Abstract:

The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in December 2019 brought a drastic change in the mode of learning in schools across the globe. Due to the pandemic, schools across the world were closed down from March 2020 to avoid the spread of the disease. Most schools then had to adopt the remote or online mode of teaching and learning as against the face-to-face mode. Most teachers especially preschool teachers found it difficult to adapt to the new mode of teaching and learning. Thus, the researchers sought the determinants of preschool teachers’ competence in the use of online teaching space during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. A correlational research design was adopted for the study using a sample of 48 preschool teachers in the Nsukka Education Zone. Properly face validated and trial-tested psychological and online teaching space competency scales were used for data collection. The internal consistency reliability indices of the psychological and online teaching space competency scales were found to be 0.79 and 0.86 respectively. Data collected were analysed using multiple regression and structural equation approaches. It was revealed that attitude, interest, psychological readiness, professional development, and motivation are significant (p = .05) determinants of preschool teachers’ competence in the use of online teaching space. This implies that if those factors are not adequately considered, there will not be an effective use of online teaching space by the preschool teachers. It was thus recommended that the Local Government Education Authority should create a conducive environment for the effective utilization of online teaching space by the preschool teachers.

Keywords:

Competence, Covid-19, Online teaching space, Preschool teachers, Structural equation modelling.