Abstract:

During their studies, students of the LUT take the course of IT Systems Security. The course lasts two semesters. The first semester is taken in Polish and is focused on configuring and using various ways of protection of IT systems. During the second semester students learn to create their own protections and to write a secure code.

Because of COVID-19, all courses have to be taken remotely. Lectures and laboratories are conducted by using video conferencing tools and e-learning platforms to deliver didactic materials and collect students’ reports. During lectures and laboratories teachers work with students online. In lectures the teacher not only explains the topic but also makes real time presentations of using various tools and creating various solutions. The same mechanisms are used during laboratories, where the topic is explained and example problems are solved. Additionally, one more change was introduced. The second semester of the course is done in English.

In the paper we make an attempt to verify the influence of the changes made in the teaching process. In order to do this, a survey research was made. Two groups of students were interviewed. One group of 100 randomly chosen students actually taking the first semester of the CSS course were asked about experience with remote learning of CSS. The second group of 60 randomly chosen students took the second semester of the course. That group had attended the first semester of the course in a stationary form. They were asked to compare differences between remote and stationary lectures in the CSS course. Additionally, course teachers were surveyed to verify their experiences of the changes in the teaching form of the course.

To make an assessment, working hypotheses were stated:
H1. Remote teaching of the CSS course is as effective as the stationary one.
H2. A wide variety of publicly available programs can solve most important problems.
H3. Remote lessons can be easier for students, offering additional possibilities.
H4. Introduction of English at the second semester of the CSS course makes no problems for students, but develops their language skills.

The results obtained from the survey revealed that students rated the switch to distance learning positively. According to them, they had more time to learn, not having to waste it on reaching the university. Also the aspect of good conditions in which they were attending lectures was raised: they had direct access to the presentation, and nobody interfered with the teacher’s voice. Students appreciated that they could configure the laboratory environment according to their needs, having no problems with compatibility or performance while running their programs on laboratory computers. Moreover, various tools available in the Internet gave great possibilities of interaction between students and the teacher, and could be used to support various activities.

Also the switch to English during the second semester of the course was no problem to the students and was rated positively by them.

That opinion was confirmed by teachers. The level of students’ knowledge and solutions presented by them were no worse than in previous semesters. As a disadvantage of distance learning we can consider the greater workload to process the lectures and occasional technical problems.

Keywords:

Security of IT systems, distance education, remote teaching, stationary teaching, COVID-19.