Advatages and Disadvantages of Distance Education for Students - What Insights could be gained?

Abstract

One of the primary assumptions of post-digital theories is the inseparability of technology and digital media from social and human activities. Virtual and actual reality are becoming part of daily life not only for the younger population – it is in this area that the intergenerational gap is closing with each passing day (Jandrić, Knox, Bestley, Ryberg, Suoranta, Hayes, 2018). However, the definition of human identity remains unresolved, especially from the educational point of view. The global COVID-19 pandemic has become, among other things, a platform for systematic collection and analysis of information (Jandrić, 2020), providing conclusions that can be used in future crisis situations. This paper presents the collected information on distance education during the first pandemic year, from the global lockdown in Croatia in March 2019, until the end of the summer semester of the same year. Distance education can be as successful as traditional education if appropriate teaching methods and technologies are applied, if there is interaction between students and teachers, and if the teacher provides the student with a timely feedback (Ross, Morrison and Lowther, 2010; Kulik, 2003). Before, during and after the first year of the pandemic and distance education for the students of the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Zadar, several global parameters were monitored among students, with the aim of improving the performance of distance learning. 311 students (47% of the total number) from all study years at the Department of Teacher Education (University of Zadar) participated in the research. The questionnaires used in the study addressed the organization of distance learning, difficulties in concentration and motivation, the strain related to distance learning, the stress related to distance learning, and the perception of distance learning in general. At the beginning of the pandemic, the results indicated a moderate level of difficulties in concentration and motivation, and in terms of the strain caused by distance learning; the organization of distance education and optimism were rated slightly more positively; the stress related to distance learning was rated as the highest; whereas distance learning in general as an alternative to traditional teaching received the lowest rating of all. It was established that there were variations in the assessment of difficulties in concentration and motivation, strain, stress and academic achievement in the respective year. At the end of the first pandemic year, the percentage of students who attended classes more regularly, as well as those who believed that their success would be better, increased; the estimates of the organization, motivation and the perception of distance learning as an alternative to traditional classes increased; while the fear from the exam decreased (satisfaction with how the exam had been implemented was rated at 3.94). After many negative public comments on distance learning during the pandemic, this paper will try to set apart the negative consequences of the pandemic that are equated with the consequences of distance learning, put emphasis on the benefits of classical teaching today, and discuss the relationship between man and technology in the domain of teacher education from the point of view of post-digital science (Knox, 2009).