The COVID-19 pandemic caused severe global challenges for education systems and schooling worldwide, with the Dinaric region being no exception. Although the demand for digital competence among teachers and using digital tools and devices in teaching and learning has been present in the region for over a decade, the existing practices could not fully meet the difficulties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic disruption. Centering on the Dinaric area (i.e., Albania, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia) concerning the COVID-19 disruption, the paper sheds light on the disruption and response measures in the region against the demand for remote instruction during COVID-19. It examines the diverse response measures and how they were conveyed to different stakeholders, coupled with prior established practices and ease of access to digital devices and their use in teaching and learning. Data collected during the PIRLS 2021 cycle from students, teachers, school principals and parents and analyses of the PIRLS 2021 Encyclopedia (Reynolds et al., 2022) are used as primary sources in the analyses. Both national reports and responses from school principals indicate that the level of disruption varied at different times of school operation, prompting different types of responses from the schools, often dependent on school location and overall country response to the pandemic. Results also show certain common patterns across the Dinaric region concerning the systems’ wide range of activities to answer the challenge. National Ministries of Education coordinated technical and overall resource support across the most Dinaric countries. Access to different digital resources and access provided to students and teachers somewhat varied. Internet-based resources dominated distant learning resources. Sharing devices within the class was the leading established practice. In some cases, the availability of smartphones outpowered the presence of one’s own or shared computer (tablet), according to the student reports. Teachers’ professional development across the board was focused more on instruction related to digital literacies than integrating technologies into reading instruction. Parents’ perceptions of whether their child’s learning progress has been adversely affected during the COVID-19 disruption varied between and within countries.

Reynolds, K.A., Wry, E., Mullis, I.V.S., & von Davier, M. (2022). PIRLS 2021 Encyclopedia: Education Policy and Curriculum in Reading. Retrieved from Boston College, TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center website: https://pirls2021.org/encyclopedia