Abstract
The chapter will explore some aspects of online education such as digital skills, digital competences, and innovations in education, which the COVID-19 pandemic put into the foreground of the processes of learning and education at universities. The ability to apply digital skills and develop them into digital competencies is a basic prerequisite for learners and educators. The author analyses and evaluates the current state and challenges posed by online education, especially at colleges and universities. The concepts and terminology in the field of education in cyberspace, models of digital competencies of educators, scientific and educational policy documents defining the requirements for university teachers in online education were considered. The investigation was supported by the results of a questionnaire survey. The author points out the possibilities and ultimate requirements of online education at universities in terms of students, teachers, innovations, evaluation, advantages, and barriers in online education.
TopIntroduction: A Pandemic Effects Education
The pandemic of the new coronavirus COVID -19 broke out at the end of 2019 and has led to widespread, complete closure of schools, universities, and colleges. According to UNESCO (2020) estimates, a total of nearly 1.6 billion worldwide students have been affected by the closures of educational institutions in 2020. This accounted for 91,3% of the world´s total learning community, with a total of 193 countries providing full nationwide remote teaching (Kristóf, Z., 2020).
UNESCO has proposed distance learning programs, open educational applications and platforms that have enabled schools and teachers to teach their students remotely and make online education easier (UNESCO, 2020).
A good starting point for the effective use of digital technologies in education was the sufficient knowledge and experience gained by learners before the pandemic, on social networks in their free time, through e-learning courses at universities, higher education and further education institutions, as pointed by UNESCO (2011).
The practical use of technology in education, work and leisure has significantly preceded the theories and recommendations of education experts (Frk, B. 2010). The advent of the Internet in the 1990s accelerated the use of information and communication technologies in education. The availability of technological means and mobile technologies, access and quality of the Internet, and the expectations of generations growing up on technologies from birth, are likely to have a significant impact on new educational paradigms. The real era of virtualization of education has begun and is becoming part of the learning, work and leisure.
A significant part of the world's population has mastered accessible, easy-to-use and interactive technologies before the theory of learning has been able to respond comprehensively, with the exception of some theoretical concepts. The use of information and communication technology has coined theories as constructivism, connectivism, heutagogy, cybergogy.
Constructivism enables learners construct or make their own knowledge that is determined by their experience and previous knowledge. Connectivism is a teaching-learning theory in the digital age based on the belief that the goal of teaching is to learn to think, which takes precedence over the acquisition of knowledge. Heutagogy is a student-centred instructional strategy that emphasizes the development of autonomy, capability, and capacity. Cybergogy allows learning through cognitive, emotive, and social aspects (Černý, M., 2018).
Based on the analysis, comparison and evaluation of selected information obtained by searching scientific publications and journals, the focus of this paper aims at the current framework of digital competencies, applied in university online education, professional development of university teachers in terms of technical skills and pedagogical skills, the educational content in online education and the virtual learning environment.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Online Education: The process of the teacher acting on learners in a virtual space, where the explanation of the curriculum, giving instructions, discussion, providing feedback and evaluation are carried out exclusively through the (two-way) transmission of information over the Internet. Study materials are published through network communication means.
Offline Training: The training does not take place in the physical absence of participants in a common space, and not via the Internet. The most common means are media such as television broadcasting, radio broadcasting, communication by telephone or e-mail, CD, etc.
Remote Learning: A process of teaching a student who, for various reasons, must not be present in a traditional educational environment (school).
Distance Learning: A learning process, where a learner cannot be present at the education in standard conditions, and regular contact with a teacher takes place mainly through ICT. Online education can be assessed as one of the options for the implementation of distant learning.
E-Learning (Electronic Learning): Teaching and learning in a virtual environment using the Internet, leading to relatively permanent changes in the knowledge, experience, behaviour and performance of a learner. It does not preclude the physical presence of a student in class, although it does not require it.