The COVID-19 (C-19) pandemic forced educators to scrutinize educational best practices that had been used for years in the classroom. Suddenly, educators had to pivot from the known to practices with little or no research to try and figure out what would constitute an ideal virtual learning environment. Educational professional development also had to pivot. In spring 2020, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) reported that over 77% of the public schools in the United States had changed to online distance-learning formats. In addition, according to the National Center for Education Services (NCES), 83% of public schools reported that their face-to-face (F2F) classes were moved online, which necessitated a change in instructional delivery.1–3 This shift not only necessitated learning potentially difficult topics in the middle of a pandemic, but also demanded use of a virtual format and lessons that utilized limited equipment and supplies.
This paper reflects upon the...