Distance learning : rethinking learning design in higher education during the Covid-19 pandemic

During the second semester of the 2019/2020 academic year, due to the regulatory restrictions arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, Bologna University, like many others, was compelled to stop delivering its face-to-face offering and to switch, in a very short time, to the creation of a technological architecture that would enable students to continue their education through teaching via Distance Learning. After illustrating the active teaching model adopted in two courses offered by the University of Bologna Department of Education Studies, this paper addresses future educators by focusing on the main findings from a semi-structured online questionnaire completed by 84 students. The first part of the paper considers a rethinking of educational planning at the time of Covid-19, while the second and final part analyses student perceptions (using the questionnaire’s open questions) of their Distance Learning experience in the initial phases of the pandemic scenario.