Beyond the pandemic: The changing landscape of technology integration in higher education in Central Visayas, Philippines

Abstract

The pandemic has revealed the differences in how educators use technology to better serve students. This study explored teachers' lived experiences regarding technology use in their teaching functions before the pandemic altered the country's educational system and after the pandemic subsided. It employed descriptive phenomenology as a research design, involving eight college teachers from public and private higher education institutions in Central Visayas, Philippines. A semi-structured interview guide was used, and data were analyzed using the thematic analysis steps. After intensive interpretation and analysis of the data, six themes emerged: 1) pre-pandemic teaching and technology use; 2) changes in teaching and technology use during the pandemic; 3) post-pandemic teaching and technology use; 4) challenges in post-COVID teaching and technology use; 5) opportunities in post-COVID teaching and technology use; and 6) perceptions about the future of teaching and technology use. The results showed that technology has substantially enhanced teaching efficacy and improved technology skills. It is recommended that teachers equip themselves with technological knowledge to meet future demands. For future studies, researchers may focus on exploring how technology affects the health of both teachers and students.