Remote Learning in Higher Education: Evidence from Poland

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a sudden transformation at universities. The previous mode of teaching has been replaced by remote education, the effectiveness of which depends, among other things, on the technological infrastructure of universities and the digital competence of lecturers and students. The main objective of this study is to evaluate remote learning in higher education from the students’ point of view. The uniqueness of the present research approach lies in the identification of four dimensions (socio-emotional, developmental, time-financial, and negative attitude) of students’ evaluation of remote learning in higher education. The survey was conducted on 999 students studying remotely, including 518 women and 481 men. Most of the students surveyed had been studying remotely for 1–2 years and were studying full-time for their first degree. The research tool consisted of 16 mixed survey questions. Six of them were related to sociodemographic factors (including those related to the respondents’ education), and eight were related to their experiences with and opinions about remote education, respectively. The remaining two questions were used to collect respondents’ evaluations of the degree of importance to them of various advantages and disadvantages of remote education. The research showed that among the advantages of remote learning for students, the most important are saving time, the possibility of studying at a university far from home (another city, another country), the possibility of combining work and study, and reduced commuting costs. On the other hand, the disadvantages of remote learning of greatest importance to students include the loss of social ties due to lack of contact with peers, feelings of fatigue resulting from excessive use of information and communication tools, and greater susceptibility to various forms of distraction. In addition, the shape of students’ education was relevant to the different dimensions of their evaluation of remote learning in higher education. The social-emotional size of remote learning is more important for students who study remotely in a blended mode (compared to uniform). The developmental dimension is essential for students who participate in remote learning activities for longer during the day. In addition, a more extended period of remote learning promotes the greater importance of the time-financial dimension when evaluating remote knowledge.