Improve pre-service teachers’ online learning attendance and accessibility through multiple platforms

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/10.17159/2520-9868/i88a02
Keywords: COVID-19, Blackboard Collaborate, WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Online Radio, Universal Design for Learning, Higher Education, Inclusiveness, Equity

Abstract

n this paper, we report on the use of multiple platforms to circumvent challenges associated with nonattendance because of limited accessibility to conventional video conferencing digital tools such as Microsoft
Teams (MS Teams) and Blackboard collaborate. One hundred and sixty-five participating pre-service teachers
were given the autonomy to connect using any of the given platforms from a prescribed list that worked for
them. The platforms’ attendance tracking systems were used to gather data. The findings revealed that using
multiple online platforms lowered the challenges associated with lack of access to high-end technological tools
and resources. Most of the registered pre-service teachers attended an average 60% of the live classes and 50%
of the students strongly agreed that they had followed the recorded sessions. Multiple platforms afford preservice teachers a choice on what works better for them based on the technology to which they have access to and with which they are familiar.

Author Biography

Agnes Chigona, Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Prof Agnes Chigona is a prolific researcher and also a teacher educator in the Faculty of Education at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in South Africa. She is rated as NRF established researcher (C2). She has published more than 60 research articles in local and international peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings as well as book chapters. She has presented more than 20 conference papers both locally and internationally. Her current research interests are: ICTs in Education, Teacher resilience and Teacher education in the 21st Century.

Published
2022-10-07
Issue
No 88 (2022): SAERA Conference Special Edition
Section
Research Articles

 Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Authors retain copyright of their work, with first non-exclusive publication rights granted to Journal of Education. Authors agree that any subsequent publication of the article will credit the Journal as the site of first publication and provide a link to the Journal website. Authors contributing to Journal of Education agree to publish their articles under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, allowing third parties users to copy, distribute and transmit an article as long as the author is attributed, the article is not used for commercial purposes, and the work is not modified or adapted in any way, and that in the event of reuse or distribution, the terms of this license are made clear. Note: Authors who may need to comply with the particular open access requirements of their funding bodies can apply to JoE for a more liberal licence, such as Creative Commons CC BY.