The Impact of Support for Language Development in Online Classes at Gdansk University of Technology During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant disruption to education. To adapt to new conditions, academics immediately had to restructure their teaching programmes. Not all of them, however, had sufficient skills to be able to deliver effective online classes. Neither did the less qualified have enough time to increase their competencies by getting pre-emptive support coming from peers and technical staff, nor did they have an opportunity to self-direct their training. Yet, to achieve the best effect, to develop an e-learning environment in which they could deliver high-quality teaching that would meet various language needs of their students, they needed general and specific support mechanisms. The former relates to the technological aspect, that is the functionalities of available tools and the affordances they allow. The latter comes from the course structure, educational material designed to engage students in learning, teachers and fellow students. With strong support provided by certified peers, the English teachers at Gdansk University of Technology managed to engage their students in interactive, collaborative and active learning. The ideas shared in the paper are supported by qualitative and quantitative research conducted in 2020 and 2021.