Teaching kids online: how teachers adapt their pedagogy
Abstract: Teaching online is inherently different to face to face teaching. These differences present new challenges for teachers who attempt to retain their existing pedagogical practices and for those who begin to adopt new methodologies to engage in the hybridisation of an online environment. This paper explores these challenges by uncovering what frames online teaching practices for teachers who have transferred from mainstream classrooms to fully online classrooms that support children’s learning worldwide. Data is drawn from a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews and analysis of curriculum materials from an international educational organisation based in Belgium. Teaching practices were premised on relationships and strategies to maintain high interaction with identified practices adopted for online education. Acknowledgement of ways to enhance online teaching were made but not activated. Implications for professional development for online teaching are identified.