Preservice Teachers’ Evolving View of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Online Learning

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate preservice teachers’ evolving views towards online learning, technological self-efficacy, and their outlook regarding the strengths and constraints of online learning after a forced transition to online learning during the pandemic of COVID-19. 104 students from two semesters participated in the study. They took Teacher Education as a major or minor. Group 1 was from the Fall semester of 2020. Group 2 was from the following semester of Spring 2021. Group 2 had one more semester of online learning experiences. A mixed-methods design was used to analyze both quantitative and qualitative data from an online survey. Results show preservice teachers’ technological self-efficacy and interest increased over time and their attitudes towards online learning became significantly positive. This study provides a concrete understanding of preservice teachers’ evolving view towards online education, which could have a critical impact on the adoption of online learning in the future K-12 settings.