In mid-March, the Polish government closed schools, universities, colleges, cinemas, theaters and other non-essential stores in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. This meant that EWST had to suspend or cancel programs in the Academy of Third Age (for seniors) and other events. Fortunately, classes in the BA program are continuing online. The weekend of April 3-5, 2020 was special for EWST. For the first time in the history of the university, classes were held remotely.

The days of preparation for the first online reunion were full of uncertainty. Will everything take place as planned? Will students and lecturers be able to “switch” to the remote mode of classes? Will we cope with this in technical, substantive and organizational terms? And finally – what will these classes look like and will they help maintain high-quality education? These questions accompanied us during preparations and trainings. We waited anxiously for the first classes, but also with hope.

Once again, it turned out that we have great staff and students. The lecturers – even though they had to switch almost completely on the run – to a different mode of conducting classes – did well. It was similar with students who participated in numerous courses very actively. The turnout was one of the most positive surprises. Some students even emphasized that the remote form (and no need to come to Wroclaw) meant that they could fully participate in all classes during the weekend. 

Another nice surprise was to see how quickly and easily most participants found themselves in the virtual world. Of course, there were technical problems, and several people needed help in setting up and using the program. However, the vast majority of lecturers and students simply ‘came’ to the class. 

Our fears regarding attention problems or fatigue were not fulfilled. On the contrary – part of the classes lasted much longer than indicated in the plan, and in some cases the administrator had to intervene because another lecturer was waiting for students.

We are very happy that at EWST we are able to ensure continuity of education, while expanding our possibilities of contact with students. We hope that the current situation will return to normal soon and we will be able to meet in a more “traditional” way. However, experience with remote education will certainly not be one-off and only during a “crisis”. The possibility of free online contact is a way to be closer to our students – and we will definitely use it.

We are grateful to all participants of the school and the people who prepared for the classes. The next weekend for online classes will be April 24-26.

We also thank the students for the photos they sent, documenting the course of classes from their point of view.