Senior High School Teachers' and Students' Perception about the Integration of Online Learning and Its Impact on Their Application of Technology in Teaching and Learning of Social Studies in Northern Region, Ghana

Abstract

The uptake of virtual learning blended with the traditional instructional pedagogies in Social Studies instruction among senior high school teachers in Ghana is developing rapidly. Grounded on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this study was commissioned to interrogate senior high school Social Studies teachers' and students' perceptions of online learning and its impact on their application of technology in teaching and learning. The research was purely quantitative, conducted in the Northern Region of Ghana, adopted a causal-comparative research design and administered a questionnaire to Social Studies teachers (N = 84) and senior high school students (N = 972) randomly sampled for the research. The internal consistency of the items on the questionnaires was validated using the Cronbach alpha formula, from which that of Social Studies teachers yielded α = 0.89 and that of the students yielded α = 0.73 respectively. The data were analyzed employing inferential and descriptive statistics supported by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. The findings discovered that although Social Studies teachers and students had positive perceptions and motivation to use online learning, teachers' integration of technology into teaching and learning was low due to inadequate computers, lack of access to the internet, and limited ICT skills and that teachers' perceptions of online learning have no significant impact on their rate of integration of technology into Social Studies teaching and learning. Based on the findings, the study recommends teacher training, equipping senior high schools with relevant digital tools including the internet, subsidizing laptops for teachers and students, and curriculum reforms that create opportunities for the integration of online learning into teaching.