How Covid-19 taught teachers how to teach online– a case study at the Open University of Mauritius

Year 2023, , 482 - 491, 31.05.2023

Meera Gungea

https://doi.org/10.31681/jetol.1211119

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Covid-19 marked the next year with unprecedented death tolls, millions of infected people, and the closure of almost all activities, including education. The UN 2020 report highlights that this pandemic has caused the largest disruption of education in history with a near-universal impact on learners and teachers around the world. A total lockdown was enforced in Mauritius from 19th March 2020. On the eve, the Open University of Mauritius academic staff got prepared to adopt online teaching without any time to train its 400 part-time tutors and time to think about tutor and learner coping challenges. Guidelines to conduct classes and access classes online were shared to teachers and learners respectively. The next day, the tutors were performing tasks in which most of them were not competent in. Along with teaching, they were pushed to learn different skills and methods to teach online and acquaint themselves with new tools. Yet, they did it and the syllabus coverage was not disrupted. This research was carried out with some of those part-time teachers, selected using purposive sampling from one particular programme. It adopts the narrative inquiry to gauge the driving forces that enabled teachers to teach under such circumstances, to be resilient, and to emerge as front-liners in education. The main findings indicate that it was a steep learning curve and daunting task leading to a sense of inadequacy as they successfully emerged to reach out to students and make a difference for them.

Keywords

Resilience, Online teaching, Pandemic and online teaching

Project Number

IODL 2022

Thanks

This paper was part of IODL 22 and I was advised to submit it here.

References

• Ajzen, I. (1985). From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior. In J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann (Eds.), Action-control: From cognition to behavior (pp. 1 l-39). Heidelberg: Springer
• Al-Fudail, M., & Mellar, H. (2008). Investigating teacher stress when using technology. Computers & Education, 51(3), 1103–1110. 10.1016/j.compedu.2007.11.00
• Almaiah, M. A., Al-Khasawneh, A., & Althunibat, A. (2020). Exploring the critical challenges and factors influencing the E-learning system usage during COVID-19 pandemic. Education and Information Technologies, 25(6), p5261–5280.
• Beltman Susan, Mansfield Caroline, Anne Price (2011). Thriving not just surviving: A review of research on teacher resilience, Educational Research Review, Volume 6, Issue 3, 2011, Pages 185-207, ISSN 1747-938X
• Berger, J. (2020). The catalyst: How to change anyone’s mind. New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks.
• Busetto, L., Wick, W. & Gumbinger, C. (2020). How to use and assess qualitative research methods. Neurol. Res. Pract. 2, 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42466-020-00059-z
• Byrne-Armstrong H, Higgs J and Horsfall D (2001). Critical Moments in Qualitative Research Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford.
• Cigdem, H., & Topcu, A. (2015). Predictors of instructors’ behavioral intention to use learning management system: A Turkish vocational college example. Computers in human behavior, 52, 22-28.
• Daniel, J. & Uvalic-Trumbic, S. (Eds.) (2013). A guide to quality in online learning. https://www.academicpartnerships.com/Resource/documents/A-Guide-to-Quality-in-OnlineLearning.pdf
• Davis. (1986). A technology acceptance model for empirically testing new end-user information systems: Theory and results. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• Denz-Penhey, H., & Murdoch, J. C. (2008). Personal resiliency: Serious diagnosis and prognosis with unexpected quality outcomes. Qualitative Health Research, 18 (3), p391–404.
• Downing, J., and J. Dyment. (2013). “Teacher Educators’ Readiness, Preparation, and Perceptions of Preparing Preservice Teachers in a Fully Online Environment: An Exploratory Study.” The Teacher Educator 48 (2): 96–109.
• Haase, J. E. (2004). The adolescent resilience model as a guide to interventions. Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing, 21,289–299. doi: 10.1177/1043454204267922
• Hak, T. (2007). Waarnemingsmethoden in kwalitatief onderzoek. In L. PLBJ & H. TCo (Eds.), Kwalitatief onderzoek: Praktische methoden voor de medische praktijk. [Observation methods in qualitative research] (pp. 13–25). Houten: Bohn Stafleu van Loghum. Mishler model (1995)
• Hargreaves, A., & Fullan, M. (1996). What’s worth fighting for in your school? New York: Teachers College Press.
• Hobfoll SE, Johnson RJ, Ennis N, and Jackson AP (2003). Resource loss, resource gain, and emotional outcomes among inner city women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(3): 632-643.
• Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Understanding the burnout experience: Recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psychiatry 15(2), 103–111.
• Mishler, E.G. (1995) “Models of narrative analysis: A typology”, Journal of Narrative and Life History, 5(2): 87-123.
• Nieto, S. (2003). What keeps teachers going? New York: Teachers
• Kin, T. M., & Kareem, O. A. (2018). The relationship between emotional intelligence of school principals in managing change and teacher attitudes towards change. International Journal of Leadership in Education. 10.1080/13603124.2018.1481535.
• Martin, F., Polly, D., Jokiaho, A., & May, B. (2017). Global standards for enhancing quality in online learning. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 18(2), 1–10.
• McAllister, M and McKinnon, J (2009). The importance of teaching and learning resilience in the health disciplines: A critical review of the literature. Nurse Education Today (2009) 29, 371–379
• Oreg, S. and Berson, Y. (2011), “Leadership and employees’ reactions to change: the role of leaders’ personal attributes and transformational leadership style”, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 64 No. 3, pp. 627-659.
• Polk, L. V. (1997). Toward a middle-range theory of resilience. Advances in Nursing Science, 19, 1–13.
• Polkinghorne, D. E. (1988). Narrative knowing and the human sciences. State University of New York Press.
• Riessman, C.K., (2008). Narrative methods for the human sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
• Sokal, L., Trudel, L. E., and Babb, J. (2020). Canadian teachers’ attitudes toward change, efficacy, and burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. Int. J. Educ. Res. Open 1:100016. doi: 10.1016/j.ijedro.2020.100016
• Vladova, G., Ullrich, A., Bender, B., & Gronau, N. (2021). Students’ Acceptance of Technology-Mediated Teaching–How It Was Influenced During the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020: A Study From Germany. Frontiers in Psychology, 12(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636086.
• Watermeyer, R.; Crick, T.; Knight, C.; Goodall, J. (2021). COVID-19 and digital disruption in UK universities: Afflictions and affordances of emergency online migration. High. Educ. 2021, 81, 623–641.