Abstract:

The lockdown imposed the requirement to put into practice in a general way what was previously only done in certain cases: online teaching. Neither the professors, nor the students, nor the resources of the university were prepared for this practice. The consequences were different in each faculty, depending on the importance of practice and experimentation in each field of study. But, in general, the common aspect in all cases has been the rupture of the teacher-student proximity and communication difficulties through technological devices. In the case of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEE) of the University of Barcelona, the studies have a "theoretical-practical" character, but the groups of students in class are massive, often over 90, the professors had to carry out rapid and resource-poor adaptation; the students experienced a disconnection from the study environment in several aspects: from their classmates, from the professors and from the general atmosphere of the faculty; even in some cases, this also caused the relaxation of their study habits. The professors were affected by the deterioration of their family life conditions, of reconciling their family life and their work, as well as by the reduction of their research activity. The impact was different by gender, and was related to the provision of technological devices at home. The main aspects that we have learned from this experience are: a) the resilience of the teachers has enabled a great capacity to adapt to new situations; b) some digital practices that will remain in the future must be improved; c) it is necessary to increase the provision of resources for the digital age; d) however, these practices and resources can only complement face-to-face training, which is irreplaceable, according to the opinion of teachers and students.

Keywords:

Online teaching, family life conditions, research activity, face-to-face training.