Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Education

Advisor

Chue Vang

Abstract

AbstractImplementation of a national contingency plan to mitigate the effects of a natural disaster or major health crisis for schools in the United States has been a focus of scholars since the polio epidemic in 1916. While examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education in the United States, researchers demonstrated that online remote instruction was adopted as a temporary answer to school closures, yet teachers were not prepared for this type of teaching. Researchers had yet to identify the technological and pedagogical challenges for teachers who taught remotely during the crises with little distance education experience. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perspectives of K-12 teachers in the United States regarding the technological and pedagogical challenges of teaching remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Guided by the Obsidian model of distributed learning, 12 K-12 teachers were interviewed on their experience of being mandated to teach remotely during the pandemic. Transcript data was analyzed using in vivo method, a priori, double coding, and constant comparisons. The results of the analysis indicated four key themes that emerged: teacher agency, inequities for traditionally marginalized students, difficulty building relationships, and teacher praxis. A key finding was that online learning absent a technology plan created a disruption to education which resulted in a paradigm shift for teachers requiring increased understanding and targeted use of technology. Results of this study provide key information to inform policy. The findings could lead to positive social change by providing information that could be used to inform professional development focused on assisting K-12 educators in online instruction.

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