ABSTRACT
The economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are, and of course in the future will be, serious. These consequences are very often foundable also in labour market and education. Some of them are not only problems, but also new opportunities: improving of working conditions, modernising employment services and making them more flexible, strengthening employment and social protection systems, family-friendly working time, promoting lifelong learning opportunities, strengthening digital skills, etc. The paper focuses on different approaches and responses to changes in society caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. There are currently various scientific sources analyzing the threats initiated by the pandemic and their effects on various areas of human activity, including employment and education. However, every crisis can be taken also as an opportunity. This paper therefore primarily deals with the opportunities that the current crisis brings, especially in the field of employment and education. The paper is based on assessment of analyses (literary research) provided by international institutions such as the International Labour Office (ILO), and documents and other research studies prepared and published by the European Union or OECD. © 2022, Bucharest University of Economic Studies. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The paper deals with utilization of selected social media where learning management system plays a comprehensive and stable role in the teaching/learning process in the university setting. The goal of the paper is to show the acceptance and a level of appropriateness of social media for study purposes perceived by students. Results from three consecutive studies form the backbone of the presented paper showing the trends in the acceptance of social media and satisfaction with them. Two areas are analysed: social media as a means of communication in the process of education and social media as a tool enabling students’ revision and testing of study materials. This kind of research corresponds to the increased need to develop desired self-study skills in students, especially in the context of Covid19 experience. The first studies, which were conducted in 2014 and 2019, are based on the identical set of examined social media and fit the comparison enabling to define the trend in students’ satisfaction with social media for study purposes. The third study discussed in this paper was run during winter semester of 2021. The set of examined social media in the questionnaire was adapted to reflect the current social media scene. Experience with the abrupt shift to online platforms caused by global crisis has significantly affected the process of education exposing and endorsing the power of heutagogy. The situation prompted the need to emphasize the importance of autonomous education and ability to define educational needs and ways of achieving study goals. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.