Professional development of future teachers is based on connecting theory and practice with the aim of supporting and developing critical, independent, responsible decision-making and active teaching. With this aim we designed a blended learning environment with an asynchronous online discussion, enabling collaboration and reflection even when face-to-face communication was not possible. This paper discusses the constructs of social and cognitive components, reflection and collaborative learning in blended learning environments. It presents the results of a study that was conducted on a sample of pre-service primary school teachers studying at the largest faculty of education in Slovenia. The purpose of the study was to determine the intensity, level and content of students' posts in the online discussion, how students assess its usefulness, and whether there are differences in the assessment of goals achieved in teaching practice between the students who were included in the online discussion and those who were not. We found that in the sub-groups where communication between students participating in the online discussion did not develop at the level of interpersonal relations, it also failed to develop at the level of learning. We also found that the online discussion helped the participating students to plan their lessons. In assessing the achieved practical teaching goals, it became obvious that the online discussion had a positive impact on students' perception about adapting their lessons, as well as on their critical assessment in analysing their teaching.

No abstract

The paper presents results of the research on pre-service student teachers’ assessment of the usefulness of their distance teaching practicum during COVID-19 for their professional development. The sample included 238 student teachers in the 3rd and 4th years of the bachelor’s degree programme as well as those in the master’s degree programme at the Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana. The students answered the online questionnaire after completing their teaching practicum in spring 2020. The results show that the majority of the students spent more than half of their time during the teaching practicum preparing various teaching materials for the pupils. About a fifth of the students provided individual help to pupils, while only a small share of them conducted their lessons via videoconferencing. The 3rd year students rated the usefulness of preparing teaching materials and the overall usefulness of the distance teaching practicum statistically significantly lower than their senior colleagues. Whether the teaching practicum is implemented in an online environment or “live”, it is important to insist that student teachers assist their pupils in all phases of the teaching process and adapt it to their individual characteristics and needs to the greatest extent possible. Received: 3 December 2021Accepted: 7 November 2022