Communion, care, and leadership in computer-mediated learning during the early stage of COVID-19

Abstract

This qualitative inquiry explores how, during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lithuania (European Union), the stakeholders in the education system – university teachers, general education teachers, students, and children’s parents – coped with the encountered challenge and what was important under changed conditions. This paper uses a communication management objective to describe how participants in the education system respond to the emerging distance learning situation and its challenges. The phenomenographic research approach was chosen to carry out the qualitative study. The 37 interviews from higher education teachers, university students, school teachers, and parents of minor school-aged children were conducted during the early stage of COVID-19 quarantine. The research allows concluding that after a successful transition to distance learning, the dimensions of communion and supportive collaboration acquired importance among stakeholders in education. Starting new activities, a need for communion and mobilization for joint activities under the crisis emerged. The research showed that the adaptation period was necessary at the beginning of the new activity. Competent leadership was expected from the teacher. Also, the preparation of all the actors in the education process was needed. The data offer a window into the dynamics of online teaching in crisis and experiences in a new activity that is key to success. Although research on technology-mediated learning has increased in recent years, it still lags behind developments in practice.