Croatian pupils' perspectives on remote teaching and learning during the covid-19 pandemic

On March 16th 2020, the Croatian government mandated a nationwide closure of schools and introduced remote teaching and learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study explores the perspectives of pupils in the 7th grade of elementary education regarding this period of remote teaching and learning. The study aims to examine the level and determinants of pupils' satisfaction with newly implemented practices and to explore their perception of remote teaching and learning in comparison to classroom practices. An online survey was conducted with 920 pupils from 23 elementary schools in Zagreb between May 25th and June 6th 2020. The results indicate average satisfaction levels and a weak ability of the model to predict pupils' satisfaction based on a set of individual pupil characteristics. Pupils' interest in using digital devices and fathers' educational status were the only significant predictors of satisfaction. On average, pupils perceived remote teaching and learning as unfavourable in terms of quality, task load and effort in comparison to classroom practices. There was, however, a small cluster of pupils (15%) who associated remote teaching and learning with higher-quality practices.