Sharma, M. (2020). IMPACT OF COVID 19 ON ONLINE EDUCATION SECTOR AND EDTECH COMPANIES. PalArch's Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 17(12), 1278 1288.

Subedi, S., Nayaju, S., Subedi, S., Shah, S. K., & Shah, J. M. (2020). Impact of E learning during COVID 19 pandemic among nursing students and teachers of Nepal. International Journal of Science and Healthcare Research, 5(3), 68 76.

Sintema, E. J. (2020). Effect of COVID 19 on the performance of grade 12 students: Implications for STEM education. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16(7), em1851.

88 Chapter 4

The shift to online learning and students with special needs problems, needs and ways to address them Daniele Garulla

4.1. Introduction

The COVID 19 pandemic has given the world and to its political decision makers a series of heavy decisions to be taken. Among these, the management of learning at every level, from primary schools to university and vocational training was one of the most difficult to handle both for the potential health effects as well as for the social ones. While the first largely adopted measure was the closure of in person lessons, especially for higher education, universities and vocational training, a forced shift to online learning followed as the only way to keep education alive. Even if this was not the first time that similar decision was made (Zannoni, 2020), compared to the past, especially for universities, where online education was introduced in the form of distance courses or online support for standard courses, this shift was so significant that it is possible to state that “Universities will never be the same after the coronavirus crisis” (Witze, 2020). Prepared or not, teachers were overnight placed in a situation where they had to start teaching online with a lot of improvisation (Ploj Virtič, Dolenc & Šorgo, 2021) forcing instructors to think differently and act innovatively, at least on the personal level of educational provision. In this sense, while tools and instruments are generally granted by the Universities, at least from a methodological point of view, teachers could count on a certain degree of freedom in the adaptation process (Ploj Virtič, Dolenc & Šorgo, 2021), but this was not the case for students, and this is even more significant for students with special needs.

Effects on learning of this decisive shift are still to be defined and their impact will be seen in the coming years: a series of studies are now available (such as Ploj Virtič, Dolenc, & Šorgo, 2021; Zannoni, 2020; Moriña, 2021).

This study is based on the data collected at the University of Economics in Bratislava in May 2021, under the Erasmus + Partnerships for Digital Education Readiness D-COLLAB Collaboration for Effective Digital Education. In particular, the findings are based on the feedback obtained from students with special needs interviewed a part of the data collected at the University of Economics in Bratislava as they reflect and assess their experience with

online learning. Moreover, overall student population results are compared with answers of students with special needs.

4.2. Review of relevant literature

Online learning could be seen as a natural step in a larger path that took its start from education via post (Birnbaum, 2001), with the utilization of specific media (such as written text, phone conversations, music, or video tapes and so on), tv and radio shows. The arrival of personal computers and internet brought what is generally called the native digital generation (Ranieri, 2011) the ageing of this generation slowly affected learning, shaping its online declination from a form of distance courses or online support for standard courses to massive live courses

In the following section, we provide a brief review of relevant literature. This is followed by the findings from the analysis of feedback from students with special needs, while, in the final part summarises our findings.

Moreover, as suggested by Prensky (2001) the divide between Digital Native students and their Digital Immigrant teachers is one of the cause of today’s educational problems; Prensky suggests that the Digital Natives’ brains are likely physically different as a result of the digital input they received growing up.

Nevertheless, the strength of Covid 19 pandemic, and its impact on normal life, brought universities to reform rapidly the implementation of leaning and the provision of courses. While technical difficulties could be handled, a major challenge has arisen the support of students with special needs in their learning activities mitigating any risk of inequality and vulnerability (Ferri, Grifoni, Guzzo, 2021). According to Gervasio (2020), opinion leader and journalist of a specialized magazine about the school in Italy, among the advantages of online learning are the overcoming of the space time barriers and increased flexibility in the ways and styles of learning This means that if well implemented, distance learning is a direct step toward the customisation of training paths based on the specific skills and objectives to be achieved by each student. Moreover, the overcoming of space time limits can be seen also as overcoming limits for students with special needs as they could be included and become an effective part of the group of students, eliminating the aspects linked to social exclusion. However, some obstacles are technological, such as the difficulty of accessing the network, the speed of data transmission, the quality of students’ and teachers’ ICT skills, the ability to manage time and their knowledge of the best ways of how to interact online with students (i.e., to manage a feeling of the community). If students do not have the opportunity to access the

network on a regular basis, they risk being left behind, which may inevitably lead to the alienation of some learners, especially if they are not prepared from the outset for a type of collaborative and constructivist learning. In this sense, universities should start considering what could be called the logistics of online learning (Ferri, Grifoni & Guzzo, 2021) from the technical support to consideration linked to where the learning take place. As regards disabilities, inclusion within the classroom in the past was managed by focusing on collective teaching and group work, while isolation is a further element of exclusion. This is a huge problem that needs special attention and professionals in the sector (Gervasio, 2020). As we will see in the case of this study, the themes of social function in learning will be highlighted in feedbacks from University of Economics in Bratislava students.

While the live experience is crucial for certain aspects in the socialization process, the possibility of sharing, working, and cooperating via technology in a group is enhanced, and this can lead diversities (disability, language, culture) into a diversity that enriches rather than being an obstacle that adds separation (Rivoltella, 2020). The difference between presence and distance learning is not relevant if managed under a defined educational intentionality.

In conclusion, a holistic and shared approach must be deployed in order to exploit the moment to provide effective answers to the challenges emerging from this worldwide experience with particular attention to students with special needs. As suggested by F. Ferri, P. Grifoni & T. Guzzo (2020), lessons learned from this emergency enable us to indicate challenges and proposals for action to face the same challenges directed to policymakers from different countries so that they can address some of the open challenges. The main challenges that stakeholders should consider in order to reach this shared approach are:

Reliable network infrastructure needs to be developed. Teachers, students, and parents must have connectivity that allows them to be able to take lessons remotely even when other people in the same house are doing other online activities.

The consideration of rethinking the approach toward teaching practices is therefore a theme that should be taken in account, both for students with special needs as well as for students’ overall population. According to Rivoltella (2020), Professor at the “Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore” on Media Education and Learning Technologies, it is not enough to put students in front of a computer screen or assign them homework educational planning is also needed. The need to manage motivation and attention is central; it is necessary to create the content and also to give precise indications to the students using synchronous communication (chat and video communication) to interact, clarify doubts and discuss problems. Even the cooperation among students must be followed with particular attention.

More inclusive tools, platforms and devices considering different web content accessibility guidelines (e.g., WCAG 2.0) need to be developed in order to make digital learning resources accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities.

Planning for educational material (content, methodologies, and common goals) and eLearning platforms by using interactive suitable digital learning resources (video, animations, quizzes, and games) to maintain students’ attention. While there are large possibilities in selecting technological platforms for learning, content management is left in teachers’ hands and there is no real encouragement or training to support it.

Diverse modalities (telecourses, TV, radio/podcasts, online courses) should be used to provide flexible and accessible learning experiences for students in remote areas (Eder, 2020). As we will see later, the resultd of the survey will show us that the need for a different approach toward media is well considered in students with special needs.

A blended approach should be used whenever possible to reinforce a feeling of community, improving social interaction and collaboration among learners and between learners and teachers.

More affordable devices must be provided. Devices such as tablets or computers to be connected to should be less expensive and governments should give households incentives to buy them. All the involved actors must have suitable devices to follow a lesson remotely in the most comfortable way. This is even more relevant for students with special needs as they must use complementary tools or software to fully participate in the learning process.

4.3. Survey results the experience of students with special needs with online learning

Feedback and strategies for communication for digital education assessment need to be created. As reported by Mukhtar, Javed, Arooj & Sethi (2020), the lack of student feedback is significant, and teachers should communicate consistently and often with students so that they do not feel isolated and confused. This is extremely relevant especially for students with special needs. These experts emphasised that a community of learners and teachers can be built by increasing “human” cyber interaction.

In this part of the chapter, we present the results of the survey that was carried out at the end of 2020/21 academic year among university students. During this academic year, the instruction was fully online. Overall, 254 students of the University of Economics in Bratislava

Categories and number of students with disabilities

The first question, represented in Figure 4.1., on which the survey focusses the attention is “How much have you learnt during remote learning compared to regular school instruction?”

Table 4.1. gives an overview of disability categories that the students with special needs identified themselves to have.

Disability Categories Number of students Visually impaired students 4 Deaf students 2

Table 4.11

4.3.1. Overall Experience with online learning

participated in this survey 10 students out of this group are students with special needs (3.9 percent). Despite the limited sample, it is interesting to highlight qualitative aspects coming from their answers as well as the coherence with the overall population of interviewed students. The survey data analysis was divided in three parts: Part 1 Overall Experience with online learning, Part 2 Your digital learning experience, Part 3 Worries/Negative aspects of digital learning. Their responses allow us to determine, how students with special needs cope with online learning and how the distance/online learning affected their learning outcomes. In addition, this survey data helps us to identify difficulties that students faced during this period and the ways how online education could be improved.

Students with a chronic illness 2 Student with a physical disability of the upper limbs 1 Source: University of Economics in Bratislava, 2021.

A little less A little more About the same Much less

Device utilization during the distance learning is presented in Figure 4.2. While a vast majority of students has used laptops, half of them also used a smartphone or tablets. This led us to another consideration toward effectiveness in distance learning i.e., the management of

How much have you learnt during remote learning compared to regular school instruction?

9876543210 Laptop Tablet Smartphone technologyAssistive Digital glassmagnifying computerDesktop

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

34% 22% 33% 11%

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Figure 4.1

Figure 4.2. Deviced used in distance learning (number of students)

Answers to this question are generally positive at least 56 percent of participants feel that the results are similar or slightly better than during normal instruction (i.e., on site) but no one is judging distance learning more positive than normal.

One of the more frequent addresses coming from the questionnaires is that training should be provided in a blended way to meet the preferences of students and this is valuable also for students with special needs. Nevertheless, a significant number of students is not interested in distance learning, suggesting that maybe the provision of this training is not effective for them. Further considerations are available in the answers that followed, from these, the importance of face to face lessons is stressed, as well as the ability to speak immediately and directly with the teacher to clarify doubts, and the possibility of using interpreters that help a student in need. We should also not forget the social aspects, which for some cases can be even more painful than for most people. From the methodological point of view, the difficulty of working on some subjects at a distance is underlined, still a number of students is more open to this type of learning. Thus, some topics, mainly of a mathematical nature, are difficult to explain through screen sharing, where there is a significant delay

Hybrid teaching Routine teaching Online teaching No preference Overall student population Students with special needs

The question “Do you prefer regular, hybrid, or online classes” provides us with some more considerations.

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Almost half of the answers for students with special needs indicate the preference for hybrid classes but one third of them prefers to return to on site “regular” classes these results are coherent with the overall population as can be seen in the Figure 4.3.

lessons as well as the production of training resources should be done considering the possibility of users with smartphone and the physical limits that they could have.

50454035302520151050

Figure 4.3

Do you prefer regular, hybrid, or online classes (in percentage)

Among the positive aspects of distance learning, its versatility is emphasized there is the possibility of learning beyond place and time, to be taken into consideration for students with special needs (especially in case of inconvenience or logistical difficulties), it allows for eliminating time of travel and allows more time for personal study and for private life. Similar conclusions emerged from the results of other students.

A key question for this part of the questionnaire is related to the effectiveness of remote learning compared to traditional instruction.

Very effective Extremely effective Overall population

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

50454035302520151050

Inefficient at all Slightly effective Moderatelyeffective

Figure 4.4. Effectiveness of distance learning (in percentage)

In the question “Rank the top three reasons you enjoy online learning for”, almost all respondents selected “Learning, when it is convenient for me”, and almost half of them selected “Learning at my own pace”, “faster e mail communication with the teacher” and “Learning wherever I choose”.

Students with special needs

between the spoken word and the shared screen of the teacher. There is also a certain discontent with the technical inability of dealing with technologies

Results coming from students with special needs are basically in line with the questions above (most answers are positive, although, one third views it as less effective and nobody as much better) and coherent with the overall student population. Nevertheless, it is important to underline that 11% of students with special needs find it inefficient at all, e.g., the absence of social contacts as well as insufficient preparation of some teachers to switch to new ways of managing lessons are mentioned most frequently as reasons for the problems.

Learn when it is convenient for me

These finding are in line with the reasonings provided by the other students this suggest that customization and versatility in distance learning are key features to be exploited to improve its effectiveness. 55,10% 74,80% 9,80%12,20% 75,20% 7,90% 44,50% 15,70%20,90% 44,40% 77,80% 11,10% 44,40% 11,10% 33,30% 22,20% 44,40%

Interact online with the teacher

Figure 4.5.

Do not enjoy online teaching

Learn at my own pace

Learn wherever I choose

Study topics that are not offered at my school

Collaborate virtually with a team on a project Do not enjoy online teaching

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Interact with other students through social media

Learn from a variety of online resources (i.e., video, animation, interactive media, simulations, virtual manipulatives, etc.)

faster e-mail communication with the teacher

Rank the top three reasons you enjoy online learning for

Students with special needs Overall population

4.3.2. Digital learning experience

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

454035302520151050

How easy is it for you to use the remote learning tools your university provides?(in percentage)

Nobody reported to find the remote learning tools difficult to use. More than 70 percent of students in the sample find the remote learning tools as easy or very easy to use, while similar remarks come from overall students’ population. This is a good starting point and it also indicates a strong predisposition to distance learning access. The only critical aspects reported are mainly of technical nature (e.g. incompatibility of certain software, difficulties with subtitles, colours, and graphics not suitable for presentations) and the lack of real pauses/breaks which, for the different physical situations of some students are critical to maintain concentration and to limit pains related to certain conditions. Both these considerations will return frequently in the following questions. When evaluating the support from university for this kind of learning, moderate satisfaction emerges and there are not broadly negative or positive evaluations.

Difficult A little difficult Neither easy nor difficult Quite easy Very easy

Figure 4.6.

The first question linked to digital learning experience is related to the easiness of the utilization of remote learning tools provided by the University.

Overall population students with special needs

Figure 4.7.

The views of overall population of students is very similar. The clarifications offered subsequently report, among the indications, that the exchange of information (also thanks to the virtual rooms created) was effective even if there are some negative elements related to the inability to receive the materials due to the covid restrictions as well as delays from teachers in the provision of these resources. Again, low quality of some presentations was reported. In this sense, a key idea coming from these data is that teachers should design adequate and adapted materials for teaching effectively online, and should be trained and assisted to overcome potential inabilities.Finally, the importance of time is emphasized, in the sense that teachers are strictly bound by the set times and there in no extra to respond to the needs of students with special needs, who would need more time for clarifications. Among the recommendation for improving these aspects, students provided some interesting considerations. From a technical point of view, there is a need for improvement of documentation that should be available online and easily accessible, as well as to record lessons in order to use them in case of doubts. Other suggestion in this area is the possibility to have presentation videos providing an introduction to a subject. From a methodological point of view, the importance of a blended approach to learning is stressed, a wider competence in using these tools, not only for students, but also for teachers as well as the need for more interaction among students. There are frequent complaints both on the low quality of the proposed presentations, as well as the accessibility of the materials. Moreover, students would find it appreciate if the lecturers turned on their cameras during lectures, in order to make the process more welcoming and personal. Similar suggestions emerge to questions “If you could change one thing to increase the effectiveness

50403020100

Not at all helpful Slightly helpful Moderately helpful Very helpful Extremely helpful overall population students with special needs

How helpful your University has been in offering you the resource to learn from home? (in percentage)

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Moreover, in line with what emerges from the literature as well as in other parts of the survey, students with special needs seem to prefer animations and new media to fully enjoy the learning process, as reported in Figure 4.9.

of your learning as a student with special needs in an online or blended learning environment, what would that be?” and “What specific appropriate adjustments and support services do you lack in distance education and are not yet offered by the university?” The main recurrent themes are recorded lessons, accessible documentation, and attention to making a pause or a break to ease theAnswersconcentration.topreferred

Figure 4.8. Which methods do you personally engage with to learn digitally?

methods for engagement in digital learning are highlighted in Figure 4.8. The results suggest that 33 percent of students prefer to work on individual tasks and 44 percent of students prefer to work in small groups. These results suggest that, at least for students with special needs, it is not suitable to use large group assignments

Individual AProject-basedassignmentseducationmixbetweenindividual and small work group

Small group work (up to 5 people)

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

45%11%33% 11%

When asked about the digital collaborations that enables students to work on a specific task at more ease, students with special needs confirm that small groups or individual work are better ways for them, but this is very similar to overall student population (see Figure 4.10 ).

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Which teaching method do you think is most attractive? (number of students)

WhiteboardAnimations

When asked about the preferred method for clearing doubts or unclear points about the material covered during the lecture, students with special needs seems to prefer a direct

Figure 4.9.

Figure 4.10.

Digital pen and slate

Which methods do you personally engage in to learn digitally? (in percentage)

Quizzes and videos

Powerpoint presentation

100

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Overall population Students with special needs

4035302520151050 Two by twoteam)(2-member Small group workgroup (3- 5 students)togetherworking Large group (6-10 students)togetherworking I preferindividuallyworking

Ask classmates for an explanation Finding online material that will give me explanationmore

6050403020100

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The suggestions, linked to technology utilization, that students with special needs would give to teachers to increase their academic success, are practically those we already encountered in the previous chapters more capability in using all the potential linked to distance learning, more attractiveness to lessons and related materials using tutorials and videos, but also external features as Kahoot or YouTube as well as availability of recorded lessons.When

asked “What other tools or assistive technologies do you use to succeed in your studies?” students with special needs reported the use of a second monitor, ZoomText and other visual enhancement tools. Other students among the tools reported mentioned social media and web sources (such as Wikipedia). The specific features (considering only online services) that worked well during online studies are highlighted in Figure 4.12

Ask the teacher during / after class online

Figure 4.11. What is your most preferred method for clearing doubts/unclear points about the material covered in the online learning process? (in percentage)

Search for publicly availableresourcesInternet other

Overall population Students with special needs

101

feedback during or after a lecture (33 percent of students), while almost 25 percent of students prefers to look for clarification on the internet (see Figure 4.10 ). This is in line with the preferences of other students, although students with special needs seem to avail more on teachers.

When the focus is placed on other appropriate adjustments and support services or additional services that students would need, there is no particular comment apart for the learning resources availability and not satisfying performance from certain lecturers.

102

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

E-mail communication between students

Electronic grade books for assignments, tests, etc.

Considering only online services, or features that you have used during your online studies at you University, which specific features work well for you? (number of students)

The results discussed in this part of the chapter should be taken into account when defining the provisions for digital learning for students with special needs.

Learning modules (units of course content or learning…

Homework assignment andOnlinesubmissiontesting

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Links to electronic courses

Links to external web pages

The first related question deals with the biggest barrier in effectively learning online. Nobody reported specific needs both from technology or assistance point of view (only one answer is linked to a limited space at home and few remarks are linked to internet connection). The support provided during the period of online instruction is assessed positively by most interviewed students with special needs.

Figure 4.12.

Encrypted (https) documents and messages

Online class discussions

Lecture recordings

4.3.3. Worries/Negative aspects of digital learning

Export of recorded sessions to open-systems exchange…

Access to the course restricted to students of the group

Tools for groups of students,e.g. file exchange, e-mail,…

Access to course materials for students and lecturers

Uploaded documents made available to students

Answers to the question “‘My lecturers/teachers have ensured sufficient accessibility to online learning materials for me” are positive for 56 percent of respondents, but 44 percent of respondents are neutral.

Figure 4.13

It is interesting to underline that there is no full satisfaction in the sample. The further explanations show the positive experience with some teachers/staff members particularly those active in terms of the provision of lecture related documents and general support, as well as the importance of live help/support. Negative aspects were already mentioned in previously no lecture recordings were provided to students, some students found it difficult to access certain learning sources.

Looking through all reported answers there are several indications that the D COLLAB project must consider in its future activities.

I can't judge I agree

Source: Original data collected by authors at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

103

44% 56%

First of all, the main consideration that is needed is the fact that the utilization of distance learning for this specific target is interesting and agreed, especially for the potential customisation of the learning process that could improve career prospects of students with

4.4. Conclusions and discussion

My lecturers/teachers have ensured sufficient accessibility to online learning materials for me

special needs but can be seen also as a mean of inclusivity, not only to students with specific needs, but to students and teachers as a social group As suggestet by Nguyen (2021), digital technologies can really promote social inclusion by allowing for the delivery of real time services that can enable individuals to learn, work, and live without being subject to physical or socialThebarriers.responses of students suggest that customization and versatility in distance learning are key features to be exploited to improve its effectiveness. This does not mean that regular teaching is to be abandoned for this target group a blended approach is to be followed, keeping space for direct interaction among students, teachers and the university staff. This is strongly advised not only for the effectiveness of training as certain subjects could require in person training to perform better but also not to lose direct feedback from teachers and the social aspects of being in a community of students. There is also another aspect to be considered one third of students with special needs would prefer to return to full “regular” classes and this is in line with other students’ conclusions. The aspect to be highlighted is the fact that a relevant group is not interested in distance learning, suggesting that maybe the provision of this kind of instruction is not effective for them and should be reformed. This brings us to another consideration toward effectiveness of distance learning the management of lessons as well as the production of training resources.

One of the first technical considerations is linked to the provision of learning of users that may use smartphone with the limits that this device could have. Moreover, it seems that a part of teachers/staff is not fully prepared to manage properly the distance learning in this regard, the frequent quotation of low quality presentations or accessibility of resources as well as not effective use of technologies (for example the camera turned off) highlight a relevant need for “train the trainers” initiatives.

From the time management point of view there is an aspect to be analysed. A lot of attention from students focuses on the fact that in regular learning process there is a possibility to overcome doubts and ambiguity by directly contacting teachers, feedback in remote learning, in real time, is somehow difficult. The main consideration we may draw in this case is that the provision of remote training should encourage the exchange of feedback among students and teachers on more frequent basis. Another critical aspect in this regard, specifically linked to students with special needs, is the lack of pauses/breaks which, given specific physical situations of some students are critical to maintain concentration and limit the pain related to their disability.

104

In conclusion, in the opinion of students with special needs, the provision of remote learning is good but far from perfect. There is the need to invest time and sources to develop and enrich it. The solution could be summarized by a phrase taken from a student with special need expressed in the questionnaire: „I have found that private educational projects and courses are much better than those provided by my university. We also need to learn from them.“

Moriña, A., & Biagiotti, G. (2021). Academic success factors in university students with disabilities: a systematic review. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 1 18.

Gervasio, F. Didattica a Distanza, Alcuni Suggerimenti per Svilupparla al Meglio. Orizzontescuola.it. 2020. Available online: https://www.orizzontescuola.it/didattica a distanza alcuni suggerimenti per svilupparla al meglio

References

105

Birnbaum, B. (2001). Foundations and practices in the use of distance education. Edwin Mellon Press.

Ferri, F., Grifoni, P., & Guzzo, T. (2020). Online learning and emergency remote teaching: Opportunities and challenges in emergency situations. Societies, 10(4), 86.

del Arco, I., Silva, P., & Flores, O. (2021). University teaching in times of confinement: The light and shadows of compulsory online learning. Sustainability, 13(1), 375. Eder, R. (2020). The remoteness of remote learning: A policy lesson from COVID19. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education, 9(1), 168 171

Another critical methodological aspect is the attractiveness of training, a goal that we may analyse from different points of view. First, the simple provision of a lesson copying regular training and not adapted to distance learning does not work. In the opinion of students with special needs, teachers should focus on avoiding the monotony and promoting interactions. Students with special needs, in this sense, suggest that interaction should be implemented within small groups activities, instead of large groups. Learning sources, documentations, and other relevant materials, should be redesigned to ease access (both from technical and economical point of views) as well as to meet higher standards of quality. Lessons could be enriched with external resources, tutorials, video klips and other features that can help in the learning approach. Finally, a lot of attention should be paid to the possibility of personalizing one's own learning process, also making the recordings of lessons more available.

Nguyen, A. (2021) Digital Inclusion. In: Liamputtong P. (eds) Handbook of Social Inclusion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978 3 030 48277 0_14 1)

Ploj Virtič, M., Dolenc, K., & Šorgo, A. (2021). Changes in online distance learning behaviour of university students during the Coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak, and development of the model of forced distance online learning preferences. European Journal of Educational Research, 10(1), 393-411. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.10.1.393 Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants part 2: Do they really think differently?. On the horizon

106

Mukhtar, K., Javed, K., Arooj, M., & Sethi, A. (2020). Advantages, Limitations and Recommendations for online learning during COVID 19 pandemic era. Pakistan journal of medical sciences, 36(COVID19 S4), S27.

Ranieri, M. (2011). Le insidie dell’ovvio. Tecnologie educative e critica della retorica tecno centrica. ETS.

Rivoltella, P.C. Scuola. Tecnologia più condivisione: Così si può fare buon e learning. Avvenire.it. 2020. Available https://www.avvenire.it/opinioni/pagine/tecnologiaonline: pi condivisione cos si pu fare buonelearning (accessed on 7th September 2021).

Witze, A. (2020). Universities will never be the same after the coronavirus crisis. Nature, 582(7811), 162 164. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586 020 01518 y

Zannoni, F. (2020). La didattica universitaria a distanza durante e dopo la pandemia: impatto e prospettive di una misura emergenziale. Media Education 11(2): 75 84. doi: 10.36253/ me 8979

107 Annex 1 Questionnaire for students

IO1 -Survey of the needs of instructors and QUESTIONNAIREstudentsFOR STUDENTS

APPROVED ON BEHALF OF D COLLAB EVALUATION:INTERNAL EUBA, 4.5.2021 DATE:EVALUATION:EXTERNALDATE:

108

WEBSITE:PROJECT

PROJECT INFORMATION

PROJECT TITLE: Collaboration for Effective Digital Education NUMBER:AGREEMENT 2020 1 SK01 KA226 HE 094384

Disclaimer:

ACRONYM:PROJECT D COLLAB

EU PROGRAMME: KA2 Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good KA226practices Partnerships for Digital Education Readiness

PREPARED BY

PARTNER(S):AUTHORING M&M Profuture Training, S.L. DATE: 28.04.2021

•

• Bratislava region

GENERAL INFORMATION

•

The pandemic of COVID 19 affected virtually any country of the world and alternative modes of instruction are needed. Your opinion is extremely important because you can help us to identify in detail and sufficient depth your needs for the enhanced effectiveness of digital teaching. There are no "right" or "wrong" answers. Your responses are anonymous the survey will not contain any information that will personally identify you. The results of our research will be analyzed and used for improved effectiveness of digital teaching and learning.

•

Agree Disagree

I understand that my participation in this research survey is voluntary and confidential. By clicking on the "agree" button below you indicate that you have read the above information and you voluntarily agree to participate in this survey.

Consent form:

Questions

Indicate gender: Female Male

•

109

•

• Trnava region Nitra region Banska Bystrica region Trencin region Zilina region Presov region Kosice region Other:

•

What is the population of the city you live in? < 1 999 residents 2 000 4 999 residents 5 000 9 999 residents 10 000 19 999 residents 20 000 49 999 residents 50 000 99 999 residents 100 000 < residents

•

Dear students,

•

_____________

•

Please indicate the region in which you were staying during the remote learning (if other, please indicate the country):

• 3 5 hours

•

• No devices available

1. How much have you learnt during remote learning compared to regular school instruction? much less, somewhat less, about the same, somewhat more, much more

•

• Extremely effective Please describe why: _____________

•

Degree of study Bachelor Master Doctoral

Part 1 - OVERALL EXPERIENCE WITH ONLINE LEARNING

•

• Prefer hybrid classes

• 10+ hours

• 5 7 hours

4. Do you prefer regular, hybrid, or online classes? (click one choice)

•

• No preference Please describe why: _____________

• Slightly effective Moderately effective

• Learn when it is convenient for me

• Prefer regular classes

• Very effective

6. Rank the top three reasons you enjoy online learning for

• Other, please, indicate what

• Prefer online classes

• Learn at my own pace

•

2. What device do you use? Please, tick all devices used Laptop Desktop Tablet Smartphone

• 7 10 hours

•

110

5. How effective has remote learning been for you compared to traditional instruction? (click one choice)

• Not at all effective

3. How much time do you spend each day on an average on distance education? (click one •choice)1 3 hours

• Interact online with the teacher

B) If you are a student with special needs: How helpful the University has been in offering you special resources adjusted to your specific needs to learn from home? (click one choice)

• Not easy at all

• Somewhat easy

• Study topics that are not offered at my school

• Somewhat easy

If you answered that it is not easy at all, or it is slightly easy, please, explain the difficulties you have faced …………………….

• Slightly helpful

• Slightly easy

Part 2 - YOUR DIGITAL LEARNING EXPERIENCE

•choice)Not easy at all

• Learn from a variety of online resources (i.e., video, animation, interactive media, simulations, virtual manipulatives, etc.)

• Do not enjoy online teaching

• Slightly easy

If you answered that it is not easy at all, or it is slightly easy, please, explain the difficulties you have faced ………………………………….

• Learn wherever I choose

• Quite easy

B) If you are a student with special needs:

• Not at all helpful

• Very helpful

• Interact with other students through social media

A) How helpful your University has been in offering you the resources to learn from home? (click one choice)

How easy is it for you to use remote learning tools your university provides? (click one

• Extremely easy

111

• Quite easy

• Moderately helpful

A) How easy is it for you to use the remote learning tools your university provides? (click one choice)

• Collaborate virtually with a team on a project

• Extremely easy

• Extremely helpful Please, explain your answer ……. Could you provide your recommendation for improving this aspect? ……….

• Large group (6 10 students) working together

6. What is your most preferred method for clearing doubts/unclear points about the material covered in the online learning process?

• None

• Very helpful

• PowerPoint presentation

• Small group workgroup (3 5 students) working together

• Not at all helpful

• Two by two (2 member team)

• Webex meetings

• Post a query in a discussion forum of your class and get help from your peers

• Other, please, explain which …………………………

• Individual assignment

......................

• Digital pen and slate

• Zoom

1. What technology based applications have you used for online learning? Select all that apply

• Small group (No. 5 students) work

• Other, please, explain which ………..

• Animations

• I prefer working individually

• Ms Teams

• Whiteboard and pen

• Other, please, specify which

• Slightly helpful

……..

5. Which digital collaborations enable you to work on a specific task at ease?

• Ask an instructor during/after an online class

• HIDOE Continuity of Education Resources

3. Which methods do you personally engage with to learn digitally?

• Extremely helpful Please, explain your answer ……………………….

• eSchool

112

4. Which digital approaches motivate you to learn?

• Social Media

• Moodle

• Project based learning

• Moderately helpful

• Google for education (G Suite, Google Classroom or Meets)

• Large group (No. 10 students and more) work

• Other, please, specify which …………….

2. If you were able to ask for a specific teacher/university support to help you with your online study, what kind of support would you need? ………………………….

Could you provide any recommendations for improving this aspect?

• Export of recorded sessions to open systems exchange media (e.g., posting recorded lectures and posting them to Blackboard)

• Other, please, explain which …………..

• Homework assignment and submission

• Lack of reliable internet connections

• Electronic grade books for assignments, tests, and other graded aspects of the course

8. What additional tools or technologies do you rely on for your academic success that are not provided by your university?

• Other, please, explain what ……

9. Considering only online services, or features that you have used during your online studies at you University, which specific features work well for you? (Select all that apply)

• Learning modules (units of course content or learning activities, e.g., chapters, units, weeks, topics, etc., including "chunking" course content and activities)

• Class calendars and scheduling

• Links to external web pages

• Convenient access to course materials for instructor and students (e.g., syllabus, outlines, notes, presentations, etc.)

7. What is ONE thing you would like your teachers to do differently with technology to enhance your academic success? Please, comment …………………

• Course access limited to official class rosters

Please, specify:

• Secure online testing software with anti cheating security tools

• Links to electronic course reserves

• A multimedia asset management (MAM) system software/hardware that enables storage, annotation, cataloguing, retrieval and distribution of digital assets, such as audio and video streaming

• Lack of quiet workspace

113

• Searching publicly available internet resources

• Access to virtual classroom sessions limited to paid students

• Other factors, please, specify which …………………..

• Go through an online material providing an additional explanation

• Online testing

• Encrypted (https) sessions

• Lack of needed technology

• Online class discussions

• I am not seeking the clarification of unclear material

Part 3 WORRIES / NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF DIGITAL LEARNING

• Uploaded documents make available to students

• E mail to, from, between students

• Need to care for brothers or sisters

• Lecture Capture recording, storing, and distributing videos of lectures, guest speakers, presentations, discussions, etc.

• Student group tools such as discussions, file exchange, email, wikis, blogs, etc

1. What is your biggest barrier in effectively learning online from home?

• I don’t have any barriers with online learning

B) If you are a student with special needs: Have you received adequate technical support and training for following and planning your online classes?

Please,Yes specify what support you received ……………..

Please,No specify what support you received ……………..

114

3. Is there any additional information that you would like to share about the use of digital teaching tools and online instruction at your university? Please, comment here: ……………….

Please,No specify what support you would need ……………..

2. A) Have you received adequate technical support and training at your University to follow, plan and prepare for your online classes?

Please,Yes specify what support you received ……………..

115 Annex 2 Questionnaire for teaching staff

IO1 -Survey of the needs of instructors and QUESTIONNAIREstudentsFORTEACHING STAFF

WEBSITE:PROJECT

ACRONYM:PROJECT D COLLAB

PROJECT TITLE: Collaboration for Effective Digital Education NUMBER:AGREEMENT 2020 1 SK01 KA226 HE 094384

EU PROGRAMME: KA2 Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good KA226practices Partnerships for Digital Education Readiness

APPROVED ON BEHALF OF D COLLAB EVALUATION:INTERNAL EUBA, 4.5.2021 DATE:EVALUATION:EXTERNALDATE:

PROJECT INFORMATION

116

Disclaimer:

PREPARED BY

PARTNER(S):AUTHORING FOR SRL DATE: 28.04.2021

3. What level are you teaching at (Please, indicate all levels appropriate)?

Indicate gender:

• Bachelor

• Master

• Female

• No

1. Before March 2020 and the epidemic, had you already used digital teaching tools?

Part 1 TECHNICAL AND MEDOTODOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

117

• Yes

• Less than 5 years of teaching

Dear colleagues,

• No

• Male

• Doctoral

4. Have you ever participated in online teaching/training courses for distance learning as a teacher/trainer before?

• Over 10 years of teaching

Agree Disagree Questions

2. What is your teaching experience?

Consent form:

• Between 5 and 10 years of teaching

• Yes

•

• Microsoft Teams

5. How would you define your skill level in using digital education tools before the pandemic? Scale 1 to 5 (1 poor, 5 excellent)

• GeniusBoard IMPARI

• Microsoft Teams

SCHOOLOGY

• Pearson

• Hangout

• Cisco Webex

7. Which of the following platforms do you use for distance teaching (You can select one or more answers)

• SOCLOO WeSchool

• Material created by you

• Fidenia

• GeniusBoard IMPARI

8. Which of the following platforms do you use independently, even for non school purposes? (You can select one or more answers)

•

• Material produced and shared by other colleagues

• Hangout

•

• Other, please, specify which

• Jitsi

•

• Fidenia

• Moodle Pearson SCHOOLOGY SOCLOO WeSchool Zoom Meeting Cisco Webex Jitsi

•

• Other, please, specify which

• Moodle

………….

• Digital book extensions

• Zoom Meeting

• Meet (di Google Workspace for Education)

9. To integrate the teaching material you used

• Material available online

118

6. How would you define your skill level in using digital teaching tools today (spring 2021)? Scale 1 to 5 (1 poor , 5 excellent)

• Skype/ Skyper for business

• Meet (di Google Workspace for Education)

•

• Edmodo

• Skype/ Skyper for business

•

…….

• By asking them direct questions

• Yes

• No

17. What are the problems that limit or worsen the quality of student participation in distance learning hours? (You can select one or more answers)

• Other, please, specify which

• To teach in a manner similar to the one you use face to face

• Forums

11. If yes, could you please indicate which ones?

……

18. The communication with students outside the official class takes place through:

10. Do you use platforms/websites to find teaching materials to be implemented during the lessons?

• Quality of internet connection

• After starting the lesson, to manage students in small groups within the "virtual" classroom

• Putting them in pairs or in groups with students who can help them

16. How do you evaluate the level of participation of students during distance learning? Scale 1 to 5 ( 1 poor , 5 excellent)

• No

• Other, please, specify which…..

14. Did you develop your unique personal teaching strategies during the distance learning hours?

13. What strategy do you use to involve less active students more in the online class instruction? (You can select one or more answers)

• Integrate front mode with individual job assignment

• Telegram Channels/groups

119

• Video / audio malfunctioning

• Facebook, twitter or other social media chats

• All modalities, depends on the lesson and topic

• Microsoft Teams chat

• By having a topic prepared at home present

• Yes

12. During your lessons you prefer

• Present examples/solutions of the topics by students

• Problems in sharing files

• Whatsapp groups

• Other, please, specify which:

• Other, please, specify which

15. If you answered yes, could you please describe them briefly?

Part 2 - TEACHING METHODS AND STUDENT PARTICIPATION

• I would appreciate combined forms of online and face to face teaching

• Teaching a course in synchronous online mode is easier

• Distance learning eases communication with students

21. Is preparing lessons using distance learning more challenging than designing traditional lessons?

• Distance learning eases communication with other colleagues

25. Could you please indicate the largest difficulties you came across during months of online teaching?

• I am comfortable with face to face teaching

• Teaching a course in asynchronous online mode is easier

• No

• Other, pleased, specify which ……………

Scale 1 to 5 (1 poor, 5 excellent)

Part 3 EVALUATION AND NEEDS

• Email

• Manage a course in traditional face to face mode is easier

Scale:Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

24. Could you, please, indicate the aspects that you appreciated most during months of online teaching?

• Distance learning ease communication with students

23. How flexible distance teaching is with respect to your expectations?

• Yes

• Distance learning ease communication with other colleagues

• No

19. Are there students with special needs among the ones taking part in your lessons?

26. Express your degree of agreement with each of the following statements

• I am comfortable with online teaching

120

• Distance teaching should be integrated with traditional face to face teaching

• Yes

20. If you answered yes, have you implemented specific practices in relating to their specific needs? Please, specify what practices you used……………

Scale 1 to 5

• Distance teaching should be integrated with traditional face to face teaching

• Teaching a course in traditional face to face mode is easier

22. What is the level of collaboration with colleagues for the management and coordination of distance learning?

• I am comfortable with face to face teaching

• Techniques to better involve students

• Other, please, specify what: …………………………..

• Manage a course in asynchronous online mode is easier

• I am comfortable with online teaching

• I would appreciate combined forms of online and face to face teaching

27. What are the issues related to digital teaching on which you would need most training/consultancy?

• Manage a course in synchronous online mode is easier

• Technical training on the use of distance learning platforms

• Use of questionnaires and tests for student evaluation

121

• Best practices and functional teaching methods in distance learning

• Methods for greater teaching effectiveness for students with special needs

28. What practices that you implemented in your teaching during the pandemic, you plan to use after the pandemic period?

122 Annex 3 Questionnaire for students with special needs IO1 -Survey of the needs of instructors and students QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

PROJECT INFORMATION

WEBSITE:PROJECT

PARTNER(S):AUTHORING M&M Profuture Training, S.L. DATE: 28.04.2021

Disclaimer:

ACRONYM:PROJECT D COLLAB

123

EU PROGRAMME: KA2 Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good KA226practices Partnerships for Digital Education Readiness

PROJECT TITLE: Collaboration for Effective Digital Education NUMBER:AGREEMENT 2020 1 SK01 KA226 HE 094384

APPROVED ON BEHALF OF D COLLAB EVALUATION:INTERNAL EUBA, 4.5.2021 DATE:EVALUATION:EXTERNALDATE:

PREPARED BY

• 2 000 4 999 inhabitants

124

• 100 000 < inhabitants

• 50 000 99 999 inhabitants

• Trnava region

• Female

• Bachelor

Please indicate the region in which you were staying during the remote learning:

Consent form:

• IndicateMalethesize

Dear students,

of the city you live in

• 5 000 9 999 inhabitants

Part 1 OVERALL EXPERIENCE WITH ONLINE LEARNING

• Banska Bystrica region

Questions

Indicate gender:

Degree of study

• 20 000 49 999 inhabitants

• Kosice region

• Presov region

• Trencin region

Agree Disagree

• < 1 999 inhabitants

GENERAL INFORMATION

• 10 000 19 999 inhabitants

• Zilina region

• Nitra region

• Bratislava region

3. How much time do you spend each day on average on the distance education (including independent study)? (click one option only)

• Desktop

……..

• 1 3 hours

• 10+ hours

• Smartphone

• 3 5 hours

• Student with a physical disability of the lower limbs

• Prefer regular classes

4. Do you prefer regular, hybrid, or online classes? (click one option only)

• Prefer hybrid classes

(please, identify all relevant)

• No device available

•

• much more

• Tablet

Please, name the specific assistive technologies.

• Student with a physical disability of the uppoer limbs

1. How much have you learnt during remote learning compared to the regular school

• Assistive technologies

• Student with a chronic illness

• about the same,

DisabilityDoctoralCategories

2. What device do you use for online learning? Please, tick all devices used

• Student with learning disabilities

• 7 10 hours

• Deafness

• Student with low vision

• Other, please, specify which

• Laptop

• Students with a mental illness

Master •

•instruction?much less,

• somewhat less,

• 5 7 hours

• Prefer online classes

• No preference Please describe why ………………..

• Blindness

• Hard of hearing student

• Student with physical weakness

125

• somewhat more,

• Other, please, indicate what

• Seldom

• Learn at my own pace

• Learn when it is convenient for me

• Learn from a variety of online resources (i.e., video, animation, interactive media, simulations, virtual manipulatives, etc.)

• Not easy at all

• Interact with other students through social media

• Interact online with the teacher

• All of the time

126

Part 2 YOUR DIGITAL LEARNING EXPERIENCE

If you answered “I do not enjoy online teaching, explain why it is not suitable for you.

5. How much support do you require from, your relatives and friends during the distance learning period?

• Most of the time

• Some of the time

• Collaborate virtually with a team on a project

• Moderately effective

6. How effective has remote learning been for you compared to traditional instruction? (click one choice)

• I do not enjoy online teaching

• Learn wherever I choose

• Never

7. Rank the top three reasons you enjoy online learning for

__________________________________

1. How easy is it for you to use the remote learning tools your university provides? (click one option only )

• Somewhat easy

• Very effective

If you answered that it is not easy at all, or slightly easy, please, explain the difficulties you have faced

• Study topics that are not offered at my school

• Extremely effective Please describe why ……………..

• Faster e mail communication with the teacher

• Slightly easy

• Quite easy

• Slightly effective

• Not at all effective

• Extremely easy

• Ms Teams

4. What specific appropriate adjustments and support services do you lack in distance education and are not yet offered by the university?

• Zoom

7. Which methods do you personally engage in to learn digitally?

127

• Other, please, explain which …………………………

• Small group (No. 5 students) work

• Individual assignment

3. If you could change one thing to increase the effectiveness of your learning as a student with special needs in an online or blended learning environment, what would that be?

• Moderately helpful

6. What technology based applications have you used for online learning? Select all applicable

• Moodle

• Project based learning

• Other, please, specify which …………….

• Social Media

2. How helpful your University has been in offering you resources to learn from home? (click one choice)

• Other, please, explain which ………..

• Not at all helpful

• Two by two (2 member team)

• Very helpful

• eSchool

• Animations

• Whiteboard and pen

• Webex meetings

• None

9. Which form of digital collaboration enables you to work on a specific task with ease?

• Slightly helpful

• HIDOE Continuity of Education Resources

8. Which of the digital approaches motivate you to learn?

• Digital pen and slate

• Extremely helpful Please, explain your answer ………… Could you provide your recommendation for improvement this aspect?

• Large group (No. 10 students and more) work

• Google for education (G Suite, Google Classroom or Meets)

……………….

5. What specific appropriate adjustments and support services do you lack in full time education and the university does no yet offer them?

• PowerPoint presentation

• I am not seeking the clarification of unclear material

• Access to virtual classroom sessions limited to paid students

• Other, please, specify which ……..

• Learning modules (units of course content or learning activities, e.g., chapters, units, weeks, topics, etc., including "chunking" course content and activities)

• Small group workgroup (3- 5 students) working together

• A multimedia asset management (MAM) system software/hardware that enables storage, annotation, cataloguing, retrieval and distribution of digital assets, such as audio and video streaming

• Lecture Capture recording, storing, and distributing videos of lectures, guest speakers, presentations, discussions, etc.

• Online class discussions

• Secure online testing software with anti cheating security tools

• Class calendars and scheduling

• Course access limited to official class rosters

• Encrypted (https) sessions

• Other, please, explain what ……

• Other, please, explain which …………..

128

• Export of recorded sessions to open systems exchange media (e.g., posting recorded lectures and posting them to Blackboard)

• Electronic grade books for assignments, tests, and other graded aspects of the course

• Homework assignment and submission

• Ask an instructor during/after an online class

• E mail to, from, between students

• Links to external web pages

• Large group (6 10 students) working together

• Online testing

• Links to electronic course reserves

• Individual consultation outside of class hours

• Student group tools such as discussions, file exchange, email, wikis, blogs, etc

• Uploaded documents make available to students

• Convenient access to course materials for instructor and students (e.g., syllabus, outlines, notes, presentations, etc.)

13. Considering only the online services, or features that you have used during your online studies at you University, which specific features work well for you? (Please, select all that apply)

11. What ONE advice would you give to teachers when working with technologies that would help increase your academic success?

12. What other tools or assistive technologies do you use to succeed in your studies? Please writhe which specifically: _____________

• I prefer working individually

• Searching publicly available internet resources

• Go through an online material providing an additional explanation

10. What is your most preferred method for clearing doubts/unclear points about the material covered in the online learning process?

1. What is your biggest barrier in effectively learning online from home?

• Lack of quiet workspace

• I don’t have any barriers with online learning

2. Have you received special support for students with special needs during the period of online instruction?

• Need to care for brothers or sisters

• Neither agree nor disagree

•

• Yes IndicateNowhat other appropriate adjustments and support services or additional services you would need

• Agree

• Lack of needed technology

4. Is there any additional information that you would like to share about the use of digital teaching tools technology and online instruction at your university? Please, consider specifically you status of a student with special needs. Please, comment here:

• Other factors, please, specify which …………………..

3. ‘My lecturers/teachers have ensured sufficient accessibility to online learning materials for me’

• Strongly agree Please, explain your answer ……………..

……………..

……………….

• Strongly disagree

129 Part 3 - WORRIES / NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF DIGITAL LEARNING

• Lack of reliable internet connections

• Disagree

130

SURVEY OF NEEDS OF INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS

1st edition, 130 pages ISBN 978-84-09-35002-5

Anetta Čaplánová, Estera Szakadátová and Ľubomír Darmo (Editors)

Publisehd by: M&M Profuture Training, S.L., Spain

O1: Survey of the needs of instructors and students.

Articles inside

Annex 3 Questionnaire for students with special needs

Annex 1 Questionnaire for students

4.4. Conclusions and discussion

4.3.3. Worries/Negative aspects of digital learning

4.3. Survey results – the experience of students with special needs with online learning

Annex 2 Questionnaire for teaching staff

4.2. Review of relevant literature

Box 2.5. Type of missing resources

Box 2.3. Recommendations and comments by students on how to improve study resources

2.3.2. Digital learning experience at the University

3.2. Review of relevant literature

3.4. Conclusions

2.2. Review of relevant literature

FOREWORD

2.4. Lessons learned and Conclusion