E-Readiness and Perception of Student Teachers’ Towards Online Learning in the Midst of COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The breaking out of Corona virus in the beginning of this year put our lives into a complete shutdown. This shut down has also jeopardized the entire education system. Most of the educational institutes including schools, colleges and universities are found to get shifted to online mode of learning to avoid any academic loss. In the midst of COVID-19 pandemic, to assess the student teachers’ e-readiness and perception towards online learning was the major intention of the present study. Online survey method was adopted to gather the responses from 318 numbers of student teachers of different teacher education programs from different states of India by using a self developed questionnaire. Purposive sampling technique was adopted. It is revealed from this study that student teachers have e-readiness with digital devices (99%) and financial support (80%), but are lacking in good Internet connectivity, adequate electricity supply and personal space at home. Only 35% student teachers are found to be proficient in digital skills and majority feel that online classes are lacking proper teacher-student and student-student interaction. A significant percentage of student teachers are found to feel stressed isolated and poor confidence in online platform of learning and are not agreeing that curriculum can be effectively transacted through online mode. But majority of student teachers accepted online learning as a better choice for learning during this Pandemic period but not agreed it as an alternative to traditional approach of learning i.e. face-to-face mode of learning. This study has also given insight to the problems and challenges faced by the student teachers in online learning that needs improvement. It concludes with highlighting the support from government, parents, institutions and teachers required to make online learning more accessible and effective for student teachers.