School of Higher Education Studies

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Browsing School of Higher Education Studies by Author "Brenya, Boahemaa"

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    Teacher educators' perceptions and practices of teaching in a blended learning mode in Ghana
    (University of the Free State, 2022) Brenya, Boahemaa; Olugbenga, I. G. E.; Jita, Thuthukile
    The teaching and learning approach for higher education institutions all over the world has been transformed as a result of the emergence of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) in March 2020. The pandemic necessitated the shift from face-to-face teaching to a blended learning mode by higher educational institutions in Ghana. Despite the effectiveness of blended learning in the delivery of instruction and learning, the scenarios created by Covid-19 forced teacher educators to accept the transformation of their teaching practice from residential classes to partly or full virtual programmes. This mixed-methods explanatory sequential study investigated the perceptions of teacher educators in their practices of blended learning in Ghana. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was employed as a theoretical framework for the study. Data collected from the quantitative study was analysed using SPSS (R-Package) and inductive thematic analysis was employed to analyse the qualitative data. Results indicated that teacher educators have positive perceptions about the blended learning approach being effective and efficient for teaching and learning. That is, the perceptions of teacher educators have an influence on the blended learning approach; hence, the blended learning method should be practised for effective and creative teaching. However, educators revealed certain challenges such as lack of internet resources, disturbances (such as technical problems, lack of office space and recording studio) in the blended learning environments, students’ poor attendance and participation in teaching sessions, inadequate and continuous training workshops for educators and poor functionality of technological gadgets. This study concludes by making philosophical recommendations to strengthen teacher educators’ application of the blended learning approach in their teaching and student learning practices in Ghana.