What is worth retaining from the COVID-19 experience on remote online education in the prospective teacher education?

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the educational landscape, including the training of prospective teachers. This study explores prospective teachers’ experiences of transitioning to online distance education (ODE) and their intentions regarding the preferred teaching scenarios they wish to use in their future in-service practice. In the sample of 281 prospective teachers, we found interesting results: (a) smartphones offer very limited opportunities for active participation in ODE; (b) connectivity is the weakest point in ODE; (c) personal digital infrastructure and study conditions influence intention to choose teaching scenarios in ODE, when in the role of teacher, while group size does not. We can safely assume that online distance education will survive in some educational pockets but due to numerous limitations, it will not become a dominant current in teacher education.