The unprecedented growth of prosperity in developed countries, including the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, interrupted by the economic crisis in 2008–2009, came to a halt at the beginning of 2020. This was due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 respiratory disease pandemic, for which no cure was known in June 2020. The response of governments in the form of declaring a state of emergency and closing national and regional borders for several months had serious economic and, above all, psychological consequences. Anxiety, depression, and possibly suicides were expected to increase. In this paper, we focused on the experience of happiness, understood as positive emotion, expressing the highest degree of well-being. The conceptualization of happiness is based on the analysis of six indicators. The aim of the paper was to explore the experience of happiness during the COVID-19 pandemic in Czechia. Two hypotheses were formulated in terms of the expected effects of this pandemic on the experience of happiness. Measuring happiness in one region of the Czechia on a scale of 0–10 using both face-to-face methods and social networks yielded different results from those expected.

Various forms of social media (SM) appear to be very popular among young people because they provide information and entertainment, including a wide range of web technologies such as blogs, wikis, online social networks, and virtual networks. SM plays a huge role in the lives of children and teenagers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the computer becomes not only a means of entertainment or leisure, but also a necessary and everyday means of education and communication with other people. Thus, COVID-19 has brought a radical change, not only in the daily schedule and leisure time of pupils and students, but also in the perception of the procedures used by this specific group in the online space. Through our own research, using structured interviews and a questionnaire, we examine the use of SM as a tool to promote sustainable well-being in a group of high school students from various schools in central Slovak Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia). The research confirms that during the pandemic, the use of SM by the young respondents contributes significantly to well-being. This is the case when SM is used by high school students as a tool in promoting: (1) personal interests; (2) motivation; (3) communication and interpersonal connectivity; (4) preferred forms of online education; and (5) online games. The article presents a set of recommendations regarding the use of SM as a tool for sustaining the well-being of young people during the pandemic.

In the context of considerations on the potential attenuation of the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic with the use of credible social media in online education during a pandemic, the subject of our own research was the fulfillment of two goals. The main research goals were to identify, categorize, and evaluate the possibilities of using social media in online education during the pandemic from the perspective of selected teachers and students from secondary schools in Slovakia. The research methods of the first phase (qualitative) of the research involved brainstorming among nine secondary school teachers. The second research phase (quantitative) used a questionnaire, which was completed by 102 high school students from all over Slovakia. The collection of both quantitative and qualitative data was used in this research. The research results revealed the most representative opinions of teachers on the current and real possibilities of engaging credible social media in online education and the views of high school students on their desired use and involvement of social media in online education. The intersection of the two findings presents a picture of the possibilities of using credible social media in online education, which can help maintain students’ interest in online education during a pandemic. Based on these findings, it can be stated that the opinions identified in the research group of teachers correspond to a large extent with the desired use of social media in education from the perspective of students. In addition, however, students would welcome more opportunities to use and engage social media in today’s online education. The result of this research is an analysis of social media patterns applied to online education, which are of greater interest to students and could act as elements for reducing the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, i.e., six forms of online education and 24 educational activities that could contribute, inter alia, to mitigating the different negative effects of the pandemic among youth generation. The findings also benefit from the presentation of many specific options and recommendations for the use of social media in online education during a pandemic.

The rapid development of using information technology enables scholars to present their work in the worldwide databases, to read works of other colleagues, to be read, to get citations. The primary objective of this study is to show the scholars of Romance languages and linguistics who meet with their projects and publications in Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) how to work with databases. The second objective is to point out that to present research made in the field of Romance languages and linguistics written in a Romance language is a difficult task for a number of scholars across the world.

Проблема и цель. Целью данной работы является исследование влияния интерактивного смешанного (перевёрнутого) обучения (e-based flipped learning) на формирование у студентов вуза навыков критического чтения и решения проблем. Методология. В ходе исследования был проведен анализ влияния технологии смешанного (перевёрнутого) обучения на способность студентов к критическому чтению, а также выявлено отношение студентов к данной образовательной технологии. В рамках исследования был применён метод педагогического эксперимента, включающий входные и контрольные диагностические срезы. В исследовании приняли участие 34 студента, которые в течение 14 недель должны были посещать курс аналитического (критического) чтения, направленный на усовершенствование навыков восприятия текста. Недельная нагрузка по курсу составила 4 часа. Общая трудоёмкость курса была равна четырём академическим кредитам. Авторами были изучены ответы студентов на задания по критическому чтению. Причём, данные задания выполнялись студентами в рамках самостоятельной внеаудиторной работы с применением информационно-коммуникационных технологий. Задания включали дискуссии, обсуждения, выражение собственного мнения, а также взаимодействие студентов посредством социальных сетей. Тест на оценку навыков критического (аналитического) чтения был взят из материалов академического теста SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test). Уровень владения английским языком был диагностирован при помощи Oxford Placement Test (OPT) в начале исследования. Академический 1. Исследование выполнено при поддержке Словацкого агентства по исследованиям и разработкам в соответствии с контрактом № 1. АПВВ-17-0158. 2. Работа выполнена в соответствии с государственной программой повышения конкурентоспособности Казанского федерального университета (Казань, Россия).