The Post-COVID-19 Impact on Distance Learning for New Zealand Teachers

Abstract

This article reports on a survey of New Zealand teachers, designed to assess their experiences of distance learning during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The survey gathered detailed quantitative and qualitative data from 31 schoolteachers who had previously experienced professional development in digital learning. The questions addressed many areas of practice, including the issues faced by teachers in the move to online distance learning, the impacts on relationships with students, families, and other staff, the impacts on workload and practice, and the experience of working intensively with digital technologies. The results suggested that this group of relatively well-prepared teachers were able to effectively move their practice online in a short period of time and, in most cases, to maintain the relationships with, and the learning of, their students. However, there were some indications in the data that learners from the Māori community faced resource challenges in successfully transitioning to online distance learning.