AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
ELECTRONIC EDUCATION
AND ONLINE TEACHING AT SLOVAK UNIVERSITIES
DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
a
VLADIMÍRA HLADÍKOVÁ
Faculty of Mass Media Communication, University of Ss. Cyril
and Methodius in Trnava, Nám. J. Herdu, 2, 917 01 Trnava,
Slovakia
email:
a
vladimira.hladikova@ucm.sk
Abstract: The comprehensive education system in 2020 was significantly limited at all
levels by the global pandemic of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Universities modified
the organization of teaching and transformed study into cyberspace, so teaching could
continue in a distance form using e-learning, webinars, or other digital education tools.
The paper focuses on the issue of university education during the first wave of the
pandemic and has the character of a theoretical-empirical study. The first part presents
the basic theoretical background of the researched issue from the perspective of
various authorial approaches. The key is the empirical part, in which the results of
research conducted among students are interpreted to find out their experiences,
attitudes and preferences in the context of online teaching during the COVID-19
pandemic. The research involved 730 respondents from sixteen Slovak universities. In
conclusion, the author appeals to the importance of digital and media literacy so online
teaching can be considered an effective and equivalent tool to the full-time form of
study.
Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, education, information and communication
technologies, online teaching, students, teachers, preferences, research.
1 Introduction
The year 2020 was marked by radical changes in the functioning
of all areas of life. The cause of these socio-political, cultural,
and economic changes was the emergence of a global pandemic
of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which affected all continents
and every individual. It is obvious that these changes also
affected the field of education and the organization of the
educational process itself. As a result of the constant spread of
the coronavirus, schools and educational institutions on all
continents have been closed. Education has transformed
dramatically – with a significant increase in e-learning and other
forms of distance learning, which is implemented at distance and
on various digital platforms.
For more than 300 million students worldwide, the learning
process is disrupted by a pandemic. Neither schools nor
universities have encountered a similar situation for generations,
but unlike in the past, we are now able to continue our education
even when schools are closed. With the spread of the COVID-19
pandemic, there has been an increasing shift towards online
learning, as it represents the only option for a continuous
learning process. Informal and non-formal education is also
particularly affected. However, there is a firm presumption that
no pedagogical approach can replace the top position of formal
education and direct teacher interaction. However, because of
the COVID-19 crisis, online education has begun a pedagogical
shift from the traditional method to a modern teaching approach,
from classroom to Zoom, from personal to virtual contact, and
from seminars to webinars. In the pre-pandemic period, e-
learning, distance learning and courses were popularly
considered part of non-formal education, but at present it seems
that if circumstances persist for a long time, these forms will
gradually replace the formal education system. One can only
agree with Lederman's (2020) standpoint that, because of the
COVID-19 crisis, both teachers and students have found
themselves forced to accept digital academic experience as a
summum bonum of the online teaching and learning process.
Therefore, the main aim of this paper was to find out what are
the experiences, attitudes, and preferences of students at Slovak
universities in the context of online teaching carried out in the
first wave of the pandemic in the summer semester of the
academic year 2019/2020.
2 Digitization and use of information and communication
technologies in the educational process
How is it possible to define the educational process? The
educational process should inform (educate), shape (tutor) and
should also have an instrumental function. According to M.
Bošnáková (2006), that refers to the international pedagogical
terminology of UNESCO IBE Educational Thesaurus 1991, the
educational process is one “in which a pupil (educant) and a
teacher (educator) enter into communication contact for the
purpose of transmitting information”. In the educational process,
a complex personality is formed with the help of acting
educational elements, that uses the acquired skills, knowledge,
and habits as a tool for:
obtaining information from any sources of information;
internal, thoughtful processing of information;
use in practice at the current time, in the current context
and conditions.
In this context, we can also mention E. Petlák (1997), who
specifies what skills students should develop in the educational
process:
a)
ability to learn (planned, systematic and organized);
b)
remember the subject matter (repeat, practice, sort ...);
c)
think logically correctly, accurately and thoroughly
(analyse, synthesize, deduce ...);
d)
observe things and phenomena (capture the essence,
objectively assess, use observation techniques ...);
e)
approach the facts creatively (actively acquire knowledge,
organize work ...).
At the same time, the author says that “the ideal is no longer a
student as a “living encyclopaedia”, but a capable and creative
person who can use, combine and supplement the knowledge he
has acquired or is acquiring creatively.”
Z. Obdržálek (2000) adds that the teaching process can be
described as a dialectical, contradictory, complex multifactor and
conflicting event, which develops based on causal links, while it
is goal oriented. It includes the teaching activity of the educator
and the learning activity of the pupil, i.e., two partial processes
between which a certain tension takes place and whose roots lie
in the opposite relationship between the educator's leadership
and the educant's independence.
The expansion of science and technology supports efforts to
modernize the goals, content, and forms of the educational
process itself. The maturity, development, and breadth of
application of modern means of information and communication
technology are becoming one of the basic criteria for the success
of the society. It is therefore clear that education and the
educational process are significantly influenced by the state of
development of information and communication technologies
(ICT). We identify with the statement of Kozik et al. (2016) that
“today's society is adopting an education strategy that is based
on teaching supported by information and communication
technologies”.
The currently achieved level of ICT allows their use in every
phase of the teaching process (e.g., motivational, fixative, etc.).
Their application brings certain advantages to the educational
process, but also disadvantages. We define the specific aspects in
the following table.
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