Comparing teaching actions in face-to-face and synchronous online settings using an observation protocol for K-12 education

Synchronous online education became crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, more research needs to be done on how to observe the quality of synchronous online teaching in K-12. This research seeks to address this gap by comparing the activities that teachers engage in during synchronous online classes with those used in face-to-face scenarios to adapt a face-to-face observation protocol to be used in both situations. Quantitative and qualitative techniques were used to compare classroom observations of teachers performing similar lessons in the two scenarios. Results show that teachers working online engaged in more actions associated with classroom management but fewer related to promoting cooperation, assessment, and offering feedback to their students. The qualitative results complement these findings, showing that evaluating the quality of teaching in synchronous online teaching settings requires additional indicators tailored to its unique characteristics. Based on this, we propose a set of indicators to observe online synchronous teaching quality. These findings can inform in-service teachers, professional development courses, and further research efforts.