Self-directed Learning Competencies – a Key to Success in Online Learning: A Lithuanian Case Study

Abstract

March 30, 2020 is a day of qualitative changes in the Lithuanian education system. This day in history – at least in the history of education – will record the day when mass distance learning began in the entire Lithuanian education system. All educational activities from kindergarten to higher and adult education were organized at a distance. In fact, the idea of distance learning was not so new in Lithuania. The first steps in developing a distance learning system in Lithuania were taken 25 years ago, but before the pandemic, it was more the exception than the norm and, of course, it had never been global. But in Spring 2020, all educational institutions (in general education during 2 weeks, in higher – even only during 2–3 days) were transformed from contact to distance learning. From a few-month perspective, it can be said that, despite all the circumstances, this transformation has been quite successful. In order to better understand the reasons for this quite sufficiently successful transition, it would be worthwhile to briefly review the organization of distance learning in Lithuania until the 2020 pandemic.

Citation

Poceviciene, R. (2021), "Self-directed Learning Competencies – a Key to Success in Online Learning: A Lithuanian Case Study", Sengupta, E. and Blessinger, P. (Ed.) New Student Literacies amid COVID-19: International Case Studies (Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Vol. 41), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 135-152. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2055-364120210000041017