The Future of Education

The central goals of this study are to (1) identify critical factors that affect feelings of challenge and threat among preservice teachers who study in virtual and integrated classes, and (2) develop effective ways to  deal with these factors. The sample included 578 participants, divided into two research groups: a blended learning course and avirtual course with no face-to-face sessions. This study combined quantitative and qualitative research methods, including a threat/challenge questionnaire with  open-ended and closed questions. three critical indicators to feelings of challenge and threat: negative feelings, threatening feelings, and feelings of challenge. We found that among participants in the virtual course there was an increase in the sense of challenge between “before” and “after,” and a decline in negative feelings. Among participants enrolled in the blended course, there was no difference between “before” and “after.” Feeling components were examined in depth using content analysis. The key explanatory variables are timing (before/after), the type of course, and the interaction between the two. An interaction between timing and type of course was found in the acquisition of management tools, as a challenge created by the course. There was an increase in the importance of the challenge of performing the tasks of the course from the beginning to its end. The students felt a need to deal with the technological aspect., and later in the course they felt the need to handle the tasks of the course and not only the technological aspects. A significant portion of the students saw the forums as a “space for dialogue” with the instructor and with the other students. In the present study we found that differential interpersonal communication may lead to a decrease in feelings of threat and an increase in the sense of challenge. Some students need intellectual interaction and others need both intellectual and emotional interaction. It is recommended to provide students who feel threatened strategies to regulate their feelings.