As I mentioned in SITE Interactive 2022 and K-12 Online and Blended Learning, I’m attending this conference and wanted to blog some of the relevant sessions.  The first of which is:

A Comparison Between Primary and Secondary Teachers’ Online Teaching Experiences in U.S K-12 Schools

Live Paper Presentation ID: 61599

1. Woonhee Sung
   The University of Texas at Tyler
2. Heejung An
   William Paterson University of New Jersey
3. Christopher Thomas
   The university of Texas at Tyler

Abstract: This article seeks to understand how a study conducted on online learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic (2020-2021) can provide insights on technology integration for traditional in-person schools. This survey study was conducted in a southern U.S. state with 76 teachers. The results indicate that there were differences between primary and secondary teachers. Specifically, the findings showed significant differences in both primary and secondary teachers’ beliefs on using technology for teaching before and after the pandemic. However, the comparison frequency data on actual technology implementation for online teaching between primary and secondary teachers revealed that primary teachers mainly relied on two online learning activities: attending synchronous meetings and presenting information, while the secondary teachers used more tools and activities such as problem-solving tasks and collaborative activities. Nonetheless, the mean frequency patterns were low overall for both the primary and secondary teachers. Based on these findings, the authors aim to provide tailored suggestions for primary and secondary teachers in terms of quality digital learning.

The study presented was focused on whether the perceptions and actions of in person teachers who were forced to teach online changed before and after COVID in a single southern US school.  The presenters indicated that while the teachers had a high level of belief/confidence in their ability to use technology in their teaching prior to COVID, this actually decreased after COVID.

Interesting, in almost all of the sub-categories the primary teachers were lower – both pre-COVID and post-COVID – than secondary teachers (not statistically significant, but it was a pattern).  The presenters also found that secondary teachers were using more online tools, more frequently than primary teachers – and this result was statistically significant.  The specific items where the biggest differences were focused on using online productivity tools (e.g., spreadsheets and word processors), as well as synchronous instruction tools.  The presenters described these uses as things related to problem solving.

While teachers have used online tools – particularly learning management systems – to provide instruction, but “from the students’ perspective they were not asked to complete diverse projects.”

The presenters ended by critiquing the many technology integration models as being limited to a conceptual framework, but failing to provide real-world examples or lesson plan samples to make it more accessible to teachers.