COVID-19 Technology Study

This research is being conducted with Dr. Irene Apanovitch-Leites from Black Hawk College and is currently undergoing IRB review.

Abstract

Until recently, integrating technology into choral education has not been essential to maintaining continuity of instruction. Due to the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the winter of 2020, however, choral education had to move from its traditional, in-person modality, to a form of information and communication technology (ICT)-enabled distance learning. To fully understand the impact of moving from in-person to online instruction in a choral setting, we must consider teachers’ feelings of preparedness before the pandemic, the adaptations teachers made during the pandemic, and any shifts in perceptions and attitude regarding their experience. Using the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (Mishra and Koehler, 2006) as a theoretical lens, this study aims to answer four research questions: (1) Given the sudden shift to online learning in the spring semester of 2020, to what extent do choral music educators feel their past training has prepared them for teaching in a post-COVID-19 environment?; (2) In the online or blended instructional environment of COVID-19-impacted education, what skills, abilities, and resources did choral educators employ, and how were these acquired?; (3) How did the experience of instruction during COVID-19 shift the perceptions and attitudes of choral music educators?; and (4) What conclusions can be drawn from the data about the professional development needed for choral music educators in online or blended instructional environments? The purpose of this study is to identify gaps in music educator training when it comes to technology, reveal the extent to which music educators' feel their current training can serve them in a post-COVID teaching environment, and inform future professional development and teacher training programs on what is needed to prepare educators to adapt, should another pandemic occur.

You can read the full article in the February 2021 issue of ACDA’s Choral Journal.

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