Teaching Strategies During a Pandemic: Learnings and Reflections

Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers were faced with the insurmountable task of changing teaching methods to virtual online pedagogy, practically overnight, that continued to provide students with quality instruction using best practices. Action research was employed to help seek the answers to the question: During a pandemic with school online and students socially distanced in person simultaneously, how could teachers still provide cooperative learning experiences that give students opportunities to collaborate in class while continuing to use best practices like the 4Cs (communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity)? Through completely online and synchronous (online and face-to-face) instruction, Jamboard, Padlet, Mentimeter, Flipgrid, and Bitmoji Classroom were implemented to support student learning through the 4Cs of 21st century learning. In this chapter, the rationale, implementation, successes, and challenges will be revealed from self-examined action research.