Higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic in the opinions of students in Poland

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the social life as we have known so far. Lockdown-type control measures resulted in numerous limitations in the operation of public and non-public institutions as well as limitations in social, family and cultural life. The measures taken due to COVID-19 have had an immediate effect on higher education in Poland. The aim of the study was to find out what experiences were gained by students participating in distance education in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic. The long-term study was conducted in two stages. The study included 290 participants who were studying in various types of universities in Poland. As a result of the research it was found that from the perspective of students, the biggest advantage of online education were logistical and organisational issues. The greatest limitations of online education were: absence of personal interaction with teachers and other students, difficulty in organising online classes based on students’ activity and learning-by-doing, lack of standardisation of platforms used for online education at the university, too much workload for students requiring independent learning, and risk of health problems as a consequence of too long work at the computer. In the second semester of distance education during the pandemic, there was an increase in student satisfaction with online education, mainly due to the more frequent conducting of synchronously classes The crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic situation initiated the educational revolution in Poland. It appears that online education will remain an integral part of Polish higher education system, but it will not replace stationary education after the pandemic. Received: 2 August 2021Accepted: 29 September 2022