Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a major disruption in education in over 150 countries affecting about 1.6 billion students. Many countries, including Nigeria responded by implementing a form of remote learning. This study thus investigated the remote learning experiences of learners and teachers in selected Nigeria’s public and private universities during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The study adopted the mixed method (survey and in-depth interview) in investigating and reporting the personal experiences of Nigerian learners and teachers with e-learning technologies like Moodle and google classroom with a focus on their challenges and coping strategies. One public and one private university was randomly selected for this study to compare their experiences based on availability of technology, accessibility, and their technical know-how. The study population for the survey includes Nigerian University students in both public and private institution aged 15 to 30 years, while their lecturers constituted the target population for the in-depth-interview. The study utilized the multi-stage sampling technique to randomly select a total of 257 respondents for the survey, while the accidental sampling technique was used in the selection of teachers/lecturers for the in-depth interview. Data were analyzed using descriptive analytical techniques for the quantitative data while the thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data. Results from this study would be useful in formulating educational policies that would be futuristic in its approach in the sustainability in remote learning. The results would also be relevant in ensuring a better preparation towards the use of remote learning lecturers and students for a likely future humanitarian crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords:

COVID-19, Remote learning, Pandemic, Nigeria, University education.