THE STUDENTS' EXPERIENCE OF EMERGENCY REMOTE EDUCATION DURING THE COVID - 19 PANDEMIC

ABSTRACT

The measures taken to contain the Covid 19 pandemic have affected the way it is studied in many countries around the world. Faculties did not have time to devise a strategy for delivering their courses because of the sudden changeover, and faculty had to find their own ways of delivering courses, many of them proving to be inadequately trained because they did not know how to use the online tools for the changeover. The latter was certainly felt by the students as well, so in this paper we focus on how the students of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ljubljana experienced the changes in the way of studying. The results of the survey show that students' assessment of the appropriateness of different teaching methods differed depending on various factors, including the conditions students had at home to study. The conditions at home influenced students' attitudes towards distance learning, their assessment of their competence for distance learning, as well as their motivation to study and their feeling of being overwhelmed. Thus, more study difficulties, negative attitudes and motivation problems were observed among students who were not provided with adequate study conditions. Nevertheless, the results of the study show that distance learning has a potential that can only be used if all those involved in the process are provided with the right conditions. We conclude this paper with four recommendations that should be considered when introducing this type of study.