hrvatski

Technical issues in distance learning during COVID-19 lockdown in Croatia

COVID-19 pandemic caused the school's transition from face-to-face to completely online in Croatia from March 2020, as in many other countries worldwide. However, such a sudden transition did not leave a preparation time for fulfilling all technical prerequisites for conducting distance learning. Informatics as a separate school subject became an important factor in such transition for teachers and students. Informatics is an obligatory and separate school subject in the fifth and sixth grades in elementary schools in Croatia. At the same time, it is an elective school subject for other elementary school grades (grades from 1st to 4th and 7th to 8th) since the 2018/2019 school year. It is also an obligatory and separate school subject in at least one grade in all high schools, depending on the type of high school. Considering such status of the Informatics school subject, it is possible that transition to online school went easier compared to other countries with no Informatics as a separate school subject. Still, technical prerequisites for completely online teaching are an important factor in teaching quality for all participants. Technical prerequisites for completely online teaching refer to several factors such as a) appropriate device for following online classes, b) Internet connection, c) online learning software. We surveyed 4451 elementary and high school students across the country to investigate the coping in distance learning. The questionnaire was distributed to students by their Informatics teacher during online classes. Students took the survey voluntary and anonymously. The findings of the research are in detail presented in this paper.

distance learning ; Informatics ; COVID-19 ; school students ; technical issues

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