Exploring English online teachers’ perspectives on virtual classroom of rural Chinese primary schools

Teacher shortages in rural China have led to persistent educational inequalities. The application of Virtual Classroom (VC) has become a potential solution, but its effectiveness in primary education remains underexplored. This qualitative case study explores online English teachers’ perceptions of VC implementation in rural Chinese primary schools. TAM was used to examine teachers’ perceptions of usefulness and ease of use, TPACK to analyse the integration of technology, pedagogy, and English content, and Sociocultural Theory to interpret interaction, scaffolding, and online/on-site teacher collaboration. The research data is based on semi-structured interviews of four participants. A key contribution is the identification of a dual-layer instructional model in which online and on-site teachers jointly support lesson delivery, classroom interaction, assessment, and feedback. The findings suggest that VC effectiveness depends not on technology alone but on the coordination of infrastructure, pedagogical adaptation, and on-site scaffolding, which also provides insights to inform more effective and equitable VC initiatives in rural education worldwide.