Abstract:

The challenge of the “new normal” in terms of the sudden change and need for adaptation faced by the society and individuals in the context of the global pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus has significantly affected all spheres of society, especially the school system. In the virtual world of distance learning and the conditions it imposes, there was a need for an urgent adaptation of teachers to the planning, conducting, monitoring and evaluating of teaching in online form; of students whose competencies and independence to perform everyday school obligations were not equal to those acquired thus far in school; and finally, of parents, who appeared for the first time in the new role of "learning assistants", which means that they had to have greater involvement in the daily preparation, monitoring of classes and execution of school tasks.

This paper will show the reaction of a teacher and a student of a lower grade of primary school to the transfer of teaching from the classroom to computers, and it will also determine the implications of changing and adapting the way of teaching and mastering tasks, but also of distance learning. The second grade of the II. Primary school Varaždin was selected as the research sample, i.e. their primary school teacher and 22 students aged 8 to 9 years.

The focus of the research was to examine the teacher's experience in terms of fulfilled prerequisites for distance learning - from available and satisfactory ICT equipment for continuous teaching, competences and readiness to conduct distance learning, to the interaction with students, communication with parents, support from principals and professionals school services, the time spent on the preparation and implementation of classes, the duration of the process of adapting to the "new normal" together with the assessment of the level of student workload in distance learning, while respecting the didactic principle of appropriateness of the tasks assigned to students and the pedagogical challenge of conducting classes in a virtual environment.

Furthermore, in the focus of the research were also students, as it was the aim to find answers to the questions about their readiness and competencies needed to independently follow classes, their capability of a timely and correct response to tasks; and also, to the question of whether their parents were involved in following their classes and tasks, and how long the adjustment process to the new normal took.

Based on the above-mentioned, this paper is an indicator of the direction of planning and organizing classes once the global pandemic reaches its end in terms of understanding all new elements and tools of distance learning and their inclusion in regular classroom teaching (greater autonomy of schools and teachers as "the authors of education" for their students, local communities and the environment in which they live). It is necessary to identify the new experiences and methods that should become an integral part of "the new school after the COVID 19 pandemic." This opens up new initiatives for further research related to the implementation of new knowledge and insights for the formation of schools in accordance with the needs of the generation "Alpha" or the "iGeneration".

Keywords:

COVID-19, school, teacher, students, distance learning.