DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-832-0-0273

PRECHOD DO DIŠTANČNEJ VÝUČBY NA SLOVENSKÝCH SOŠ

Tatiana Varadyová, Daniela Petríková, Mária Benková

The aim of this paper is to present the findings regarding the start of distance education of secondary vocational schools in the online space. Until March 2020, secondary school education in Slovakia was carried out in the face-to-face form. The closure of schools as a result of COVID-19 led to an immediate need to change the teaching process. Teachers had to adapt to the situation and were forced to quickly move to teaching through distance learning tools. The aim of questionnaire was compiled by a team of employees at the Department of Engineering Education at the Technical University of Košice. It contained 40 questions focused on the work of teachers in changed conditions. An electronic version of the questionnaire was created and distributed by e-mail to the management of individual secondary vocational schools in June 2020. The school management ensured further distribution of the questionnaire to teachers. The data were analyzed using primary descriptive statistics. The results of the questionnaire on a sample of teachers from secondary vocational schools in the Košice and Prešov regions in Slovakia are presented in the article. The subject of the survey was the experience of teachers regarding the changed situation with the goal of applying the findings to teaching for additional pedagogical study, used to provide training for future teachers. The survey covered teaching tools used in the teaching process and teaching methods from March to June 2020.We received 165 responses. The most used communication tools were e-mail and the Learning Management System EduPage. We found out that the original lesson type has been changed. There were also changes in the way students were taught. Asynchronous communication between teachers and students was the most common. The transition from face-to-face form to distance teaching has been a challenging process for secondary vocational school teachers. It was expected that teachers would have to deal with it individually, without central support from the school. However, this was not confirmed. It was confirmed that teachers did not have previous experience with online teaching and that their preparation time was extended. It was of interest whether teachers perceived their abilities and competences in distance education as sufficient and appropriate. This was confirmed by the study. The survey was one of the first to be designed for teachers of vocational subjects.

Keywords: vocational education, distance learning, learning platforms, teacher support

pages: 273-280, online: 2022