ONLINE TEACHING AND LEARNING DURING THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC

ABSTRACT

The study investigates online teaching and learning during the covid 19 pandemic as a determinant for effective education in public senior secondary schools in Oredo local government area Edo state. Four research questions were raised. This study adopted the descriptive survey design. The population of the study comprises of students from the eight (8) public senior secondary schools in Oredo local government area of Edo state. The four hundred and eighty seven (487) students in the eight schools were the respondents. The sample is four (4) public senior secondary schools out of the eight (8) senior secondary schools in Oredo local government area of Edo state. Simple random sampling technique was used in selecting the sample, while 40 students, twenty (10) each from the sampled schools, mainly fourty students were the respondents. The instrument for the study is a questionnaire titled "ONLINE TEACHING AND LEARNING DURING THE COVID 19 QUESTIONAIRE [OTLDCQ]". A total of 40 copies of questionnaire were distributed to all the sampled respondents and the data obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed using the simple percentage, frequent counts and tables to answer the research questions. The findings from this study revealed that there were online teaching and learning materials available, these materials include: textbooks, videos, recordings, reading materials. The following online platforms were available to students during the covid 19 pandemic, theses platforms are: virtual conferencing, facebook and whatsapp. Online teaching and learning was effective during the covid 19 pandemic because they were able to learn online, they were also able to conclude their term's scheme of work during the xii pandemic. The findings revealed that they usually miss online classes because data is expensive, they often encountered poor network connections during online classes. Based on the findings of this study it was concluded that online teaching and learning during the covid 19 pandemic was a determinant for effective education to public senior secondary school students in Oredo local government area Edo state. Teachers and school administrators should fully adopt the use of online teaching and learning so as to be prepared for such situations like the covid 19 pandemic or natural disasters, this will ensure the easy transition from traditional teaching and learning to online teaching and learning. The government and school administrators should work hand in hand in order to equip schools with modern digital facilities and platforms that aid online teaching and learning and also educate the students and teachers on how to use these platforms for online teaching and learning purposes. The school administration and government can also work together in providing fast and easily accessible internet services to their students so as to aid the smooth flow and effectiveness of online teaching and learning. Parents should endeavor to provide the needed digital devices and technical support for their children so as to ensure that they actively participate in the online learning process.