GATEways to Teacher Education

A journal of the Georgia Association of Teacher Educators struggled with fostering engagement while learning new technologies and logistics when shifting their in-person instructional methods to online settings.

Conversely, some participants found that they did not lecture as frequently with teaching online. One participant stated that they gave more asynchronous work with online quizzes and videos because they “can count on one hand the number of assignments students have turned in this year” (Field Notes,April 2021). Due to the lack of assignment submission, this respondent “gravitated away from lecturing” because of attendance issues and logistics with regard to students turn[ing] their cameras on and off, and mute (Field Notes, May 2021). Another respondent stated that they would “rather use more lecture when they are in the building” as opposed to teaching online and hybrid formats because they would not have to troubleshoot technological issues with student connectivity (Field Notes,April 2021).

These data suggest that these graduate teacher educators were split with regard to whether the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their views on lecture. Some participants avoided lecture by implementing more asynchronous work while teaching online due to the challenges they faced with technology issues, and lack of engagement and participation from students. However, some participants chose to lecture while teaching online because the method was familiar for them to deliver content efficiently, hence ensuring that they covered material that students needed to know. The participants’decision to lecture was not predicated upon their goal of directly promoting ambitious teaching but adjusting to teaching virtually due to COVID-19 school closures.

Follow-up interviews were conducted with some participants during the Fall 2021 semester (Appendix D). Two participants provided additional feedback on their decision to lecture since their school districts reverted back to in-person teaching for the 2021-2022 school year. With regard to whether their views on lecture changed since the Spring 2021 semester, one participant noted that “my views on lecture are still consistent, however, it has been easier, and I believe more effective, to facilitate lecture in a face-to-face environment. Having students in person has helped to keep students engaged and more opportunities to assess learning (Field Notes, November 30, 2021). Another participant stated, “Since I have returned to face-to-face teaching fully, I have shortened my lecture to under fifteen minutes…this leaves more time to actively engage with my students. Some of these engaging activities include Socratic [sic] seminars, class, discussions, and quiz competitions” (Field Notes, November 15, 2021).

Furthermore, when asked about their frequency of lectures during this current school year, one participant shared that they “made the executive decision to cut my lectures down to fifteen minutes because I feel as if students need more interaction. Students have struggled with mental health, after being trapped inside the home for so long. I felt that the only way to counteract that was to have kids moving and socializing as much as possible” (Field Notes, November 15, 2021). Conversely, the other respondent stated that they are lecturing more as opposed to when they taught online because “it is easier to hold the attention and engagement of my students when we are in person- versus if we are in a virtual environment. Last semester it was nearly impossible to engage even 75% of the class during a lecture for various reasons. Some of these include having cameras off, not being home during school instruction, and background disturbances” (Field Notes,

Volume 33, Issue