Pandemic Innovations in Teacher Education: Communities of Practice, Mentoring, and Technology

This study aimed to investigate the transformation of pre-service teaching experience due to virtual or hybrid completion during the 2020–2021 school year and to identify teaching and mentoring innovations that teacher educators should continue to promote. The research involved 14 student teachers and 5 mentor teachers from the United States across elementary, secondary, and pre-K–12 programs who participated in surveys, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups. The results indicated that the integration of technology in student teaching and the shift to virtual or hybrid learning brought about new challenges and opportunities for both student teachers and mentor teachers. The study highlights technology that may continue to be used post-pandemic, the promotion of virtual communities of practice, and ways to quickly integrate and maximize student teachers in the classroom.