Abstract:

Background:
From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic the Georgian medical education faced challenges as it was forced to transit to a new level of full-scale distance learning, became fully dependent on technologies and access to internet. By March 2020, ATSU fully adapted its learning process, by using TEAMS platform.

Summary of work:
To manage e-learning process, ATSU provided the technical support, including organization of shared spaces to facilitate an access to internet/computers for all and staff training. To monitor all above mentioned activities responsible persons were selected.

Summary of results:
The main advantages of distance learning at ATSU were identified:
- Technologies give students the opportunity to master the material at a convenient time and in a convenient place;
- Large amount of educational material posted in electronic access allows students receive quickly the necessary information;
- In a pandemic, this form of education allows to actually reduce the contact work of the student and teacher, which has a positive effect on the epidemiological situation;
- These technologies allow expanding the geographic coverage of listeners.

At the same time, remote technologies also have significant drawbacks, which have increased under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and as it was expected, caused distance learning exacerbated a number of organizational/institutional problems:
- When using the online platform, the quality of the material supply decreases.
- Identifying student's personality and checking whether the students answer independently.
- Lack of eye contact certainly worsens the feedback to the learner.
- Not all students and teachers have the necessary technical skills and gadgets to participate in the distance learning process.

Discussion and conclusion:
In September 2020, Faculty of Medicine of ATSU converted online learning process into a hybrid one. Another problem faced was the insufficient level of vaccination among students at that time, neither had they wanted to return to auditoriums, preferring to continue online due to risks of infection. To overcome these obstacles, we decided to conduct information/PR campaign, to ensure students that the return to auditoriums was safe; to facilitate the creation of a safe learning environment free PCR testing for all students was introduced. These efforts paid off and the campaign resulted in massive return of students to classes.
Based on the discussion above, it can be concluded that from the beginning online learning have encountered many problems. As ATSU, as most of the universities in the world were not technically ready to switch to the distance learning in a very short period, not to mention students and professors, who were psychologically unprepared for such a sharp transition to a new form of education, which created their own problems.

Take-home messages:
The main problem of the distance learning is the lack of direct contact with the professor. Nothing can replace a Lecturer/professor (face to face communication is unchangeable), who is actually presented at the practical/lecture classes and their constant control over learning process. It is impossible to talk about the quality of knowledge, while professor cannot be absolutely sure that the student completed the given task on his own.

Keywords:

Covid 19, Remote Learning Challenges.