Coronavirus (COVID- 19) Pandemic and Online Learning Nexus in Colleges of Education in Ashanti-Brong Ahafo Regions (ASHBA), Ghana (original) (raw)
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Online Teaching and Learning Under COVID-19 Pandemic; Perception of University Students in Ghana
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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, universities in Ghana instituted drastic interventions to support large-scale online teaching and learning. This study, therefore, examines student's participation, level of satisfaction, and related challenges in teaching and learning delivery during the Coronavirus pandemic. The study also selects significant predictors of student's e-learning perceptions. Data was collected via an online structured survey based on students from the Kumasi Technical University. In all 2000 complete responses were received and formed the basis for our analysis. The study results reveal that 197 (9.85% of the sample) were unable to fully participate due to challenges such as lack of access devices, unreliable internet connectivity, and inability to afford the cost of internet data. It is again clear from the results that about 90.1% of students are not satisfied with e-learning and its associated challenges. From the positive perception model, students held the view that e-learning technology in the COVID-19 era is positive regardless of the challenges. On the other hand, level 300 students, and Moodle VClass platform users express a high negative perception over the use of e-learning technology. It is clear from this study that further investments and contingency plans are needed to develop a resilient education system that supports electronic and distance learning and shapes the perception and acceptance of students. University managers and the Education Ministry should formulate post-COVID-19 strategies to promote e-learning in a developing country like Ghana.
Online Learning in Higher Education during COVID-19 Pandemic: A case of Ghana
Journal of Educational Technology and Online Learning, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major concern across the globe affecting nation's socioeconomic development including education. It has pushes many HEIs in world to move into remote learning as a substitute of in-person instruction. The study explored students' response to online learning in higher education in Ghana. The study was guided by three research questions. Descriptive survey design was adopted and online questionnaire was used to gather data from 467 students in a higher education of Ghana. The data was analysed using frequency and percentage. Overall, the study found that students had positive response to online learning. They knew of online learning and some of the platforms like UCC Moodle platform, Alison and Google classroom. They would also like to use other social media platforms. They would use smart phone and laptop for the online learning. However, they were not ready for online learning because they lacked formal orientation and training, perceived lack of constant access to internet connectivity and financial unpreparedness. Management of the university should provide resources to help students assess whether they are ready to take an online course and offer suggestions for preparation. Since internet accessibility is expensive in Ghana at the moment, management of the university should hold negotiations with Cellular operators for educational discount for distance students. Academic staff should provide instructional support through instructional activities that can help students in appraising their readiness, gaining the needed skills to learn online and consider using flexible approaches to teaching and deadlines to accommodate students with reliable Wi-Fi or broadband access challenges as well as emotional response to help student ensure smooth transition to emergency remote learning/teaching.
ONLINE LEARNING AMONGST UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AMID COVID-19 PANDEMIC, KENYA
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Acquisition of Education is crucial in an individual and society's development which cuts across different stages of human growth with specific and achievable goals. The survey sought to establish the extent to which the Corona Virus Pandemic influenced the adoption of Online learning among undergraduate students of the University of Nairobi. The study had five objectives which focused on learners' attitudes towards the adoption of virtual learning, how they learned online while coping with online challenges. A total of 232 students were used while the Spear-man Coefficient of Correlation Formula was applied to test research instruments' reliability. Data was analyzed and presented in tabular, graphic, and percentages forms. The study established that 109 respondents forming 46.98% didn't know online learning existed, while 34 forming 14.66% felt it was impossible to learn online. Further, 45 respondents forming 19.40% felt the method was not suitable for examinations while 44 (18.
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Growth Evaluation, 2021
The Federal Government of Nigeria announced the total closure of all educational institutions nationwide, following the declaration of the novel COVID-19 as a Pandemic. As a follow up, the Sokoto State government directed that all tertiary institutions in the state should immediately closed. The suspension of academic activities during the school lockdown brought by the COVID-19 crisis in academic communities. Educators explored some learning strategies that could better engage students while maintaining social distancing. It is noteworthy that prior to the period of the Pandemic, some tertiary institutions in Nigeria only adopted online in their Distance Education Programmes. Therefore, this sudden migration to online learning in their regular programmes came with shock and several problems, and so does not go down well with the undergraduate programmes. The reactions of some students and teachers on this sudden shift to online learning as an alternative mode of instruction were mixed. How ready are the students to function in this new learning environment ? This paper provides information on COVID-19 in tertiary institutions in Sokoto State. This paper will cover prospects and problems and adopting online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 period in sokoto State, Nigeria. The paper will adopt survey of relevant literature. The paper will be found useful for higher education administrators, lecturers, students and parents who may wish to incorporate some of the suggestions provided here to improve their online instructional programmes.
Shanlax International Journal of Education, 2021
Since mid-March 2020, educational systems around the world and particularly Ghana were under increasing pressure to use the new Digital Technologies (DTs) and mobile applications(apps) to assist teachers to guide students to continue with online learning activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study is aimed at assessing the utilization of DTs and apps tools by students, during the COVID-19 pandemic and how those technologies have affected online learning in institutions of higher education in Ghana. The researcher adopted an online survey and exploratory-based design that utilized quantitative and qualitative approaches to purposively collect data from N=784 students from three major public universities in Ghana. Also, the study applied Uses and Gratification as the theoretical basis in understanding the utilization of DTs and their possible limitations for remote learning during the peak of COVID-19 in Ghana. This study reported that the specific DMTs and mobile apps used by students in higher education for online learning are smarts phones and apps such as ClassIn, Zoom, Skype, and Instagram live stream. This study also revealed that Personal Learning Network (PLN) such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter were also actively used by students for remote online learning. Again, the study shows that 77.1% of students in the sampled three universities were fully aware of the DTs and apps utilized for online learning during COVID-19. Also, the findings from this study report that, students in higher institutions identified unstable electricity for continuous online learning, especially for those students in rural areas, unreliable internet service, poor WiFi connections, expensive smartphones/laptops, and high cost of inter bundle as key challenges of using DMTs and mobile apps for online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, on the perceived usefulness of DTs and mobile apps among students for online learning in higher educational institutions, the findings from this study suggest that DMTs and apps were of great benefit to students for remote online learning. Keywords: educational systems; Digital Technologies; applications(apps); COVID-19 pandemic; online learning
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), 2023
The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period was typically a time when all human activity was halted. The educational system in Nigeria is not free from this. To mitigate the effect of COVID-19 on education, several educational institutions made the decision to use e-learning for the first time. Only a few public institutions were able to join the system, whereas some private institutions were able to do so on time. Therefore, the goal of this study is to assess the success or failure of online learning at public universities in Ekiti state during the shutdown. Because it would enable the researchers to collect pertinent data from a huge study sample without any alteration, the study used a descriptive survey research methodology. All of the final-year students from the two Ekiti State universities made up the population. The sample for the study consisted of one hundred twenty (120) final-year scientific students from the two universities' faculties of sciences. A 4-point Likert scale structured questionnaire was the tool used to collect data from respondents. The study was directed by three research questions and two research hypotheses in total. The frequency counts and mean scores were used to analyze the research questions while the research hypotheses were analyzed using paired-t-test and One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Each hypothesis was tested at the 0.05 threshold. The findings demonstrated that online learning is more enjoyable than conventional face-to-face learning, making it an excellent platform for teaching and understanding scientific concepts. Online learning also improves students' academic performance in terms of motivation, learning achievement, and learning engagement. Budgetary issues and slow internet, however, make it difficult for people to learn online. In order to preserve the progress gained during the lockdown after COVID-19, it was recommended that educational stakeholders should increase the accessibility of online learning facilities in schools at all levels of education.
Journal of Library and Information Perspectives and Research, 2021
The study on COVID-19 pandemic and online learning options for academic staff members of Federal University of Lafia used survey research design. The study population comprised of the 368 academic staff of Federal University of Lafia from which a sample of 191 staff representing 51% of the entire population was randomly selected. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire. The research questions were answered using mean scores. The responses were based on a 4point rating scale. A mid point mean of 2.5 and above was accepted while below 2.5 was rejected. The result revealed that, respondents are aware of Google Classroom but are not aware of Schoology, Moodle Edmodo and Sakai. The respondents also considered Google Classroom as an effective online platform for teaching and learning and considered Schoolgy, Moodle, Edmodo and Sakai as not effective online learning platforms. In addition, the study considered adaptability struggle, technical issues, computer literacy, time management and self-motivation as major challenges hindering the implementation of online learning platforms in Federal University of Lafia. The study however recommended urgent need for the adoption and use of Google Classroom, inauguration of awareness campaign committees on the imperativeness of online learning platforms provision of enabling environment for the smooth implementation of the online project by providing free internet services on campuses among other related facilities that will motivate users among other recommendations.
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The shutdown of schools due to the Covid19 epidemic has generated a move towards online education. The operation of an electronic instructional system in many higher learning institutions was a major challenge. Online instructional system namely Moodle possesses some characteristics that are important for its operation in the era of the covid19 epidemic. Nevertheless, the effective implementation of the electronic instructional system depends on grasping the determinants that confront the modern electronic instructional system. Therefore, this inquiry aims to examine the determinants that influence learners' operation of the instructional learning system in the period of covid19. This inquiry adopted a quantitative research design. A convenient sampling approach was employed to choose a sample size of 276 students. The result of the inquiry found that all the nine determinants elucidated 53.8% of the change in utilization of the online learning system. Of the nine determinants, social influence and system quality contributed substantially to learners' utilization of online learning system. Implications for the study were also discussed.
Effectiveness of Online Learning during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case of One University in Zimbabwe
EAST AFRICAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, 2021
This study sought to investigate on effectiveness of online teaching and learning during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case of one university in Zimbabwe. The study adopted quantitative approach in which 202 students were given an online questionnaire to fill. Data was analyzed through graphs to indicate the perception of students on effectiveness and challenges involved in the online teaching and learning. The study concludes that the e-teaching and e-learning adopted to minimize negative impact of Covid-19 Pandemic were not effective. High number of students (63% and 14%) reported that the whole process was frustrating as they could not learn effectively. Furthermore, students revealed that their failure was due to various challenges including inefficient strategies used by lecturers and difficulties to stablish and maintain relevant and fruitful interaction between lecturers and students. The learning process was monotonous. Lecturers could not convey adequate feedback and tests and a...
European Journal of Education Studies, 2020
The study examined students’ perceptions on the impact of online learning in the COVID-19 pandemic. A descriptive survey design was used. The study was conducted on level 100 student-teachers in three colleges of education (Accra, E. P. Amedzofe, and Peki), affiliated to the University of Ghana with a total population of 802. The calculated sample size was 325 on 4.2% margin of error with 95% confident level. A self-designed survey questionnaire, containing the background information, and five scaled Likert-type questions grouped on the variables of: home factors; teaching-learning and supports; and impacts of the online learning on students. The instrument was pilot tested on 50 student-teachers and later administered to the participants. The Cronbach alpha reliability check on instruments was 0.75 indicating the consistent reliability of the instrument. In all, 335 participants responded to the questionnaire. Descriptive data analysis was carried on with the Jamovi Statistical Dat...