Abstract:

Due to the current COVID19 pandemic and the way it has affected education and teacher preparation programs, students and teachers have had to cope with the unexpected transition to online teaching platforms. While universities have moved rapidly to transition of various courses and programs from face-to-face to online delivery mode, involving pre-service teachers in the virtual field experience remained almost impossible to happen. In the United Arab Emirates, however, a small cohort of four pre-service teachers have completed their teaching practicum online for the first time in this country. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the effectiveness of virtual practicum placement and its impact on developing preservice teachers’ teaching practices, classroom management skills and the use of online resources. A qualitative approach was employed for data collection including open-ended interviews, journal entries, and written reflections under guided reflective categories to uncover participants’ perceptions about their virtual teaching experience. Findings revealed the significant role of the mentor and suggested a framework for effective virtual field experience. Furthermore, challenges and limitations of the virtual experience were reported with a specific focus on the contextualized factors.

Keywords:

Practicum, field experience, COVID-19, online teaching, teacher preparation programs, pre-service teachers