Uniting all the three parts

Data Analysis

In the collection of data for the research project, a list of teachers from four schools participated in the research. The data was gathered through questionnaires where the teachers were supposed to fill in a set of questions written on the questionnaires. The teachers are from the different schools and include the teachers from the different grades in the primary schools. The teachers are also made up of teachers offering different subjects in the different grades as well. The data analysis for the data which was gathered from the four schools was conducted using SPSS 2.0. The data showed the perceptions which the teachers have towards the online teaching. Since the onset of the pandemic the teachers were forced into the use of online teaching methods and ICT adoption in relation to delivering the online teaching services in the schools. The data analysis using SPSS 2.0 of the collected data revealed some things about the online teaching and use of ICT. Most of the teachers in the Sub Saharan in the schools had information about online teaching but had not used it before and hence they found it as a challenging experience.

Part of the questions in the questionnaires was about the willingness of the teachers to support online teaching in the schools. The results are represented in the pie chart above. From the questionnaires which were submitted, around 52% of the teachers supported the online teaching and 2% strongly opposed the use of online teaching. The other proportion left included 30% who somewhat supported the initiative and another 16% who were indifferent about the issue (Jogezai et al., 2021). Despite the online teaching being an initiative, which was introduced so abruptly in response to the pandemic a big proportion of the teachers showed support of the online learning and were willing to put in the needed effort and resources to help ensure that online learning is a success.

The online questionnaires also looked at the teachers’ readiness towards online teaching in relation to the knowledge about the use of ICT in online learning. Most of the teachers from the Sub Saharan had basic computer skills but were not equipped with sufficient skills for the online learning environment to be a success. From the questionnaires only around 43% of the participants had the needed skills and had used the online teaching platforms frequently after the onset of the pandemic. The perceptions of some of the teachers towards the online teaching were impacted by the lack of the needed ICT skills for the online teaching (Adarkwah, 2021) When it comes to the attitudes of the teachers the data collected showed that the bigger proportion of the participants felt that the online teaching was difficult.

The pie chart above shows how the different teachers classified online teaching and their perception towards it. From the participants, 21% of the teachers classified online teaching as very difficult, 41% said that it was somewhat difficult, 29% said it was not too difficult while the remaining 8% of the teachers said that the online teaching was not difficult at all. The teachers who said that the online teaching was difficult identified a few difficulties which were internet connectivity and use of online platforms, application of the self-study skills on the end of the students and the unfamiliarity of the teachers with the relevant technologies and techniques which were needed for online teaching. Some of the platforms of the online teaching were very basic and common but most of the teachers said that they had a major challenge with the operations of the platforms. The commonly used platforms were Zoom and WeChat; these platforms were being commonly used because of their ability to host more students at once in the class.

The data showed the expectations which the teachers had towards the online teaching as well. Most of the teachers showed a lot of concern about the anxiety which resulted from the use of online teaching in the students. The teachers felt that most of the students were used to the physical learning environment, and hence the use of online teaching made them anxious for the fear that they might not perform as expected. However, despite the challenges which the teachers were going through, the expectations of the ICT and online learning were positive with more teachers expecting that online teaching would improve the interactions between the teachers and the students (Jogezai et al., 2021). The teachers felt that the online teaching gave the teachers a chance to change the attitudes which the students had towards them through the interactions and self-introduction videos which were created by the teachers.

The questionnaires also looked at the willingness of the teachers to incorporate the online teaching and learning on long-term basis. It looked at whether the teachers were willing to use online teaching in their regular teaching. On this aspect 40% showed that they were very willing to have online learning incorporated on the long-term basis in the learning environment, 38% showed some willingness while the rest of the teachers were not willing to incorporate the online teaching and learning even after the end of the pandemic. The willingness of the teachers was related to the possession of the ICT skills and techniques needed for online teaching. The teachers who had the needed skills and found the online teaching easy were willing to use the online teaching in the long run while the teachers with no skills felt that the programs should end once the pandemic was over.

Discussion

Online teaching has been a response of most of the schools all over the world to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic and the measures which have been proposed by the ministry of health to ensure that the spread of the pandemic is curbed. The pandemic spreads more when people are close together and hence the ministry of health as proposed that there is social distance maintained between the students to ensure that the numbers do not keep going up. Online teaching was hence not introduced slowly to the teachers and hence there is bound to be resistance from some of the teachers. Some of the teachers felt that this was additional work for them and hence the reluctance to accept the online learning framework on their end. If the online teaching had been introduced slowly the teachers would have been psychologically prepared and hence would have accepted it with more ease.

ICT knowledge and skills are needed when it comes to online learning. From the data analysis we can see that most of the teachers do not have these needed ICT skills and are not familiar with how the online platforms work. This must be very hectic because the teachers are also expected to help the learners with the online platforms and how to use them. It is hence very hard for the teachers to impart these skills when they themselves do not have them. It shows the lack of ICT knowledge in the schools generally. Most schools prior to the pandemic were manual with only a few administrative roles being automated and this is the reason as to why the teaching staff lacked the skills. In the physical classes little or no technological skills were needed in the sub-Saharan as most of the tasks and responsibilities were completed manually.

The data analysis shows that 52% of the teachers supported the online teaching while the rest of the teachers showed little to no support for the same. This means that the online teaching and learning has support from over half of the teachers which is a good indicator considering that it was a measure which was adopted abruptly. Some of the factors which contribute to the acceptance of the model by some of the teachers is that they are able to interact with the learners in a way which was not possible in the physical learning environment. The teachers also have had the opportunity to expand their knowledge and skills on the subject. Most of the teachers even those with the ICT skills did not have the chance to show their online skills in the classroom until online learning was adopted in the schools.

The four schools selected to participate in the online survey showed that they were experiencing some technical difficulties in the internet connectivity for the use in the online learning. Teaching online requires the students and the teachers to all have a good connectivity on their end and if this is not achieved then it becomes hard for the teachers to deliver. The sub-Saharan and some other parts of the developing nations have challenges with their internet connectivity and this is because most of the countries do not prioritize the need for technology and this has affected most industries including the corporate world which has been forced to implement remote working due to the ongoing pandemic (Auma & Achieng, 2020). The poor internet connectivity brings about lags and delays which means that the students are not able to communicate well during the class meetings.

Some of the teachers oppose the online teaching just because of the fact that they do not understand how it works and have not used it before. This is because most of the teachers have used the physical classes since they became teachers. Most of the teachers are facing a challenge since this is also an area where they have not been trained during their time in college. Most colleges focus on other skills such as communication, discipline, teacher student interaction and other areas. These are very necessary skills in the learning environment but so is technology use and ICT skills which are either not taught completely in the colleges or are only introduced shallowly in the classes. The colleges and institutions now need to focus on the impartation of the ICT skills on the teachers and familiarizing them with online platforms as this is a challenge as seen.

The data analysis shows 21% of the teachers classified online teaching as very difficult, 41% said that it was somewhat difficult, 29% said it was not too difficult while the remaining 8% of the teachers said that the online teaching was not difficult at all. This shows that the teachers have been having some difficulties in the implementation of online teaching in the schools. This also shows that there is need for additional training on the area for the teachers to be able to deliver as expected. The schools need to have more training on the subject for the teachers so that they are able to understand that teachers the basics and the requirements of using the platforms. If additional training is given to the teachers, then there is a high chance that the perceived difficulty will go down.

Another aspect which was noted as a challenge from the data analysis was the students’ willingness towards the adoption of online learning. Most of the students were unwilling to adapt and move to the online learning and this is because the students felt that it was complicated and not as interesting as the online teaching. When the students are unwilling it then became difficult for the teachers to make sure that the program was a success on their end. This is very challenging because it is even more difficult to make the students interested in online learning if there is no physical interaction between the students and their teachers. Some of the teachers are also not for the idea and feel that it is a less effective way of teaching and fear that it would not be successful as the physical classes.

The online learning also faces some other challenges such as electricity and lack of the needed resources and equipment which impacts on the attitudes of the teachers towards online learning. There is a need for electricity to keep the laptops and other electronic devices running during the online lessons. However, some of the interior parts of the Sub Saharan do not have electricity and most of the children have no electrical connection in their homes. This means that some students are not able to attend the classes comfortably. Also, when it comes to resources most students do not have the needed laptops, iPad or smartphones to help them connect to the classes as at and when needed to do so (Adarkwah, 2021). without these devices it has been difficult for most of the students to attend the classes. For the perceptions which the teachers have towards online teaching to change there will be need for the schools, government and communities to invest towards online learning and accept it as a form of learning.

References

Auma, O. M., & Achieng, O. J. (2020). Perception of teachers on effectiveness of online learning

in the wake of COVID-19 Pandemic. IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS, 25(6), 19-28.

Adarkwah, M. A. (2021). An Outbreak of Online Learning in the COVID-19 Outbreak in Sub-

Saharan Africa: Prospects and Challenges. Global Journal of Computer Science and Technology.

Jogezai, N. A., Baloch, F. A., Jaffar, M., Shah, T., Khilji, G. K., & Bashir, S. (2021). Teachers'

attitudes towards social media (SM) use in online learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic: the effects of SM use by teachers and religious scholars during physical distancing. Heliyon, 7(4), e06781.

Teacher responses towards online teaching

strongly support somewhat Indi fferent Strongly opposed 0.52 0.3 0.16 0.02

Teacher classification of online teaching

Not difficult at all not too difficult somewhat difficult very difficult 0.08 0.28999999999999998 0.41 0.21