Virtual Education: ICT Readiness Of Teachers From Secondary School In Penampang, Sabah During COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

COVID – 19 pandemic occurred since 2019 and gives a strong impact to most of the educational institutions world widely to shift their teaching and learning process from traditional physical mode to virtual education so that the education continues uninterrupted. A minority of teachers did not see this paradigm shift as a challenge as they were already implementing virtual or blended education before the pandemic. However, there were institutions or teachers who are not ready to adapt to the shift. Therefore, it is important to investigate to what extent teachers are ready to carry out virtual education. This paper is aimed to study the readiness of teachers with virtual education during COVID – 19 pandemics. This paper applies qualitative method. A selected teacher from a secondary school from district Penampang was interviewed through prepared questionnaires. Six categories were extracted from the interview transcript which then derived to the theme blended learning. Two main challenges that teacher encountered during the implementation of virtual education are internet connectivity and smart devices accessibility. This study has implication for educational institutions that intend to promote ICT readiness among teachers in succeed virtual education.