Blended to Remote Learning: Preservice Teacher Experiences of a Redesigned Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) Course

Abstract

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic presented many higher education institutions with a sudden challenge to shift from either face-to-face and/or blended instruction to remote teaching in order to save the academic year. This article examines preservice teachers’ experiences of a redesigned blended-learning year course on work-integrated learning (WIL). The article uses the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework within a blended-learning environment to examine the responses of 414 preservice teachers in their first year of study to a survey completed at the end of the course. Descriptive statistics were used together with course content analysis to generate the findings, which suggested that the majority (above 80%) of the preservice teachers remained active during the shift to remote teaching, and about 93.3% responded positively to the course redesign by actively accessing the course on the online platform at least once a week. The survey results also showed that only 10.4% of the preservice teachers did not experience one or another form of challenge in learning through remote teaching during this time. The results build a case for how other practitioners and instructional designers could redesign courses with the consideration of context and learning challenges. The article concludes with the argument for the design of blended courses for future needs to focus more closely on each aspect of the mode of delivery so as to ensure effective design that can withstand emergency situations, such as those we have seen during COVID-19.