covid-19, online instruction, distance instruction, upper secondary, higher education

Online distance instruction was the only way how lessons could have been conducted during the times of school closure caused by the povid-19 pandemic. In the Czech Republic, online distance instruction was applied for 18 months, and was disrupted by very short periods, when lessons were held face-to-face. The main objective of this research was to monitor and compare how students reflect online distance instruction. Feedback was collected from a group of 272 students in the first period (March – June 2020) and another group of 228 students in the second period (September 2020 – June 2021). The research sample included respondents from the upper secondary school and higher education. Data were collected via a questionnaire. Respondents provided their opinion in the form of open answers. Lists of advantages and disadvantages detected by students during the online distance lessons were created for each period. Responses were compared from the point of view whether students felt any improvement in teaching, that is, in designing and conducting the lessons. The results discovered that students expressed their opinion on identical features of online distance instruction in both periods; however, the frequency of occurrence in single features was lower in the second period. Finally, the students added their recommendations on how lessons could be improved in the future. Some of them are rather detailed and clearly show that students feel even tiny differences in the process of online distance instruction. On the other hand, some students do not take into consideration that some effort must be devoted to learning from their side and that they are expected to work autonomously to a large extent.

Online distance instruction was the only way how lessons could have been conducted during the times of school closure caused by the povid-19 pandemic. In the Czech Republic, online distance instruction was applied for 18 months, and was disrupted by very short periods, when lessons were held face-to-face. The main objective of this research was to monitor and compare how students reflect online distance instruction. Feedback was collected from a group of 272 students in the first period (March – June 2020) and another group of 228 students in the second period (September 2020 – June 2021). The research sample included respondents from the upper secondary school and higher education. Data were collected via a questionnaire. Respondents provided their opinion in the form of open answers. Lists of advantages and disadvantages detected by students during the online distance lessons were created for each period. Responses were compared from the point of view whether students felt any improvement in teaching, that is, in designing and conducting the lessons. The results discovered that students expressed their opinion on identical features of online distance instruction in both periods; however, the frequency of occurrence in single features was lower in the second period. Finally, the students added their recommendations on how lessons could be improved in the future. Some of them are rather detailed and clearly show that students feel even tiny differences in the process of online distance instruction. On the other hand, some students do not take into consideration that some effort must be devoted to learning from their side and that they are expected to work autonomously to a large extent.