Blended Learning Model for Stemming School Closure in the Era of Insecurity in Nigeria.
- Ibukun Omolara AKINWUMI
- Moradeke Grace ADEWUMI
- Sunday Rufus OLOJUOLAWE
- 25-31
- Mar 28, 2024
- Education
Blended Learning Model for Stemming School Closure in the Era of Insecurity in Nigeria.
Ibukun Omolara AKINWUMI1, Moradeke Grace ADEWUMI2, Sunday Rufus OLOJUOLAWE3
1Department of Science Education,
2Department of Computing and Information Science
3Department of Technical Education
1,2,3 Bamidele Olumilua, University of Education Science and Technology, Ikere-Ekiti.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.51244/IJRSI.2024.1103003
Received: 25 February 2024; Accepted: 28 February 2024; Published: 28 March 2024
ABSTRACT
The educational system in Nigeria runs smoothly before the emergence of COVID-19 and lately, the rampant menace of abduction of school children. This no doubt, is dampening the morale of many pupils and their parents. Therefore, this study was designed to develop a blended learning framework for instructional delivery in secondary school in Ekiti State, Nigeria. To achieve this, two objectives were set to guide the study. The study was also monitored by a research question. For the research design, the sequential exploratory mixed method was employed in order to generalize the result of the study. The study involved some selected secondary schools in the state. The simple random sampling technique was used to select the sample from among the secondary school students in the State. The Nvivo 12 Model were used for the data analysis. It was observed that the resultant framework will be suitable for sustaining teaching/learning activities in Ekiti State secondary schools.
Keywords: Blended, learning, sustainability, exploratory, Nvivo.
INTRODUCTION
Blended learning is a technique of using technology and physical method for lecture delivery. Literarily is a learning model that combines traditional classroom and online courses methodologies for effective teaching and learning. For some years now in Nigeria, our schools both elementary and higher institution have been facing series of attacks by the militants most especially in North-Eastern Nigeria. (Zenn, 2014) In July 2013, the terrorist stormed a boarding school in Yobe State and set 29 students and one teacher ablaze. In March 2014, about 85 secondary schools were closed and over 120,000 students were sent home by the Borno State government, following the increasing rate of attacks on schools by terrorists. On the night of 14th April 2014, 276 schoolgirls sitting for their final examinations in the town of Chibok in Borno State were kidnapped with about 80% of them unseen till date (Agbiboa, 2015). 115boys kidnapped in 2016, Bauchi students kidnapped, over 100 students were kidnapped in Baptist secondary school, Kaduna on 5th of July, 2021. Tragically, the school abductions are becoming more rampant in Nigeria to the extent that about 950 students have been kidnapped recently according to the United Nation Children’s Agency. (World Magazine July, 2021). There are four different abduction of students in Kaduna state alone in the past six months and about seven mass kidnap of students in Nigeria school so far this year. Therefore there is the need to have a second look into the mode of instruction in Nigeria secondary schools.
Fafunwa, (2018) described education as the aggregate of all processes through which a child develops abilities, attitudes and other forms of behaviour which are of a positive value to the society. Education enables individuals to acquire appropriate knowledge, values and skills for personal development and also contributes meaningfully to the development of society. It is a basic human right for every individual in the society. There is a recent notice to close all schools in Kaduna state due to insecurity. These children are the future of this country and their education is paramount and must be handled with utmost attention. Therefore there is the need for blended learning to be incorporated into Nigeria educational system.
Statement of the Problem
Due to the school closure in some part of the country as a result of insecurity in the country. Counter-insurgent activities is no more sufficient to combat the insurgent; and that implies that Nigeria education will continue to suffer at the hands of the determinant terrorist group. In order to avoid the young ones from been denied of their legitimate educational right in Ekiti State being a fountain of Knowledge State, there is need for blended learning in the state to prepare the secondary schools ahead of un-foreseen circumstances in education system in the State.
Objectives
- To investigate the elements of blended learning suitable for secondary school students from the perspective of relevant stakeholders.
- To develop a blended learning framework (BLF) for secondary schools in Ekiti State.
Research Questions
What is the blended learning suitable for secondary school students from the perspective of relevant stakeholders?
Scope of the study
The study is delimited to the secondary schools in Ekiti State. This is based on the assumption that the foundation for a functional education is best laid at the secondary school.
Significance of the study
The study provided workable practical solutions to the challenges of teaching at the secondary schools in Ekiti state. Similarly, it is going to extend the body of knowledge in blended learning which has been misconstrued by many.
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter focuses on the review of related literature on blended learning. The focus was on the concepts of blended learning, theories of blended learning and some blended learning models. This involved a survey of some Journal articles and conducting them into metal-analysis.
| S/N | AUTHOR | TITLE | JOURNAL | METHODOLOGY | STRENGTH | Recommendation | Weakness |
| 1 | Tarazi & Ruiz-Cecilia, (2022) | The NAVIO Application to Teach EFL: An Observational Study in Palestinian Primary Schools | Universal Journal of Educational Research | The researchers used quantitative design for the study and questionnaires to collect data. | They examined the effect of using the digital application NAVIO to enhance teaching competency. | Teachers to integrate digital application into teaching at primary-level in order to activate their interest and increase their motivation toward learning in a more engaging environment. | The study was limited only to primary school level. |
| 2 | (Abuhassna, et al., (2023) | Study from Home! The Antecedents and Consequences of Collaborative Learning on Malaysian University Students | Journal of Information Technology Education | Survey Method was used. | They investigated the potential antecedents that influence students’ academic achievements, autonomy, and satisfaction with online learning platforms.
They laid emphases on the importance of communication and connection among students-students and teachers in online learning environments. |
Utilization of online learning platforms for improving academic achievements, learners’ autonomy, and learner satisfaction. The study presented a road map for researchers in the field of online learning. Instructors and course developers must be trained and skilled to achieve online learning platform goals. | Only one institution was involved. |
| 3. | (Abuhassna & Alnawajha, 2023) | The Transactional Distance Theory and Distance Learning
Contexts: Theory Integration, Research Gaps, and Future Agenda. |
Education Sciences | PRISMA, which stands for “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, | The review illuminates the developments, future agenda, and research needs pertaining to TDT in the context of distance learning. | Recommended that TDT promotes and facilitates distance learning and that Instructional designers learn about distance learning and how to use technology in teaching and learning | The work was mainly on reviewed literature. |
| 4 | Masrom et al., (2023) | The impact of excessive Instagram use on students’ academic study: a two-stage SEM and artificial neural network approach | Routlegde Taylor and Francis group | structural equation modeling was employed to identify the important variables that impact excessive Instagram use. In the second step, an artificial neural network (ANN) technique was used for validating the findings | This study applied uses and gratifications theory (UGT) to explore the impact of social gratification, content gratification, and entertainment along with social presence, and escapism in relation to EIU | found that heavy Facebook use and text messaging negatively affected students’ academic performance. Furthermore, he stress further that excessive SNS use had a significant positive effect on users’ life and privacy invasion, which subsequently diminish their academic performance. | Excessive use of social plartform has negative effect on students |
| 5 | Borba et al., (2016) | Blended learning, e‑learning and mobile learning in mathematics education | Springer Journal | Survey method | The study identified recent development in research. | It was discovered that the nature of new types of mobile/digital technological means, favouring the access to knowledge/information and modifying the nature of interaction of students-knowledge-teacher-context. | The study Considered only mathematics as a case study. |
| 6 | (Tay, 2016) | Investigating engagement in a blended learning course | Taylor & Francis:
Information & Communications Technology in Education |Research article. |
Mixed methods approach. | To investigate the participants’ engagement by examining their experience as they Interacted with elements of the blended environment. | The findings suggested that designers of blended professional development courses should bear in mind the characteristics of both the learner and the online platform to achieve greater cognitive, behavioural and social engagement.
2. They should be designed to capitalize on the relative strengths of online and human interactions to enhance the overall learning experience |
Study online alone is not enough for achieving cognitive and behavioural Objectives in learning |
| 7 | Ginaya, (2018) | The effects of blended learning to students’ speaking ability | International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Culture | t-tests and a mixed design ANCOVA using quasi-experimental method. | Investigated the effect of blended learning through the application of Web Quest. | implementation of blended learning can improve the speaking and writing proficiency of the students | The focus was mainly on English speaking. |
| 8 | SAMAN & KHADIJEH, (2018) | Investigating the effects of blended learning approach on vocabulary enhancement from EFL learners’ perspectives | i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching | An exploratory descriptive Research quantitatively and qualitatively approach. | investigates the effects of blended learning strategy in enhancing vocabulary on Iranian students | students held positive attitudes towards the blended learning approach | To what extent should online materials be integrated into the blended learning. |
| 9 | Shamsuddin & Kaur, (2020) | Students’ learning style and its effect on blended learning, does it matter? | International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE) | Descriptive statistics and one-way variance analysis, One-way ANOVA were used. | to investigate learning styles among the students and their relationship with perceptions of blended learning. | results should not be generalized to other higher learning institutions based on the datasets used for the study. | The research used self-reported survey form. |
METHODOLOGY
Research methodology defines the specific procedures used to identify, select, process, and analyze information about a topic. The methodology allows the reader to critically evaluate a study’s overall validity and reliability (Abas, 2018). Consequently, the discussed in this chapter include the research design; the area of the study; the population of the study; sample and sampling technique; instrument and instrumentation; validity and reliability; data collection and the analysis procedure.
Research Design
Research design describes the general procedure used for carrying out scientific research. The purpose is to serve as a guide in the research process to gather, analyze, and interpret the data. Choosing an appropriate research design is crucial for any researcher who intends to conduct any type of research (Anderson, 2010; Creswell John.w, 2014). The current study is a survey research that uses the Exploratory Sequential Mixed Method. In the mixed method, the collection, analysis, and integration of both qualitative and quantitative data are combined in a single study to address research questions (Creswell, 2013). The complementary strength of qualitative and quantitative methods provides a superior research result in terms of validity and depth than when a single method is used (Blenker et al., 2014; Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2013).
Figure 1: Sequential Exploratory Mixed methods design
The adoption of exploratory sequential mixed method design is in line with the theoretical supports that:
- The results of the qualitative data can further be analysed for more understanding and generalization of results in a quantitative research study.
RESULTS AND FINDINGS
The NVIVO 11 was used for the analysis of the data collected through the document analysis. It must be noted that the document analysis provided the template for the interview protocol that was analysed thematically. Figures 1 provided the results of the NVIVO software.
DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
The study first presented the data and findings from the qualitative study that led to the development of blended learning framework for secondary schools in Ekiti State. This was achieved by the use of qualitative techniques employing document analysis and interviews. Nvivo software was used for the analysis. Two objectives and a research question guided the conduct of the study. The study is a survey research employing the sequential exploratory mixed method which allowed data to be collected through interview protocol and the use of a questionnaire to elicit information from both the participants and the respondents respectively. The focus of this study was to develop a blended learning framework that will foster the teaching of secondary school students in Ekiti State.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We acknowledged the Tertiary Trust Fund organization for sponsoring this work. Our hearts of gratitude go to Professor Olufemi Adeoluwa for his unrelenting efforts to the development of others and finally we appreciate the university Center for Research and Development (CERAD) and its director for being a good motivator.
DECLARATION STATEMENT
| Funding | The paper was funded by TetFund. |
| Conflicts of interest | No conflicts of interest to the best of our knowledge |
| Ethical approval and consent to participate | There was ethical approval and consent to participate in the research. |
| Availability of data and materials | The sponsor made adequate provisions for data and materials. |
| Authors contribution | All authors contributed actively to the study. |
REFERENCES
- Abas, N.(2018). Research methodology. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search reseach methodology.
- Abuhassna, H., & Alnawajha, S. (2023). The Transactional Distance Theory and Distance Learning Contexts: Theory Integration, Research Gaps, and Future Agenda. Education Sciences, 13(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13020112
- Abuhassna, H., Busalim, A., Yahaya, N., Zakaria, M. A. Z. M., & Latif, A. B. A. (2023). Study From Home! the Antecedents and Consequences of Collaborative Learning on Malaysian University Students. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 22(January), 71–95. https://doi.org/10.28945/5074
- Borba, M. C., Askar, P., Engelbrecht, J., Gadanidis, G., Llinares, S., & Aguilar, M. S. (2016). Blended learning, e-learning and mobile learning in mathematics education. ZDM – Mathematics Education, 48(5), 589–610. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-016-0798-4
- Ginaya, G. (2018). The effects of blended learning to students’ speaking ability. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Culture, August. https://doi.org/10.21744/ijllc.v4i3.661
- Masrom, M., Busalim, A., Griffiths, M. D., Asadi, S., & Mohd Ali, R. (2023). The impact of excessive Instagram use on students’ academic study: a two-stage SEM and artificial neural network approach. Interactive Learning Environments, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2023.2184393
- SAMAN, E., & KHADIJEH, D. G. (2018). Investigating the Effects of Blended Learning Approach on Vocabulary Enhancement From Efl Learners’ Perspectives. I-Manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, 8(2), 57. https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.8.2.13981
- Shamsuddin, N., & Kaur, J. (2020). Students’ learning style and its effect on blended learning, does it matter? International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education, 9(1), 195–202. https://doi.org/10.11591/ijere.v9i1.20422
- Tarazi, A., & Ruiz-Cecilia, R. (2022). The NAVIO Application to Teach EFL: An Observational Study in Palestinian Primary Schools. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 10(2), 117–128. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2022.100201
- Tay, H. Y. (2016). Investigating engagement in a blended learning course. Cogent Education, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2015.1135772
- Anderson, C. (2010). Presenting and Evaluating Qualitative Research: Strengths and Limitations of Qualitative Research. Americam Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 74(8), 1–7. https://doi.org/74(8):1-7
- Blenker, P., Elmholdt, S. T., Frederiksen, S. H., Korsgaard, S., & Wagner, K. (2014). Methods in entrepreneurship education research: A review and integrative framework. Educ. + Train., 56(8/9), 697–715. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-06-2014-0066