Opinions of Polish students on the need for the transition to distance learning when facing the global pandemic Covid-19

Purpose: The objective of the article is to present the condition of Polish universities and trends occurring in distance learning and e-learning. The results of the research conducted among students of Polish universities (N-2226), who were forced to the transition to distance learning from day to day, are presented in the article. Using well-known statistical measures, the correlations between the selected factors have been indicated. The research results on the correlations between the following variables have been presented – the opinions on the need for the transition to distance learning during the pandemic and: gender, age, taking up employment in addition to studying, an opportunity to study in a separate room. Design/methodology/approach: For the research purposes, a well-known Internet Survey Panel was utilized, which was used to create and manage the surveys as well as to collect the results. The bivariate analysis was used, the objective of which was to determine the empirical relationship between the selected variables. In the research, among others, the following were used: Chi-Square Test for Independence, Phi-Square Test for Independence, Spearman’s rank correlation test. For the data with the responses specified on the ordinal scale in the correlation analysis, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used. Findings: The change in the teaching method which has been experienced in relation to the global pandemic may prove to be a breakthrough and give rise to changes in student education So as to educate the future staff of Industry 4.0 using distance learning. Increasing students’ involvement in the learning process may help them acquire competences useful in their professional life more effectively