Teachers’ Awareness and Competence in the Switch from Classroom-Based to Online Teaching During COVID-19 Pandemic in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

In the COVID-19 era, success in online curriculum delivery requires expertise, skills and competence. The study appraised the teachers’ awareness and competence in the switch from classroom-based to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic in Lagos Mainland secondary schools, Nigeria. The study examined teachers’ awareness and competence level in the switch from classroom-based to online teaching using a descriptive survey research design. Random sampling was used to determine the sample size, which comprises 378 public secondary school teachers. A self-developed questionnaire was used to generate data. Cronbach Alpha method was used to determine the reliability of the instrument, and the pilot study yielded a coefficient of 0.83, which was deemed high enough to make the instrument reliable for the study. Frequency counts, mean, and standard deviation were used to analyse the data obtained, while chi-square (χ2) was used to analysed the null hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that teachers are reasonably aware of the switch from classroom-based to online teaching. However, the results demonstrated that teachers have low competence due to a lack of technological resources and technical know-how. Recommendations were made, among others, that teachers should keep up with the latest developments in the teaching field via development programmes. More importantly, teachers should be well-versed in the use of digital to accomplish instructional objectives efficiently, confidently, particularly during COVID-19 when classroom-based instruction was suspended.