THE CHALLENGES AND OBSTACLES OF ICT BASED HOME TEACHING AND LEARNING DURING THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC SHUTDOWN: THE PERCEPTIONS OF NIGERIAN PARENTS

Abstract

Parental involvement is critical in the educational development of a child. It is  observed that the role of parents as home teachers is often neglected in relation to the  home-based assignments given to pupils by the class teachers. The pandemic which  occurred from 2019-2021 brought about challenges which altered the roles of  parents as key actors in child education. Teaching methods changed from the normal  traditional face to face classroom to the use of ICT. Hence the study investigated the  experiences of Nigerian parents as home teachers during the lock down; document  methods and platforms used for online-learning; find out the providers of  educational online learning platforms and investigated the challenges faced by  parents using online learning for their children during the pandemic. Using online  survey method through social media platforms such as Facebook, emails, and  WhatsApp. A total of 120 questionnaires were filled by Nigerian parents that have  children between ages 5 and 16. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics.  Findings revealed that majority (57.5%) provided online learning for their children,  while (40%) of parents experienced poor internet connection with more than half  (63.3%) of children unable to learn on their own with no supervision. Also, majority  (57.3%) believed their wards were distracted with the use of television. Parents had  difficulties using ICT instruction-based tools to instruct their children among other  intervening challenges such as finance. The study recommends ICT training for  children and parents as the new normal has come to stay.