Unanticipated effects of a pandemic: changes in beliefs about distance education in school psychology

In 2018, school psychology faculty were surveyed about their beliefs regarding the use of online / distance education (DE) methods. Soon after, most school psychology programs closed for in-person instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and faculty were compelled to teach all courses using mostly DE methods. A follow-up survey was conducted in 2021 coinciding with the “post pandemic” reopening. At both points in time, respondents were asked to rate their perceptions of the resistance of program faculty to content-based and skills-based DE. In both 2018 and 2021, the use of DE methods in content-based courses was viewed more favorably than their use in skills-based courses. Overall, blended/hybrid methods tended to be viewed as more effective than fully online methods, but faculty effectiveness ratings of blended/hybrid methods were viewed as less effective for both skills-based and knowledge-based content in 2021 relative to 2018.