Untangling the Great online transition: A network model of teachers' experiences with online practices

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic provided a critical opportunity to understand how teachers experienced and perceived online practices, as they transitioned to emergency remote teaching. However, how these experiences relate, and how they should be addressed together to support teachers and schools, remains unclear. Therefore, the main aim of the current study is to examine associations among teachers’ experiences and perceptions of online teaching and learning. The data were captured at the beginning of the COVID pandemic in 2020 through an online questionnaire, when teachers were transitioning to emergency remote teaching. Data included in the analysis comprises 222 secondary school teachers' responses to open-ended questions, analysed through a combined method of thematic and network analysis. The results indicate that perceptions and experiences must be studied from a system of variables that interact in determining the success or failure of online teaching and learning. Findings can contribute to decision making about how these variables assemble and relate in different ways to design more targeted support for teachers' future online and blended teaching practices.