Vocational Teacher Education in a “COVID-19 Semester”

This article aims to describe the spontaneous and unplanned shift from traditional to digital educational seminars for pre-service teachers caused by the pandemic. We will have a critical look at the past two semesters during the pandemic and (a) describe changes to teaching process in two seminars in the area of “technical didactics” and (b) discuss the challenges and benefits of the new setting with respect to our students’ learning and teaching experience. Additionally, we will compare our results with existing literature regarding educational transformations triggered by COVID-19 and conclude with an outlook on possible future impacts of this unique global event on teacher education.