The Use of ICT during Lockdown in Higher Education and the Effects on University Instructors

Abstract

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, measures were taken both to protect citizens and to reduce the spread of the virus, resulting in the introduction of new rules of social behavior and the widespread use of distance education. Education has suffered from the consequences of the crisis because a key restrictive measure against the spread of the virus is the suspension of face-to-face interactions in schools and higher education institutions. The result of the lockdown is the emergency distance learning function with unprecedented use of ICT. From March 2020 until today, when this article was written (June 2021), the university institutions of Greece used ICT to an unprecedented degree to respond to their distance education and research work. The aim of this article is to present the results of a nationwide quantitative survey that involved1183 participating university instructors in order to capture the impact of the use of ICT and its effects.