Abstract:

COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on tertiary education systems functioning in Poland and in the world. In March 2020 universities were closed, which caused an immediate shift of student education online. Teachers without any preparation underwent a rapid change towards digital student education only with recommendations from Science and Education Ministry. The main objective of the article is focused on the answer to what online tools were used in that didactic process by academic teachers at the moment of COVID- 19 outbreak and whether the pandemic brought about these tools’ expansion. The reason to undertake the research problem is the need to learn more about the tools applied in student remote education during COVID-19 pandemic and to explore the possibilities of using these tools in the post-Covid reality. Literature and opinions of a small group of academic teachers conducting language classes in one of the state universities in Poland were the basis for reasoning. The results of the research conducted on academic teachers are focused on incentives in using asynchronous didactic tools, regulations and system solutions of higher education regarding synchronous student education. Academic coursebooks including material dedicated to asynchronous student education and regulations concerning ways of conducting remote classes allowed to develop didactic tools applied in both synchronous and asynchronous teaching. In order to preserve the selected remote student teaching tools, it is worth considering adding expansion packs to academic coursebooks which would include material dedicated to remote teaching on cloud platforms and to regulate the teaching tools accepted institutionally. Such solutions can significantly develop current and future digital competences of academic teachers.