“Focus on Pedagogy, Not Technology”: Lessons Learned from the Pandemic

Abstract

Although the shifts in education due to the COVID-19 pandemic may have widened the digital divides among students, they have also offered many promising opportunities for educators. Those who were not familiar with digital tools had to become familiar. The absence and limitations are tackled in various ways to make sure that learning takes place. Amidst the limitations and little preparation, research has reported how teachers successfully cope with the challenges in their virtual classes. Besides, those who might not have positive beliefs and attitudes toward technology may find themselves engaged in classes with rich multimodality. The next step is then to ensure the appropriate use of digital tools in classes. Thus, this theoretical review deals with answering two questions: (1) how prepared teachers and schools are in adopting technologies and conducting online classes, and (2) how technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) and pedagogical reasoning and action (TPRA) are interlinked. This article will then highlight a call for improvement in teachers’ technological pedagogical reasoning skills to foster effective teaching and learning. It also presents some possible suggestions to better embed the pedagogical reasoning practices into teacher education and professional development. © Common Ground Research Networks, Monica Ella Harendita, All Rights Reserved.