ASSESSMENT OF E-LEARNING SKILLS NEEDED BY TEACHERS DURING COVID-19 FOR INNOVATIVE DISTANCE LEARNING IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

The effect of the novel Corona virus on education systems worldwide is massive. Almost every school has been shut down and teaching and learning process has been relocated to distance learning in the form of e-learning for teaching and learning to continue. Nigeria has also been trying to adjust to the impact of the Corona virus on her education system by promoting the use of e-learning, especially in the universities. Lecturers have been advised and directed to make use of e-learning for teaching and learning. However, no adequate preparations were made to prepare the lecturers for the use of these technologies; therefore, we propose to assess the skills needed in using e-learning. Specifically, the study focused on synchronous and asynchronous e-learning. The study sought to determine the skills needed in synchronous and asynchronous e-learning by lecturers. Two research questions guided the study. Two hypotheses were also tested in the study. The study made use of descriptive survey design and was carried out in Nigeria. The participants for the study were 276, comprising lecturers and computer technologists in the Management and Information Systems unit. A structured questionnaire was developed by the researchers and used for data collection. The participants’ responses were analysed using mean and standard deviation for the research questions, while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05. The results indicated that lecturers do not possess some skills needed in using e-learning for innovative distance learning. It was recommended that there is need to implement the findings of the study into training workshops for lecturers in Nigerian universities.