8 The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Project Number: 2020-1-DE03-KA226-SCH-093410 This way, teachers will learn how to teach online by becoming online students themselves, experiencing firsthand both the effective and the most challenging scenarios of online education. Furthermore, teacher training in virtual, online education should be compulsory (Nisiforou et al., 2021), since schools require bespoke expertise to ensure that the use of technology is achieving the desired impact. In this sense, the content of the training should explore both technological (e.g., tools, technical issues, etc.) and pedagogical dimensions (e.g., approaches, resources, etc.), including methodologies of online teaching. Additional emphasis should be given on the development of teachers’ digital competences. Based on lessons learned from the remote teaching period during the COVID-19 outbreak, there is a major concern about teachers’ skills and familiarity toward the integration and use of eLearning tools that support the transition to an online environment (Sofianidis et al., 2021). Lack of digital skills can have a negative impact on the learners’ attitudes toward online learning and its effectiveness (Perifanou & Economides, 2021). In any case, training should be relevant to the participants’ needs with emphasis on how to purposefully exploit technologies to transform learning and make it student-centered: authentic, collaborative, constructive, meaningful. Online classroom management techniques should be taught and eventually adopted. The professional development training (in-service) could have various forms such as online games (Vrasidas & Solomou, 2013). Other than explicit training, though, it is significant to enhance the collaboration among teachers. It is worth mentioning that teachers’ participation in communities of practice, to co-design and share learning material, teaching methods, and best practices with each other can facilitate the implementation of online teaching (Nisiforou et al., 2021). Similarly, it seems that teachers participating in online communities of practice favour sharing teaching material with each other (Kosmas, 2017). Most teachers are motivated to engage with such practice due to the possibility of finding educational content prepared by other teachers or sharing what they have designed on their own. This on-the job aid is beneficial to teachers and serves as a method of indirect professional development to improve their teaching methods. Apart from teachers, support should also be provided to parents/guardians and learners. Researchers report that schools are responsible for facilitating an ongoing communication with learners and parents at home (Nisiforou et al., 2021). This way, we bridge the gap that emerges from physical distancing. Furthermore, communication and collaboration should exist between the education community and the authorities, such as the Ministry of Education. This kind of interaction constantly provides insights into the current state and
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