Pandemic designs for the future: perspectives of technology education teachers during COVID-19

Purpose The disruption caused by the pandemic declaration and subsequent public health measures put in place have had a substantial effect on teachers’ abilities to support student engagement in technology education (TE). The purpose of this paper is to explore the following research question: How d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Information and learning science 2020-08, Vol.121 (5/6), p.419-431
Main Authors: Code, Jillianne, Ralph, Rachel, Forde, Kieran
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Barriers
Blended Learning
Competence
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Curricula
Data Analysis
Distance Education
Educational Technology
Equal Education
Experiential Learning
Foreign Countries
Grade 10
Learner Engagement
Learning Strategies
Online instruction
Pandemics
Program Effectiveness
School Closing
Secondary School Teachers
STEM Education
Student Motivation
Students
Sustainability
Teachers
Teaching
Teaching Methods
Technology education
Vocational Education
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Summary:Purpose The disruption caused by the pandemic declaration and subsequent public health measures put in place have had a substantial effect on teachers’ abilities to support student engagement in technology education (TE). The purpose of this paper is to explore the following research question: How do TE teachers see emergency remote teaching (ERT) transitions to blended learning into the next academic year affecting their profession? Design/methodology/approach A snowball and convenience sampling design was used to recruit specialist teachers in TE through their professional organization and were asked to respond to the question: What are your concerns about the future of teaching TE remotely? The qualitative data collected from the participants (N = 42) was analyzed thematically (Braun and Clarke, 2006). Findings The analysis revealed that the switch to ERT impacted the teachers’ ability to support hands-on competency development owing to inequitable student access to tools, materials and resources, all of which affected student motivation and engagement. As a result, teachers raised questions about the overall effectiveness of online learning approaches and TE’s future and sustainability if offered completely online. Originality/value This research is the first of its kind exploring the experiences of TE teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In answer to the challenges identified by teachers, the authors offer a blended learning design framework informed by pandemic transformed pedagogy that can serve as a model for educators to use when designing blended instruction.
ISSN:2398-5348
2398-5356
DOI:10.1108/ILS-04-2020-0112