How Emergency Remote Teaching Affects Perceptions of Distance Education: A Case Study

By the end of March 2020, schools worldwide shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Students and teachers in many cases were forced to adopt Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) with varying levels of success. ERT has key differences with true distance education, mainly the length of time spent planning ERT and distance courses, and the intent to return to in-person learning as soon as possible in ERT. This study uses qualitative methods and case study design to determine the experiences of administrators, teachers, and parents who worked with K-8 students during ERT and how those experiences with ERT affected their perspectives on distance education. This study used Moore's theory of transactional distance as its theoretical framework for answering the research questions. Data was collected through 14 individual and two focus group interviews with six administrators, eight teachers, and seven parents who worked or enrolled their children in the selected district for the study. Ultimately, participants' experiences with ERT heavily influenced their opinions on distance education. Participants believed that distance education should be an available option for learners, even though it is an option not many of them would pick for themselves or their children. During ERT, parents and teachers saw that students struggled acting as autonomous learners. Parents also wished students had more opportunities to engage in dialogue with their peers. The results of this study indicate that students would benefit from direct instruction in skills that would help them build their autonomy, like self-motivation and self-regulation. Students are also more likely to be engaged in motivated in courses that provide opportunities for dialogue with their peers. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]