Online teaching practicum during COVID-19: the case of a teacher education program in Greece

Abstract

PurposeThrough the present study, the authors investigate whether online practicum in teaching, with fellow teacher-candidates acting as students, can be effective and whether the teacher-candidates actually developed skills useful for their future teachings, through this form of practicum, which is necessary when, out of necessity, like in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no other option for universities.Design/methodology/approachThe method selected was qualitative research through in-depth interviews, since the present research question and the research topic in general have not been examined in the past. The authors gathered 45 teacher-candidates' journals on this experience, and, then, they interviewed them through semi-structured interviews.FindingsThe findings indicated that the teacher-candidates got acquainted with new technologies in education to a great extent. Moreover, they developed skills that will be proven useful for their future teachings, like adaptability, flexibility and handling of students' interaction in online settings.Originality/valueThe present case study consists of a paradigm of international value, since it fills in a gap in literature on an online alternative of practicum in teaching in cases of crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic. Valuable insights are gained for researchers, practitioners and policymakers and best-practices for online teaching practicum have derived for future use.

Challenges and Support for Pre-service Teachers’ Virtual Teaching and Practicums: Implications for Bahamian Educational Systems

“…In contrast to these findings, however, Brinia and Psoni (2021) found that teachers can engage with their students just as successfully virtually as they do in the traditional classroom. They justified this view by revealing various ways in which teacher-student engagement may be facilitated in the online learning environment.…”

Online Teaching Practice of Preservice Teachers during Pandemic COVID-19

“…Online learning is not a new learning model. It is the adoption of offline learning systems such as collaborative, communicative, creative, effective learning, and the motivation of students (Brinia & Psoni, 2021). It can be done with a variety of adequate preparations.…”

“…Several previous studies have focused on increasing the competence of pre-service teacher students through micro-teaching courses (De Lange & Nerland, 2018;Rosali & Singkawijaya, 2020;Wangchuk, 2019); online teaching practice in elementary school (Brinia & Psoni, 2021;Ramot & Donitsa-Schmidt, 2021;Weldon, Ma, Ho, & Li, 2021); and use of interactive media in teaching and learning process (Littlejohn et al, 2021;Meri et al, 2022;Tang et al, 2020). Results of these researches have indicated the implementation of practical courses online, but have not linked the professionalism of preservice teachers with their teaching.…”

How to Promote Online Education through Educational Software—An Analytical Study of Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling with Chinese Users as an Example

“…According to Bojovi et al [37], online education must be built on a unique technological, social and economic context, which may not offer teachers enough time to change the original teaching plans, thereby reducing the efficiency of online education [38][39][40]. During COVID-19, a considerable amount of research on online education was presented; however, the majority was focused on certain professional fields, such as health care [4,5] and teacher education [6][7][8][9]. The influence of online courseware on users' willingness to engage in online classes, which is taken as an essential technical instrument for online education, on the other hand, has received less attention.…”

“…As a result, it is critical to identify the elements that impact users' use of online classroom APPs. Although there have been a large number of studies on online education and online classroom APPs since the outbreak of the COVID-19, the majority of the relevant studies have been focused on specific professional disciplines, such as medical care [4,5] and teacher education [6][7][8][9], while studies on online class APPs have primarily been focused on the features of software itself, such as usability [10][11][12] and interface design [13], leaving the lack of a systematic and comprehensive discussion on the factors influencing users' use of online classroom APPs.…”