Adoption of ICT Tools and Techniques during the Covid-19: A Qualitative Study of University Teachers in Punjab

Abstract

The main objective of the present qualitative study was to explore the university teachers' epistemological beliefs about adopting Information Communication Technology tools and techniques during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected from university teachers of district Lahore with the help of semi-structured interviews. Thematic data analysis technique was used to analyse it. The findings show that, in comparison to public university teachers, private teachers attended the training session more enthusiastically and developed their knowledge and skills for online teaching. Most of them believed they didn't have proper exposure to online teaching before. Most participants used Skype and Google Meet before Covid-19 for virtual classes. From an epistemological perspective, the researchers found that adding new ICT tools and methodologies into regular classroom activities would improve students' learning outcomes. Connectivity issues create a considerable gap between teaching and learning during COVID-19. The study highlighted that online learning may not get desired results in underdeveloped countries like Pakistan.