Lessons from the pandemic: Teacher educators’ use of digital technologies and pedagogies in Vietnam before, during and after the Covid-19 lockdown

Abstract

This article reports on responses from an online survey designed to explore the before, during and after lockdown experiences of higher education teacher educators in Vietnam (n = 145) who were required to use digital technologies and pedagogies exclusively in their teaching during the 2020/21 lockdown. The data is interpreted using the TPACK framework (Koehler & Mishra, 2009) which enables analysis of the participants’ technological, pedagogical and content knowledge in relation to teaching online using digital tools. The findings indicate mixed responses and experiences of teacher educators during this period with many having struggled with new technologies and unfamiliar pedagogical strategies whilst others enjoyed the opportunity to develop new approaches to their teaching. The paper concludes with key recommendations for best practice in this sector going forward post pandemic including the development of national and institutional e-learning policies, improvements in IT infrastructure and increased provision of professional training.