Abstract:
This study investigated the use of online instructional technology by social studies
teacher educators in five selected Colleges of Education (CoE) in Ghana during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Grounded in the interpretive philosophical perspective, which
prioritises individuals’ subjective experiences as the primary means of understanding
phenomena, this research employed an existential-phenomenological approach. This
approach utilised interpretive and inductive processes, informed by Davis’s
Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (1989) and Rogers’s Innovation Diffusion
Theory (IDT) (2003), to gain insight into participants' lived experiences with online
instructional technology during the pandemic. Out of the five CoE involved in the
study, a sample of 35 participants (10 tutors, 20 students, and five college principals)
was selected from a population of 2,249. Data collection techniques included
observation, interviews, and focus group discussions. The study’s findings indicate
that most tutors utilised online technology platforms, such as Learning Management
Systems (LMS), Zoom, WhatsApp, and Google Meet, to sustain academic work
during the pandemic. Moreover, some tutors consistently integrated technology into
their lessons during the period. The study concludes that tutors require technical
support, quality connectivity, and equipment to overcome the challenges of using
online instructional technology to enhance Social Studies teaching and learning in
Ghanaian Colleges of Education (CoE). The study recommends prioritising
technological innovations in instruction in Ghanaian CoE to address technological
needs. Furthermore, tutors should be motivated by the CoE administrative set-up to
consistently use and adapt online instructional technology tools alongside traditional
face-to-face methods, even in the post-pandemic era, to ensure the sustained use of
online technology in instruction.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Social Studies Education, Faculty of
Social Sciences Education, submitted to the School of
Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
(Social Studies)
in the University of Education, Winneba
DECEMBER, 2023
