Challenges of distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Educational experiences in Poland in relation to Belgium, France, Greece from the perspective of the KEEP project

The COVID-19 pandemic and organisational changes in education, such as periodic school closings, the introduction of distance learning, and the introduction of hybrid learning, shook the education systems in many countries around the world. During this crisis, society needed time to introduce changes and adapt to them, along with rebuilding the self-confidence of teachers and students. This article presents 4 challenges faced by the education sector in the pandemic: 1) How to ensure appropriate conditions for distance learning? 2) How to prevent school absenteeism and keep children and teenagers motivated to learn remotely? 3) How to maintain learning levels and monitor educational losses? 4) What remedial programmes to introduce? These challenges are discussed in the context of the experience of the Polish education system from the perspective of data collected in 4 European countries (Belgium, France, Greece, and Poland) while implementing the KEEP project under the Erasmus+ programme, which focuses on methods of keeping secondary school students engaged in the learning process by using digital practices and tools tested during the pandemic. The project is also expected to result in supporting teachers' professional development and developing their digital pedagogical competencies.

To Conduct Research or Not? What Kind of Research? And How? Research Strategies of Social and Humanities Researchers During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The aim of this paper is to describe the research strategies carried out by female and male researchers in the social sciences and humanities during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The empirical research which the article is based on was conducted in April and May 2020 using an online qualitative survey. As a result of the qualitative content analysis of our research participants' statements, we characterized four research strategies: resignation, suspension, continuation, and research (re)construction. We describe the results of the analyses in relation to the characteristics of disaster research. We indicate that research in a pandemic is relatable to the slow disaster research perspective more than to the disaster research perspective. © by the author, licensee University of Lodz, Poland.