Abstract-The use of gamification in higher education has increased considerably over the past decades. An empirical study was conducted in Hungary with two groups of students to investigate their behaviour while interacting with Kahoot! The results were analyzed based on the technology acceptance model. They indicate that the positive attitude, good experience and ease of availability contributed to improve student performance which strengthened the intention to use the application. Besides these, the perceived utility was positively influenced by the ease of use as consequence.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the legal and political background of COVID-19 related measures introduced during the first wave of the pandemic in the Visegrad Group. These countries introduced measures within the state of emergency that may be violation against the values of the European Union, such as the rule of law. Design/methodology/approach A mixed approach methodology is used. Firstly, the examined countries are analysed and compared from the aspect of constructional law and political science in the form of case studies. Then, empirical research is conducted based on social media analysis limited to Twitter contents. Findings The authors found that, however, in every analysed country, the measures challenge the European values these are not expressed in the social media equally. While Slovakia is displayed from a cooperative aspect, the Czech Republic has a few critics. Poland and Hungary have a biased, negative reputation filled with heavy critics. Research limitations/implications The limitation of this paper lies in the empirical research, as social media analysis was conducted based on keyword search and within a defined time scope. Practical implications Findings help decision-makers concentrate on and modify their communication concerning the extraordinary regulations during a worldwide crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Social implications The feedback of social media users analysed is valuable for politicians and government officials as well. Originality/value The socio-political impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have not been elaborated in the literature yet with respect to the V4 countries. The V4-countries are a special entity as an intergovernmental platform within the EU, whose reputation as democracies is rather heterogeneous.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the related political and economic crisis had serious negative effects on most Mediterranean countries. The paper aims to examine the measures introduced by the governments concerned to ease the crisis both from a quantitative and qualitative perspective. The impact of the activities of similar purpose of the institutions of the European Union are also the focus of the research, with emphasis on the state-aid framework of the European Commission aimed at supporting the economy, and the unfortunate speech of 12 March, 2020 of ECB president Christine Lagarde, which endangered the euro and caused an extreme increase in the sovereign spreads in most of the countries concerned, endangering their banking systems. The main expected results of the research are as follows. Based on the analysis of legislative measures and communications, an evaluation of the relevant actors (governments and EU institutions) will be established. This will be supplemented with the potential implications of the research for future decision-makers concerning how they can learn from how the crisis in these countries was (mis)treated.

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