How Greek Students Experienced Online Education during Covid-19 Pandemic in Order to Adjust to a Post-Lockdown Period

Abstract

Following an unprecedented situation of confinement due to the Covid-19 pandemic, academic institutions were called to focus on supporting telecommunications technologies. For the first time, Higher Education went completely online. The authors of this research conducted an online voluntary survey where Greek students could answer questions about the distance education, they had experienced during the Covid-19 lockdown, particularly of the synchronous type. The purpose of this research was to investigate the major issues that created impediments to the students, both the technical barriers that made it difficult to communicate, and the teaching/learning challenges raised because of emerging trends. Recognizing the main problems that arose in the educational process during the lockdown period leads to a better communication in the future in the field of distance education. The students were informed about the research by the Student Counseling Center of their universities but also via posts on well-known student content websites. The research results have shown that most students attended synchronous communication online classes (the theoretical and the practical ones) in replacement of their face-to-face lessons. The students pointed out some negative aspects of online education concerning synchronous communication educational practices, but also how their classes were organized and presented. They referred to the main technical difficulties that occurred - on the part of the teacher - preventing a satisfactory communication, as to the practices that stressed them or to the lack of communication between students and teachers they experienced during the lockdown. Nevertheless, despite these problems, most students are interested in continuing online learning in combination with traditional courses in a classroom. Overall, this study provided important, additional information in respect of the students’ perceptions towards online education during the first quarantine.