Abstract:

Over the last several months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the higher education system in Poland has had to face many problems related to remote work. Along with the development of the epidemiological situation, universities tried to adjust the rules of operation to the current conditions. This was often associated with an attempt to return to classes in a face-to-face form while maintaining the necessary protection measures, but sooner or later the increase in the number of infections resulted in a return to distance learning or a switch to a hybrid mode of conducting classes. The pre-pandemic understanding of e-learning as a complementary and supportive form of learning was turned upside down as it became the primary form of learning.

This article is an attempt to present the author's experiences gathered during the last academic year, both from the perspective of the lecturer and the student starting doctoral studies. In 2020, the author started studies at the Joint Doctoral School of the Silesian University of Technology (SUT), which is also associated with the need to conduct classes with first-cycle students (Bachelor Degree). The methodology of research and analysis is the participant observation of the author of the article.

The didactic classes selected for the analysis concerned the basics of interior design in the field of residential interiors and commercial spaces implemented at the Faculty of Architecture of SUT, in the field of Interior Design. The classes were attended by students of the 2nd and 3rd semester of 1st cycle studies, i.e. people who are just starting their education at university and are making their first steps to get used to the methodology of conducting such classes and learn the design itself.

Another aspect of the presented work concerns the author's commencement of education at third-cycle studies, which since 2019 are carried out in Poland as part of a newly created unit at the university - the Joint Doctoral School. The didactic program was as well conducted in the form of online classes, which often caused a lot of problems. Thanks to this dual perspective, it was possible to compare different aspects of studying, taking into account the point of view of the lecturer and the student.

The work presents a comparison of experiences in educating and being educated in both stationary and remote form. It also highlights the problems and challenges in educating students who started full-time studies in stationary form and then, as a result of the pandemic, switched to the remote mode, with students who started their studies remotely and only then went on to contact form of learning. Based on the analysis of these didactic experiences, the most problematic areas will be presented. Subsequently proposals to improve certain solutions will be presented, as well as effects of the necessity to switch back from the virtual classrooms to real ones in the periods between successive waves of disease.

Keywords:

Distance learning, hybrid learning, higher education.