With the Covid-19 pandemic, the nature of teaching and learning shifted emphasis from classroom situated learning to learning in a digital environment. This was a significant challenge for teachers and learners across the globe. It might be assumed that technology education teachers would be well positioned to manage this shift because of the ways in which the subject is described. Technology education is often characterised as a subject where contexts for learning are variable, and teachers and learners can have significant autonomy in guiding learning contexts. This is often represented as a unique strength of the subject area. Furthermore, with an explicit focus on Digital Technologies, the Technology Education curriculum of New Zealand should theoretically better prepare teachers for enacting curriculum in a range of different ways (for example in a remote context).

This research investigated the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent shift to remote learning on practices in Technology Education. Through an analysis of technology educators' reflections on practice during the lockdowns, conceptions of practice in technology education and the nature of technology are analysed. Initial data analysis highlights a disparity of conceptions of the nature of technology, which leads to different manifestations of practice in a remote learning context. Technical and Technological perspectives on practice are used as lenses to describe the different conceptions of the nature of technology observed, and implications for learning post-lockdown are drawn.