Online teaching in conditions of pandemic Covid-19 - problems, challenges and opportunities for students and universities in the Republic of North Macedonia

Abstract

With the declaration of a pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus by the WHO (World
Health Organization) in 2020 and the quarantines that followed, in many countries,
including the Republic of North Macedonia, one of the most affected sectors was
education. Many universities have discontinued physical attendance, closed
classrooms, and switched to online teaching using a variety of virtual platforms.
The complete transformation of the educational process in terms of online teaching,
had a huge impact on the work of higher education institutions, but also the adaptation
of the new conditions by the teaching staff and students. Everyone has experienced
the transition from classroom learning to online teaching and learning in different ways.
There was a need to purchase additional equipment, better internet, but also to adapt
all family members to the new working and living conditions.
Therefore, the purpose of researching this paper is to identify the advantages,
disadvantages and satisfaction of using online teaching platforms through the prism
of higher education institutions, professors and students.
The survey will be conducted by submitting two anonymous questionnaires through
the online platform docs.google.com. The questionnaire related to higher education
institutions will be submitted to the Vice-Rectors for Teaching at all universities in the
Republic of North Macedonia, while the questionnaire related to students will be
distributed to students at all universities through student unions.
The results of the research will be presented summarically. The paper will include a
comparative analysis of the problems, opportunities and expectations of online
teaching from the perspective of higher education institutions and students.