ASSESSING AND ANALYZING SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES AMONG JUNIOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ READINESS AND RESPONSIVENESS TOWARDS BLENDED LEARNING

Abstract

Blended learning is an umbrella term many aspects come under this umbrella, the mixture or combination of face-to-face and online teaching and learning also one the aspect that comes under this umbrella. Due to its potential to increase student engagement, encourage self-paced learning, and accommodate various learning styles, blended learning has attracted considerable interest and has been widely adopted in educational institutions throughout the world. The concept of blended learning (BL) has its roots in distance education, which has been around for over a century. In old era of distance learning, learners were tried to receive course materials via email and complete assignments on their own. When internet becomes advanced, online learning has come to be a more practical and efficient way to deliver distance education. The purpose of the current research was to measure the readiness and responsiveness of JEST teachers towards blended learning: An investigation from district Shaheed Benazirabad. Assessing and analyzing the significant differences in teachers’ readiness between junior and senior, and responsiveness of newly recruited male and female JEST teachers’ for blended learning were the main objectives of the study that measured with the help of quantitative research method and paper-based survey was conducted. The adopted 5-point Likert was used for the collection of data. The sample was N=200 Junior and senior JEST teachers of secondary schools from Taluka Nawabshah and sakrand chosen with the help of convenience sampling technique. The data was analyzed by using SPSS-21 and independent sample t-test were calculated. The results suggest that there are no significant differences in the junior (newly recruited, the year 2021-2022) and senior (recruited in 2018-2020) JEST teachers in readiness for blended learning and no significant differences in the junior (newly recruited, the year 2021-2022) male and female JEST teachers in responsiveness to blended learning. The study's overall findings stress the need for focused training and infrastructure upgrades to fully realize blended learning's promise of improved educational quality. For smooth implementation of blended learning it is recommended policymakers should give priority to funding strong internet connectivity and technological infrastructure in educational institutions and the comprehensive  teacher training program should be developed and put into place by policymakers to enhance educators' digital literacy and technology-use skills.