Teachers’ Perception of Some Effects of the COVID-19 Lockdown: The Case Study of Ludovika University of Public Service

Abstract

The COVID-19 lockdown has had serious consequences, including rethinking higher education. The study aims to enhance the knowledge base of online education and academic integrity through a case study of the Ludovika University of Public Service (LUPS), Budapest, Hungary. The research aimed to assess the teachers’ experience with distance learning and examinations, including the change in workload, digital competencies, Moodle, Turnitin, and other software used during and after the lockdown. This paper summarizes the university-level policy changes induced during the lockdown, covering the introduction of emergency distance teaching and online examinations in academic integrity at the university. Two years after the first lockdown, the researchers made a survey (n = 145) about the continuation of the introduced solutions. The results show that a remarkable reordering started while the technical and technological backgrounds were available for the changes. The teachers could feel a significant increase in workload with distance education and have low trust in maintaining the standards of academic integrity. However, the research shows moderate and low levels of digital competencies in the majority of teachers, which clearly defines the most crucial task leading to success. Maintaining the monitoring system with objective indicators of the development and the opinions of the interested parties is essential for successful strategies in the field.