Pre-service and in-service teachers need more preparation for online and blended learning due to increased use during the pandemic. Only 1.3-4.1% of US teacher programs and 32% of Canadian programs previously provided experience in online schools. Recommendations include sufficient coursework, field experiences in online settings, research-based standards, experience as online learners, assessment of growth, and requirements for meaningful preparation in online and blended learning. Without proper preparation, learning continuity could be lost as it was during the 1918 Spanish Flu when some Canadian students missed 13-14 weeks of school with no learning.

1. Preparing K-12 Teachers for the Reality of
an Increased Need
for Online and Blended Learning
Charles B. Hodges Michael K. Barbour Richard E. Ferdig
Georgia Southern University Touro University California Kent State University

2. Thesis Statement
We must prepare pre-service and in-service teachers for the reality that
online and blended learning will likely be more common in the future due to
various world events that make in-person school attendance, at least
temporarily, impossible for many or all students.

3. Context
By the end of the 2020-21 school year, the United Nations reported that one-
hundred forty-seven million students had missed more than half of in-person
instruction as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
OECD, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, found that some
jurisdictions had their school closed for as few as 50 days (i.e., 10 weeks) and other
countries had their schools closed for over 200 days (i.e., over 40 weeks).

4. Context
https://philonedtech.com/revised-outlook-for-higher-eds-online-response-to-covid-19/

5. Why we need to act
In the United States, Kennedy and Archambault (2012) reported that only 1.3% of U.S.
teacher education programs were preparing pre-service teachers for e-learning by
providing field experiences in virtual schools.
In a follow-up study five years later that figure increased to 4.1% of the responding
teacher education programs (Archambault et al.,2016).
A similar study of teacher education programs in Canada conducted in 2017 found that
only 32% responding institutions provided field experiences in online schools (Archibald
et al., 2020).

6. Recommendations for Teacher Preparation
Trust & Whalen (2020):
Teacher education programs “provide [pre-service] teachers with the opportunity to
develop K-12 online and blended teaching competencies so that they are prepared to
teach in different formats, settings, and situations” (p. 193).
for in-service teachers suggesting that professional development opportunities be
provided to allow “educators to develop knowledge and skills to help them teach with
technology in any format or situation, including online, remote, or blended settings ” (p.
193).

7. Recommendations for Teacher Preparation
Hodges, Barbour, & Ferdig (2022) six recommendations for improving the skills of pre-
service teachers with respect to online and blended learning:
Sufficient coursework Field experiences in online
and blended learning
Development of validated,
research-based standards
PST have experience as
online learners
Attention to instruments to
assesses the growth of PST
in online and blended
learning
Accrediting bodies and
state-level agencies to
require meaningful
preparation of PST to
deliver online and blended
learning

8. What is the alternative?

9. What is the alternative? Spanish Flu 1918-19
Some Canadian students lost 13-14 weeks
out of a 35 week school year, and during
those 13-14 weeks there was no
continuity of learning at all.

10. Questions
Thank you!
Find our full-paper in the conference proceedings.
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