Distance Teacher Training during the first COVID Pandemic by the University of Crete | ΕLearningLab

The closing of schools at the beginning of spring 2020, because of the Corona Virus pandemic, featured the need for School Distance Education (SDE). Nevertheless, teachers did not have previous experience in SDE and as a result, they were in need of support in this urgent situation. The Laboratory for Advanced Teaching Technologies for Lifelong Learning and Distance Education (e-Learning Lab) of the University of Crete, attempted to contribute with its own means to the support of teachers who struggled to respond to the challenges of distance teaching resulting from the suspension of schools. Within the above framework, fast track distance seminars were designed and implemented, aiming at the support of teachers on pedagogical issues of Distance Education. During the period from 19 March to 29 April 2020, 20 distance training seminars were conducted, in which more than 40,000 teachers of primary and secondary education from around Greece participated. The overall presentation and assessment of the training actions showed not only the enormous interest of the teaching community but also the need for such training actions with particular emphasis on the principles and the methodology of SDE, on synchronous and asynchronous learning environment as well as the designing or planning of teaching scenarios based on the pedagogical approaches compatible with Distance Learning.