DO WE REALLY NEED E-LEARNING? CONSIDERATIONS BASED ON THE EXAMPLE OF WEST POMERANIAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SZCZECIN, POLAND AND TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE OF THESSALY, GREECE

The purpose of the paper:
The paper raises problem of the need for modern technologies in education. The aim of the paper is an examination and assessment of use e-learning by employees of Polish and Greek universities. It is assumed that Greece is a developed country, so it could implement more advanced technologies in education; while Poland belongs to a group of developing ones, and education still needs more resources. Although both of the countries have a long educational tradition, they have also own patterns, practice, methodologies. So, can we find the same approach to e-education? In both universities, e-learning can be used to gather teaching materials, to teach students, to test their knowledge and skills, and just for communicating purposes.

In this paper we want to present the teachers` perspective by answering questions:
(1) How does e-learning develop in WPUT Szczecin and TEI Thessaly?
(2) What are the implementation obstacles to e-learning?
(3) What are the motives for using e-learning by teachers of both universities? Thanks to this analysis we will obtain information not only on current status, but also on existing problems and solutions adopted by universities.

Design / methodology / approach:
The methods used to achieve the aim of the article involved:
(a) questionnaire distributed to teachers of both Universities, focused on the using of e-learning for three areas: teaching of students, assessment of knowledge and skills of students, and communication,
(b) depth interviews with university IT staff on applied solutions,
(c) analysis of the literature.

The result of our work will be a list of similarities and differences, as well as a proposal of using the partner's experiences (the best solutions).

Main findings: The results of the research show that:
(1) there are no big differences in the use of e-learning between the examined universities,
(2) the level of e-learning use at WPUT Szczecin and TEI Thessaly depends on the previous experience of the teacher with distance learning and the specificity of a faculty where he is employed,
(3) barriers of implementing e-Learning at both institutions are similar, but
(4) teachers at WPUT Szczecin are not motivated to use e-learning, while TEI Thessaly teachers have support (formal and informal) from the university authorities,
(5) teachers of both universities use e-learning primarily to place materials on the Internet platform, and to the smallest extent to conduct discussions on forums and chats.

The study indicates the need for:
(1) wider cooperation between the universities in order to develop good practices for the use of e-learning, and – later – the equalization of disparities,
(2) development of opportunities for international cooperation between universities to exchange experiences in using e-learning at Universities in Europe.

Research limitations / implications:
The questionnaire study was carried out only at two universities - WPUT Szczecin and TEI Thessaly. Further research could include other universities as well as the perspective of students.

Originality / the value of the research:
The article provides a new insight into the use of e-learning at universities from various cultural and economic areas, i.e. discusses barriers to implementation, motivations for distance learning and used areas.