Samoa's educational response to COVID-19 was impeded by human and physical obstacles largely because the new educational technologies and strategies that came into effect to support teaching and learning had not been trialled nor implemented well to date. During COVID-19, the Samoan government emphasised the importance of social distancing and lockdown as health safety measures necessary for the welfare of all, but these changed learning and teaching for students and teachers and impacted daily organisation and operations for these people, and schools. Samoa's limited physical and human resources affected schools' lockdown and teaching and learning. Responses to COVID-19 called for teachers' improved understanding of educational technology and its utilisation. The Ministry of Education, Sports, and Culture (MESC) acted immediately to activate online learning in response to COVID-19 and the government's lock-down policy. Familiarising teachers and students with online support and acquiring appropriate computer skills were Samoa's immediate educational goals. Nevertheless, the children of families without access to resources like computers and the Internet were the most affected. It is acknowledged that for citizens to survive COVID-19 it was vital to adopt appropriate health safety measures, although it is also important to ensure that no student's educational progress is negatively impacted. Teacher upgraders studying for the Bachelor of Education primary teaching in the Faculty of Education at the National University of Samoa (NUS) were the participants.