The Use of DingTalk among Middle School Teaching during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China

Abstract

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, all teaching and learning activities around the world have shifted online. DingTalk has broken through the shackles of the pandemic and built a bridge between teachers and students, so that teaching activities can continue. Although the application of DingTalk for online teaching is an emergency measure, it also faces challenges in the application process. Therefore, this study explores the advantages and disadvantages of DingTalk in online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this qualitative study, through semi-structured interviews, ten teachers from a middle school in China were selected as interview participants. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were employed to identify participants. The findings were analyzed using thematic analysis to interpret the findings and draw conclusions. The results show that using DingTalk for online teaching can potentially be a successful practice. Despite its potential, however, DingTalk also has its own limitations. Nonetheless, this application has benefited thousands of teachers and students, providing educators with a new way of thinking regarding the medium of teaching and learning. This research contributes to the study on online media particularly in the context of teaching and learning , and how the online medium can potentially promote continued development in the teaching field.