TRAINING HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS FOR TEACHING IN VIRTUAL CLASSES. A CASE STUDY IN AN ASIAN CONTEXT

<doi>10.24250/JPE/2/2022/GP

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers from higher education faced challenges on how to adequately adjust their teaching from a face-to-face to an online format to train future teachers properly. The study aimed to illustrate participants' experiences regarding their training during virtual courses in an international Asian HE institution. The applied methodology was qualitative, with a case study as a research design, intending to understand participants' experiences and adjust the training model for virtual classes in a particular Asian context. The participants were MA and Ph.D. in education students enrolled in the Instructional Models class, delivered online. Data collection consisted of (a) a focus-group discussion (with five participants) lasting for one hour and a half; (b) document analysis (15 students' journals); (c) video records for five micro-teaching; (d) one study group that lasted for 60 minutes organized to reflect on the 14 micro-teaching lessons. After thematic coding of data, the results revealed participants' empowering experiences during training, with challenges and success in conducting micro-teachings for virtual classes. The participants recommended including more micro-teaching sessions to master the teaching strategies demonstrated and introducing basic training in using technology for those who did not have technological skills. With empowering but still challenging teaching experiences, for further studies, the recommendation is to apply the training model in an online context, for both pre-service and in-service teachers, from different levels of education.