Study title

The DIECovidSurvey was conducted by the German Institute for Adult Education (DIE) in collaboration with the Deutscher Volkshochschul-Verband e.V. (dvv) in fall 2020 to examine the impact of the Corona pandemic on German adult education centers (vhs). The questionnaire was developed jointly by DIE and dvv. The core of the survey is detailed information about the range of events offered during the first lockdown in spring and early summer 2020, when events in attendance were prohibited. The questionnaire collects detailed information for each program area on the number of courses and individual events planned before the lockdown and actually held during the lockdown, as well as the event format (face-to-face/blended learning/online). Further contents of the survey concern the personnel and financial situation, the available space, effects of the pandemic on participant groups, the use of digital technologies including vhs.cloud, the inclusion of corona-related events in the program, assessments of the situation at the time of the survey, as well as future strategies and perceived challenges with regard to digitization and program design. The survey was conducted as an online survey in LimeSurvey, with an invitation to participate sent to all German vhs. (Project)Topics: Pre-pandemic room availability, semester rhythm and corona-related closing times, fee contracts, study trips/travel; Events offered: Politics - Society - Environment, Culture - Design, Health, Languages, Integration Courses and DeuFöV Courses, Qualifications for Working Life, School Leaving Certificates, Basic Education; Changes in course participants, summer programme 2020, current rooms and fee contracts, event planning autumn 2020, comparison of event offers autumn 2020/2019, difficulties in planning face-to-face events, difficulties in planning digital learning offers; Previous experience with digital learning offers & vhs.cloud, use of vhs.cloud, changes in cloud users, experience with...