**4. Student teachers' evaluation**

A fully collaborative evaluative process for student teacher observations must account for key areas in POT, including five main competencies (professionalism, planning, implementation, assessment, and reflection). Inclusion of these aspects allowed preservice teachers in our B.Ed. Early Childhood program to describe their TP experiences using the Phygital CoI during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To evaluate the progress and gain insight into the experience of preservice teachers through this approach, a multiple data sources should be employed, including reflective and reflexive interpretations, as these allow an in-depth understanding of the student teaching program [33]. The students' online peer observation formative assessment process was used in achieving this objective. This produced a series of reflections by nine fourth and final year students enrolled in the ECE program who were expected to complete four lesson observations by their MCTs and four lesson observations by their MSTs as part of their reflective teaching practice. The group included nine women aged 19 to 21 years old, some of whom were married. All were permanent residents of the UAE and attended the program full time. The observations face to face (when recorded) and online are without time boundaries where the second observer can review the recorded lessons multiple times. This practice validates the initial peer observation and leads to a more constructive feedback. This chapter reflects on the application and the implementation of a unique POT in a PCoI where preservice teachers are observed by their peers in a real classroom setting and validated by their instructors after watching the recording. Both observations are followed by constructive feedback using Flipgrid which served as a professional learning community platform where students and their instructors came together as one community. This community includes physical and digital methods of teaching, learning and assessment.

#### **4.1 Applications and implementation**

A CoI was envisioned, drawing on a need to establish a tool or methodology to help complete lesson observations during student TP placements during the COVID-19 pandemic. As noted, the pandemic-era new normal had placed the institution in a precarious position due to the shortage of faculty for TP observations and cases

*Perspective Chapter: Peer Observation of Teaching in Phygital Communities of Inquiry DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109380*

of COVID-19 among students, the primary observers, and the school and college mentors.

The TP objective remained the same during this time; the MCT was to conduct four observations, while the MST was to observe the preservice teachers four times during their TP. The MST had the opportunity to complete their observations. However, the MCT found it impossible to observe all of the student teachers that were assigned. Therefore, we had to find a creative way to establish a community of inquiry, link physical and online presences, and ensure critical thinking and rigor formed part of the practice. Ultimately, we developed a peer observation system to achieve these objectives.

The MCT encouraged preservice teachers to work in a CoI, utilizing Flipgrid, an online communications platform for educators and students, to facilitate effective feedback. The MCT could not assign preservice teachers to observe each other without ensuring that rigorous standards would be followed to enable the production of valid results and clear learning outcomes. Moreover, the MCT was required to submit summative assessments, which included data from four MCT formative observations and four MST formative observations and a final TP rubric for year four student teachers. The peer observations were included in the first course assessment, following previously published research on CoIs and a specific focus on rigorous virtual learning CoIs [2]. The practice followed the HCT's model of integrating innovative technology and rigorous learning methodologies in the contemporary phygital age. This new Phygital CoI (PCoI) was developed using the following methodology:


and the MCT's feedback from a peer observation cycle as a secondary source, together with the students' own reflections. The level of the agreement facilitates a valid decision for the first summative assessment.

5.Start a WhatsApp group to ensure that all preservice teachers have immediate access to information exchange.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the following rigorous observation cycle (**Figure 1**) has become the new normal within these PCoI groups:

*Each student meets with the peer observer to discuss the lesson and subsequent steps, which may include discussion of a development plan for personal goals and action steps to be implemented for the following lessons. Together, the preservice teachers choose a focus area after completing a general observation.*

*Before the observation, preservice teachers send their lesson plan to the MCT and the observer. The preservice teachers meet with the observer to discuss the areas of strength and possible areas of focus.*

*During the observation, preservice teachers deliver lessons while their peers observe and document the lesson practice using the observation template which they were trained to use. Each student records the lesson (they can seek the classroom assistant's help to record the lesson or the focus area of the lesson) and shares it with the MCT. Each student a SharePoint link to the recording of the taught lesson before the feedback session.*

#### **Figure 1.**

*Phygital communities of inquiry: PCoI communication cycle at one UAE HEI.*

*Perspective Chapter: Peer Observation of Teaching in Phygital Communities of Inquiry DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109380*

*The observers provide feedback and then participate in a post-session to discuss the lesson and provide suggestions for next steps. The completed observation template and student reflection are signed by the observer. The preservice teachers are expected to upload the pre-lesson notes, lesson plan, lesson observation sheet, post-observation notes and the video to the Flipgrid library.*

*After receiving these documents and watching the video, the MCT creates a new video on Flipgrid to provide feedback. The student teacher and the observer respond using Flipgrid video to ensure a sense of community, and the MCT elaborates on the earlier feedback received. Then, preservice teachers begin a thread of continuous discussion based on their expected reflections on the lesson implementation. The MCT ensures that the preservice teachers move from simple reflective practice to a more rigorous reflexive practice, in which they review their reflections.*

*Each student submits her reflection after meeting with the MCT and the observer. All of these documents are attached to the Flipgrid thread.*

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to teach us to adapt to the new normal and use phygital spaces effectively. Due to the increased use of technology in higher education, preservice teachers are moving toward a robust approach, using platforms such as those provided within the UAE HEI Digi-campus, in which they can emphasize hybrid learning and pave the way for the future and the new phygital reality of education.

The concept of phygital communities has been developed from the Business field, namely D. Randy Garrison, Terry Anderson, and Walter Archer's (2000) concept of CoI as a process model, and AlShamsi's [2] contextualized practice of this process. The original concept of CoI was grounded in theories of teaching and learning in higher education, carrying the philosophical framing of John Dewey's work on community and inquiry [28]. The goal of CoI is to offer "a conceptual framework that would provide order, heuristic understanding, and a methodology for studying the potential and effectiveness of computer conferencing" [28]. AlShamsi [2] provided an overview of CoI and drew on Garrison and colleagues' CoI model, integrating a bioecological perspective, to explore the VLE of female college students at a higher education institution in the UAE, taking observations, journals, and peer-reviewed literature as means of evaluating the combined effectiveness of the three elements within the CoI framework, namely, cognitive presence, social presence, and teacher presence in the virtual classroom. The MCT adopted the framework of the PCoI and aligned it with the UAE HEI's Digi-campus and hybrid model innovation. A novel contextualized image of PCoI is given in **Figure 1**.

#### **4.2 Implications for practice**

PCoI was used to allow preservice teachers to work within a rigorous learning community, in which they were tasked with discussing an issue, working together to find solutions to it, designing and deciding on a practice, implementing the practice, analyzing and evaluating the outcome, and then implementing it once more. This reflective cycle ensured higher-order thinking and application within the contemporary digital age during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing a smooth transition to the phygital reality of learning grounded in the theoretical perspective of CoI. Phygital experiences include the use of Zoom meetings, a Blackboard learning management system to save information and documents, document sharing using OneDrive,

incorporating the use of WhatsApp for messaging, writing reflection blogs, and employing Flipgrid to provide a collaborative PCoI group experience. The preservice teachers saved all of the documents related to each observation, along with the recording link. During the discussion, the preservice teachers used the blog and continued to reflect on each other's practice. Preservice teachers also referred to the literature, examples of best practices, and other tools to assist with their professional development. This methodology aligns with the CoI framework, incorporating an element of lifelong learning as a positive outcome. The MCT is continually present with organized materials and feedback and uses Flipgrid interactively to facilitate video discussion. Students interact with each other in the school classroom before, during, and after their observations and focus on higher-level thinking, moving from reflection to reflexivity, and finding new and creative solutions for current educational practices. With respect to cognitive presence, students are highly involved in determining the next steps and identifying their concerns for their own professional development, deciding on the next areas of focus, and discussing why those areas are significant.

The next steps involve elaborating on means of improving ECE practices in the UAE by researching and referring to the global literature, planning and applying lessons learned, and inviting others to observe and document their practice. For this, preservice teachers must agree on the next steps. This phygital approach to extending cognitive presence is all part of the process of adapting to the new normal.

The final reflective section explores the impact on learning of the students who collaborated interactively with each other and with their MST and MCT in digital and physical spaces.

#### **4.3 Reflections from the field**

As we reflect on the experiences of using Phygital Communities of Practice for the peer observation of teaching during teaching practicums, we take pride in how the approach has attempted to take the best of the pre-pandemic physical face-to-face practice and the best of the during-pandemic virtual online practice and merge them into a new approach for the new phygital world that has become our new normal post-pandemic. Naturally, there are numerous learning opportunities ahead of us, but we will draw this chapter to a close by highlighting the key learning points from our reflection on the experience described above.

*Institutional* Support—whilst the description in this chapter has continuously highlighted the importance of institutional support in terms of educational technology, it should be noted that all the technology used in the approach taken can also be replicated with free software widely available. The true difference institutional support makes is when teachers and learners are given the freedom and trust to try new approaches, and where creativity and innovation are not just supported but encouraged and celebrated.

*Grounded in Theory*—the theoretical foundation in communities of inquiry of the approach described in this chapter was both purposeful and essential as a model of good practice for the student teachers. The Bachelor of Education Early Childhood program is centred around a theory of teacher knowledge development, which focuses on the practicalization of theory and the theorization of practice [34]. Therefore, when a new initiative is launched or piloted it should act as a model of research and development by following the approach at the heart of the program's philosophy. Student teachers are thereby exposed to best practice and experience the connection between theory and practice in educational research firsthand.

#### *Perspective Chapter: Peer Observation of Teaching in Phygital Communities of Inquiry DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109380*

*Build on Strengths—*the pre-pandemic physical face-to-face teaching practicum observation procedures were well-developed and clearly detailed in Teaching Practicum Booklets with well-designed rubrics for observation linked to teacher competencies aligned to the national Teacher Standards. These booklets had been adapted and strengthened during the pandemic to account for online teaching competencies as well, and student teachers were very familiar with them. Therefore, it made good sense to use the procedures and rubrics already outlined in detail in these booklets as the primary resource for the new approach.

*Trust your Students—*since the student teachers involved in this study are about to graduate and move into the professional field, it made perfect sense to involve them as equal partners in the observation and assessment process. Trusting their maturity and ability reaped benefits such as more open and professional communication and more frequent examples of deeper reflection on practice than had been previously seen.

*Prepare the Student Teachers Thoroughly—*the key to the success of the approach described in this chapter was the thoroughness of the student teacher preparation. Training them on the use of the rubrics and ensuring understanding of the criteria and competencies with examples from practice of what needed to be observed under each criterium and sub-competency was an essential part of the process.

*Support and Challenge—*the teacher educator role throughout the process is one of support focusing on what the student teacher observers are doing well, but also one of challenging student teachers to justify their observations and provide quality feedback as they would expect themselves when they are observed.

*Depth of Reflection—*ultimately the main goal of the approach was not to overcome the shortage of observers but to empower the student teachers and allow them to demonstrate real depth of reflection tying practice to theory and moving well beyond simple description. The depth of reflections provided during this study has convinced all involved that the approach has worked and will be one that we continue to use and develop in the coming semesters.

The reflective practice described in this chapter validates the CoI framework. The continuous growth of technology and its use in education implies that the new normal will soon be considered simply normal, as it relates to a twenty-first-century education. Accordingly, the higher education teaching institutions might consider it prudent to continue phygital learning and teaching to fulfill the expectations of the next generation.

COVID-19 has been instrumental in enabling the swift implementation of new phygital spaces for phygital learning through physical means, attending TP faceto-face as a response to the new normal, and digital means, making use of the new normal and utilizing technology, such as Flipgrid. These were benefits for the majority of the preservice teachers as well as their instructors.

Finally, the preservice teachers considered that they had emerged stronger after the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the new phygital opportunities they experienced, and supported by institutional strategies. They hope that this initiative has helped prepare their way for additional phygital campuses.
