Students’ Perceptions of Distance Language Learning in Vocational Training

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact in almost all areas of human activity around the world with education being unquestionably affected as well. Universities and Vocational Training Institutes have been forced to close their doors in an effort to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. To ensure pedagogical continuity, distance learning courses have been recommended as immediate alternatives. The purpose of this contribution is to investigate how students of Vocational Training Institutes perceive distance education and effectiveness of online foreign language teaching. To this end, a quantitative research based on an online survey was conducted, which included 206, students of five (5) public Vocational Training Institutes and different specialties. The questions were intended to examine the participants' views on the use of platforms and the collaborative tools, the utility of the educational materials and activities proposed, the learning outcomes in the target language, and, the benefits and limitations of distance synchronous language learning.

Challenges of the Coronavirus Pandemic as an Opportunity for Sustainable Digital Learning in Vocational Education and Training (VET)

“…Teachers reported that self-organization, in particular, was one of the greatest challenges alongside the digital requirements [52]. However, a study from Greece shows that interactive digital activities such as online quizzes increase motivation in digital learning during the coronavirus pandemic [53].…”

“…New technologies must be developed to make learning successful in the long term. To employ digitization for educational purposes during the coronavirus pandemic [36], vocational schools should further expand their current use of digital tools to support learning and motivation such as interactive elements e.g., like onlinequizzes [53] or apps and learning-videos [28] that can be used flexibly in both space and time. This was underlined by the policy recommendations of the European Commission's Joint Research Center report, which emphasized digital upskilling, innovative pedagogical approaches, and equal access to digital devices for all students [11].…”

Teaching Informatics to Adults of Vocational Schools during the Pandemic: Students’ Views and the Role of Neuroeducation

“…The majority of learners also identified the need for the integration of group work as an essential element in the education process, which is also highlighted in the educational neuroscience findings. Thus, it seemed that the suitable instructional design and the appropriate educational material can have a positive impact on learners' opinions concerning online education [19].…”