COVID-19 Survey, 2020

 

 

The purpose of the research study was to examine the empowerment of teachers in the use of Athena Fund’s “digital toolbox” in the coronavirus era. This study examined how laptops and iPads, received by regular and special education teachers from Athena Fund and its partners, allow teachers to adapt themselves to the distance teaching challenge, continue their teaching routines, and communicate with their students. The study was conducted among 711 educators (90.0% women), who were given laptops or iPads for their work by Athena Fund. Of these, 394 educators (55.4%) are employed in regular education frameworks and 317 educators (44.6%) are employed in special education frameworks. Most participants working in special education frameworks received an iPad, which is better suited for children with special needs, while most participants working in regular education frameworks received a laptop.

Educators used the laptop or iPad for remote instruction during the coronavirus pandemic. This technological tool was so necessary during this period that 70% reported daily use of it (compared to 45.1% before the pandemic), and over 50% reported extensive use of over 3 hours a day (compared to 30% before the pandemic). An absolute majority of participants reported that receiving the laptop or iPad was absolutely essential to their teaching needs; otherwise they would have had to buy the devices with their own money or share devices with their children and/or spouses/partners. 

The vast majority of participants (over 77%) underwent training in computing and technology in teaching. The results indicate that over 63% of participants asserted that this training was very useful for remote teaching during the pandemic, and that it served one of its main purposes – enabling diversity in teaching tools and methods. Over 40% of the participants testified that they became familiar with the tools they now use during the pandemic either during their training or from their fellow teachers. 

The technological and pedagogical knowledge acquired by educators thanks to this training contributed significantly to teaching interactivity, accessibility, problem solving, availability and convenience. It is important to emphasize that over 40% of educators who noted other aspects of the contribution of the techno-pedagogical knowledge reported that this knowledge gave them strength, confidence and personal empowerment in the personal and professional aspects. Another aspect noted, but at a lesser percentage, is that the techno-pedagogical knowledge contributed to personal connections with students and parents. Participants also reported that the knowledge they acquired during the training helped them during this period because the better the teacher's control of the digital tool, the higher the quality of teaching and communication. 

The percentage of participants employed in regular education frameworks testified almost twice as much regarding the vital role of the laptop for teaching purposes during the pandemic, compared to participants employed in special education frameworks who use an iPad (64.3% vs. 34.7%). In contrast to this finding, we see that the percentage of participants employed in special education frameworks testified three times more as to the importance of receiving the iPad for experiencing and becoming familiar with technological tools, compared to participants employed in the regular education frameworks who received a laptop (32.0% vs. 10.5%). 

This research study attests to the great importance of providing a laptop or iPad to educators for teaching purposes, as well as providing dedicated training for learning techno-pedagogical knowledge, for successful remote teaching during the coronavirus pandemic. A teacher without a laptop or with limited knowledge of technological operations had difficulty integrating into the entire process of distance learning during the coronavirus period.