Acceptance of Mobile Learning Technology by Teachers: Influencing Mobile Self-Efficacy and 21st-Century Skills-Based Training

This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the acceptance of mobile learning technology for 21st-century skills-based training among teachers in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. This study adopted the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model, which included constructs such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, social influence, mobile self-efficacy, student self-efficacy, behavioural intention, 21st-century skills-based training, and creative thinking skills. A survey was conducted with 619 teachers from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan who participated in a two-week mobile learning-based training session. The data were analysed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results show that all hypotheses were supported, indicating a positive relationship between the constructs and the acceptance and use of mobile learning technology for 21st-century skills-based training. This study's findings suggest that by emphasising factors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, social influence, mobile self-efficacy, and student self-efficacy when designing mobile learning interventions, teachers will be more likely to accept and use mobile learning technology for 21st-century skills-based training and contributed to sustainability by providing increased access to quality education.

Teacher Evaluation in Primary and Secondary Schools: A Systematic Review of SSCI Journal Publications from 2012 to 2022

This study revealed the current situation and developments in teacher evaluation in primary and secondary schools by reviewing 54 articles published in the recent decade (i.e., from January 2012 to October 2022). The coding scheme was developed based on the three components of effective teacher evaluation systems: "what”, "how”, and "who”. Specifically, we investigated the frameworks used for teacher evaluation, methods of evaluation, and participants in teacher evaluation. Based on our results, most studies evaluated teachers from the dimension of Instructional Support. Evaluation through video recording became popular due to technological advancement. Further, an increasing number of schools invited external experts to conduct teacher evaluations to ensure fairness. We also identified several crucial factors for teacher development: effective use of teaching resources and technology, high-quality feedback and communication, emotional support, classroom organization, and professional responsibilities. Due to COVID-19, many schools adopted distance learning, prompting the need to develop technological skills for teachers. Through the in-depth analysis of the current situation and development trends in the various dimensions of teacher evaluation in primary and secondary education, future research directions and issues were discussed and explored in this review.

Leveraging affordances in an ecological stance: Reflective language teaching for professional development during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made a prominent impact of social contexts on teachers' professional development in remote classroom teaching. To explore how the change has altered human-environment relationships in university language classes, this qualitative case study investigated three teachers' progressive reflection on their use of affordances for teaching Chinese as a second language (L2) during COVID-19. Under the framework of human ecological language pedagogy, three themes of emergency remote teaching emerged from monthly semi-structured interviews about the three teachers' reflective practice in remote classrooms: computer-dominant teaching conditions, flexible classroom interaction, and rational social empathy in L2 education. The findings suggest the importance of a growth mindset for L2 teachers to leverage their teaching abilities and environmental resources for continuing professional development during COVID-19 and post-pandemic periods.

From face-to-face to online: Teachers' perceived experiences in online distance teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The urgent shift to online distance teaching and learning during the Covid-19 pandemic presented teachers with unique pedagogical, technological, and psychological challenges. The aim of this study was to map the main positive and negative experiences of teachers during this transition, as well as to examine intra- and interpersonal factors that affected teachers' ability to cope effectively with the challenges of online distance teaching. We used a mixed-method approach that combined qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (questionnaires) analyses. The interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach, specifically a bottom-up analysis, which led to the identification of five primary categories reflecting teachers' main concerns in online distance teaching (i.e., social, emotional, cognitive, pedagogical, and system support. The two most prominent categories were pedagogy and emotions, illustrating their centrality in teachers' experiences. A regression analysis of the questionnaires' data revealed that the two main variables which predicted both positive and negative experiences in online distance teaching were self-efficacy and teachers' attitudes towards technology integration in teaching. Findings of this study allow formulation of guidelines to promote factors related to positive experiences in online distance teaching.

Leading Edge Use of Technology for Teacher Professional Development in Indian Schools

This paper presents a case study of a decade-long technology-enabled teacher professional development (TPD) initiative for government-run school teachers in India. The TPD aimed at capacitating teachers in integrating project-based or constructivist learning with technology in curriculum and pedagogy. Teachers are central to the teaching–learning processes, and hence capacitating them to leverage digital technologies confidently is essential to improve the quality of education imparted to learners. This paper focuses on the use of innovative technologies leading to the education of teachers. A decade of TPD is divided into three phases providing an analytical framework for the evolving technologies and pedagogies across the phases. Documents, resources and tools used for the TPD activities, researchers' first-hand experiences and documented research studies supported the comparative analysis of the three phases of TPD. This comparison highlighted leading-edge technologies influencing changes in TPD delivery mode, learning support, pedagogy, scale, etc., across the phases. The paper also maps the interrelationship between technologies and pedagogies of TPD, suggesting various features of innovations such as continuous, practice-based, collaborative, scalable, shareable, transferable, and adaptable.

Learning Science at University in Times of COVID-19 Crises from the Perspective of Lecturers—An Interview Study

The COVID-19 pandemic changed higher education radically and challenged faculties to adapt their teaching to the new circumstances. The aim of this study is to highlight changes, in particular, the advantages and disadvantages associated with them, and to find out what conclusions were drawn for the future in the three experimental natural sciences of biology, chemistry, and physics at the University of Konstanz (Germany). In a guided interview, the majority of the university teachers in the bachelor's programs were interviewed, and their statements were subsequently categorized. While lectures and tutorials in distance learning were held asynchronously or synchronously online, laboratory courses used a variety of formats. The number of disadvantages cited, as well as the number of university faculty citing the same disadvantage, is greater than for advantages. The most commonly cited drawbacks fall into the areas of workload, communication, feedback, and active student participation. Physical presence and a return to the original learning objectives in the lab courses is wanted by the majority. The results point to commonalities between the science subjects and should encourage science departments to work together on similar problems in similar formats in the future. Furthermore, there is an urgent and ongoing need for the training of natural science teachers in competence-oriented digital teaching. © 2023 by the authors.

Teaching during the Pandemic: An Exploratory Study in Portuguese and Brazilian Secondary Education Teachers

The present study takes as a starting point the COVID-19 lockdown to which Portuguese and Brazilian schools were confined during 2020, to trace the scenario regarding the training needs of secondary education teachers in terms of digital skills. The research questions seek, firstly, to understand how the transition from face-to-face environments to digital environments was carried out in those countries and, secondly, to assess how to improve digital skills in education when considering a post-pandemic future. The results, obtained from responses by 300 teachers to a questionnaire survey, are in line with the conclusions of the intense research that has been conducted in this area: the COVID-19 pandemic has made teachers' digital training more urgent, and has highlighted the importance of integrating digital environments in education, both as a strategy for the continuity and sustainability of education itself, and as a fluid space that allows the development of practices that enhance quality learning. The analysis also allows us to perceive the differences and similarities in terms of education between two countries that share the same language and have historical proximity, but different socioeconomic indices. © 2023 by the authors.

Creating safe classroom learning spaces for students living in urban areas of poverty

The current pilot study introduced trauma-informed professional development for teachers in an urban, K-8, Title I public school prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Equipping middle school teachers with trauma knowledge and resources enabled them to modify their pedagogical approach to align better with students' emotional and academic needs shaped by living in poverty. Thematic analysis of qualitative data (i.e., 48 teacher journal entries, one focus group transcript) produced three overarching themes related to changes in teaching practices, student engagement, and classroom culture: (a) transforming to teach (i.e., teacher empathy, awareness, understanding of students' living conditions), (b) teaching to transform (i.e., teacher critical thinking about students' needs, reactions, and consequences), and (c) transforming to learn (student engagement, expressiveness, confidence). This study's findings highlight how middle school educators can effectively implement trauma-sensitive techniques in their classrooms to enhance safe learning spaces, student support, and classroom management for stress-affected young people. This study's university-community school partnership may offer a model for the design, structure, and resources necessary to implement classroom-level, trauma-informed professional development for Title I nonclinical middle school personnel. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Preparing for online instruction: An analysis of teacher professional development during the COVID-19 pandemic

Following school closures in the spring semester of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts across the United States began making plans for a remote start to the 2020-2021 school year. In Texas, professional development plans were required by the Texas Education Agency for K-12 public school districts planning to provide online learning options for students. This study examined these professional development plans using directed qualitative content analysis methods to identify and categorize the learning experiences provided to educators in preparation for online instruction. The plans were coded in NVivo using etic codes based on relevant literature related to the TPACK framework, online teacher competencies, and standards for quality online teaching. Emic codes were created as needed during the iterative coding process. Data analysis revealed trends related to teacher training gaps, district priorities, target audiences, and the occurrence of professional development sessions. The study findings were discussed, and suggestions were made to inform the development and design of future professional development plans for online teachers at multiple levels. Recommendations for further research specific to in-service teacher professional development and preservice teacher preparation programs were offered. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

The Influence of an Online Community of Practice on Professional Development for Online Teaching: Case Study on Kindergartens

The unexpected closure of schools, including kindergartens, due to the coronavirus pandemic in the past two years transformed face-to-face teaching into online teaching, which was not a common practice for kindergarten teachers. As research reveal, kindergarten teachers are generally inexperienced in teaching online, so they need ongoing support and interactive professional training like building a community of practice (CoP) for switching to online teaching. Yet, limited research has investigated the impacts of building an online CoP as a teacher professional development approach in early childhood education. Thus, this study examined the effects and sustainable factors of the CoP groups provided by a university for online teaching in early childhood education through intensive training and quadripartite collaboration among kindergarten teachers, teacher trainers, preservice teachers, and eLearning specialists. To have an in-depth investigation, this study employed a case study of three kindergartens, semi-structured interviews with eight kindergarten teachers and three university teacher trainers were conducted via Zoom. Then, multi-sourced data, including artifacts and interview data, were analyzed by thematic analysis based on the CoP Theory to elucidate participants' experiences of an online CoP as an approach for teacher professional development. Based on the findings, this study revealed that the CoP empowered kindergarten teachers to teach online by (1) developing their technical and leadership skills through (2) building up a supportive network for idea exchanges;and (3) accumulating resources, skills, and tools they needed for online teaching from the domain, community, and practice dimension accordingly. In addition, the findings indicated that content relevance to the school curriculum, availability of time for collaboration, continuous technical support, and self-learning resources are important factors for sustaining the online teaching practices learned from the CoP groups. This study recommended an establishment of an ongoing online CoP for facilitating more sustainable teacher professional development in early childhood settings. © 30th International Conference on Computers in Education Conference, ICCE 2022 - Proceedings.

Narrative inquiry for CALL teacher preparation programs amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: language teachers' technological needs and suggestions

Drawing on qualitative research, this study explores the Iranian EFL teachers' technological needs and their suggestions for using computer-assisted language learning (CALL) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed the narratives produced by 66 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers for their themes through deductive and inductive thematic analysis phases using MAXQDA. The findings indicate that CALL teacher preparation programs should prioritize technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK), then technological content knowledge (TCK), and finally technological knowledge (TK). Moreover, teachers stated that CALL teacher preparation programs should develop their knowledge concerning the intersections of TCK/TPK and TPK/TK. Furthermore, Iranian EFL teachers suggested that CALL can be used during the pandemic if cooperation among teachers, students, and parents will be made, technological-related infrastructures will be developed, and teacher preparation programs will develop EFL teachers' collaboration, digital literacy, teacher autonomy, and TPK with special attention to the educational needs made by the pandemic situation. The findings have implications for teacher educators, professional development course designers and providers, and decision-makers by highlighting promising directions to devote their precious time and resources. © 2022, The Author(s).

Teachers' learning from addressing the challenges of online teaching in a time of pandemic: a case in Shanghai.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Shanghai, China, all school classes were delivered through an online environment from February 24 to May 22, 2020. To support this transition, the Shanghai Education Commission led expert teachers and specialists to develop a series of online video lessons based on the Shanghai unified curriculum, and suggested students watch the online video lessons individually from home, followed by an online synchronous lesson supported by class teachers. This study investigated what primary mathematics teachers learned from addressing these challenges through a case study. By following two purposefully selected teachers over 2 weeks during the transition, multiple data sets including online video lessons, online synchronous lessons, daily reflections, and post-online teacher interviews were collected. A fine-grained analysis of the data from the lens of the documentational approach to didactics found that teachers adaptively used online video lessons as important resources for their online synchronous lessons and virtual Teaching Research Groups as a teachers' collaboration mechanism supported them to develop online video lessons and address various technological constraints. Finally, implications of this case study for mathematics education globally are discussed. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10649-022-10172-2.

Promoting preservice teachers? psychological and pedagogical competencies for online learning and teaching: The TEAC H. program

During the widespread COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face teaching was not viable because many schools were forced to close as a preventive measure. Educators abruptly shifted to online classes without sufficient time and resources to prepare for such an enormous transition. Although shifting from traditional face-to-face format to modern e-learning approach ensured that students could be educated outside of the classroom, its impact on the quality of learning and teaching (L&T) can be mixed. This study aims to address the knowledge gap in conventional teacher training by developing a web-based program called T.E.A.C.H. to enhance preservice teachers' psychological and pedagogical competencies for conducting online L&T. The program consisted of five modules, each focused on one dimension of psychological competence (creativity, curiosity, love of learning, judgment, and perspective) and applied to the 'three foci' for online L&T (attendance and participation, engagement, and assessment). Adopting a quasi-experimental design with matched sampling, a total of 314 preservice teachers were allocated into the intervention or control group. The intervention group was given access to the web-based program to receive training materials, learn about the content, and take part in the online L&T exercises. Program effectiveness was evaluated using pretest and posttest questionnaires, a teaching design task, short quizzes, and a program quality assessment. The results showed that the T.E.A.C.H. program was effective in promoting preservice teachers' psychological competencies, positive attitudes toward online L&T, self-efficacy to teach in an online format, intentions to use technology for L&T, and online pedagogical skills. The successful implementation of T.E.A.C.H. encourages school leaders, teachers, and teacher professional development providers to utilize this web-based program to enhance online teaching practices.

Zur Nutzung digitaler Angebote durch Lehrkrafte vor und wahrend der COVID 19-Pandemie zur eigenen Fort- und WeiterbildungOn the use of digital offers by teachers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic for continuous professional development

Further professional development significantly contributes to the quality of teaching and is usually mandatory for teachers. In order to make further professional development attractive and to adapt the organization and offer to the needs of teachers, regular analyzes of further professional development behavior and wishes are required. Digital alternatives can complement face-to-face professional development. During the COVID 19 pandemic, there has been a lot of development in the field of digital media in schools. In this article, we examine how teachers use digital media for their own further education and training and whether usage behavior has changed since the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic.

On the use of digital offers by teachers before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic for continuous professional development

Translation Further professional development significantly contributes to the quality of teaching and is usually mandatory for teachers. In order to make further professional development attractive and to adapt the organization and offer to the needs of teachers, regular analyzes of further professional development behavior and wishes are required. Digital alternatives can complement face‐to‐face professional development. During the COVID 19 pandemic, there has been a lot of development in the field of digital media in schools. In this article, we examine how teachers use digital media for their own further education and training and whether usage behavior has changed since the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR]

The development of an online STEM teacher professional development package with the DECODE model: An innovative teacher's quality maintenance

Due to the global trend and the international application of STEM education as well as in/post-pandemic COVID-19 condition, this ongoing study aims to elucidate the development progress of an online STEM teachers' professional development (STEM-TPD) package with the DECODE model. In this/post-pandemic era, online STEM education has been gradually emphasized. The researchers sustained the rationale for organizing STEM-TPDs to improve teacher practices by enhancing superior knowledge needed for the betterment of STEM implementations. Indeed, the DECODE model includes three stages: (1) DE: teacher's DEmonstrations, (2) CO: students CO-train the use of cloud classroom, students CO-design an educational technology-integrated course, and (3) DE: students CO-teach, eventually students receive feedbacks and DEbrief what they have learned through the stages mentioned above. Moreover, face and content validity have been deployed to guarantee the quality of the developed packages. The ongoing result from this study is produced to validate the online STEM-TPD package with the DECODE model. Moreover, the package comprises manual training, a set of assessments, and an innovative webpage. Through this online DECODE model with the package, teachers are equipped: to familiarize themselves with various software technology and platforms;enhance their knowledge and abilities in assessment design, instructional design, and practical implementation (TPACK);to effectively teach or guide students in STEM activities, and to effectively improve their STEM literacy. © 2022 by the authors;licensee Modestum. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Impact Assessment of Ease and Usefulness of Online Teaching in Higher Education in Post COVID Era

—During COVID-19 and its resulting lockdown, the sudden closure of traditional offline classes resulted in the loss of education. Consequently, teaching pedagogies were unexpectedly changed, and a sudden shift towards online teaching was necessitated. The extensive availability of devices and applications made this shift easy. Nevertheless, all teachers were not equally equipped with the equivalent knowledge and resources, which could have affected their behavioral intention to continue online teaching in the future. This paper investigates the perception of university teachers to continue online teaching in higher education post-COVID. To accomplish this target, a mixed research approach was adopted. For quantitative data, 243 questionnaires were successfully collected from teachers of the top five central universities in India, using an online survey through Google forms by integrating the technology acceptance model (TAM). For qualitative data, online-focused group discussions (FGDs) with around seven teachers from different nations' universities were done. This study is cross-sectional, utilizing TAM factors for ascertaining teachers' behavioral intentions in India. All hypotheses were found significant by applying PLS-based SEM using smart-PLS software. This indicates that perceived usefulness and ease of use significantly impact attitude towards online teaching;further, perceived usefulness and attitude towards online teaching also significantly affect the behavioral intention of teachers to continue online teaching post-COVID era. The study helps educational institutions and respective national policymakers to define the future course of action in the education sector. © 2023 by the authors.

From isolation to collaboration: development of a community of physical education teachers in pandemic times / Do isolamento à colaboração: desenvolvimento de uma comunidade de professores de educação física em tempos de pandemia / Del aislamiento a la colaboración: desarrollo de una comunidad de profesores de educación física en tiempos de pandemia

O objetivo deste estudo foi explorar o desenvolvimento de um grupo de professores de Educação Física (EF), que enfrentaram dificuldades com o ensino remoto, em uma comunidade de prática (CdP) durante a pandemia da COVID-19. O estudo teve como enfoque os fatores que apoiaram o processo de cultivo da CdP em formato on-line. Empregando a metodologia de pesquisa-ação, o estudo envolveu 15 professores de EF (uma professora atuou como professora-facilitadora) e uma amiga crítica. Os dados foram gerados por meio de encontros da CdP, entrevistas, conversas com amiga crítica e diário reflexivo. A análise temática resultou em quatro temas abrangentes: a) a pandemia como catalisadora da colaboração; b) auto-organização dos professores para viabilizar a comunidade; c) desenvolvimento de pesquisa colaborativa; e d) diálogo para um novo ciclo de colaboração. Notavelmente, a auto-organização dos professores foi fundamental para guiar a CdP ao longo de estágios de desenvolvimento. São discutidos outros aspectos que contribuíram para o desenvolvimento da CdP em um cenário de pandemia.(AU)

El objetivo de este estudio ha sido explorar el desarrollo de un grupo de profesores de Educación Física (EF) que enfrentaron dificultades con la enseñanza remota, en una comunidad de práctica (CdP) durante la pandemia de COVID-19. El estudio se centró en los factores que apoyaron el proceso de cultivo de la CdP en un formato online. Utilizando la metodología de investigación-acción, el estudio involucró a 15 profesores brasileños de EF, una profesora que actuó como profesora-facilitadora y una amiga crítica. Los datos se generaron a través de encuentros de la CdP, entrevistas, conversaciones con la amiga crítica y diario reflexivo. El análisis temático resultó en cuatro temas generales: a) la pandemia como catalizadora de la colaboración; b) autoorganización de los profesores para hacer posible la comunidad; c) desarrollo de investigación colaborativa; y d) diálogo para un nuevo ciclo de colaboración. De manera notable, la autoorganización de los profesores fue fundamental para guiar a la CdP a lo largo de las etapas de desarrollo. Se discuten otros aspectos que contribuyeron al desarrollo de la CdP en un escenario de pandemia.(AU)

The purpose of this study was to explore the development of a group of Brazilian Physical Education (PE) teachers, who struggled with remote teaching, into a community of practice (CoP) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study focused on factors that supported the CoP cultivation process in an online format. Employing action research methodology, the study involved 15 PE teachers, with one of them acting as a teacher-facilitator, and one critical friend. Data were generated through CoP's meetings, interviews, critical friend conversations, and reflexive journaling. Thematic analysis resulted in four overarching themes: a) the pandemic as a catalyst for collaboration; b) teachers' self-organization to enact the community; c) development of collaborative research; and d) dialogue towards a new cycle of collaboration. Noteworthy was that teachers' self-organization was critical for guiding the CoP throughout stages of development. Further aspects that contributed to CoP's development in a pandemic scenario are discussed.(AU)

In-service teachers' TPACK development through an adaptive e-learning environment (ALE).

Due to the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on educational institutions, schools had to close and switch to online education. Training in-service teachers to incorporate and utilize technology as part of Internet-based instructions was a challenge and pressing necessity. TPACK is an essential framework for comprehending how teachers employ technology in teaching. Despite the significance of adaptive learning environments in recent years, research has not addressed how to use these environments to improve the TPACK of in-service teachers, particularly during crises. Consequently, our objective was to design an adaptive learning environment that provides in-service math, science, and English teachers with substantial and continuing support for each TPACK component. A total of 173 in-service teachers were divided into two groups: an experimental group of 83 who used adaptive learning and a control group of 90 who used Zoom techniques. TPACK questionnaires were administered before and after the experiment. The experimental group improved TPACK more than the control group. All teachers believed that adaptive learning training helped them to build technology-integrated lesson plans. This study provides ideas and practices for developing an adaptive learning environment for the in-service teachers' TPACK development. The challenges to adaptive learning environments have been highlighted, identifying the potential for future investigations.

Promoting preservice teachers' psychological and pedagogical competencies for online learning and teaching: The T.E.A.C.H. program

During the widespread COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face teaching was not viable because many schools were forced to close as a preventive measure. Educators abruptly shifted to online classes without sufficient time and resources to prepare for such an enormous transition. Although shifting from traditional face-to-face format to modern e-learning approach ensured that students could be educated outside of the classroom, its impact on the quality of learning and teaching (L&T) can be mixed. This study aims to address the knowledge gap in conventional teacher training by developing a web-based program called T.E.A.C.H. to enhance preservice teachers' psychological and pedagogical competencies for conducting online L&T. The program consisted of five modules, each focused on one dimension of psychological competence (creativity, curiosity, love of learning, judgment, and perspective) and applied to the ‘three foci' for online L&T (attendance and participation, engagement, and assessment). Adopting a quasi-experimental design with matched sampling, a total of 314 preservice teachers were allocated into the intervention or control group. The intervention group was given access to the web-based program to receive training materials, learn about the content, and take part in the online L&T exercises. Program effectiveness was evaluated using pretest and posttest questionnaires, a teaching design task, short quizzes, and a program quality assessment. The results showed that the T.E.A.C.H. program was effective in promoting preservice teachers' psychological competencies, positive attitudes toward online L&T, self-efficacy to teach in an online format, intentions to use technology for L&T, and online pedagogical skills. The successful implementation of T.E.A.C.H. encourages school leaders, teachers, and teacher professional development providers to utilize this web-based program to enhance online teaching practices.