Student wellbeing during the pandemic: distance and continuing education

Abstract It would be right to say 2020 took us by surprise. Currently, countries all over the world are faced with a pandemic and its consequences. People were not ready to change the type of education. Due to the constant presence of electronic smart devices at the screens during distance learning and due to the lack of social contacts, the mental and physical health of students does not change for the better. Students experience depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, and distracted attention. The idea of continuing education is reflected in the implementation of distance learning that received this name primarily due to its “flexibility” in terms of choosing the place, time, and sometimes the pace of learning. However, continuing education in the context of distance learning blurs the boundaries between personal time and work, which generally has a negative impact on mental health and learning effectiveness. In most cases, the combination of continuing education and distance learning provokes an increase in the load on students. However, both the educational structure and the student should be ready for distance learning. We are talking not only about the technical base, computer skills and individual programs, but also about the skills of independent work.