Application of distance teaching during the COVID -19 pandemic - experiences of Geography teachers of the Republic of Croatia

Pandemija COVID-19 uvelike je utjecala na obrazovanje diljem svijeta pa tako i na obrazovni sustav Republike Hrvatske. Promjene izazvane pandemijom utjecale su na organizaciju nastave koja iz uĉionica u školama seli u virtualne uĉionice. Bilo je nuţno u kratkom vremenskom razdoblju prilagoditi odgojno-obrazovni proces uvjetima odrţavanja nastave na daljinu. Rezultati istraţivanja pokazuju da nastavnici većim dijelom nisu bili upoznati s radom u virtualnoj uĉionici. S druge strane preko polovine nastavnika u potpunosti se slaţe kako su sposobni samostalno organizirati nastavu na daljinu Tijekom pandemije usvajali su nova znanja i koristili brojne digitalne platforme. Premda su tijekom pouĉavanja na daljinu naišli na niz poteškoća posebice prilikom obrade nastavnih sadrţaja iz podruĉja fiziĉke geografije i kartografske pismenosti, nastavnici Geografije ipak su uspjeli ostvariti ishode predviĊene kurikulumom te odrţati komunikaciju s uĉenicima i roditeljima. U budućnosti nastava na daljinu bi trebala biti opcija koja nastavniku moţe posluţiti prilikom primjerice provoĊenja dodatne i/ili dopunske nastave.The COVID-19 pandemic has affected education al around the world, including the education system of the Republic of Croatia. The changes caused by the pandemic affected the organization of teaching, which is moving from classrooms in schools to virtual classrooms. It was necessary to adapt the educational process to the conditions of distance learning in a short period of time. The results of the research show that teachers were not familiar with working in the virtual classroom. On the other hand, more than half of the teachers fully agree that they are capable of organizing distance learning on their own. During the pandemic, they acquired new knowledge and used numerous digital platforms. Although during distance teaching they encountered a number of difficulties, especially when they taught topics in the field of physical geography and cartography, Geography teachers managed to achieve the curriculum outcome and maintain communication with pupils and their parents. In the future, distance learning should be an option that could be used for implementation of additional or supplementary teaching