New realities for Polish primary school informatics education affected by COVID-19

In the paper, the authors discuss the first research effort to explore the transition from traditional teaching into distance teaching in Polish primary schools enforced by COVID-19. The first research question was addressed to primary school students and was dedicated to furnishing them with ICT equipment for crisis-prompted distance informatics learning. According to the obtained results, almost all Polish students during the pandemic have a technical opportunity to participate in distance learning and to use digital devices to develop their digital competences. Hence the second research question was addressed to the experts, demystifies whether the accessibility and the availability of ICTs could increase students’ informatics learning outcomes in out-of-school primary education settings. The obtained results reveal the significant importance of out-of-school informatics education in pandemic time. Moreover, in the first wave of pandemic, distance informatics education had the same or similar effect as if students learn informatics by themselves, without school lessons and teachers’ support. The obtained results should strengthen teachers and school leaders in making informed decisions during the shift into distance informatics education. Also, by investigating participants’ informatics learning outcomes and teacher preparedness and choices when implementing distance education, authors hope that the study may be helpful for policy-makers with the progressive changes in education and government support for informatics, especially in Poland, in making informed decisions to aid the transition into distance education as well as developing preparedness plans for future pandemics.