Pedagogical use of mobile technologies during Coronavirus school closure

Abstract

The unplanned closure of schools due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) left millions of students out of schools. However, the use of mobile technologies offered opportunities for educators and students to engage in remote pedagogical activities during the school closures. The study investigated the effects of the usage of mobile technologies on educators’ and students’ pedagogical activities during the COVID-19 school closure, and on the students’ attitudes towards pedagogical activities during the COVID-19 school closure. A total of 150 questionnaires were administered to participants that consist of educators and students from different levels of education in Nigeria. The samples were selected through simple random sampling technique, and collected data were analyzed using percentages, frequencies, and statistical methods of regression and ANOVA. The results show that the use of mobile technologies had statistically significant effects on the pedagogical activities of students and educators during the COVID-19 school closure, and on the attitudes of students towards pedagogical activities during the COID-19 school closure. Majority of the participants agreed that the use of mobile technologies such as: laptops, mobile phones, mobile apps, MP3, and other PDAs positively influenced their pedagogical activities during the COVID-19 school closure. The study concludes that mobile technologies have become an important and promising pedagogical tool which can be harnessed to enhance ubiquitousness and continued education during and after school closure or outbreak of pandemics.